We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Brenner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
As the owner, I have committed myself to volunteer for any needed committees or boards where I can have an impact. These are mostly focused to our downtown partnership where I am on the Business Improvement District board, a DEIA initiative and many other projects where the input from a business is helpful (construction projects, parking situations, and overall marketing of the downtown core businesses). I developed our own charitable arm during COVID called Meals to Heal-Feeding the Frontline. This allowed us to raise funds however we could and donate the proceeds in the form of hot dinners for hospital workers. We also partnered with other businesses to provide coffee for morning sessions, chocolates for Easter as well as monthly meals for at risk teens through Forge Evolution. We helped develop a new form of promotion for the most influencial food and beverage writer in the area who forged into new means of connection with his own podcasts, subscription newsletter and social media channels to keep the covering the culinary businesses in our region. Side Dish with Schniper identified a dozen sponsored businesses which allows him to continue writing without the worry of having enough paid subscriptions. We also unveiled our blueprint for local businesses to purchase their own real estate. We did this by exploring the possibilities of buying our own building and shared all the support we found as well as successful manners in which we were able to navigate this process. Our hope is to see as many locally owned businesses become their own landlords thereby stabilizing the market and ensuring a push back to blanket gentrification of our most prized business district. I was very happy to recently be nominated as Chef of the Year in the Colorado Restaurant Association’s “Hospy” awards as the only nominee representing Colorado Springs.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I began my career as most do in the kitchen, as a dishwasher. I climbed through the ranks while studying various other possible careers including design and marketing. I am a musician who also maintained a modest career as a full-time band member playing locally and completely regional tours. I decided to completely focus on the culinary field in 1997 after marrying my wife. I completed a two-year apprenticeship at the St. Louis Country Club while fulfilling a degree in Restaurant Managment and Culinary Arts at Forest Park College in St. Louis. I also gained certification as a chef through the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation. I opened my first restaurant, Moxy Contemporary Bistro, at the age of 34, while also working as Executive Chef for Chez Leon French Bistro right next door. I began consulting to help other businesses in our neighborhood to grow, expand, or simply improve their operations. This effort lead to a vibrant consulting career which included starting a very successful Coffee business (Kaldi’s Coffeehouses throughout the Midwest), working as the Consulting Chef for The Isle of Capri Casinos with 15 locations throughout the country, developed a line of Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free products sold in retail grocery stores throughout the country as “Bold-Organics”, and many small start up businesses in the St. Louis area including a company which produced meal panning for healthy lifestyles. I moved to Colorado Springs after winning on Guy’s Grocery Games to start a deep connection to this city. We grew the company by providing consistent and family-friendly favorites in an accessible and vibrant space. Our business has doubled in revenue since the onset of COVID and our ability to pivot and invest in our community has proven to be the driving force. We cook “for’ people not “at” people and pride ourselves in meeting our guests where they are and to provide what they want from us. I have connected with some businesses to provide support however they may need in my new city to continue the work of elevating the culinary landscape of our city.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I always take people to our Downtown city center and walk them through all of the amazing growth in our core. I take them to eat at the many gems of independent restaurants in the area. I take them to the new Weidner Field and usually have dinner at the Warehouse. Most folks will already make plans to see Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak. I like to take them shopping at all the great shops in Downtown Colorado Springs as well as the fun shops in Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs. I try to support all of the newer restaurants that are trying to add to the diversity of cuisine. There are too many to list. I like to take a day trip west to Buena Vista and hit all the amazing scenic spots along the way. I love showing people the amazing cocktail scene we have developed in downtown Colorado Springs. We always take them for a hike at Bear Creek Park with our dogs. And we like to try to find new places that we haven’t tried yet while we have friends or family in town. We stay mostly downtown and on the west side.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have many people to thank in my effort to be a leading business owner in our area. I need to thank Doug Burkhalter for partnering with me in 2016 to take over an existing struggling business and develop Red Gravy Italian Bistro. When Doug was ready to move on, Bob and Terri Jack came on as my partners and supported all of my efforts to connect with the city and region especially through the COVID years. My own personal board room consists of my wife, Lara and best friend and consistent cohort, Paul Chickey as well as my siblings and other family friends. The Colorado Springs Downtown Partnership’s leader, Susan Edmundson has been amazing in helping to highlight all of my efforts to develop a more collaborative nature in driving business to our area, not just our storefront. I need to also thank my earliest mentors in my culinary career including the Favazza family (my first kitchen job), Chef Gerald Schaller (for my apprenticeship and formal education), James Clary who helped me understand service standards and business acumen, and finally Pete Rothschild for supporting me in opening my own first restaurant and for coaching me through buying my first building. Another shout out to Jonah Attebery for partnering on the building at 23 S. Tejon St. and to Ingrid Richter and Jim DiBiasse for helping with the sale.

Website: https://www.redgravyco.com

Instagram: @redgravyco

Facebook: Red Gravy

Yelp: Red Gravy

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