Hannah Cunningham is the owner/operator of the Bon Vin wine shop.
Provided by Jeff Fierberg
What happens when a chef needing a front-of-house manager and a front-of-house manager needing a chef both search for a space to open the same type of restaurant?
The smart play, of course, is to join forces. That’s exactly what chef David Arnold (Freehand Provisions, The Counter at Odell’s) and wine store owner Hannah Cunningham (Bon Vin) are doing to launch their new joint project — Amateur.
“I think Hannah and I both separately wanted to open a very neighborhood bistro with really great food and reasonably priced, but amazing, wine,” says Arnold. However…
“David didn’t yet have an operations front-of-house person, and I still needed to go find the right chef,” adds Cunningham, “so it was kind of serendipitous.”
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That serendipity has the pair working together now to find both a space and investors to bring their vision to the West Highland neighborhood, near where they both work today.
Cunningham is the owner/operator of the Bon Vin wine shop, which opened about a year ago in nearby Sloan’s Lake. While she also has chef experience — including a stint at Margot while it was still a pop-up at Noisette, and her micro-bakery called Mother Sauce — her focus has turned to wine pairing and education.
She’s made a name for herself in the neighborhood hosting wine-tasting events and educational classes, as well as a series of food pop-up events outside the store featuring such chefs as Monarch’s Justin Freeman, Geoff Cox from Cimera (formerly Hop Alley), and Ben Whelan at Farang Thai Kitchen, among others.
But a restaurant — and the ability to serve alcohol that comes with it — was always the goal, since Denver has restrictions on serving alcohol in retail settings.
“The plan was to open the bottle shop, and then find a great space where I can serve on premises and do what my full passion is, which is food and wine together,” says Cunningham.
David Arnold at one of his Freehand Provisions farm dinners.
Provided by Freehand Provisions
Arnold, meanwhile, was the executive sous chef at Uchi for many years, and helped open the Japanese kaiseki experience at the Odell’s Bagels chef counter. Some may also recognize him from his Freehand Provisions project, which started out as a line hot sauces and other products designed to reduce waste by using excess farm produce that food banks didn’t want. Over time, that morphed into a popular series of family-style farm dinners and private dining experiences highlighting local produce, culminating in a one-month residency at this year’s Up NXT cohort, held on Sundays at RiNo’s BearLeek.
“(A restaurant) has been in the back of my head for two years,” he says. “It’s just hard to find a good restaurant space, especially for your first concept. There’s just not a lot of great restaurant spaces or second-generation spaces, and the good ones tend to get taken off the market before they even really have a chance to be advertised.”
That’s particularly true for the neighborhood they’re focused on — West Highland.
“There’s a serious gap in the market in the West Highland, Sloans Lake area,” says Cunningham. “We hear it constantly. Once a week since we opened (Bon Vin), I’ve had customers say how much the neighborhood needs a good chef-driven restaurant.”
They hope to find a smaller space no bigger than 50 seats in a relaxed, walkable neighborhood to serve their shared vision of bistro-like fare with seasonal, chef-driven plates designed around produce, and of course, wine.
An example of chef Arnold’s work.
Provided by Jeff Fierberg
“David specifically focuses on whole-ingredient use and working with local farms,” says Cunningham. “I focus on independent winemakers who use sustainable practices. So there’s a lot of overlap there.”
That’s a lot in common between the two, but it doesn’t stop there. They initially met through the Up NXT pop-up series, which both participated in, Cunningham the first year, and Arnold the next. What’s more, both left careers in software to chase their culinary dreams, hence the name Amateur.
“The literal Latin translation of amateur is someone who does something for the love or passion of it,” Arnold says. “I thought that was a funny reframe. You don’t really get into food because you plan to make a lot of money. You do it because you love the thing.”
While the effort to open the restaurant remains in the very early stages, the two are hosting a five-course preview dinner for the concept Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Odell’s Bagels. Cost is $95 with an optional wine pairing for an additional $45.
Dining and Cooking