>Chef Alex Figura cuts a pepperoni pizza at Redeemer Pizza’s second pop-up of the winter, which sold out in three minutes, inside Good Bread Denver on Saturday, January 30. (Eli Imadali, Special to the Denver Post)
Editor’s note: We’re just craving pizza all the time lately. There are few foods that are more comforting. So leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, we’re bringing you a three-part series on our favorite pie. Today: A pizza place that is selling out before it even opens. A
For a rare view into Colorado’s food culture over the coming year or more, just look to chefs Alex Figura and Spencer White and their growing family of Denver restaurants.
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The owners of Dio Mio are opening a new pizza shop on Larimer Street in 2021. Redeemer will sell naturally leavened sourdough pizzas, hoagies, shared plates and more. (Nikki A. Rae Photography, provided by Redeemer)
Can’t possibly imagine what surprises 2021 has in store for Denver and Front Range restaurants? Frankly, neither can we. But the future still feels hopeful at least for these 18 spots slated to open throughout the year.
Most are located around Denver, but we’ve also unearthed a few coming to Fort Collins, Boulder and Colorado Springs. And we’ve spotted some trends already.
Pizza seems to be a strong bet moving forward. The pandemic has shown Denver restaurants what people really want in times of distress. The answer: cheese and bread, of course. (See also ice cream in that same category. And throw in tacos and tequila, too.)
God, guts and gluten: That s what s powering a new pizzeria from Alex Figura and Spencer White, the chef/owners of Dio Mio Handmade Pasta.
With Redeemer Pizza, Figura and White now have two businesses tinted with religious iconography. But Redeemer is actually named after an heirloom wheat variety, according to marketing and communications director LuLu Clair. The guys have really been getting into milling flour at Dio Mio, Clair notes, adding that using wheat from small regional farms has long been part of Dio Mio s mission.
So when you head to Redeemer when it opens this spring, or attend one of the planned pop-ups over the next few weeks, don t expected to be converted except maybe to the team s brand of New York-style pies made with slow-fermented, naturally leavened dough. The pop-ups will be held at Good Bread Bake Shop at 1515 Madison Street (previously Pete s Cornerhouse Lounge); the first, slated for January 16, has already sold out.