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Meet Edward Vanegas of Aperitivo Restaurant in Boulder

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Edward Vanegas.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Edward. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was raised in San Antonio, Texas and during my high school teenage years, I traveled to my grandmother’s house to visit for a summer and take some summer school classes in Los Angeles, CA. Without my dad’s knowledge, I applied to work as a busboy to help with personal spending money at a Los Angeles area restaurant. I was not aware of the notoriety and history of this restaurant company until the interviewing manager Alan Stanton hired me and asked me to come in the next day… This was/is the famous Lawry’s, The Prime Rib Restaurant, on the iconic “ Restaurant Row” of La Cienaga Blvd in Beverly Hills.

The simple gratification of clearing plates and re-setting tables with my busboy job was truly magical… the smiles and sometimes direct tips made me feel important and relevant to the success of the restaurant as a whole…watching the wait staff, bartenders, managers all orchestrate together this “ opera performance” was just magical. Mistakes on one night were corrected the next night and successful evenings were made fun for all.

I entered lower management as I was promoted thru the busboy ranks and eventually to the host podium… after a few months dressed up in business attire, I was promoted to the Maitre’ D position for Lawry’s The Prime Rib/Beverly Hills… during my early tenure I was approached by some of the early founding family members and asked to apply for a new California’s Restaurant Association College Scholarship… I was being afforded to be the first recipient of the family’s scholarship administered by the CRA to Cal Poly University to attain a Hospitality Management Bachelors Degree.

Movie Stars, TV Directors, TV and Sports World Stars were my customers every night. I managed where and when they seated and was instrumental in adorning them some level of privacy… Muhammad Ali, Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Carson, Farrah Fawcett, John Wayne and so so many more.

My tenure ended with Lawry’s as I ventured to other restaurant companies and eventually to Food and Beverage Management with Hotels. Companies such as Embassy Suites, Hyatt, Marriott Sheraton and a few independents in between… retiring from Hospitality at 40 years old to help a business partner/best friend create a company called Suburban Silk. SS was a company that imported hand made Thai Silk men’s and women’s accessories for wholesale to 1000 stores across the USA like Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, White House Black Market, Target and hundreds of small boutiques. Fifteen years of success with millions of dollars in sales but the Financial Recession had other plans for us.

We went back to my roots of food and beverage… after starting a Monday night Food Truck and Music/Concert event in Longmont (Prospect New Town neighborhood) in 2011 and ourselves adding a Thai food CART to the list of trucks we were greeted with instant success… we built a brick and mortar restaurant across the street from the park that hosted Prospect Eats (the event park across the street). Urban Thai is a modern Thai infused with traditional specialties… full service with craft cocktails and an eclectic wine and beer list.

Managed by business partner Paul Chansingthong after 2017 as I ventured off with Executive Chef Miguel Vazquez to create Aperitivo in the Gunbarrel community of Boulder. Now three years old and hitting our stride with a global fusion that includes Thai Curries, hand made Italian pastas, Spanish Paella, Oaxaca Mexico’s Mole and an amazing daily Brunch with Benedict’s, Omelettes, and a Chinese Congi… (rice porridge). Our goal for Aperitivo was to create a big city bistro that had “ landed” in Gunbarrel to serve a constantly mobile customer that has traveled, lived and worked in destinations everywhere and has been accustomed to seeing a neighborhood bistro with alfresco patio seating and your name is known.

Has it been a smooth road?
I never understood a roadblock to be a show stopper… I had an injury to my left eye as a young teenager that left me with permanent damage like depth perception this has allowed me to “ see” a roadblock only as a speed bump.

In the early days and most recently with building the Aperitivo Restaurant… we had cash flow and financial perils… we have never had an investor, institutional bank loan or social media crowd fundraising. We used our own salary at our “ real corporate jobs” to finance our early wholesale/retail company by only scheduling the next trade show in the next city with paychecks from one of our sources.

This effort for years created a culture that we did not take extreme chances… we just would grow at our own pace based on our financial needs and personal sources. We did all we could to minimize risk taking on new clients only that could provide payment in a reasonable time period or as soon as products shipped.

The extreme set back came when the 2009-2010 financial crisis caused retail stores big and small to fail we struggled thru for a while eventually coming to the realization that consumers had decreased their spending in traditional stores but were still pending in restaurants and hospitality… my background caused us to “ jump” into the pool with risk assessments taken with just using our own personal capital and minimal cash flow from the still existing wholesale business. BUT lines at the front door of Urban Thai upon opening made us instantly realize we had stepped over the speed bump and were on our way to early success KEEP your head in the game… stay focused… expand menu and staffing conservatively and all will be ok.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Aperitivo Restaurant – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Urban Thai has become a staple in the community of Longmont and broader because of its commitment to provide a traditional and fusion element to every dish and cocktail. A Thai Shrimp Scampi and Jade Noodles dish with an Italian fettuccine noodle and Green Curry create modern dishes that keep the true Thai aficionado of Thai cuisine coming back for more.

Aperitivo has captured the same culture by being open to cuisines around the globe from Peruvian Empanadas, Thai Curries, Chinese Congi, Spains Paella, America’s own Eggs Benedict named after Ms. Benedict as a hangover cure in the late 1890’s in New York.

Our restaurants are chef-driven on a daily basis. I would say that our restaurants are flexible when crafting menus, cocktails and selecting wine lists to keep our guests returning for “ more” and to create a new customer to “ try” and than both customers share with friends and family… we are active on social media with photos and guest stories and we are good at creating a sense o family from the greeting at the door to chefs and managers visiting table guests to the sincere thank you as you exit.

We are nimble when it comes to searching and executing new menus or service techniques, be it recipe or technology. Nimble means more than one thing. Nimble to capture something new and to have it available asap or nimble enough to know if we executed wrong, we can STOP and re-execute if necessary.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
We love our Boulder/Gunbarrel community we love the closeness to the City of Denver because it allows us to search and be customers of our industry colleagues near and far… we learn by watching, experiencing and paying for service in brick and mortar restaurants in the area. We evaluate, discuss, brainstorm almost daily to ensure that we are current, using best practices and moving the ball forward every single day.

We love the sense of family we feel in our community… never ones to NOT tell us if we have done something stupid or didn’t remember their name last time. We read and review all of our online reviews and we respond like family respectfully and with facts if necessary.

What we like the least ???? We know discretionary spending is always limited in most family’s but if you liked us last week… told us so… tipped well… then why do we have to WAIT so long to see you again.

Pricing:

  • Breakfast Brunch Average pricing $ 6.00 to 13.00
  • Lunch Pricing Average $ 7.50 – $ 13.00
  • Dinner Pricing Average $ 13.00 -$ 24.00

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Edward Vanegas, photo credit to all photos uploaded

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.

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