Restaurateur Bryan Dayton’s Half Eaten Cookie Hospitality group has announced its acquisition of The Kitchen restaurants in Boulder and Denver, adding to a portfolio that includes Boulder’s OAK at Fourteenth and Corrida restaurants.
Speaking with the Daily Camera, Dayton did not disclose financial details of the deal, which he said was in private conversations for months.
His vision for the eateries is “business as usual,” Dayton said, with no major changes planned for the spaces, staff or menus, though there might be “some tweaks,” he added.
The Boulder-based restaurateur called The Kitchen an “iconic” brand that helped lay the groundwork for farm-to-table ethos in the local hospitality scene.
“They have a great foundation and I’m happy to take that torch forward,” Dayton said. “They’ve always been a big advocate of great agriculture and ranching practices, and I think that it’s an amazing cornerstone of our community.”
Kimbal Musk opened The Kitchen restaurant on Boulder’s Pearl Street with chef Hugo Matheson in 2004. The Denver location opened in 2012 on Wazee Street.
Musk, who has lived in Boulder and is the brother of Elon Musk, came under scrutiny earlier this year, after he was mentioned at least 140 times in emails exchanged between disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. The emails were included in documents released by the Department of Justice as part of the Epstein files review.
Asked how the Musk name could influence The Kitchen’s repute, Dayton said: “People are gonna have opinions, and that’s just how it is, but what Kimbal built there with Hugo is amazing.”
“I think that’s in all businesses, right? People have a lot of opinions about Google or Amazon, but they’re still on Google Docs and still ordering their Prime every day,” he added.
In another venture, Dayton and chef Samuel McCandless started Corrida Cattle Company, which supplies beef to the group’s restaurants and sells to individuals.
The supplier is likely to play a part at The Kitchen, according to Dayton, who said he will “definitely start looking at ways to incorporate some of our rancher relationships into The Kitchen in the future.”
Dayton’s Half Eaten Cookie Hospitality group, which owns Corrida, OAK at Fourteenth, C Bar and C Burger, recently opened its newest Boulder eatery — a French bistro called Cinq à Sept — in north Boulder. Dayton also owned the now-shuttered Acorn and BriDer restaurants in Denver.
“As long as you’re being great at hospitality, you can play in a lot of different mediums, and I feel like that’s what we’re doing right now,” Dayton said.
