KIMBAL MUSK SAVES AMERICA
Colorado’s food scene is blowing up, in case you didn’t notice. In the 10+ years I’ve been here I’ve watched Denver go from being a blip on the map to a full blown food-town with nationally recognized chefs, new restaurant openings seemingly every few days, and new ways of looking at how we view food as a culture. No one exemplifies the last point as well as Kimbal Musk, who heads The Kitchen Restaurant Group, which includes restaurants like the Kitchen, Next Door, and Hedge Row. With Next Door, Musk takes the fast-casual Chipotle-style restaurant (another Colorado based food brand that has changed the industry *cough*) to the next level by bringing fresh food to a fun and fast-paced community-style restaurant. Ultimately his goal is to bring real food, healthy and delicious food, to middle America, at an approachable price point, which is no small feat. To do that, he’s devoted time to his Square Roots platform, which educates young people in urban settings about the process and business of healthy food and urban farming.
I had a chance to sit down with Musk for Full Service Restaurants Magazine and shoot a few photos in his new Stapleton location of Next Door. We only had a few minutes after his interview but we managed to catch him feeling loose, happy, and vibrant. I almost can’t imagine him any other way, honestly. In a few more words, I would say he was intense, entertaining, lively, and ever-so-slightly cowboy-esque…but really he was just a super nice, very sharp guy. We only had a few minutes before he tore off in his Tesla back to Boulder but below are some of my favorite shots. And if you’re interested, check out the article at FSR, it’s a great read.