Two MICHELIN Stars: Chef Kelly Whitaker’s Ascent to Colorado’s Highest Culinary Honor

"Carrying a layered parable in its name, this Colorado restaurant is now the first in the state to earn Two MICHELIN Stars and reads as both a sermon and an experiment: a place where faith and fire, discipline and rebellion, and by-product-as-beauty all coexist. For Kelly Whitaker it became a meditation on transformation — the wolf can be tailored into something restorative — and the kitchen tests his limits as much as the ingredients. Opened in 2018 in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood and evolved from à la carte into one of the country’s most progressive tasting menus, Wolf’s Tailor earned a One Star in 2023, then intentionally burned itself down and rebuilt to expand purpose rather than seats, adding projects like an employee greenhouse and electric-powered kitchen upgrades. Inside the kitchen, refinement meets reinvention: pastry chef Emily Thompson (formerly of The French Laundry) co-created a pastry program born of waste and fermentation, even turning discarded sourdough starter into flour for a delicate macaron. The restaurant embodies Whitaker’s shift from “sustainability” to measurable “impact,” practicing system-to-table sourcing, fermentation to use everything, regenerative design, and partnerships with Slow Food USA, Big Green, and Seafood Watch — all driven by a mission to defend makers rather than chase accolades." - Katie Shapiro