For a family-style dish, 7x brisket is braised in red wine and dashi. The cooking liquid is reduced into a high-gloss glaze that coats the tender beef, which is served with tallow-confited tomatoes and whole grains.
The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today!
Your initial experience at chef Kelly Whitaker’s new Denver restaurant, the Wolf’s Tailor, which officially opened on September 1, may be a bit disorienting. Rather than adhering to one specific genre, its cuisine, executed by chefs Kodi Simkins and Sean May, is a technical blend of Japanese, Chinese, and Italian fare. The menu is peppered with words that may be unfamiliar: Cassarici. Nukazuke. Donabe. Chawanmushi. You’ll enter the Sunnyside space not at the front door, but through the backyard garden gate. Dinner service isn’t available in that outdoor garden area; rather, diners are encouraged to order snacks at the walk-up kitchen window and sip a Japanese whiskey highball near the fire pit before heading inside the restaurant for supper.
While there is much to explain about the Wolf’s Tailor, there is also much to love. For a primer on Whitaker’s “story-based food,” scroll through the pictures below. Then, read more on the zero-waste philosophy and inspiration for the Wolf’s Tailor here.
The Wolf’s Tailor’s grilled prawn skewers are redolent of lemongrass. Pro tip: Snag one of the inside bar seats and you’ll be treated to a selection of rotating special skewers not available elsewhere in the restaurant.
The chicken skewer is seasoned with housemade tare (a soy-based sauce).
Whitaker has brought Basta’s famous piada bread to the Wolf’s Tailor. Rather than plating the fluffy bread with Burrata, the Denver version is paired with creamy roasted eggplant, grana padano cheese, and chips of garlic confit.
The Three Crudo trio includes kampachi topped with dashi granita, as well as scallops and fluke.
All of the pastas at the Wolf’s Tailor are extruded on-site and made with house-milled heritage grains. This is the Cassarici, served with koji-fermented turnips and their greens, lemony breadcrumbs, and olive oil.
Acqua pazza, or “crazy water,” is one of the first dishes chef Kelly Whitaker learned to prepare when he was cooking in Campagna. The simple, stunning combination of red snapper, dashi broth, and fresh tomatoes is stewed in a traditional Japanese donabe pot.
For a family-style dish, 7x brisket is braised in red wine and dashi. The cooking liquid is reduced into a high-gloss glaze that coats the tender beef, which is served with tallow-confited tomatoes and whole grains.
All of the larger entrées at the Wolf’s Tailor come with a side of lightly fermented cabbage.
Succulent red miso pork ribs are served family style with sweet corn.
Jeb Breakell (formerly of Emmerson) often uses savory elements in his desserts. To wit: The caramel corn served alongside this luscious black sesame semifreddo gets a touch of salinity from soy sauce.
