Bonanno Brothers Opens on Saturday: Here's a Sneak Peek

On Saturday, April 27, Frank Bonanno will open Bonanno's Brothers, his first restaurant venture outside of Denver city limits. The restaurant and pizzeria is located at 8439 Park Meadows Center Drive in Lone Tree, inside the Vistas at Park Meadows. The 3000 square foot restaurant that boasts 73 seats inside and another 34 on the patio will begin to serve lunch and dinner on Monday, April 29.

The décor is inspired by the main train station in Florence, Italy. There are reminders of that train station in the striped brick red and mustard floors, the greenhouse-like skylights, the wide-open space with large modern light fixtures reminiscent of chandeliers, and the mock train schedule above the hosted stand.

The mock train station schedule adds not only to the theme of the décor, but it is also a functional part of the restaurant- it serves as a signal to parties-to-be-seated on when their table is ready. Guests get assigned a location in Colorado that appears on the train schedule; once the train has arrived at that location, the table is ready.

A series of mural paintings that depict the Florence train station, executed by artist Quang Ho (whose art can be found at other Bonanno restaurants as well as Park Burger), are soon-to-be-installed in the space. The pizza oven used at Bonanno Brothers was imported from Florence. The oven was customized with an original steel design executed by local artist Mike Mancarella.

When Frank Bonanno decided to open this restaurant and pizzeria, he called David Lindberg. Hawaii-born Lindberg worked for Bonanno for two and a half years starting in 2008 as a pasta chef at Luca d'Italia. Lindberg lived most of his life in Washington state and was always a competitive athlete. He played football at Central Washington College, but a serious injury took him out of sports. That is when landed in the kitchen and never looked back, bringing some of his competitiveness and perfectionism along. He went to culinary school at South Seattle Community College and then had long-standing cooking stints in Seattle, Palm Springs, and on an island in the Caribbean. After two and a half years at Luca d'Italia, Lindberg returned to Seattle for several months, but returned to Denver to open Bonanno's Brothers.

Grid View

Bonanno and Lindberg created an extensive menu that reminds guests of the food at Osteria Marco, Bonanno's Larimer Square restaurant. There is prosciutto, speck, and mortadella and also house-made salumi, five kinds of house-made cheeses, a selection of wood-fired pizzas, salads, panini and more. One section unique to Bonanno Brothers is the Crudo, a selection of five items that range from tuna to octopus.

On the drink side, beverage director Adam Hodak crafted a program that includes four cocktails in tap - think Aperol Spritz and Gin Fizz- as well as eight crafted cocktails that likely have something for every taste. There is a wide selection of wine- some offered on tap, including several U.S.-produced varieties, and an all-Italian selection of bottles ranging in price from $21 to $95.

The restaurant will be open daily from 11 a.m. to close with happy hour Monday through Friday from 2 to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. Carry out is also available. Orders can be called in at 303.799.8900.

· Never Catch a Falling Knife: 20 Tips From Chef Frank Bonanno [EDen]
· Frank Bonanno Taps Kelly Wooldridge as Wine Director [EDen]