Pasta Bar is now serving up pasta and sauces made in house, and co-owner Marko Pavlovic believes the pasta bar will bring authentic Italian flavor to the downtown Commons Food Hall.
“We are opening a pasta bar with homemade fresh pasta with my Italian roots that comes from Europe,” Pavlovic said. “Basically, we make fresh pasta in house with a simple Italian style and ingredients.”
The Pasta Bar, which opened earlier this week, invites customers to create their own meals by picking from a selection of fresh pastas including fresh fettuccine, spaghetti and dried penne. There is also potato gnocchi for an additional $3. The customer then selects from sauces such as alfredo, Bolognese, carbonara, Amatriciana, pesto alla Genovese or alla vodka to complete their lunch entrée.
“You choose your pasta first, then you choose the sauce,” Pavlovic said. “You choose what you like to have, and it doesn’t need to be spaghetti carbonara, which is traditionally Italian — you can have penne carbonara or whatever you prefer.”
The customer can also add proteins including grilled chicken, sauteed shrimp, meatballs, veggie primavera or broccoli. The menu also contains specialty pasta including shrimp scampi and chicken parmigiana, as well as a selection of salads including Caesar, Caprese and a cold pasta. There is also a children’s menu that includes macaroni and cheese and macaroni and butter.
All the fresh pastas at the new restaurant take about three minutes to cook, making Pasta Bar a perfect place for downtown employees and visitors to stop and grab lunch, Pavlovic said.
“We portion everything, and everything is freshly made. We just put the pasta in water for three minutes, and then an additional minute or two for the sauces — so you’re going have your meal in about six, seven minutes tops,” Pavlovic said. “It’s good for businesses around lunch break, and everything on the menu will be made from scratch.”
Pavlovic, who has family in Naples, Italy and Serbia, opened Pasta Bar along with co-owner, Borko Orlic and another investor. Chef Kris Manaku has joined the group on the venture. The group also owns and operates a bowling alley in Aspen that blends an entertainment venue with wood-fired pizza. Pavlovic said the group brings a wealth of fine-dining experience.
“We’ve all worked before in fine dining as general managers or sommeliers,” Pavlovic said. “The three of us, we have about 40 years of fine-dining experience, and I used to work for Michelin-starred restaurants in Miami and in Chicago.”
The pasta bar is located at 56 7th St. and serves its dishes at the large window in the alley that runs between the Commons Food Hall and Butcherknife Creek.
The restaurant offers outside patio seating and guests can also take their food inside the Commons Food Hall & Bar. Pavlovic said building owners are planning to enclose the patio this winter and add heaters so that customers will have additional space to savor their pasta year-round.
John F. Russell is the business reporter at the Steamboat Pilot & Today. To reach him, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.