Green Russell
Audio By Carbonatix
The changes at Larimer Square keep coming. At the end of September, French eatery Bistro Vendôme announced that it will be shutting down the location it’s occupied for nearly two decades on New Year’s Day; it will be taking over the former home of Tables in Park Hill.
The move was prompted by upcoming construction in Larimer Square, which is the same reason that another longtime staple there, Green Russell, will also be shuttering after December 31. The underground cocktail bar, one of the town’s first speakeasy revivals, was opened in 2010 by restaurateur Frank Bonanno’s group, Bonanno Concepts. The adjoining concept, Russell’s Smokehouse, will also say goodbye.
“We had an idea in June that this was coming,” says Bonnano Concepts creative director Jacqueline Bonanno. Initially there was hope of finding a new, temporary home for the bar in Larimer Square, but after that space failed to materialize, it signaled the end for Green Russell and its large collection of rare whiskey.
Joni Schrantz
“It’s caught me off-guard how sad I am about it,” Jacqueline adds. “It’s a crazy-busy, successful bar. It’s part of the character of Denver, and we’re losing that character. … What we’ve done there is so cool, and this feels unnecessary.”
But overall, Bonanno Concepts is still going strong. The Bonannos recently purchased the Capitol Hill properties where Mizuna, Luca, Lou’s Food Bar and Vesper Lounge are located, and the group has more new projects in the works. “No employees are going to be displaced” by Green Russell’s closure, Jacqueline notes.
Now, the bar has just over two months to say its goodbyes, and it plans to go out in style. Along with a big New Year’s Eve celebration, Bonanno Concepts is planning a “giant party paying tribute to things we’ve done in the past” every Tuesday in December, Jacqueline says, including a tiki party and jazz night.
“It’s not a sad, mournful goodbye,” she concludes. “It’s more joyful. It’s all going to be fine; everything has a cycle.”
Read our history of Larimer Square restaurants here.
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