Panzano set to unveil a major renovation

Elise Wiggins pours it on at Panzano

Panzano is slated to reopen for dinner on Thursday, January 28, after a major renovation of the eleven-year-old space tucked into the Hotel Monaco. The remodeling project was designed by the Puccini Group, an award-winning restaurant design firm out of San Francisco, and done over the past two weeks.

"When you walk in, you'll see a completely different restaurant," says spokesman John Imbergamo. "An old-world look has been brought into the twenty-first century."

The bakery right by the entrance at 909 17th Street remains, but the seating in that area has been made more private. The dining room has had a complete overhaul, and while the changes in the bar area (where Drink of the Week was invented) aren't as drastic, that area's been updated, too.
Perhaps the coolest innovation: the custom carpet modeled after a street map of Florence.

You don't completely mess with success, though. "The menu and the food will remain the same," Imbergamo notes. "And the ever-popular chef's counter remains." So does ever-popular chef Elise Wiggins, who sat down with Lori Midson last fall for a Chef and Tell interview.

To celebrate the completion of the project, the restaurant is inviting you to "fall in love with Panzano all over again." From February 1 through February 14, Panzano will donate $1 per diner to Sense of Security, a local non-profit that aids breast-cancer patients. You can also bid on a custom, five-course dinner for eight, with complementary wines, that Wiggins will cook at your home - and 100 percent of the proceeds from that will go to the charity.

For more information, call 303-296-3525 or go to www.panzano-denver.com.