Polished Tavern will open in the former Zaidy's Deli space downtown

Lori Midson

Construction on the former Zaidy's space has begun to make way for the Polished Tavern.

When Cezary Grosfeld moved to the States six years ago from Poland, he went shopping at a Target store, where he found himself wandering down the nail polish aisle, a display that befuddled him. "I couldn't figure out why it was called 'polish,' or, rather, why it was Polish," quips Grosfled, who owns White Eagle Foods, a company in Arvada that sells pierogi -- Polish dumplings -- at area farmers' markets, small international food retailers and Tony's Market.

That incident stuck with Grosfeld, and next month, in the former Zaidy's Deli space at 1512 Larimer Street, he and his business partner, Slawek Golabek, who's also from Poland, will open the Polished Tavern, a restaurant and lounge featuring European food -- much of it Polish -- with polished metal design elements. "It's a fun game of words," says Grosfeld, who hired Marek Peczkowski, once the executive chef of the downtown Westin, to oversee the kitchen.

Peczkowski's menu, explains Grosfeld, will be a compilation of Polish, Italian, American and Spanish foods, including tapas, augmented by several Polish beers and an infused-vodka bar. And the space, he notes, will have a central bar, a separate room with bottle service and three more "ice" bars in the dining room, all of which will be stocked with cold crystals to keep your vodka, beer and cocktail at igloo temperature. "I haven't seen anyone else in Denver do anything like an ice bar, so that's definitely something different that we're bringing to the tavern," he notes.

In addition, he says, the tavern will offer lunch Monday through Friday, dinner nightly, weekend brunch, a late-night menu and patio seating. And lots of pierogis. "I can do pretty much anything from traditional potato and cheese to lobster to smoked salmon," claims Grosfeld, who also plans to start selling his dumplings at Whole Foods locations.

Grosfeld is aiming to open before Thanksgiving, and you can follow the progress of the restaurant on its Facebook page.