When Ashleigh and I first moved to Denver back in 2001, Denver was a scary place. As small and lazy as the town seems to us now, it felt huge, and foreign to us back then.
My friends always laugh at me for saying this, but one of the hardest things to adjust to when we moved was the transition from the motherland of Mexican food (Tucson) to a city blatantly lacking for good, authentic Mexican food. (While we now have found a few diamonds in the Denver rough per se, it still amazes us that a city with one of the largest Hispanic populations in the country has such consistently horrid Mexican food.)
Denver became a bit more like home when we stumbled upon Tosh's Hacienda in Five Points, which was less than a mile from our first place here. It was one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in Denver, and was a sister-restaurant to one in of all places, Tubac, Arizona. Their burritos featured phenomenal spiced chili beef, reminiscent of the Carne Seca of Tucson, and actual New Mexico green chili (not the creamy, bland, "orange swill" that the lemmings of Denver think of as green chili).
One of the perks of buying a home over here was moving back close to Tosh's, and we've eaten there probably 20 times since we returned in September. It was almost like being back in our first place together on Sonoita in Tucson, with Casa Molina a block away--We even had a favorite server (Jesus, a younger guy that lives across the street from us), just like we did at Molina's.
However, we got word a couple months ago that Tosh's was in bankruptcy proceedings, and finally, they closed about a month ago. The one decent restaurant in our neigborhood was gone forever.
A couple days after they closed their doors, however, we noticed activity on the site. Walking by, we noticed a sign announcing that the space would soon by occupied by the Kiva Fusion Restaurant. A visit to their website instantly made me concerned--Click through the techno-music introduction (what does techno music have to do with Mexican food?) and you learn that the restaurant will feature a combination of "history and tradition with modern and dynamic food and atmosphere elements".
Sounds like California Mex to me. Bah humbug!
They also claim that the building now "will host 2 separate restaurants, 4 bars, 5 cocktail lounges, 3 patios, a cafeteria, retail area and a mini-boutique organic market." Are you as concerned as I am now? This isn't Cherry Creek, this is Five Points, folks. Not to mention that it sounds like an awefully ambitious plan given how far this neighborhood still has to go.
Nonetheless, as my wife (I call her "The Voice Of Reason") pointed out, no matter what this restaurant is like, it's encouraging to see that the building won't remain vacant, and that businesses, especially ambitious businesses, see an opportunity in investing in our neighborhood. Even if the place turns out to be more Cherry Creek than Mexico, I guess it will be a step in the right direction.
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