Famous Colorado Top Chef Contestant Finally Opening First Spot
The fifteenth season of Top Chef was filmed in Colorado and featured chefs from all over the country competing for the title. With most contestants from New York or California, with a few from Illinois, Connecticut and even Alaska, there was one contestant who stood out above the rest. At least to all of us right here at home.
She didn't win, unfortunately, as she was finally sent home in episode 12, finishing 4th overall. But Chef Carrie Baird was the only contestant to compete on Top Chef's "Colorado" season that was actually FROM Colorado, and has gone on to do some pretty cool things right here at home since leaving the show.
She got to hang out with some Broncos, for example, as a celebrity chef at Jordan Vineyard & Winery's Gather In The Garden Top Chef Dinner & Auction, benefitting Clayton Early Learning at the Governor's Residence Gardens last summer.
She's also been a chef at Bar Dough and ultimately opened her own place in a food hall in Boulder called "Rose's Classic Americana." But COVID took that down seven days after she opened, to never open again.
Since then, as COVID shutdowns ended, she's done some pop-up restaurants around Denver to test out some concepts and serve up some favorites, like "fancy toast" from her Top Chef days.
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Then last year, it was announced she'd be part of opening her first official spot in Denver, called the "Fox and The Hen," a breakfast and brunch restaurant with some unique items on the menu. It was originally slated to open in the summer of 2022 but logistics got in the way.
Now, however, it appears they will be set to open finally, in April of 2023!
While Carrie has been involved in other restaurant projects before, they've always been more of a dinner/late night fare. Now after more than a decade of being a night owl, she's excited to have the chance to open a place that focuses on breakfast and brunch and showcases her talents as a chef. This is an opportunity made possible by being part of Juan Padro’s Culinary Creative restaurant group with herself and others as investors in this specific endeavor.
Chef Carrie explains to Restaurant-Hospitality.com why a breakfast concept restaurant is right up her alley, telling them, "Oh man, doing a breakfast restaurant has always, I mean always, since I was little, been the dream. I remember my dad and I, he did a lot of cooking and we would daydream about owning a restaurant. In the daydream it was always breakfast: Pouring coffee and making eggs. Even when I was in culinary school and the project was to design a restaurant, it was always breakfast. I just enjoy breakfast, and I enjoy going out to breakfast."
Fox and The Hen is currently targeted to open at 2257 W 32nd Ave. in Denver in April, just north of the Speer Blvd. exits of I-25.