Three Denver restaurants nominated for Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants List

Every year, Bon Appétit compiles a list of America’s Best New Restaurants. The 10 restaurants that make the cut — which last year included Denver cafe Call, soon closing for renovations — are considered rising stars in the American food scene, and making the list is a major industry accolade.

But before Bon Appétit releases its top 10, the magazine names the 50 restaurants that are nominated for the final list. This year, three Denver restaurants have made the cut: Reunion Bread Co. at The Source, The Wolf’s Tailor in Sunnyside and Beckon, the fine-dining sister restaurant to previous list-maker Call.

Reunion Bread Co. opened at The Source in January and quickly gained a reputation for stellar golfeados (Venezuelan sticky buns), rustic breads and picture-perfect croissants from Venezuelan baker Ismael De Sousa. “Two words: churro croissant,” Bon Appétit wrote succinctly of one of the bakery’s most popular offerings.

The Wolf’s Tailor, which opened in September 2018, already has racked up some major food world nominations. While it didn’t win, the young restaurant had two semifinalists in the 2019 James Beard Foundation Awards: Kelly Whitaker for Best Chef Southwest and Jeb Breakell for Outstanding Pastry Chef.

Beckon (left) and Call restaurants in the River North Art District. (Allyson Reedy, The Know)

Beckon, which opened on Larimer Street in November, is a reservation-only, Scandinavian-inspired fine-dining spot that is half of the restaurant duo Beckon and Call. If Beckon makes Bon Appétit’s final Hot 10 list, it would join its more casual sister restaurant Call, which made No. 10 on the list last year and was the only Denver restaurant to be nominated in 2018. “Duncan Holmes ups the ante with a chef’s counter next door to last year’s Hot 10 winner Call,” Bon Appetit wrote in the nomination list.

Bon Appétit’s list of nominated restaurants is unranked, but the magazine will announce the 10 restaurants that make the cut on Sept. 17.