Sarah BoyumDining By Design
A deep dive into the most stunning menus on the Front Range. —JENNIE NUNN
EMMERSON
This nine-month-old Boulder hot spot’s
drink menu stars, of all things, images
from early issues of sci-fi and fantasy
comics magazine Heavy Metal. Cocktail
curator and bar manager Nancy Kwon
says she wanted to “show powerful
women in a positive light using a graphic
magazine that’s generally considered
male-centric.” Another unique twist:
QR codes that lead you to songs Kwon
listened to while creating each drink
recipe. 1600 Pearl St., Suite 100,
Boulder, 303-953-9852, emmerson
restaurant.com
THE CRUISE ROOM
The Oxford Hotel’s cocktail bar recently
worked with West Highland’s the Made
Shop to redesign its menu. The new
cover is stamped and folded aluminum,
and the inside pages are thick paper
stock with gold-foil letterpress stamp-
ing in a custom font. “Watching light
play over the surface [of the lettering],”
says Marke Johnson, the Made Shop’s
principal designer, “it really comes
alive.” The Oxford Hotel, 1600 17th St.,
303-628-5400, theoxfordhotel.com
TATARIAN
The folks behind Union Lodge No. 1
and the Arvada Tavern based their
five-month-old bar on a symbol of the
Berkeley neighborhood: the Tatarian
maple tree. Created by local graphic
designer Nathan Sparks, Tatarian’s cof-
fee-table-worthy menu—which can be
yours for $15, with proceeds benefiting
the Arbor Day Foundation—features
custom logos and images of the plants
that inspired each drink. 4024 Tennyson
St., 303-416-4496, thetatarian.com
THE FAMILY JONES SPIRIT HOUSE
Given the name of this five-month-old
distillery-restaurant in LoHi, it’s no sur-
prise that family photos were a part of
the menu’s concept. “The inspiration
grew out of the idea of telling the story
of any family using images instead of
words,” explains partner Paul Tambu-
rello. The resulting photo-album menu,
designed by RiNo firm Consume & Cre-
ate, has leather edges, the gilded initials
“FJ,” and vintage photos inside and out.
3245 Osage St., 303-481-8185,
thefamilyjonesco.com
- THE NICKEL
Housed in Denver’s historic Tramway
Building, Hotel Teatro’s the Nickel pres-
ents its offerings on menus that feature
magnetic coins (guess the denomina-
tion), locally sourced leather, retro fonts,
and Colorado maps created by the
Made Shop. Hotel Teatro, 1100 14th St.,
720 - 889-2128, thenickeldever.com
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