Chef Jen's year-old 'baby' learning to run

John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, December 16, 2005

For a one-year-old, Rioja is pretty steady on its feet and talking up a storm.

Chef Jennifer Jasinski and general manager Beth Gruitch opened their Larimer Square bistro Nov. 22, 2004, after months of coping with typical restaurant start-up disasters.

About 51,505 dinners later, according to Gruitch, the Larimer Square eatery has thrived, not simply survived.

"It's been awesome, beyond all our expectations," she said. Gruitch estimated that Rioja's first-year business was 25 to 30 percent above initial projections, allowing the company to begin paying back the original investors.

Chef Jen measures her baby's success by the number of regulars who come in to eat once a week.

"It has been a phenomenal year. It ended up going much better with fewer problems," Jasinski said.

Although well known in Denver, Rioja and Jasinski also have made a huge splash in the larger world of foodies in 2005.

"The biggest surprise has been the amazing level of national press we've gotten in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Sunset and The New York Times," Gruitch said. Rioja is mentioned again in Food & Wine's January issue.

The first year has not proceeded without some problems and disappointments.

"When you build a restaurant from the four walls out, you think the construction is finished. You spend all this money and time planning, but then you have to redo the dishroom floor because it was built wrong," she said.

Jasinski confessed to being "amazed" that the furnishings and equipment they carefully chose didn't last. "Tables get trashed so fast. My steam table has broken down four times. My baker's oven in the back has broken 20 times at least."

On a personal note, "the biggest surprise was for me to get divorced," she said quietly.

While the kitchen and front of the house managers and supervisors are all intact after one year, Rioja has endured an 80 percent turnover in employees, Jasinski said.

"Our retention rate is 20 percent, which is expected, and there have been a lot of promotions. You overhire at first. Some just don't work out and we've had to replace some staff members."

As a result, Jasinski insisted, "We have the best crew we've ever had right now, better than when we opened."

Rioja's menu has changed seasonally, introducing many new dishes that necessarily replaced popular items. "Even my pizza is gone. It's been devastating," Gruitch said with a chuckle. Beth's Favorite Pizza had been topped with gorgonzola cheese, black mission figs, arugula and prosciutto.

"Things still come up every day that we have to deal with, but they're nothing we can't handle," Jasinski said.

She has struggled to keep her food costs in line. "It's 33.8 percent and I'd like it down to 32.5 percent. It doesn't sound like much, but over the course of a year that might be $60,000 we could spend on something else."

The duo is trying to find affordable health insurance for their employees. "It's really, really hard. A lot of the companies just turn down all restaurants. The ones that do take restaurants offer very little coverage," Jasinski said.

Jasinski and Gruitch say they may someday consider opening a second eatery but, Gruitch said, "no time soon." Jasinski said she is planning to buy more wine and water glasses.

"We never have enough glasses. We break a lot of glasses. Maybe it's good luck, like at a wedding," she said with a laugh before concluding the conversation.

Looking back was nice, she said, but she had to get back in the kitchen to prepare for the night's diners.