Pizzeria Rustica is essentially set to double in size. The restaurant today announced the coming opening of Enoteca Rustica, a revamped dining area upstairs from its current space in Old Colorado City.
“So, we ran into this big problem last winter where we kept on turning people away,” chef Jay Gust told the Report during a recent tour. “Every Friday and Saturday, we were turning between 20 to 40 people away.”
The second venue will feature a white-marble-topped bar where patrons can snack on unique antipasti like a killer octopus carpaccio with chili oil, dried capers and gigante beans (pictured above) or a “really nice” beef bresaola.
Oenophiles will find a list of at least a half-dozen obscure varietals served at proper temperatures — reds a little colder at 65 degrees, whites at 45 degrees — and unique cocktails like a basil mojito topped with frothed cream and “lime caviar” from the badass finger lime. And you better believe there will be something for craft-beer lovers.
“Ideally — this is still way up in the air — but having our first draft beer just be one cask, featured cask, all on hand engines,” Gust says. “That way you’re not having a glycol system, it’s not the mess, it’s not the stink, it’s easy to clean. Plus, it’s just a beer you don’t have to completely refrigerate: It’s like pull it out, let it temper, tap it right before service, pump it for the day, cork it, refrigerate it. Basically, we’re trying to get two days out of one cask.”
The restaurant’s newsletter describes Enoteca Rustica as “a wine bar, cocktail bar, craft beer bar, antipasti bar, and intimate dessert room,” it reads. “You can enjoy a craft beer or cocktail and snack or antipasto upstairs and then enjoy pizza downstairs; or dine downstairs and enjoy our specialty dessert selections, digestifs, and coffees upstairs. Enoteca Rustica will have its own specialty wines, beers, cocktails, antipasti, desserts, and digestifs not available at Pizzeria Rustica.”
The opening date is set for late November. During the tour, Gust noted the presence of a new salumi cave designed to show off the restaurant’s curing efforts. See more on that, and other cool stuff happening at owner Dave Brackett’s Rustica and neighboring restaurant TAPAteria, in a previous post here.
[Image: Bryce Crawford]
