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Makeover complete for bistro
With 20 gallons of black paint and 15 gallons of burgundy red, six refugees from the corporate restaurant world have boldly shut down the old Pino's Place in downtown Castle Rock and reopened it less than a month later as Union American Bistro.
By By:Vicky Gits
With 20 gallons of black paint and 15 gallons of burgundy red, six refugees from the corporate restaurant world have boldly shut down the old Pino's Place in downtown Castle Rock and reopened it less than a month later as Union American Bistro.
The assignment resembles an episode from "The Apprentice." Take a mom-and-pop spaghetti palace in a small town and with practically no money transform it into a hip showplace where young families and singles come to hobnob.
Only this is real life and they are risking real money instead of a trip to the boardroom.
Gourmet comfort food
The former hometown Italian eatery at 3 Wilcox St. is now a trendy hometown eatery and bar with sophisticated fare such as lobster tater tots, duck with shitake mushrooms, sautéed rainbow trout and grilled beef tenderloin.
Appetizers range from $7 to $10.50, lunch entrees are $8 to $10.50 and dinners go from $15 for pan fried chicken to $26 for grilled 12-ounce Kansas City Strip, with winter vegetable hash browns and lemon rosemary cracked pepper butter. Union burgers are $8.
The old, dirty gray carpet, vinyl tablecloths and wobbly wood chairs are gone. A tiny bar area has been expanded to a spacious focal point with room for about a dozen customers.
It's not there yet, but one can visualize beautiful, young career types hanging around and sipping kiwi-fruit martinis.
An interesting, 15-foot-long onyx-slab tabletop makes an attractive place to enjoy a casual meal without having to sit at the bar. Next to the bar area is a high-ceilinged dining room with a lighted fireplace at the end and room for a party of 20 at one table, if necessary.
Smoking is not allowed in the bar or the dining area.
"We are completely different. There's not another place like us in town," said co-owner Dennis Dickey, who bought Pino's with his wife, Christina, and four other friends.
The six compadres, who now live in Castle Rock, formerly worked together at restaurants such as Yia-Yia's Euro Café in Greenwood Village and The Grand Restaurant and Café on The Plaza in Kansas City, all owned by the pb&j Restaurants Inc. a chain of 11 restaurants based in St. Louis, Mo.
Dickey describes the menu as "creative, modern American," or "gourmet quality comfort food." The idea was loosely patterned after Union Square Café in New York City, he said.
Dickey said he wanted to start a company based on the principle that product and service were paramount, that cutting corners was not allowed.
In terms of ambience, Union American Bistro is a kind of upscale-hotel with a little Starbucks attitude, Cheers irreverence and Pottery Barn chic. Union American Bistro is an all-purpose watering hole for lunch, dinner, after-work, after-dinner and everything in between.
"We want every body to feel like they are a member of the family," Dickey said.
The group started the restaurant by raising $300,000 from American National Bank, the Small Business Administration and $100,000 in savings. The original plan was to buy the High Tide restaurant in Park Meadows but that deal fell through.
The partners used the money to buy the business, replace appliances and furnishings, and did all of the cleanup, demolition and remodeling work themselves. The kitchen alone was recipient of four coats of white paint. Walls were removed and carpeting replaced with synthetic hardwood tiles.
All of the owners are seasoned restaurant industry professionals who are hands-on participants in restaurant operations.
The chef is Tom Lee, whose last job was as executive chef at a luxury dude ranch, the C Lazy U in Grand Lake. Before that he was the chef at Yia Yia's. Despite these lofty credentials, Lee, like the others, was on his hands and knees scrubbing every inch of the kitchen before opening day.
Lee described the desired atmosphere as something upscale and casual at the same time, where shorts and suit and tie were equally welcome.
"The last thing we want is to be a destination restaurant," Lee said.
Details
Union American Bistro
(formerly Pino's Place)
3 Wilcox St.
Castle Rock
Smoking: No
Food: Reasonably priced American favorites with a gourmet twist.
Price range: Appetizers about $7 to $10.50; lunch, about $8; dinner entrees from $16 to $28.
Contact Vicky Gits at vgits@ccnewspapers.net.
The assignment resembles an episode from "The Apprentice." Take a mom-and-pop spaghetti palace in a small town and with practically no money transform it into a hip showplace where young families and singles come to hobnob.
Only this is real life and they are risking real money instead of a trip to the boardroom.
Gourmet comfort food
The former hometown Italian eatery at 3 Wilcox St. is now a trendy hometown eatery and bar with sophisticated fare such as lobster tater tots, duck with shitake mushrooms, sautéed rainbow trout and grilled beef tenderloin.
Appetizers range from $7 to $10.50, lunch entrees are $8 to $10.50 and dinners go from $15 for pan fried chicken to $26 for grilled 12-ounce Kansas City Strip, with winter vegetable hash browns and lemon rosemary cracked pepper butter. Union burgers are $8.
The old, dirty gray carpet, vinyl tablecloths and wobbly wood chairs are gone. A tiny bar area has been expanded to a spacious focal point with room for about a dozen customers.
It's not there yet, but one can visualize beautiful, young career types hanging around and sipping kiwi-fruit martinis.
An interesting, 15-foot-long onyx-slab tabletop makes an attractive place to enjoy a casual meal without having to sit at the bar. Next to the bar area is a high-ceilinged dining room with a lighted fireplace at the end and room for a party of 20 at one table, if necessary.
Smoking is not allowed in the bar or the dining area.
"We are completely different. There's not another place like us in town," said co-owner Dennis Dickey, who bought Pino's with his wife, Christina, and four other friends.
The six compadres, who now live in Castle Rock, formerly worked together at restaurants such as Yia-Yia's Euro Café in Greenwood Village and The Grand Restaurant and Café on The Plaza in Kansas City, all owned by the pb&j Restaurants Inc. a chain of 11 restaurants based in St. Louis, Mo.
Dickey describes the menu as "creative, modern American," or "gourmet quality comfort food." The idea was loosely patterned after Union Square Café in New York City, he said.
Dickey said he wanted to start a company based on the principle that product and service were paramount, that cutting corners was not allowed.
In terms of ambience, Union American Bistro is a kind of upscale-hotel with a little Starbucks attitude, Cheers irreverence and Pottery Barn chic. Union American Bistro is an all-purpose watering hole for lunch, dinner, after-work, after-dinner and everything in between.
"We want every body to feel like they are a member of the family," Dickey said.
The group started the restaurant by raising $300,000 from American National Bank, the Small Business Administration and $100,000 in savings. The original plan was to buy the High Tide restaurant in Park Meadows but that deal fell through.
The partners used the money to buy the business, replace appliances and furnishings, and did all of the cleanup, demolition and remodeling work themselves. The kitchen alone was recipient of four coats of white paint. Walls were removed and carpeting replaced with synthetic hardwood tiles.
All of the owners are seasoned restaurant industry professionals who are hands-on participants in restaurant operations.
The chef is Tom Lee, whose last job was as executive chef at a luxury dude ranch, the C Lazy U in Grand Lake. Before that he was the chef at Yia Yia's. Despite these lofty credentials, Lee, like the others, was on his hands and knees scrubbing every inch of the kitchen before opening day.
Lee described the desired atmosphere as something upscale and casual at the same time, where shorts and suit and tie were equally welcome.
"The last thing we want is to be a destination restaurant," Lee said.
Details
Union American Bistro
(formerly Pino's Place)
3 Wilcox St.
Castle Rock
Smoking: No
Food: Reasonably priced American favorites with a gourmet twist.
Price range: Appetizers about $7 to $10.50; lunch, about $8; dinner entrees from $16 to $28.
Contact Vicky Gits at vgits@ccnewspapers.net.
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