One of the most highly anticipated restaurant openings in Boulder is ARCANA, a husband-and-wife owned establishment that will be honoring true historical Southern foodways. We couldn’t be more excited for their grand opening and to hear their story, so we were lucky enough to get some insight from co-owner Annie Toan. In the interview below, she shares a bit about the background and what we can expect from ARCANA.
ARCANA is an interesting name for a restaurant. What does it mean, and how does it tie into the eatery’s overall concept?
ARCANA, as a name, came to us from a dear friend and restaurant consultant that we have known for years, Evan Faber. He is an idea guy, a true creative. Naming the restaurant felt like naming our firstborn and we had strong feelings about what that name should be and mean, but we couldn’t decide. Evan presented us with a bunch of names and a lot of them made the short list along with many others we had been mulling over for months, then we heard him say: “ARCANA”. Everyone in the room immediately perked up and asked him just this question; what does that mean? ARCANA has a few meanings, the one we most relate to is “the mysteries and secrets found in nature and the natural world”. For us, it is about the surprising magic found in every memorable meal we have ever had, every time a meal has made us laugh, gasp, cry. Adding to that, we just like the ring and symmetry of it, we look forward to imparting our own meaning to the word with the Boulder community.
According to Eater, your ownership team consists of husband-and-wife industry veterans. Can you tell our readers a little bit about your background?
I am a born-and-raised Boulderite. My parents moved here in the early 70’s. I went to Shining Mountain Waldorf School and later Naropa with a brief stint in Santa Barbara. I have been working in Boulder restaurants for 15 years or so and was ready to make a move to San Francisco when I met Elliott, my husband. Elliott graduated from the Culinary School of the Rockies (now the Escoffier School of Cooking) in 2010 after getting his Bachelor’s in History & Political Science in Asheville, North Carolina at Warren Wilson College. We met working at SALT the Bistro and rather unexpectedly fell deeply in love so I decided to stay in Boulder. After 2 years at SALT, Elliott and I decided to travel and eat our way through Europe for three months. We spent six weeks in San Sebastian, Spain which is a huge inspiration for us as far as restaurant vibes and general food heaven goes. When we returned to Boulder I was hired at Sushi Tora and bartended at Black Cat while Elliott spent some time at Centro and then a good while at OAK at 14th and now we are weeks away from opening our dream restaurant, ARCANA!
Would you care to share a bit about your chef, as well?
Chef Matthew Lackey is a force of nature. Oddly enough, we linked up with him via a Craigslist post. Elliott and I were feeling a bit nervous about who was going to run the kitchen. We had been toying with the idea of Elliott and our friend Rob, one of our Sous Chef’s, running it, but we knew that for this style restaurant in this location and of this size we needed some help; so we put a very vague ad up. Matt responded to our post a few weeks after we put it up. Elliott and I were in Sante Fe, NM, and Matt was in Copenhagen, Denmark. We saw his resume come and like magic we knew Matt Lackey was a perfect fit. Matt grew up outside of Nashville, TN and has farm culture in his blood. Matt trained at both the CIA (Culinary Institutes of America) in NYC and Le Cordon Bleu in Arizona. Chef Matt ended up working for Sean Brock on the farm and then in the kitchen at McCrady’s in Charleston, SC before moving to Husk Charleston. After some time at Husk, Matt was called home to run his Grandfather’s farm in Tennessee. Turns out he couldn’t stay out of the kitchen so he applied for a line cook position at Flyte, Nashville. Sooner rather than later, Matt was promoted to Exec Chef of Flyte, where he spent a few years, getting named one of Eater’s Young Gun’s Class of 2013 along the way. The rest is basically history. We love this guy and could not be more excited to bring his take on true American cuisine to Boulder.
Give us a few examples of what we should expect to find on your restaurant menu.
“What is your signature dish”, is one of the questions we get asked the most. Part of ARCANA’s identity is that things will be ever changing, ever evolving, finding new magic all the time. So I can’t honestly say what dishes you can expect to see. What we know for now is that we will be honoring true historical Southern foodways. We will be working with fresh grains that would be found in Native American diets. We will be exploring the food systems of colonial America. ARCANA will explore the Western African influences on South Eastern America. You can certainly expect to see a wide variety of local product and forage. All of our meat will be regional; that is a big part of what we are doing. Basically, our concept is this: We believe that at this moment in American history we are just beginning to understand who, culinarily, we are as Americans. We think the quickest way to become a part of that dialogue is harkening back to our inception as a nation, which means honoring the influences present when we got here, what we brought with us, and who we made come here. It is a tough past to honor but it is the fabric of our nation and a part of our food traditions. Oh, and the food is amazing.
Where will ARCANA be located?
ARCANA is part of some of the new construction in Downtown Boulder. We will be located at 909 Walnut, directly across the street from the St Julien Hotel. We are on the first floor of the amazing new building right there.
What kind of ambiance should guests expect when they dine at ARCANA?
We spent a lot of time talking about having a strong personality both with the food and the ambiance. What we can say right now is that this spot will be unique. We have a couple of different seating zones that will have slightly different vibes. We have shockingly cool wallpaper on one wall, we have classic ceiling tile, we have beautiful restrooms. We are attempting to straddle the line between classic Southern manor and tongue-in-cheek where-are-we colorful comfort. We think guests will find their favorite places to sit in the restaurant. Our bar is stunning and comfortable. We have a beautiful small patio but still big enough to share drinks with a big group. It is as important to us that guests feel welcome and warm and happy based on the ambiance as it is for our employees to feel happy and at home when they come to work. Think bold colors and comfy seats, stay awhile. Lastly, we made a big investment in sound management. We went to dozens of restaurants across the country testing decibel levels; a lot of places are way too loud to have the type of conversations that we want to have over dinner. That will not be the case at ARCANA.
Will the restaurant be offering any specialty or signature cocktails?
Our Bar Director, Jonathan Watsky, is chef trained. Jon worked at the French Laundry, Bouchon, and Frasca, as a chef. He honestly is one of the best chefs in town but he decided, three years ago, to move to the bar. That’s where he met Elliott, working together at Oak. Jon and Elliott learned a lot working at Oak; between Chef Steve Redzikowski and Bryan Dayton how could you not? Bringing Jon on as our bar director is a huge blessing; he brings a chef’s mentality about quickness, cleanness, and quality to the bar. Aside from some classic southern cocktails (Sazeracs, punches, bourbon) he will be experimenting with different drinking vinegars and Shrubs to add a healthy and sumptuous kick to the program.
Are you still hiring for any positions in the restaurant? If so, what positions and how can our readers apply?
We are just beginning to take resumes for cooks and all front of house positions. We have an amazing GM on board, Mike Elmore. Mike will be doing the hiring for FOH and Matt will be hiring BOH. We are accepting resumes for all positions; people can apply by emailing their resumes to [email protected].
Do you have a tentative date planned for your grand opening?
Anticipating construction timelines is a beast, but we hope to be throwing our soft opening parties in January and be in full swing later that month. We will be open for dinner only at first and then incorporating our lunch program soon after. Down the line we will be hosting Sunday Suppers from 1pm-8pm offering a unique southern menu just for that day.
How can our readers learn more about the restaurant or make reservations? (website, social media, phone, etc?)
All social media and reservation systems will be online in the coming weeks (mid/end December). We cannot wait for everyone in Boulder and beyond to come and check out this thing we have built. We will be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, OpenTable and so on. Keep checking ARCANARESTAURANT.com for details. For now it is just the logo (which is amazing and created by Moxie Sozo) but content is just around the corner. If anyone would like to contact us you can reach me (Annie) at [email protected], or [email protected]. We would love to hear from everyone!
Most of all we would like to thank everyone in the Boulder restaurant community who has helped to get us where we are today. We love this town. So many people, chefs, restaurant owners, bartenders, fellow co-workers, have gotten us to where we are today. We have learned and grown under the guidance of the best in the business and could not be more blessed to be having the chance to create our own project here in Boulder. Come check out ARCANA, get ready for some magic.