Like Denver, Union Station is in constant motion.
Tourists and remote workers visit the Great Hall every day, while ski-train travelers, business execs and hotel guests walk past the grand piano and beneath impressive chandeliers to take advantage of bars and restaurants, morning, noon and night.
Following an $11 million restoration last year, Union Station’s management group is now welcoming people back. Some of the food and drink concepts at 1701 Wynkoop St. have changed in the past few months, and more updates are on the way.
For instance, Stoic & Genuine, one of the depot’s fine-dining anchors for a decade, closed, while Olive & Finch, a much-loved cafe with three other Denver locations, plans a March opening.
“The goal is to have locally owned restaurateurs and operators offering a diverse mix of flavor profiles and price points, from quick grab-and-go snacks to a complete night out on the town,” said John-Mark Larter, director of food and beverage operations for City Street Investors, part of the Union Station Alliance management group.
The Union Station Alliance, which includes City Street, Sage Hospitality and other companies, has also taken a more active approach to the food and beverage offerings.
The menus at City Street’s concepts are now the responsibility of Kevin McCormick, an award-winning pastry chef from Chicago who became Union Station’s culinary director in 2023. His docket consists of Terminal Bar and the second-story Cooper Lounge, as well as Pigtrain Coffee, Milkbox Ice Creamery and Press, a brand new tacos and tortas spot.
This month he’ll open Baumé — a dessert bar specializing in cakes, tarts and champagne — in a stand inside the Great Hall. For McCormick, Baumé was an opportunity to lean on his 16 years of experience as a French baker and Michelin-starred patisserie skills.
“I know a lot of people who are very inspired by the new. I get inspired by people who do the old unbelievably well,” McCormick, 36, said recently from the lobby of the adjacent Crawford Hotel, named for preservationist Dana Crawford, who died in late January.
The stand will sell McCormick’s creations, like gateaux in pistachio, pineapple and mocha varieties ($9), cherry almond tarts ($8) and chocolate mousse cake ($9). For those who sit down to enjoy their treats, Baumé has a menu of champagnes by the glass ranging from $14 to $55.
City Street isn’t the only Union Station Alliance member with an active restaurant role. In the coming months, crews will finish remodeling the wing of the building that is home to Mercantile Dining & Provision. The restaurant’s founder, James Beard award-winning Chef Alex Seidel, sold a majority stake in Mercantile to Sage Hospitality in August. Though Sage hasn’t announced a reopening date, the restaurant is listed as a participant in Denver Restaurant Week, which kicks off in early March.
Other changes on the way include:
Olive & Finch will open in March in the space left vacant by Snooze, which moved its breakfast-focused diner to another wing of Union Station.
Pigtrain Coffee will move into a corner space by Amtrak, McCormick said.
And the space left open by Stoic & Genuine sits empty as Union Station’s investors entertain requests from restauranteurs.
On the retail front, two businesses moved into the stands next to Baumé earlier this year: florist Beet & Yarrow and chocolatier Telluride Truffle.
Patty Denny, the owner of Telluride Truffle, said she had pestered her realtor for months for a vendor space inside Union Station. She had moved her chocolate factory to Lakewood five years earlier and was attracted by its classy allure.
“There’s some great things about Union Station that are beautiful, and they didn’t ruin any of that,” said Denny, 69.
She secured her lease last fall, packed her bags and moved from her company’s titular mountain town to Denver. Now she wants other Coloradans to do the same.
“If you haven’t been down to Union Station in the last few months, go,” she said.
