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Parker: Nice guy Leo Goto an easy man to toast, a difficult one to roast

By Penny Parker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 28, 2006 at midnight

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Even though Leo Goto, one of the nicest guys in Denver's restaurant community, begged Colorado Restaurant Association honcho Pete Meersman to put him through the roasting ringer, Meersman and fellow roasters had a hard time.

Goto, the front-door face at the Wellshire Inn, took his turn at what was supposed to be dodging darts during the CRA fundraiser Tuesday night at the Wellshire.

"He called me five times to tell me there should be no holds barred," Meersman said before emceeing the event, where more than 160 Goto admirers gathered.

Instead of a torrid tell- all, however, the long- winded speakers painted a piece of Denver restaurant history as told through the eyes of the Japanese immigrant who came here with his family in 1942.

Goto's first foray into the restaurant world was as a (depending on whom you ask) pearl diver/dishwasher/eggroll-roller and eventually maitre d' at Trader Vic's in the old Cosmopolitan Hotel.

"Trader Vic's was the place to go, and Leo was the greatest host in the land," said attorney and Wellshire partner Larry Atler, who eventually teamed with Howard Torgove to open Leo's Place in 1970 in what would become RTD's Civic Center Station.

"If you took a lady for lunch at Leo's Place, it better have been your wife," said roaster and Chamber of Commerce bigwig Joe Blake.

When RTD condemned the building, Atler and Torgove looked for another spot to showcase their pal's hospitality. The three partners took over the Wellshire Inn in 1976, and $2 million later, had a restaurant that was up to city code. Goto's been planted there ever since.

"Sam Arnold and Leo Goto should have been mayors," said Mayor John Hickenlooper. "(As in the restaurant business,) the mayor never has any money, you have to take a motley crew and turn them into a trained staff, and the public is always (ticked) off about something."

Goto, who got the last word of the evening, turned the tables on the mayor.

"Mayor, did you have to go to the kitchen door and yell, 'Immigracion, immigracion,' " Goto teased. "Those four dudes are probably halfway to Albuquerque by now."

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE: The Travel Channel is looking for a wild and willing couple able to give up their lives for four months to be part of a new reality series based on the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.

Producers are holding an open casting call from 1 to 9 p.m. Monday in the Hotel Teatro, 1100 14th St. They're looking for a couple, ages 25 to 45, in a romantic relationship (presumably with each other), who are willing to leave behind jobs, possessions and (gulp!) kids for a four-month, round-the-world journey.

Download the application at travelchannel.com and bring it with you (and your partner) to the audition. If you can't attend, follow instructions for submitting a package through the mail.

BOOSTER BABE B-DAYS: Cherry Creek mall marvy marketing maven Lisa Herzlich and Chamber of Commerce chick Chris Power Bain celebrated b-days Thursday. No, I'm not going to reveal their ages. Even if I told you, these prize PR pushers would figure a way to put a spin on the truth. Happy b-days, goils.

UNMASKED: The massive Mask Project auction ends today. To secure a bid on your favorite mask by a national or local personality, go to maskproject.org and click on Mask Auction. Proceeds go to Hospice of Metro Denver.

THE SEEN: Retired congressman Scott McInnis and former governor Dick Lamm lunching Thursday at Racines; Ward Churchill defender David Lane lunching at Emily's Gourmet off the 16th Street Mall on Wednesday; former presidential hopeful Gary Hart strolling the mall Wednesday.

EAVESDROPPING on a woman at the Goto roast: "He's the nicest man there is. We play poker and he's sorry when he wins."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-892-5224 or e-mail .