Justin Cucci - (Root Down, Linger, Ophelia's) - Denver

Justin Cucci sits down with The Shift List. A mainstay of the Denver food scene with an ever-growing list of both homegrown and high concept restaurants, including Root Down, Linger, Ophelia’s, El Five, and more.

A New York city native, Justin grew up revering the chefs and culture at the Waverly Inn - a west village dining institution that was owned and operated by his grandparents as a kid.

About the same time, Justin started playing in bands, and continues to do so to this day. He opened Root Down, his first restaurant in Denver, over a decade ago, transforming the building from a gas station to a neighborhood restaurant with a cult following that serves globally-influenced seasonal cuisine, with a focus on organic, natural and locally-sourced ingredients. Root Down features two onsite gardens, which not only provides seasonal vegetables for the restaurant, but for it’s sister restaurants, Linger and Ophelia’s. There’s even a Root Down at Denver International Airport, one of the main reasons to book a long layover in the city.

Justin has infused music into the culture and business of all of his restaurants - each one of their business entities is named after a Steely Dan song, for example, and you’ll find out what each of them are soon. There is plenty of Steely Dan in this episode, so yacht rockers rejoice.

Om Podcasten

The Shift List is a new podcast from BGS, talking to chefs about the music that fills their kitchens, restaurants, and recipes. Each episode offers a casual and concise chat with a chef about the music that plays in their kitchen before, during, and after a shift, as well as the sounds that have influenced their creative life.