News & Media

Cattivella makes Westword’s ‘The 100 Best Denver Restaurants’ List

Chef Elise Wiggins opened her dream restaurant, Cattivella (“naughty girl” in Italian), on the eastern edge of Denver in 2017, creating a place that reflects her many experiences traveling, working and eating in Italy.

The wood-fired pizza oven is used for far more than pizzas, and an adjustable charcoal grill gives meats (many of them brought in whole and butchered on site) and vegetables a rustic, old-world depth of flavor. Housemade breads and pastas separate Cattivella from the standard bistro or trattoria, too, making for a sensuous experience — whether you’re naughty or nice.

Cattivella Chef Elise Wiggins Returns to Her Roots With Fried Chicken Trailer

Cattivella has been going strong in the Eastbridge Town Center since it opened at 10195 East 29th Drive in 2017, but chef/owner Elise Wiggins doesn’t want all her chicks in one basket, especially with cold weather approaching to put a damper on patio dining. So she just bought a 1962 Shasta camper and is about to embark on a new adventure.

Cattivella’s Chef/Owner Elise Wiggins Gets Her Own PBS Cooking Show

Elise Wiggins, the chef/owner of Cattivella, knows what it’s like to be in front of an audience. Her Italian eatery in the Stapleton neighborhood centers on an open kitchen, where the chef and her culinary team butcher meat, make pasta, cook pizzas and grill steaks on a wood-fired grill, all in front of guests eagerly awaiting every bite. Wiggins also uses the exhibition kitchen as a stage for cooking classes and other events where she’s front and center for people looking for professional guidance.

But there’s a big difference between cooking live and revealing your personality in front of a television camera for thousands of people. Wiggins took the plunge, though, and the result is Roots to Ranches, a Rocky Mountain PBS series that will give viewers a look into foraging, hunting and regenerative farming and ranching, through Wiggins’s history and career as a professional cook.

Concourse in Stapleton Closing to Make Way for Second Cholon Location

ChoLon Modern Asian chef-partner Lon Symensma and executive chef Becca Henry are eating their way across Southeast Asia right now, on a culinary R&D excursion intended to inspire the team and arm them with new ideas to bring back to the Front Range. Why now, when popular ChoLon has been open for nine years? Because the LoDo mainstay is expanding its footprint all the way out to Stapleton’s Eastbridge Town Center. There, as of September 22, Symensma’s Concourse Restaurant Moderne will close to make way for ChoLon 2.0.

“While it is bittersweet to close Concourse,” says ChoLon Restaurant Concepts partner Christopher Davis-Massey, “we listened to our customers and the neighborhood, realizing the desire not only for an Asian concept in Stapleton, but for more access to our flagship restaurant.” ChoLon Restaurant Concepts is the group behind Concourse, ChoLon, Cho77, LeRoux, and, until its March closure, BorraCho Tacos on South Broadway.

Ice Cream Flies Into Stapleton this Weekend

Stapleton lands a new ice cream parlor on Saturday when the Constellation Ice Cream from Little Man Ice Cream officially opens. Announced back in 2017, the 355-square-foot walk-up kiosk in Town Center features five service windows.

Little Man handcrafted ice cream treats include sorbet and ice cream novelties, such as the flambéed “Connie Pop,” a baked Alaska popsicle finished over an open flame.

Exclusive Constellation creations include Cruising Altitude, a cookie butter base mixed with airline pretzels and peanuts; Red Eye, a vanilla coffee base with a fudge swirl; and Turbulence, a mixture of marshmallow, charcoal ice cream, and chocolate pearl crisps. Chocolate airplane toppings and a variety of specialty ice cream sandwiches round out the menu.

Little Man Ice Cream’s latest, Constellation starts scooping in Stapleton

Denver’s own Willy Wonka wants to bring back some wonder to the city’s former airport site this weekend with the opening of The Constellation Ice Cream in Stapleton.

Nearly 20 years after Stapleton International Airport closed, Paul Tamburello, the owner of Little Man Ice Cream, and his team have installed a 74-foot aluminum airplane wing, propellers and all, in the Eastbridge Town Center at E. 29th Drive and MLK Boulevard.

The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver 2017

A fast-casual Italian joint serving fine-dining-worthy fare. A penthouse dazzler. A first-time offering in Aurora from a New York transplant. As this year’s list of best restaurants reflects, the metro area’s dining scene is changing in exciting ways: defying neighborhood boundaries, expanding the definition of a top-tier experience, and even challenging the idea of what a restaurant is and can be. Seven of the spots below have opened in the past 12 months, and they’re here because, like the stalwarts, each delivers delicious food, thoughtful hospitality, and comfortable surroundings, day in and day out. Whether old guard or new, helmed by a local chef or an import, white-tablecloth or counter-service, these 25 eateries are rising to the challenge of meeting—and exceeding—the evolving expectations of hungry Coloradans.

The Constellation to Zoom Over Stapleton this Fall

Some very good news for fans of LoHi’s Little Man Ice Cream creations and admirers of vintage-style roadside Americana; The Constellation ice cream shop veers back on track at Stapleton’s Eastbridge Town Center, paying homage to the airport and the Pan Am-era of travel. The bold project, announced almost a year ago and destined to become the visual figurehead for the retail hub, gets back on a new schedule, currently hiring and pushing for an official mid-November debut.

Cattivella Set to Open Today as Eastbridge Stapleton’s First Restaurant

Nearly a year ago, Elise Wiggins left her longtime position as executive chef at Panzano to pursue her vision of opening the Italian restaurant she’d always wanted. And the day has finally come: Cattivella opens to the public tonight at 10195 East 29th Avenue. It’s the first eatery to debut in the new Eastbridge Stapleton shopping center.

Peek Inside the Upcoming Concourse Restaurant Moderne

Come spring, chefs Lon Symensma and Luke Bergman, who worked together in their New York City days, will unveil their joint project in the Stapleton area. Concourse Restaurant Moderne, located at 10195 E. 29th Drive, calls itself a progressive American cuisine spot that makes use of European techniques.