We had the good fortune of connecting with Rocky Hunter and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Rocky, how do you think about risk?
We opened Gladys during a very turbulent time for restaurants in general; everyone was coming off nation-wide shutdowns due to COVID-19 & the climate of going out to restaurants was, shall we say, still a bit shaky! We decided the path forward for us came in the form of calculated risk & playing a bit of long game with our food concept by opening a food stall in a local market hall with counter service, common seating etc. We took our experience from high end, full service restaurants & re-formatted to our new, more-casual home in the Edgewater Public Market to create food that still felt like our own, but made sense to our audience at the hall. At first, people didn’t really know what box to put us in & we quickly gave up fitting into one simply because we were having a great time cooking food, connecting with regulars, & picking up momentum as a team! This approach brought us a great deal of social capital in our community & paved the path of how now, we plan to move forward- intimate spaces that promote interaction between the cooks & the diners, bringing the whole dining experience full circle for everyone- just like our small but mighty counter at the market we feed people at everyday! Our risk not only paid off, but also gave our concept more depth, direction, & personality!
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Dave & I first became fast friends through music- we’ve even played together in a few bands over the years! When working through the initial steps of opening a restaurant, the dynamic was really no different: we recognize in each other our strengths & as well as opportunities for improvement, & work together to make something beyond us that is a larger sum of many small steps & processes. Coming from the world of punk rock, we also share a worldview rooted in self-empowerment, animal advocacy, & environmental responsibility- while we’re not necessarily trying to beat others over the head with those principals, our business is certainly reflective of those priorities & ethics… below is the mission statement from our website:
We believe small day-to-day choices can have a dramatic impact on the world around us- by choosing a vegan lifestyle you not only advocate for ethical treatment of animals, but also create fundamental changes necessary to our food systems, & explore a path of lesser resistance for our continued survival on this planet. We choose to share this belief by making great-tasting, vegetable-focused food to share with our community in hopes to not just sustain our guests, but also to challenge, encourage, & inspire!
We call this ethos- plants forever.
“Brand” always feels like a buzzword to us, but “belief” is the cornerstone of how we choose to treat our work, our team, & our guests; it runs deeper & is intrinsically more motivating to reach our goals.
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?
Mon: Metropolis coffee to say hello to some of our friends & favorites, Mak Fam for the best lunch at a window counter you might be able to find, & over to Washington Park to walk it off awhile… pizza & salad from Joy Hill for dinner.
Tues: Hoja garden cafe for smothered breakfast burritos / Linger for dinner & up 5 floors to El5 for a nightcap.
Weds: Red Rocks park in the am, up to boulder for more light hiking- hit the boulder evening farmers market & an essential stop at Best One Yet for some ice cream.
Thurs: Little Owl coffee for a late morning cold brew & walk about- over to RINO to wander in & out of shops, especially the almighty Carbon Knife CO which you’ll certainly need a few hours with Craig & Tina to walk you though some amazing hand-made Japanese knives. Over to Hop Alley for dinner & if it’s really popping off, Denver City Tattoo Club to get some walk-in flash by the one & only, Kevin Hennessy… maybe a few mocktails at Death & Co & delicious late bites at Cart Driver if were not ready for skin-art just yet.
Fri: Backyard cooking with some of that amazing produce from the Boulder farmer’s market, lots of cold sparkling beverages- we love Hop Lark & Dram, locally made of course!
Sat: A good day to be out & about, heading up to Golden Gate Canyon for some fun hiking & sunshine, ending back in west Denver- walking the shops at Edgewater Market & sampling some great food from… Gladys! While at the market, a visit to Konjo Ethiopian is mandatory, as is a walk around near by Sloan’s Lake around dusk. Later bites? Up a bit north to Fire on the Mountain for many, many seitan “wings” with jerk sauce & a cold root beer to wash them down.
Sun: Brave the line at Odie B’s for the best breakfast in town, & sadly, slowly head out I-70 to the airport- see you next time!
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In the process of opening Gladys, I’ve been leaning on a lot of experience garnered from a Maine restauranteur I previously worked under for years- David Turin.
Chef David has been a mentor to me both professionally & personally; offering support in many forms when it was needed. He asked hard questions; which in turn brought introspection, modeled a leadership style & work ethic that inspired his collective teams at several restaurants. His work as chef & leader has manifested in how I carry myself as a co-owner alongside my business partner, chef Dave Grant & how we in turn, posit a leadership example of integrity, accountability, & consistency to our team; everyone works together to serve the larger goal of creating a phenomenal restaurant!
Website: https://www.gladysrestaurant.com
Instagram: @gladys_restaurant
Image Credits
All photos by Javier Roeth