A B-Cycle food and wine adventure in Denver
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Denver B-Cycles come complete with a very large basket, perfect to carry leftovers or bottles from the winery home.[/caption]
Denver was a launch site for the community bike share program B-Cycle, which we think is pretty darn cool. The concept is simple: B-Cycle stations are located throughout the city, and anyone can rent a bike for 24 hours for just $8, traveling from station to station throughout Denver (though you have to dock a bike back up within 30 minutes to avoid extra fees).
It got us thinking that this community share bike program can launch fellow wine lovers on a food and Bonacquisti wine across Denver. These adventures all start at the 16th and Boulder station, which is the closest to the winery.
To Cherry Creek and Beyond! (5 miles)
Tony Pasquini has been busy this past year, taking back many of the the Pasquini's Pizza restaurants he franchised — and opening new ones, including a Cherry Creek location. Although to avoid confusion with a Pasquini's his sister owns nearby, the Cherry Creek location is known simply as Tony P's. It's a pizzeria first, but offers a diverse offering of Italian sandwiches and pastas to go alongside our wines.
Directions: Head downhill, across the two pedestrian bridges connecting downtown. Once in Commons Park, head south to connect with the Cherry Creek path, then pretty much follow that until you get to Cherry Creek North. There's a B-Cycle station at the corner of 3rd and Milwaukee, and Tony P's is a half block away.
To the Other Neighborhood Bar (2.6 miles)
We're fond of the neighborhood bars and restaurants that dot the landscape of Sunnyside and Highland, but there are plenty of other fantastic areas throughout the city that feature dining establishments equally as homey. The Uptown neighborhood, for example, is home to Jonesy's EatBar, a bistro that features tasty American fare and a solid Colorado wine list, including Bonacquisti jug wines. We're fans of the Mac 'n Cheese, but the rotating seasonal menu impresses at every turn, and the jovial atmosphere inside the restaurant has us a little jealous of Uptown. We still love Sunnyside, don't worry.
Directions: Head downhill, across the two pedestrian bridges connecting downtown. Once in Commons Park, head north to 20th Street, take a right, and cruise along the outskirts of downtown. When you get to 20th Avenue, take a left. Jonesy's will be on the righthand side, and the B-Cycle station will be one block further, basically where 20th Avenue meets 22nd Street.
Bonacquisti Out and Back (3.4 miles, roundtrip):
A no-brainer in our mind, the "out and back" is a simple ride north-ish from the B-Cycle station to get to the winery. Plus we're now open until 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays for our extended Tap Room hours, which turns our tasting room into the happy hour stop of Sunnyside. We have pub tables set in the tasting room, a relaxing back patio for sipping and great deals on wine by the glass. And we have noticed that a half-case of wine fits pretty well in the Denver B-Cycle basket (wink, wink).
Directions: Head up 16th and take the bend onto Tejon Street until you reach 46th. Take a right on 46th, left on Pecos and right into the parking lot anchored by the Quizno's. Note: There's a good chance you'll take the bike out for more than the 30 minutes allowed, so expect a few extra bucks charged to your card for renting the B-Cycle.
Back to Highland
Of course, many of these adventures can end at the 16th and Boulder B-Cycle station. If you're coming our way, enjoy Bonacquisti wines at Pasquini's Pizza (32nd and Zuni), Linger (30th and Tejon) and Highland Tap & Burger (32nd and Vallejo).
Bringing Pasquini's Pizza back to the family
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Colorado may be a hotbed for rapid expansion of restaurants on both the regional and national level — see Chipotle and Noodle & Co., for example — but Tony Pasquini wants no part of playing the role of franchiser. Anymore.
In fact, he’s going in reverse. He started selling off his Pasquini’s Pizza and franchising new locations more than a decade ago. Guess what? He didn’t like how they were being run. So in the last few months, he's gone ahead and bought out the ownership of two of the locations and ended a license agreement with another one.
Pasquini’s is now a family business again.
“You know, it sounded like a good idea,” Tony says. “I figured out it wasn’t for me. When you are a small franchiser, you don’t have the wherewithal to operate the stores on the quality level needed. The spirit just wasn’t there.”
In the process of this changeover, Tony also opened up a new location in Cherry Creek, which marks three locations he now owns and operates (Highland and Lone Tree, the others). All three serve Bonacquisti Vinny No Neck on tap. A fourth location, the original on South Broadway, is still owned by his sister.
So why the change of heart? Simple. Tony has core values he believes needs to be instilled in any business carrying his last name, a mantra that should start with the choice of cheese and continue to how employees interact with customers.
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“We just got involved with people who didn't necessarily have the same values that made Pasquini’s successful,” Tony says. “Use cheaper cheese to make more money? That wasn’t the idea behind it. It was meant to be a community place.”
So now, after seven years of taking a role in an office, Tony is back to the long hours of running not one, but three pizzerias. After some reflection, the 45-year-old wouldn’t have it any other way. Pizza has been in his blood since shortly after his 10th birthday, after all.
At the time, Tony’s father ran an auto shop. He didn’t want to work with his dad.
“My dad’s best friend had a pizza place,” he says. “His son didn’t want to work for him, I didn’t want to work for my dad. When you are 10 and Italian you have to go to work.”
So he started in the pizza biz well before his teenage years. About a decade later, his parent’s divorce led to he and his mother getting a restaurant space on South Broadway.
He turned it into a pizza joint with just nine tables in 1984. “There was really not much to it,” he recalls of the original location that has been expanded and is now run by his sister. “With every dollar we made, we put it back in it. We didn’t have enough to buy supplies for more than a day.”
Well, the concept worked and by 1998 the business was growing. He licensed out a spot in Uptown in 1998, followed by a Louisville location in 2001 (since closed). Then came the crazy growth with the Highland (2007), Lone Tree (2009) and Tech Center (2010) locations popping up in succession.
That’s when Tony started noticing things weren’t up to snuff at all the locations. Since taking all of them back inhouse, Tony has instilled his work ethic and family values while upgrading the menu.
Things such as the cheeses and meats are now being sourced from top purveyors (locally when possible, such as Il Mondo Vecchio for the restaurant’s Italian meats, Bonacquisti Wine Co. for vino and Haystack Mountain for cheese, for example) and general quality control has become a top priority.
“Wherever we can, try to buy local,” Tony says. “Whatever we can do.”
The newest location, Cherry Creek, which just opened a month ago, also introduced a wood-fired oven for the first time and has 15 mostly Colorado beers on tap. Tony hopes to open an Uptown and East Colfax spot in the next year, too. But he's not going to relinquish control during this expansion burst.
“I learned that never put myself in a situation again,” he says. “My whole life I have been positive and building; franchising is more policing. You have to do this or else — that’s not what I’m about.”
Tony’s Pick: Vinny No Neck ($6 a glass) and Antipasto ($9.95)
This dish got an overhaul when Tony moved back in charge. It features a selection of meats — coppa, salami and pepperoni — from Denver’s awesome butcher Il Mondo Vecchio alongside fresh mozzarella, olives, roasted peppers and more. “It’s fabulous,” Tony says. “It’s the best stuff I’ve had. It’s perfect with Vinny. The Bonacquisti stuff is just a perfect food wine. Hes got that Italian flavor to it.”
Drink Vinny and eat pizza at these three locations:
Highland, 2400 West 32nd Ave., Denver
Lone Tree, 7431 Park Meadows Drive, Littleton
Cherry Creek, 240 Milwaukee St., Denver
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