Panzano Hires Patrick Kelly as Executive Chef

Panzano, a restaurant that has had three chefs at its helm since its opening, announced that it brought on Patrick Kelly to step into the role left vacant by Elise Wiggins, who departed early this summer. A native of Nebraska, Kelly has spent his teenage years in Wyoming then took off for the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. After a stint at Chicago's Spiaggia, the chef spent the bulk of his career cooking in Northern California's wine country and the Bay Area. His resume includes Redd in Yountville, Angèle in Napa, and La Folie in San Francisco. He most recently served as executive chef of restaurant Lure + Till in the Epiphany Hotel in Palo Alto.

Over the last few weeks in his new position, Kelly has restructured the menu and introduced dishes that define his cooking, like the Insalata di Staggione, which includes baby lettuce, autumn vegetables raw and roasted, and a house vinaigrette and the Bucatini di Basilico, a pasta complemented by wild mushrooms, 3 milk robiola fonduta, and herbed bread crumbs. In the upcoming weeks, Panzano will feature black and white truffles on his menu.

LoDo's Squeaky Bean also has a new chef at its helm. Darren Pusateri, whose Colorado resume includes Frasca Food and Wine, Elway's in the Ritz-Carlton, Izakaya Den and Ototo, Gallo Di Nero, and most recently, TAG Restaurant and Guard and Grace, stepped in as executive chef, replacing Chris MacGillivray who departed this summer. Pusateri actually worked at the Bean as part of its opening team when the LoDo location launched in 2012.

The chef has already introduced a new fall menu that features rustic comfort food highlighting the seasonal flavors of autumn, and showcasing produce grown by The Squeaky Bean partner Josh Olsen, at the farm Olsen manages at Warren Tech in Lakewood, lovingly named Acres.