Jezebel's will bring Southern comfort to LoHi next month

By Patricia Calhoun Wed., Sep. 26 2012 at 2:53 PM

Chef Scott Durrah.

Jezebel's should finally open next month in the original location of the Squeaky Bean, at 3301 Tejon Street, right next to Rosa Linda's Mexican Cafe.

In fact, Jezebel's is taking over 900 square feet from Rosa Linda's, so that they could put in the "real restaurant kitchen, complete with hood" that the Bean never had, says Wanda James, who's opening the place with her husband, chef Scott Durrah, and partner/general manager Robert Perry.

Leo Harvey's "Season to Taste" tattoo.

Joining Durrah in the kitchen will be Leo Harvey, the former chef of Big Game. The food they'll be cooking there will be Southern, "although we're taking it a little deeper," James says. That means black-eyed-pea hummus in addition to fried chicken and barbecue, as well as an emphasis on vegetarian dishes; they're also working with pastry chefs to come up with Southern specialty desserts, including red velvet cake.

While they polish the menu, they're also finishing off the interior. The purple alligator bar stools went in yesterday, and the long bar will be covered with hundred-year-old planks; wood accents have been added around the space, which also includes new booths. "It will be dramatically different," James says, but the great old tile floors remain. "We're beyond excited. I can't wait to show this one off," she says, adding that part of that excitement could well be the fact that they live right around the corner from the new place. "After all the restaurants we've done, this one feels really good."

Jezebel's will be their sixth restaurant. They closed their fifth, 8 Rivers, last October. The space they left behind at 1550 Blake Street is slated to become a second location for T|ACO; the original made its debut this spring in Boulder.

A version of this story originally appeared in Cafe Bites, our e-mail newsletter on the Denver food and drink scene that's sent out every Wednesday; find out how to subscribe here.

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Jezebel's

3301 Tejon St., Denver, CO

Category: Restaurant

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Jezebel's, Leo Harvey, Rosa Linda's Mexican Cafe, Scott Durrah, Wanda James

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yumster

1 Like

Boo! And that's not for the season...that's for Wanda's uniformed comments on Squeaky Bean's kitchen. The Squeaky Bean was a terriffic addition to our neighborhood....and brought delicious food and cocktails to the corner of 33rd & Tejon - something it lacked despite R.L's lardish presence for decades. The R.L. family reneged on agreement to build out the kitchen for Squeaky Bean because they were jealous of the Bean's overwhelming sucess....packed with diners every night while it was the usual 'crickets' next store at R.L. - really, who wants canned cheese on their nachos? We lost a wonderful dining spot when the Bean left 33rd. I guess R.L. family learned their lesson (...when they lost a great tennant) and stepped up to build the kitchen for Jezebel. And we were so excited to see Jezebel would be in our neighborhood - we love 8 Rivers. But now... sorry, probably lost a diner. Disrespecting the Bean crew when what they did was sheer genius... delivering a creative and tasty menu using the equivalent of camping cookware. Shame on you.

Philo99

What will it take for people to stop using the insanely stupid name Lo-HI? It's a horrible name created by developers to sell crappy lofts. I think I will start boycotting any restaurants that refer to their location as Lo-Hi.

While maybe not technically correct for the past 20 years people in the neighborhood have referred to anything West of Federal as West Highlands and anything East of Highlands as Potter Highlands, names that actually have a little character.

Now why are they opening another Southern restaurant in Denver? Does anyone like Southern Food? Do you want to eat somewhere that utilizes fat as its main flavor agent?

Michael564

@Philo99 I've always thought the name "Hi-5" would be better, represnting the 5-Point intersection and Boulder/Umatilla/29th St.

Michael564

1 Like

On a different note, how far are we expanding the boundaries of LoHi? LoHi Steakbar is at the top of the hill. Jezebels is a block further inland. By that account, is Highland Tap & Grill in LoHi or Highland? How about Duo and Pasquinis? Just how far West will LoHi creep before it takes over Highland?

Izze

@Michael564 Technically what is referred to as "Lower Highland" is "Highland" and the neighborhood west of Federal is "West Highland". I think LoHi goes north to 38th and west to Federal.

Michael564

@Izze I suppose it depends who you ask. When LoHi started, I remember it being East of Zuni, with Highland extending from Zuni across to Irving or so, and then becoming West Highland. Extending LoHi to Federal is like extending LoDo to the Capital.

Izze

2 Like

It is tragic that Rosa Linda's chased away the Squeaky Bean and refused to give them extra space, and instead turned around and decided to give extra space to these potheads to attempt to open yet another restaurant.

Denver Dave topcommenter

@Izze I was hoping someone would bring the "pot" issue up. These were the people offering cooking with pot classes at 8 Rivers. No wonder none of their restaurants make it - the owners are too stoned to run a restaurant.

PandP

My wife and I moved here from Florida, we loved 8 Rivers. Glad to see Jezebel's in the 'hood. Our only issue with Colorado is the lack of flavor in the food. Fun places to eat, but no real flavor, at least not the kind we are used to coming from the East Coast. Welcome to hood! We love southern food and can't wait to get there.

Scotty

1 Like

@PandP Really, the entire state of Colorado has "no real flavor" in the food? I guess we're just a bunch of fucking idiots here eating our unseasoned gruel.

Denver Dave topcommenter

1 Like

Oh jeez - you'd think they'd had enough of the restaurant business after 8 Rivers crashed and burned. Maybe the sixth time will be the charm. Our experience at 8 Rivers was wretched - so they better step it up because the competition among restaurants in LoHi is intense these days. And, I may be wrong about this but I don't think LoHi (the land of size zero girls and skinny jeans) may not be the ideal location of Southern comfort food. Skin tight minis and fried chicken and BBQ??

Michael564

@Denver Dave Agree with thespot about the skin-tight girls and size zero minis. Did I get that backwards? :-) LoHi residences are a nice mixture of all shapes and sizes. However, if Dave is referring to the visitors to LoHi, then he's pretty spot on -- and we welcome them and their money with open arms. Not to mention, the girls are fun to watch.

thespot84

@Denver Dave If by skin tight minis you mean the stuff the plethora (in the worst sense) of babies (in the progenitive sense) in the neighborhood are dressed in then ya. Sure. By the way... when was the last time that you were in Lower Highland?

Girls in skin tight minis might make there way to the neighborhood to check out all our of new, cool and hip, restaurants, however I can guarantee you the people who actual live here are anything but. Oh and we (at least I) fucking love fried chicken.