• 5280 Promotions
  • 5280 Travel Club: 2026 Trips Now Open
  • 5280 Giveaway: Enter to Win A Year Of FREE Botox
  • Sign Up For Our Newsletters
Logo
Everything Denver,
Everywhere You Are
SubscribeCurrent Magazine Cover
Menu
Logo
site search navigation search site
When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to go to the desired page. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures.
  • Find It
    • Restaurants
    • Events
    • Doctors
    • Dentists
    • Lawyers
    • Real Estate Producers
    • Senior Living Communities
    • Mile High Stories
  • News & Features
    • Sports
    • Politics
    • Infrastructure
    • Environment
    • Education
    • Business
  • Eat & Drink
    • The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver This Year
    • The Top 5280 Dining Guides
    • Find a Restaurant
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Beer
    • Booze
    • Brunch
  • Adventure
    • The Best Fall Hikes Near Denver
    • The 10 Hiking Essentials
    • First-Timer’s Guides
    • Outdoor Gear
    • Travel
    • Hiking
    • Cycling
  • Culture
    • Find an Event
    • Art
    • Books
    • Style
    • Film
    • Music
    • Theater
  • Health & Wellness
    • Find a Doctor
    • Find a Dentist
  • Home & Design
    • Real Estate
    • Hotels
    • Shopping
    • Top Real Estate Producers
    • The 25 Best Neighborhoods in Denver in 2025
  • Magazines
    • Issue Archive
    • Top of the Town 2025
    • Award-Nominated Stories
    • Shop for Back Issues
    • Subscribe to 5280
    • Sign up for our Newsletters
  • 5280 Promotions
  • 5280 Travel Club: 2026 Trips Now Open
  • 5280 Giveaway: Enter to Win A Year Of FREE Botox
  • Sign Up For Our Newsletters
Eat & Drink

Behind the Scenes: Fruition Restaurant

Take a peek inside one of Denver's best restaurants. Photos by McCall Burau 

Staff
Staff September 20, 2012

The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals.

Fruition Restaurant: All hands on deck—it’s menu change night in the kitchen of Fruition Restaurant
Fruition Restaurant: Morel mushrooms dry above the range.
Fruition Restaurant: Morel mushrooms dry above the range.
Fruition Restaurant: The sound of metal on metal is a constant chime as knives are sharpened and sauté pans are run across the burners
Fruition Restaurant: Josh Rathbun minds his saucepan. The kitchen staff has been at work since early in the morning, prepping their mise and learning the new dishes
Fruition Restaurant: Potato straws, hot from the fryer, cool on the racks. Nearby the stand mixer is working double time whipping the meringue to the proper peak
Fruition Restaurant: The small kitchen space keeps the heat from the line heavy on the backs of the chefs
Fruition Restaurant: Blanched asparagus gets an envious ice bath in the sweltering kitchen
Fruition Restaurant: As service time draws near, the crew crowds around head chef Alex Seidel. He plates each new dish for the first time, and his staff memorizes the blueprints
Fruition Restaurant: The last item on the prep list is checked off as the sweet smell from the smoker wafts through the back door, bringing with it a cool breeze
Fruition Restaurant: Ramps wait in the window to get charred. An aimed snap of a kitchen towel results in a momentary ease of the tension
Fruition Restaurant: Tender Belly Farm’s porchetta rests before it is slow roasted
Fruition Restaurant: Fruition Creamery’s Pecora tops the olive oil-smashed fingerling potatoes. The battle-hardened, callused, and burned hands of the chefs delicately maneuver their knives
Fruition Restaurant: As tickets start to crowd the window, the team of chefs quickly fall into a routine, crossing over each other in a coordinated dance of sauté, season, and garnish
Fruition Restaurant: Head chef Alex Seidel (right) works closely with chef de cuisine, Matthew Vawter (left), putting the finishing touches on the evening’s plates
Fruition Restaurant: Framed on a clean white plate, each dish departs the kitchen as a compilation of imaginative flavor combinations, quality ingredients, and hours of hard work
Fruition Restaurant: The smell of fresh thyme, parsley, and chives fill the air of the back room as pork belly is rubbed down with curing herbs
Fruition Restaurant: “Hands please!” is yelled as the marinated beef carpaccio hits the window. The request queues the servers to give the plate one last wipe before they deliver it to the table
Fruition Restaurant: All hands on deck—it’s menu change night in the kitchen of Fruition Restaurant
Fruition Restaurant: Morel mushrooms dry above the range. They’ll soon be truffled and paired with butter poached–Columbia River sturgeon
Fruition Restaurant: The sound of metal on metal is a constant chime as knives are sharpened and sauté pans are run across the burners
Fruition Restaurant: Josh Rathbun minds his saucepan. The kitchen staff has been at work since early in the morning, prepping their mise and learning the new dishes
Fruition Restaurant: Potato straws, hot from the fryer, cool on the racks. Nearby the stand mixer is working double time whipping the meringue to the proper peak
Fruition Restaurant: The small kitchen space keeps the heat from the line heavy on the backs of the chefs
Fruition Restaurant: Blanched asparagus gets an envious ice bath in the sweltering kitchen
Fruition Restaurant: As service time draws near, the crew crowds around head chef Alex Seidel. He plates each new dish for the first time, and his staff memorizes the blueprints
Fruition Restaurant: The last item on the prep list is checked off as the sweet smell from the smoker wafts through the back door, bringing with it a cool breeze
Fruition Restaurant: Ramps wait in the window to get charred. An aimed snap of a kitchen towel results in a momentary ease of the tension
Fruition Restaurant: Tender Belly Farm’s porchetta rests before it is slow roasted
Fruition Restaurant: Fruition Creamery’s Pecora tops the olive oil-smashed fingerling potatoes. The battle-hardened, callused, and burned hands of the chefs delicately maneuver their knives
Fruition Restaurant: As tickets start to crowd the window, the team of chefs quickly fall into a routine, crossing over each other in a coordinated dance of sauté, season, and garnish
Fruition Restaurant: Head chef Alex Seidel (right) works closely with chef de cuisine, Matthew Vawter (left), putting the finishing touches on the evening’s plates
Fruition Restaurant: Framed on a clean white plate, each dish departs the kitchen as a compilation of imaginative flavor combinations, quality ingredients, and hours of hard work
Fruition Restaurant: The smell of fresh thyme, parsley, and chives fill the air of the back room as pork belly is rubbed down with curing herbs
Fruition Restaurant: “Hands please!” is yelled as the marinated beef carpaccio hits the window. The request queues the servers to give the plate one last wipe before they deliver it to the table

Staff
Staff

Best of Eat & Drink

A double cheeseburger with onion rings on top and a side of onion rings

11 Things to Eat (and Drink) at Empower Field this Football Season

Brittany Anas
Restaurant Olivia’s potato- and corn-filled culurgiones, a handmade Sardinian pasta

The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver This Year

Mark Antonation

How Bristlecone Bake Shop Mastered the Art of High-Elevation Pastries

Lisa Blake
A milky cocktail in a skull-shaped glass with a green umbrell surrounded by rose petals

The Best Halloween Bars Around Denver This Year

Allyson Reedy

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS.

All things Colorado delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
5280

Magazine

  • Subscribe
  • Issue Archive
  • Shop for Back Issues
  • Buy a Plaque

Subscriber Services:
1-866-271-5280

5280 Directories

  • Restaurants
  • Events
  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Lawyers
  • Real Estate Producers
  • Senior Living Communities
  • Marketplace

Best of 5280

  • Best Restaurants
  • Best of the Mountain West
  • Denver’s Best Neighborhoods
  • First-Timer’s Guides
  • Hikes We Like
  • Top of the Town
  • The Year That Changed Everything

5280 Elevated, Inc.

  • Work With Us
  • Who We Are
  • Job Opportunities
  • Sign up for our Newsletters
  • Advertising Specifications
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Contact Us

5280 Elevated, Inc.
1675 Larimer St.
Suite 675
Denver, CO 80202

Phone: 303-832-5280

Instagram X Facebook Pinterest