Tony P's New Identity and Gluten Free Menu

Tony Pasquini is not new to the restaurant business, but his new brand Tony P's, the recently renamed pizzeria in Cherry Creek, is certainly a fresh start. The Denver restaurateur who created Pasquini's Pizzeria restaurants with his mother, Judy Pasquini, has changed the name of the Cherry Creek location to Tony P's amid family drama over who owns the brand name Pasquini's. Tony took this as an opportunity to start a new brand that fits the upscale Cherry Creek neighborhood.

With the rebrand, things got shaken up on the menu that now includes healthier options and a good selection of gluten-free dishes. On the gluten-free menu are raviolis filled with spinach ricotta or asparagus portobello, Capellos gnocchi and fettuccini, ten-inch pizzas of any kind, garlic breadsticks, and a roast chicken cooked in the wood-fired oven, served with seasonal vegetables (currently broccolini). The most popular dessert at Tony P's, the Chocolate Candle, a chocolate mousse with a white chocolate kahlua center, encased in white and dark chocolate is also gluten-free.

"It seems like 10-15 percent of our customers are gluten free at this point and the response has been positive. I tried to create items so that gluten-free eaters to have more choices at the restaurants that I operate: Tony P's, Pasquini's Highland, Pasquini's Lone Tree, and soon to open Pasquini's 17th," Tony said of his gluten-free menu.

The rebrand of the pizzeria under the Tony P's name comes with a reaffirmed commitment to adjust to the market and listen to the needs of the customers, including the growing gluten-free customer base. Gluten-free customers "don't have to compromise by ordering appetizers or just salads," Tony said.

· More Pasquini's Coverage [EDen]