The Clayton Hotel & Members Club is checking in a big local name.
Juan Padró, founder of The Culinary Creative Group, plans to open two new concepts inside the Cherry Creek hotel this fall. The hospitality group, which boasts restaurants like Michelin-recommended A5 Steakhouse, Mister Oso, Bar Dough and Kumoya, is taking over the former Cretans and Chez Roc spaces.
New York City-based restaurant group Quality Branded had opened Kini’s, an upscale Greek restaurant; Cretans, a Mediterranean wine bar; and Chez Roc, a Moroccan-inspired cocktail lounge, at the Clayton Hotel in 2022. The restaurant group also brought Quality Italian to the Halcyon Hotel in 2017. Cretans and Chez Roc permanently closed this month, but Kini’s at 249 Clayton St. remains open as usual.
Padró already owns the Forget Me Not cocktail lounge right around the corner from the Clayton and Ay Papi, a rum-centric bar, a block away on Detroit Street. He plans to transform Cretans and Chez Roc into Amorina, an Italian cocktail bar, and The Sterling Denver, a lounge and nightclub.
The Sterling — taking Chez Roc’s space at 229 Clayton St. — is an expansion of The Sterling in Aspen, which opened in 2022. Culinary Creative is partnering with its owner Andrew Sandler. Nicole Lebedevitch, a partner with Culinary Creative and beverage director of Ay Papi and Forget Me Not, will lead the beverage program for both concepts.
Amorina, an Italian term of endearment meaning “little love,” will take over the Cretans’ space at 231 Clayton St. and focus on housemade and hand-stretched mozzarella. Culinary Creative chief culinary officer chef Max Mackissock will head up menu development.
“The idea behind Amorina is to marry our cocktail concepts with our culinary excellence and create something that feels like an escape from Denver,” Padró said in a press release. “Chef Max spent a lot of time cooking in different regions of Italy, and he wants to bring the feeling of an upscale bar you would spend time in after a day enjoying coastal Italy.”
In addition to Amorina and The Sterling Denver, The Culinary Creative Group is getting ready to open Magna Kainan, an upscale, woodfired approach to Filipino fare with James Beard-nominated Portland chef Carlo Lamagna. It will be located on the ground floor of Novel RiNo at 40th and Walnut streets in the River North Art District and is targeting a fall opening.
Magna Kainan will be accompanied by a high-end rooftop cocktail bar dubbed Sorry Gorgeous on top of the newly constructed 483-unit apartment complex.
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