If you’re watching the competitive race to dominate the gourmet pizza market, one of the top new restaurants is coming to Colorado.
PizzaRev, a leading contender in the race, will come to Boulder’s Twenty Ninth Street mall on Aug. 12. A second location will open in Lafayette at the end of 2015, or early 2016 at the latest.
“We’re incredibly excited about the Boulder location,” said Randy Chilton, a franchise partner who has lived in Westminster for 17 years. “The site had been a Massage Envy, and it was empty, next to Chipotle and Smashburger.”
For a business that wants to become what Chipotle is to burritos, it’s a good location — not just between two of the top fast-casual concepts in the country, but also in a college town, universally known to do well with pizza.
PizzaRev is one of about nine brands competing to be the leader in the gourmet, build-your-own pizza market. Another is Uncle Maddio’s, which came to Aurora in January, and Live Basil Pizza, started in Denver by Smashburger entrepreneurs Tom Ryan and Rick Schaden.
For two years in a row, PizzaRev placed in the top 15 restaurants on the annual Top 100 Movers and Shakers rating published by FastCasual.com.
At PizzaRev in Boulder and Lafayette, crust selections will include gluten-free, and there are four signature sauces — such as organic red sauce — plus gourmet cheese and more than 30 fresh ingredients, locally sourced when possible. PizzaRev, 1650 28th St. in Boulder, and 520 West South Boulder Rd. in Lafayette. pizzarev.com 303-678-4373.
Robata-style grilling
Ototo is coming back, opening its doors again this August with a new concept and menu inspired by Toshi Kizaki’s recent travels to Japan. Ototo is part of the Hiro & Co. group of restaurants, which includes Sushi Den and Izakaya Den.
Menu items may change, as Toshi is still fine-tuning his vision, but right now, he says he’s thinking of this: whole fish and foie gras, live sea urchin, noodles like ramen and udon, and robata-style grilled fish and meat skewers.
There’s a catch of the day raw bar, with selections served raw or grilled, and in the new kitchen, there’s a robata grill with rotisserie.
Robata grilling is a deep link to the passion that Toshi and his brother Yasu have for their native country of Japan, and a country cooking style that started centuries ago in northern Japan.
Skewers are slow-grilled over hot charcoal, a cooking technique that is linked to the Japanese love of tea.
In ancient homes, the hearth was often a pit dug in the center of the home, and a teakettle was attached to a chain linked to the ceiling. Eventually, people began to cook over the charcoal pit, which led to robata-style grilling.
Both Toshi and Yasu often visit Japan, and while those trips inspired Toshi’s new restaurant concept, they’ve inspired Yasu to start gastronomic tours.
He visited Japan in March to meet with key people to help him create a gastronomic tour in Tokyo and Kyoto, which he’ll launch in March 2016. The Kizaki brothers, who celebrated the 30th anniversary of Sushi Den in December, continue to pursue their goal of promoting authentic Japanese cuisine.
Ototo, 1501 S. Pearl St. 303- 733-2503.
Unprocessed literature
Beyond cutting out sodas and packaged snacks, do you know what it really means to eat unprocessed foods?
University of Denver graduate Megan Kimble decided to find out by vowing not to eat processed food for a year. Her new book “Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food” chronicles the year she spent eating only whole, unprocessed foods and exploring the American food system.
The nonprofit Food Tank put “Unprocessed” on its summer reading list of 20 inspiring and informative books on food and agriculture.
Although Kimble now lives in Tucson, she is in Denver today to tell the tale — how, at age 26, busy and broke, without a garden to grow her own food, she learned to eat off the grid.
Her book is a good mix of food reporting and engrossing personal narrative — like having a social life and dating while trying not to be an obnoxious restaurant diner, pestering waitresses with a long line of questions, including whether or not there is sugar in the spaghetti sauce.
In the end, “Unprocessed” (William Morrow) is a guide to real food for urban dwellers who care about the food system but don’t have lots of money to spend on whole foods.
She’ll be speaking tonight at the Tattered Cover (2526 E. Colfax Ave.) at 7 p.m.
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083, coconnor@denverpost.com or twitter.com/coconnordp
