Chef and Tell with Chad Clevenger of Mel's Bar and Grill

Lori Midson

Chad Clevenger in the kitchen at Mel's Bar and Grill

​"It's interesting how my hands are in everything now," muses Chad Clevenger, the chef-owner of Mel's Bar and Grill, the Greenwood Village restaurant that Mel and Janie Master opened two years ago and then sold to Clevenger, a Florida native, last year. "Before this restaurant, I could have cared less about things like the front of the house, but now that it's my place and I'm in charge, I have a whole new respect for every part of the restaurant industry."

And while Clevenger, who was named executive chef of the Coyote Cafe when he was just 25 and now, at 31, owns his own place, is happy with his career accomplishments, he admits there have been a few bumps and bruises along the way. "I wish I was busier," he laments. "But between the recession, our location and some confusion with the name of the restaurant -- people keep asking me if I'm Mel -- it's been hard, and I'm still trying to recover."

But Clevenger is pushing forward. He's created a new menu that's a mix of traditional holdover dishes from the original Mel's menu and his "own stuff, like a bacon-dusted pear and Gorgonzola fritter with a pomegranate black-pepper fluid gel," he explains. Clevenger, who makes just about everything in-house, including his corned beef, pancetta, breads, sauerkraut and even the peppermint candies, says he wants to work with "different textures and flavors and even add some molecular stuff to the menu." But nothing crazy, he insists: "I just want to be successful, and if that means having one really great restaurant in Greenwood Village where I can do all my own stuff and have people appreciate it, then that's cool."

But as Clevenger revealed to me during a recent Q & A session, he'd really like to have another restaurant. "I don't need five or six restaurants, but my new goal is to have at least two, one of which I'd definitely like to have downtown," he says. During that same conversation, Clevenger dished on Rod Stewart, dissed truffles, deflated Bobby Flay's ego and declared Denver a hot spot for Asian food.

Six words to describe your food: Seasonal, playful, fresh, refined, global and bold.

Ten words to describe you: Stubborn, confident, innovative, passionate, impatient, strange, funny, driven, respectful and determined.

Culinary inspirations: My mother and grandmothers, because they made the best scratch-made Southern food, and Mama Jewell, a woman who babysat me from the time I was a toddler. She'd put me up on the kitchen counter, and I'd bake cakes with her and eat the batter. She also made the world's sweetest tea. Come to think of it, I was a normal-sized kid until I met her. My parents went to Cancún for a week, and when they came back, I'd gained ten pounds -- and that started my love affair with food. Right. Culinary inspirations...my travels and vacations; my brother, who's totally supported me through my whole culinary career; a chef named Gary Ackerman, who was my favorite culinary school instructor; chefs Bradley Borchardt and Mark Miller; the South; "Big Curt," a great kitchen guy I knew in Florida; the Schacks, a family that owned a restaurant in Florida and taught me how important it was to work hard; my huge gut; Justin Wilson, a really animated Cajun chef who had the first cooking show I ever watched on television; my father and his crazy, weird food concoctions; Bridget, my sister-in-law, who's a great cook; Red Sage, a great cookbook about Southwestern cooking; and, most important, Kris and Adam Poling, my two best friends from Florida, who were brave enough to get the hell outta Dodge with me. Without those guys, who knows what jail cell or gravesite I'd be in?

Favorite ingredient: Tomatoes. I eat a ton of them throughout the year and use them in a variety of dishes: soups, sauces, salsas, raw in salads and on sandwiches. Hell, I once lost twenty pounds eating tomatoes as three of my six small meals a day.

Best food city in America: I've been to San Francisco and New York, and both are amazing when it comes to culture, street food, late-night spots and having the best restaurants and chefs in the world -- but in my opinion, it's ultimately the Big Apple that comes out ahead.

Favorite music to cook by: I'm a classic-rock, alternative, hip-hop kinda guy. I allow music in the kitchen, but the volume is low, it stays low, and I have to keep the circus music to a minimum. Oh, and none of that country crap. Stuff is depressing.

Most overrated ingredient: Probably truffles. Unless you're buying really expensive Alba white truffles, they're just not that special. They're too expensive and really don't have much flavor.

Most undervalued ingredient: The chile. Most people, chefs included, use chiles solely for heat, when they should be used for their different flavor profiles. They're pretty inexpensive and can be cooked and used in so many different ways other than in just salsas and green chile sauce. I've got a new chocolate cake on the menu that uses both achiote and chipotle chiles -- not because of their heat, but because of their flavors.