Kyle and Katy Foster are busy. Their cooking school, Stir, is popular and the space is almost fully booked for private cooking parties through the holidays. It’s a good problem to have, but it also means that the couple no longer has time for their passion project, Pirate Alley Boucherie.
The sandwich joint, which served New Orleans-style po’boys, charcuterie boards and small plates in the Ice House building, 1801 Wynkoop St., is now closed, just a year after opening. (The Denver Post named it one of the 10 most notable Denver restaurant openings of 2022.)
“As the event side of the business grew, it impacted how often we could run the deli,” Kyle told The Denver Post on Wednesday. The space is now being used by the cooking school.
“Sometimes we were completely slammed, and other days we were dead,” Kyle said. “The consistency of ordering and staffing was challenging compared to cooking classes when we know how many people are attending and what we’re cooking, so it’s easier to manage costs.”
Pirate Alley was born during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for the Fosters to offer a takeout option after their Southern-comfort restaurant, Julep, closed at 3258 Larimer St. The po’boys, which were sold from the alley behind Julep, gained a healthy following.
Since the Fosters also owned Stir, which the first opened in 2010 at 3215 Zuni St., they decided in 2022 to add a second location and move Pirate Alley into the same space on Wynkoop Street.
Despite the closure, however, Kyle — a career chef who formerly worked at Colt & Gray — said he has some other ideas in the works.
“I’ve been cooking for most of my life, and that love for food isn’t going to go away anytime soon, even if I’m not running the day-to-day of a restaurant,” Kyle said.
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