First Look: Church and Union Opens (Finally) in Denver

Chef Jamie Lynch built his culinary reputation at New York's Le Cirque and Cafe Boulud, appeared on Top Chef and Top Chef All Star, and founded the restaurant Church and Union in Charlotte over a decade ago with the 5th Street Group, which includes Patrick Whalen, Alejandro Torio and Adam Hodgson, who joined in 2022.

In 2015, Church and Union expanded to Charleston, and three years ago, a Nashville outpost opened. That same year, a cryptic social media post from Torio hinted that Church and Union was coming to Denver, landing it on our list of the most anticipated upcoming restaurant openings. But by March 2023, it still hadn't made its debut. "I hope to be passing out Christmas gifts in Denver this year," Lynch told Westword at the time.

Spoiler: That didn't happen. When we rang in the new year nine months ago, the team was aiming for a June debut. Finally, after more delays, it welcomed the first guests to its space at 1433 17th Street last weekend.

"That's what you get when you try to convert a historic space into a modern American restaurant. There are so many challenges with the infrastructure of the building, the plumbing, the historical review," notes Lynch, who was excited to add a location in Denver because his brother is a longtime Colorado resident.

The restaurant's downtown space was built as part of the St. Elmo Hotel in 1896 and occupies two levels. "When you see it now, with the lights and the music and the people, it all makes sense. It's like, okay, that's why we endured the pain to do it," notes Lynch.

What we saw: The most striking feature of the restaurant is the art.


The first thing most people do when walking into the space is look up. The ceiling is painted black and covered with the entire text of The Art of War, hand-painted in white, just as it is at all Church and Union locations. It took artist Jon Norris more than 400 hours to complete the project. "It's become emblematic of our group. A lot of that is 'There is only we,'" Lynch says of the quote that's on the back of the staff's T-shirts. "When we set out to do this, the idea of busting our asses, making other people's dreams a reality, making other people successful — people that didn't necessarily have the same attachment to hospitality that we had — kind of started rubbing us the wrong way. Why not us?"
Each Church and Union also has a mural of a location-specific $5 bill designed by artists Matt Hooker and Rodney Raines, who is also Lynch's tattoo artist. At the center of Denver's bill is Black Kettle, who was the leader of the Southern Cheyenne during the American Indian Wars. The design is filled with nods to Denver and to Church and Union's story — even Casa Bonita and Blucifer make appearances. "You're never gonna find everything that's in there unless you dine with us every day," Lynch says.

Other eye-catching art includes a hand-painted piece by Hooker portraying chess players, a surrealistic buffalo painting by Nathaniel Lancaster, and a large Rootism abstract piece hanging in the stairway to the lower-level dining room that was created by New Jersey-based Justin Rivenbark and is supposed to represent the city of Denver.
What's on the menu: The lineup includes some Church and Union staples like braided ravioli ($30) and Lynch's signature lamb burger with red onion marmalade, Gorgonzola fondue, arugula and secret sauce served with hand-cut fries ($23). But there is also a lot of room for the team, led by Hodgson, to play with local ingredients, too.

There are options such as Hatch chile Parker House rolls ($9) and lamb shank braised with pine needles ($70) that the team is foraging in Denver. Unique to Denver is a long list of sides ($12-$20) to pair with the restaurant's steaks, including roast hen of the woods mushrooms, chicken and dumplings, and creamy ranch mashed potatoes.

We tried three items during a preview visit, plus two desserts. The braised bacon and melon ($18) can be found at all Church and Union locations. The hunk of pork belly was tender and the pickled jalapeños added a nice pop, but we'd skip these in favor of some of more tempting options like the French onion agnolotti ($18) filled with broth and topped with allium crunch.

The tuna crudo ($21) was a bright, fresh treat, with cooling slices of cucumber and the last of summer's tomatoes tucked around large chunks of tuna and cubes of crispy sushi rice.

Church and Union also served us the best Colorado trout ($39) we've had in a long time. The thin, plate-sized filet had crispy skin and was paired with nutty brown butter, charred leaks and spinach gnudi that looked like sausage but added a nice heft and vegetal note to the plate.
This summer has been filled with memorable desserts, and the two we tried here were pretty perfect. The buttermilk cake ($15) with Meyer lemon curd and honey mascarpone icing was a bright way to end a meal. But it was the Banoffee pudding, a parfait-style take on Banoffee pie crossed with banana pudding ($15), that we've been craving ever since. It included a toffee vanilla wafer crumble between layers of banana jam and bourbon pastry cream with torched meringue on top and a big chunk of toffee.

The bar menu offers cocktails, wine and a lineup of mostly local beers.
What surprised us: Lynch's commitment to not becoming a corporate chain.

To those who are wary of another out-of-state, multi-location concept moving into downtown, "I totally get it," Lynch says. "But I think I would encourage people to check us out, because we're not a chain. We are chef-driven."

He adds, "Chef Darren [Pusateri], who is my executive chef here, he has influence on the menu. This isn't the Chef Jamie show. My power comes from my ability to collaborate with people on my team. ... My inspiration and my learning comes from working with these guys and the things that are interesting to them. Chains don't do that. The chef has ownership in a lot of the stuff that we're doing here, so I have the sense of peace that someone with ownership is in the kitchen and has a vested interest in all these dishes. I think that makes us completely different."

Church and Union Denver is located at 1433 17th Street and is open from 5 p.m. to close Tuesday through Sunday; there are plans to add Monday service and brunch in the coming weeks. For more information, visit churchandunion.com.