"Randolph’s Restaurant and Bar is out and a new cat-themed Italian restaurant called Gattara is in at the Warwick Hotel in Uptown. Thomas Newsted, who previously served as the executive chef at The Perfect Landing restaurant at Centennial Airport, is Gattara’s Executive Chef. According to a press release, Newsted and his team will prepare classic Italian cuisine with a modern twist and a focus on Italian ingredients and seasonal produce. At the heart of the 5,632-square-foot restaurant, which is located inside the hotel at 1776 Grant Street, is a copper-clad pizza oven in which Neapolitan-style pizzas are cooked at 700 degrees for 90 to 180 seconds. Among the pizza options is the Funghi, a hearty vegetarian pizza with sautéed mushrooms, white wine cream sauce, and garlic chili oil. Another pizza on the menu is the Bianco Verde, a lighter white pizza with romesco cauliflower, leeks, and radicchio topped with kale and agrumato. The pizza options also feature several Colorado meats, including a house-made fennel salsiccia, pork cheeks, elk pepperoni, and a Colorado lamb chop. The pizza dough, meanwhile, incorporates the Denver Pale Ale from Denver’s Great Divide Brewery. The lunch and dinner menus will also offer several appetizers, such as a Yukon Gold gnocchi paired with smoked pork cheeks, mache, and giardiniera, and yellowtail crudo with limoncello vinaigrette. Rounding out those menus is a selection of pastas and desserts as well as other entrees. The cocktail menu features both classic cocktails and a selection of specialty drinks, featuring liquors from local distillers Leopold Bros. and Stranahan’s Whiskey. Gattara will also serve breakfast daily, as well as brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Among the items on the brunch menu is a vanilla French toast drizzled with butterscotch anglaise. Bottomless mimosas will also be available during brunch. According to a press release, the restaurant’s name comes from an Italian word that’s meaning is similar to the English phrase “cat lady.” This cat theme is carried throughout the restaurant’s decor, which features hidden felines that can be found adorning the wallpaper and other spaces in the restaurant. There is also a large mural of a curious-looking cat behind the bar, which has a capacity of 47. The cat theme is also echoed in the names of the specialty cocktails. Copper accents in the dining room are intended to compliment the space’s feline theme. The main dining room also includes sliding doors that open to a newly renovated patio. That patio, which is dotted with couches and seats more than 100 people, features a fireplace and is outfitted for year-around use. Gattara is now open daily from 6:30am to 10pm." - Paul Albani-Burgio
