Craft Comfort

American Elm is a decidedly local joint with destination aspirations. Owner Bob Reiter moved to Denver from Brooklyn this past year and this is, in fact, his first restaurant—yet American Elm exhibits a surefootedness not typical of a new restaurateur. Part of its success comes from the experience of the wonderfully named executive chef, Brent Turnipseede, and sous chef Nick Duree, who both cooked at downtown’s upscale Guard and Grace.

Reiter clearly also set a high bar for American Elm, one based, he says, on the quality of the neighborhood bistros he frequented when living in Brooklyn. I, too, lived there, for almost 15 years, and watched the rise of the sort