The Wolf’s Tailor

It’s truly beautiful when my life works out better than the way I expected. Over dinner at Vespertine, Ted mentioned he’d dined at Denver’s The Wolf’s Tailor. So, that night, I checked and got secured a reservation for my upcoming trip.

Pulling into the neighborhood, street parking was a breeze. A few steps later I crossed into The Wolf’s Tailor’s beautiful garden, checked in with the host, and settled into the cocktail lounge to await my seating.

The Wolf’s Tailor Menu

July 8, 2025

Circular

whitefish rillette, nuoc chom, shiso

chilled tomato custard, pea tamari, trout roe

chicken liver macaron, mokum carrot honey

Destruction

Whitefish spruce amazake, algae, green garlic, yuzu

Tomato thai chili pickled rhubarb, stonefruit, lemongrass

Chicken ravioli, tom kha’ style broth, market pickles

Creation

Piada white sonoran piada, ramp butter, mint + persimmon

This rock river ranch bison, canoe farms wild rice, ssamjang, kimchi, mushroom x.o.

Dessert

Chocolate pistacho, bibamba 60% noir, candied cacoa

Jelly peach & yuzu pate de fruit, kettl soba cha

Drinks

First, DOJO KAT (Mali Gin, Celery Shrub, Clarified Whey, Sobacha, Sake Vermouth, Sesame)

Second, 2023 Reeve ‘Septime’ PINOT NOIR from Sonoma Coast, California

Third, Alpine Old Fashioned (Wagyu Infused- Continuous Cash Whiskey, Arolla Stone Pine, Sweet Grass)

Reflections

My dinner at The Wolf’s Tailor wasn’t just a meal – it was a culinary meditation in taste, luxury and when expectations – follow through and can back it up.

Dinner was a beautifully orchestrated evening that left me both full and deeply seen.

Sarah, my primary server, was a luminous presence. Warm, intuitive, and sharp in all the right ways.

The drinks? Spectacular.

The Alpine Old Fashioned? One of the best I’ve had all year. It was balanced, bold, and crafted with big ovary  confidence.

The ceramics? By local to Denver artist, Kazu Oba. The O’baware was beautiful and added to the courses in a distinct way.

No theatrics. Just mastery.

What moved me most was the dedication. The way this kitchen works with the Earth – not just ingredients, but relationships with the land, the growers, the process. This wasn’t farm-to-table as a branding gimmick.

This was stewardship.

This was reverence.

The Wolf’s Tailor grows their own White Sonora wheat – a heritage grain. They harvest it. Mill it. Bake with it. And even sell the flour. When I asked Sarah where the seeds were sourced, she told me: the MASA Seed Foundation in Boulder. That answer alone made me pause. It reminded me of my conversation at Beckon, where small details revealed massive intention. Here too, every answer felt like the tip of a deeply rooted iceberg.

But even with the grain – it wasn’t just the ingredients, it was the method and intention behind their selection and utilization. From the dry-farming methods of the soil to the use of cover crops to regenerate the soil, the story of the land spoke of real sustainability and real craft.

And then came the conversation.

Sarah and I slipped into one of the most powerful dialogues I’ve had this year – about authenticity, about being a human in an influencer-trained world. We reflected on the tension between presence and performance. Who are we curating ourselves for? And what does it mean to live, not for optics, but for experience?

It was the kind of conversation that doesn’t just float over the table – it lingers as it deepens with mental reflection. As each course arrived, so did more insight. I wasn’t just enjoying a multi course selection of excellence, I was also  exploring how to be in a world constantly asking me to be something else.

The bison dish came with Canoe Farm rice from Minnesota, kissed with smoked trumpet mushrooms.  Textural, layered, and deeply comforting, I was able to slip into what I truly enjoy about big game meats.

Thomas Keller captured something essential when he spoke of luxury as the execution of things with finesse. At The Wolf’s Tailor, this philosophy translates into something tangible: delicious, comfortable luxury that feels both elevated and welcoming.

I’ve had delicious experiences at Per Se, Noma, Smyth, Alinea, n/naka and more. Anyone can compose a beautiful plate; even Vespertine manages that. What separates the truly memorable from the merely impressive is heart. It’s the intention behind each decision, the precision that serves purpose rather than spectacle, and the grace that makes excellence feel effortless.

Walking away from The Wolf’s Tailor, I was not only full – but I also carried with me a profound sense of gratitude. To experience such deliberate artistry and meticulous care plated and placed before me? That is what I expect from a Michelin starred restaurant.

For me – that is culinary luxury, defined.

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