Bringing the Heart and Soul of Mexico to South Broadway

 BY SHALEEN DESTEFANO

Michoacán, is a state located in west-central Mexico. Bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the southwest and by the states of Colima and Jalisco to the west, Guanajuato to the north, Querétaro to the northeast, México to the east, and Guerrero to the south. It is known for its delicious food and gorgeous views and it is where Brian Rossi’s story starts. He is the owner of Adelitas, Palenque and La Chupaflor and we were eager to find out how his journey as a restaurateur began.

Being Denver natives, we have had our fair share of Mexican food and nothing compares to Adelitas and Palenque. Clearly you have put your passion for the culture into these two restaurants. Walk us through your journey.

I moved to Denver in 1993. My only restaurant experience at the time was at a Dairy Queen when I was twelve years old. I arrived into town on a Thursday night. On Friday around 3pm I went to my aunts very busy pizzeria to check out my future employment. Well, of course, as the restaurant business goes, a server called in sick, so immediately I was “thrown to the wolves” and had to wait tables for my first time ever on a Friday night. I actually did pretty well, and after I counted my tips at the age of 18 and making $200 in cash in six hours, I was hooked on the business. I worked there off and on as well as various other places for about a decade. In that time I discovered management and started to manage a Mexican restaurant on East Colfax around 2003-2004 which is when I was invited on my first trip to Mexico, and first trip to Tequila. I fell in love! I fell in love with the landscape, the culture, and the spirit. I learned about tequila production, and from then on I had the bug. I wanted to know everything about Mexico, and Tequila. The next 10 years I found myself in Mexico more and more often, and I always made a point to visit Tequila town. I would go to the beach for a few days, then I’d rent a car to take the five hour hike into Tequila and tour various distilleries. In 2013 I was asked if I was interested in the Adelitas space on S. Broadway. At the time I was digging egress windows with a friend of mine, and not having more then two dimes to my name, I just kind of laughed it off, but I knew this could be my only opportunity so I started to find ways to raise some money.  After months of searching I was able to take out a very small loan. Ok, I had some money, not a lot, but I would have to make it work. I had a little money, and I could for sure throw together a food menu, but would it be good??? Who knows. I knew the Agave spirit, and drink menu would be good, but food was a question mark. I happened to be on Facebook, when I learned that Silvia was also looking for a place to open a taqueria, so I reached out to her son that I had worked with in the past, and asked them to come take a look.  At that time we decided to team up, and when she started cooking her food for me while we were coming up with a menu, I was shocked! I have never had Mexican food like hers. She shared with me her secret as to what made her food from Michoacan different. To this day over five years later her food still blows me away.

When you walk into Palenque or Adelitas, one might become a bit overwhelmed by the amount of tequila behind the bar. Tell us a bit about the distilleries and maybe some cliff’s notes on how to navigate the mezcal options.

One of the things we believe in at Adelitas is education. Not only for the customers, but for the staff. This is why we frequently take our staff to Mexico. We believe it is important for them to have as much knowledge as possible about all agave spirits. As much as I love to talk to customers about agave it is impossible to reach out to each and every one of them, so it is important that our staff can be an extension of us, and also have a passion for agave spirits, and they do. The people that work with us are all just as passionate about what they do, and I feel it reflects in the service they provide. So we encourage our customers to ask our staff members about the spirits we carry. They love to talk and educate.

If you ask us, Palenque is one of the best kept secrets of Denver. What inspired the vibe of this space?

My love for agave spirits took what seems to be the natural progression into Mezcal, Raicilla, Bacanora, and Sotol. I began to travel to Oaxaca and I fell in love with Mexico again. I found myself reading every piece of educational material I could get my hands on, and could not keep myself out of Oaxaca where I would visit numerous Palenques (mezcal distilleries) and Mezcalerias (small mezcal bars). I really wanted to bring what I loved so much to our state of Colorado. I tried to replicate as close of an experience as you could get to being in Oaxaca.

While, we normally like to try everything on the menu, we can’t not order the Molcajete Bowl. Seriously, do you sprinkle it with magic? 

I have the same problem. Yes we do, we sprinkle everything with magic, and it’s called love!

 

You’re a father of three, do you bring these signature dishes home?

Oddly enough my oldest does not like spicy food, so he only eats chicken tacos with cheese only. My two-year-old, on the other hand, had her first taste of Mole when she was about 8 months old, and she loved it.  Our youngest Lennox has yet to discover our menu.

Speaking of the kids. La Chupaflor is your ice cream shop and it also celebrates taco Tuesdays. What exactly is Michoacán-style ice cream?

Michoacan is known in Mexico for its amazing ice cream, and unique flavors. Most of the ice creams are made using natural fruit flavors made with real fruit, and other ingredients indigenous to the region. Many of our flavors are flavors that Silvia was accustomed to when she was growing up. We not only celebrate Taco Tuesdays with $2 ice cream tacos, but we have a number of other daily specials such as Milkshake Mondays, “Humpday” Wednesday’s you receive a free mini double scoop, half off Thursdays for kids 12 & under.

Do you have any future ventures planned?

As a matter of fact, we do! We close on a property on Main Street in Littleton on July 16th. We will be announcing the exact location next week. We are going to recreate an Adelitas and bring what we do on South Broadway to Littleton. We hope to have it open on September 24th, 2018!

Brian and Chef Silvia have created three of our favorite stops and are responsible for our lunch and dinner several times a month. Thank you for consistently serving delicious food to our community!