Oak View Group's Golden Oak will be a training center for staff and a test kitchen for food
Oak View Group is opening a restaurant in Denver called Golden Oak that will double as a culinary and service-training academy for OVG’s sports-venue management and food and beverage staff. A full-service kitchen will be paired with a test kitchen enabling chefs and operators to train, experiment, and collaborate as the company hones its premium hospitality offering. New food items will be tested live in the restaurant environment before possible inclusion on menus at OVG sports and entertainment properties. The 9,600-square-foot restaurant will open in early 2025.
“I want the pressure of the restaurant, the experience of customers, real customers,” said OVG co-founder Tim Leiweke. "I don’t want some kitchen buried in our corporate headquarters. I want hands-on. Let’s go see if we can create a significant, positive restaurant experience that is world-class and use that as the ability to train, teach, to taste, and learn and grow, but also to sell.”
As Leiweke alluded to, OVG will use Golden Oak to host potential sports and entertainment venue clients while bidding for new business. OVG, which just opened a headquarters in Denver, is partnering with Christian Navarro, Edgewood Real Estate Investment Trust, and Lee Ann and Mark Van Loucks on the new venture. Navarro, the famed restauranteur and wine connoisseur who already works with OVG developing unique and high-end food and beverage experiences, and Navarro’s Executive Chef, Ryan Kluver, will oversee the restaurant, including its wine and spirits program. The Van Loucks, who bought the property on which the restaurant will sit over a year ago, will serve as the project manager for the landlord partnership.
Golden Oak's interior design will reflect the natural beauty of Colorado, with wood, stone, and greenery used to create what a press release termed a cozy, sophisticated atmosphere. The dining space is designed to be adaptable, and offers a bar, two outdoor patios, and a private dining space named “The Oak Room.”
“The kitchen and the restaurant are combined so that we actually are training on customer service, and we have real-life people coming into this business and telling us how we’re doing, how they like our food,” Leiweke said. "It’s a much better incubator and system to develop chefs and managers, mixologists and waitstaff.”
OVG
