We Are Not Saying 'Goodbye' But We Are Closing for Good

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We Are Not Saying 'Goodbye' But We Are Closing for Good

After almost seven years of building community through food, The Preservery will serve our last guests on Sunday, September 4th. Obe and I have sold the business but are retaining The Preservery brand and starting a nonprofit venture that’s been in the works for over a year, The Preservery Foundation. We will continue with the mission we started at the restaurant by providing hunger relief to people experiencing homelessness.

It’s a strange thing, to go through the life-altering task of shutting down your own restaurant. Back when we were still in that hope-filled, bright-eyed planning stage of The Preservery we had the good fortune to be directed toward the Small Business Development Center where we took a course in writing a business plan that ended up catapulting us forward when we may otherwise have gotten stuck in the idea phase. One of the things our beloved mentor from the SBDC, Nancy Bartnett, spoke about often was always making sure to have an exit strategy. We are huge proponents of doing vision work and creating a plan of action for starting a business, but an exit strategy? We thought: Never! We’re doing what we love, we’re going to be doing this forever!

Well, here we are. 

There are two harsh realities that motivated us to sell the business. The first is that as long as we were tenants renting from a landlord, we were always going to be handing over any modest profits toward the cause of making a wealthy person (or company) even wealthier. Our rent has gone up almost 30% since we signed our lease in 2015. If we were to purchase property in a comparable neighborhood with similar square footage our mortgage would be 30% less than the cost of rent and all those mortgage payments would eventually come back to us. We had to learn the hard way, like so many other restaurant owners, that whomever owns the building has all the power. 

Secondly, as long as we were running a restaurant we were always going to be tethered to it. Our greatest liberation was becoming our own bosses, but we couldn’t really claim that freedom when we had to be physically present for every operational hour of every operational day. Some owners find their way around this but Obe and I could not. The restaurant was our first baby and we never got to a point where we felt OK about stepping back and putting someone else in charge of it. And honestly, we couldn’t afford to. 

Most importantly, our constant presence at the restaurant came at the expense of time spent with friends, family, and our only daughter, Adira. Obe has worked every single late night and most of his work days are at least 12 hours long. He has missed out on so many important family moments we can hardly count them. The day Adira was born, Valentine’s Day of 2018, Obe brought me to the hospital in the morning after my water unexpectedly broke a full month before my due date. They determined I needed a c-section which they scheduled for the afternoon, so Obe went to work to help get the team ready for one of the busiest services of the year, came back to the hospital to witness the birth, then went back to work again for dinner service. Around midnight he finally came back to the hospital to spend a few sleepy hours snuggling with us in the hospital bed. We made so many sacrifices to our own well being and happiness for this business that something finally had to give.  

Then there was the greatest difficulty we ever faced: the pandemic. That first year, 2020, was completely fraught. In January and February, before most of us knew the gravity of the situation, we were already seeing almost 20% growth over the previous year and feeling like we were finally hitting our stride. Then, worldwide shut-down. We did take-out when all indoor dining was restricted but that was basically community service (read: not at all profitable or sustainable but at least kept half of our team employed). The outdoor-only dining phase, right at the onset of winter, was a practical nightmare. I’ll never forget having to plunge my hands into the bucket of warm sanitizer just to bring the feeling back to my fingers because they’d get so cold serving outside. Not to mention the fear of exposure to a virus that, back then, we barely understood. That being said, I have to take a moment to appreciate each and every one of our guests who dined with us back then - many were putting up with the discomfort in order to support the small businesses that they loved and we felt every ounce of that intention. However, we were only bringing in a fraction of the revenue we actually needed to survive. If not for PPP loans and grants and even help from family we would have gone bankrupt and the announcement of our closure would have been much sooner and much sadder. 

It was during that uncertain time, in early December of 2020, when we had the first big snow storm of the year. I remember coming into work that morning, driving through Five Points and seeing numerous tent encampments around the neighborhood looking both vulnerable and brave, all blanketed in white. It seemed so shameful that we had a big, beautiful kitchen and a team of capable cooks who wanted to feed people while there were folks living right outside our door in terribly harsh conditions who really needed a hot, wholesome meal. An idea we had actually been tossing around for years finally made more sense than it ever would have in any other circumstance. We were going to feed people in need and we were going to ask our community to help us do it. 

And, it worked! We had friends from New York, Texas, California and Washington reach out to purchase meals over the phone. We had guests from all over the community come in to support the Giving Meals program. We sold almost 1,000 meals in the first month and hand-delivered 1,000 hot, wholesome bowls of chicken soup to folks experiencing homelessness all over Denver that winter. I thought that once the holiday season passed people would be less inclined to give, but folks kept coming in and purchasing meals for others. It was the most heartening experience I’ve had as a restaurant owner and it set us on a path that would lead to a new mission: feed people in need.

Finding a way to involve the whole community in feeding those around us who don’t have the means to sufficiently feed themselves was a mission worth waking up for every morning. I can easily say it was that effort that kept us going during some of the darkest, most difficult days. As a restaurant barely able to survive, it was literally all we could do. Now, it is all we want to do.

We have other exciting side-pursuits, too. My side project for the past year or so has been teaching cooking classes to kids and it brings me so much joy that I plan to expand on that effort. Obe has, his whole life, wanted to do something with cars and is pursuing racing as well as managing a really fun and informative social media account, @iwouldbuythisride. We also plan to travel as a family because we never could get away for more than two nights at a time while running a restaurant. And, we will spend so much time with little Adira that she will perhaps, many years from now, not even remember a time when she used to cry in protest every night that her papa couldn’t help put her to bed because he was working late. 

We are closing our restaurant “for good” so we can go do some good. One day soon we hope to purchase a commercial property and have a brick and mortar business again, but next time it will be on our own terms and in service to our community. Our society is so obsessed with the grind and there is perhaps no industry that better epitomizes this mentality than the restaurant industry. We are done feeding into that toxic mindset. What we’ve come to realize after all these years of grinding is that what matters most to us is doing as much good as we can while we are still occupying this earth and spending quality time with the ones we love. And, hopefully, have some adventures! 

My favorite piece of wisdom for dealing with times of struggle is to reach out and help someone. When we were living each week like it could be our last week of business, we decided to focus on helping others and it not only gave us purpose in a time of turmoil but also led us to the next chapter in our life story. We can’t dismantle racism, we can’t end the housing crisis, we can’t solve world hunger, but we can do our best to help make sure the most vulnerable, disenfranchised folks in our community get the chance to go to bed with a full belly, because that is what every human deserves.




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Giving Merch Has Arrived!

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Giving Merch Has Arrived!

We first launched our Giving Meals program on a snowy, sub-freezing day in December 2020. The idea was simple: we enabled guests to purchase a $6 Straight Up Gift meal or a $12 Giving Meal (get a meal, give a meal) for someone in need and then the restaurant made and distributed those meals to the folks living without shelter in and around Five Points. The first person to participate bought ten meals, so we dished out ten hot servings of chicken noodle soup, packed them up, and Obe and I personally walked them down the block to a tent encampment in the alleyway. Since then, we have hand-delivered almost 4,000 hot, wholesome meals (as well as bottled water, sanitizer and toilet paper) to our unhoused neighbors. We plan to continue those efforts as long as there are hungry people in the neighborhood.

The Preservery Values, Illustrated by Lexie Baker (@psychedelicious.lex)

Now we have created a brand-new way for guests to contribute to these efforts - Giving Merch! We partnered with local artist Lexie Baker on a design that represents The Preservery values: Black Lives Matter, No Person is Illegal, Women's Rights are Human Rights, Love is Love, Science is Real, Trans Lives Matter, and Diversity and Inclusion Makes Us Strong! Local company Lab Seven printed the design on soft, sustainable, American-made hoodies and tees. Each shirt purchased will contribute one meal toward the Giving Meal program.

The Giving Merch is live on the online store and available for pre-purchase. Orders will be taken from now until March 27th and shipped (or available for pick-up) by April. You can also find shirts available for purchase on-site at the restaurant while supplies last.

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Giving Has No Season

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Giving Has No Season

It was December 12th, 2020 when we first launched our Giving Meals program. In the midst of a global pandemic, weeks after indoor dining in Colorado was shut down completely, and during the first snowy, cold week of the winter season. I was gazing out onto our empty dining room floor feeling exhausted and sad and incredibly uncertain about the future when the idea dawned on me: We may not be able to serve guests the way we want to, but we have a big, beautiful kitchen and a team of people ready to work. Why not feed people who are in need?

Our location in Five Points serves as a constant reminder of the housing crisis in Denver. There are tent encampments dotted throughout the neighborhood, often right around the corner from us, where folks are constantly living in fear of the next “sweep” when the city spends tons of money and resources forcing people to move. The situation feels particularly dire when the winter weather arrives and living without shelter becomes even more fraught.

We are a restaurant, so solving the housing crisis is beyond our capacities. But, what we can do is make food. Lots of food! And once we started our Giving Meals program we found that so many of our guests and the people in our community were excited to help us with that effort. We feel incredibly grateful to have their continued support and plan to expand our hunger relief efforts in the coming year as we work to establish a non-profit called The Preservery Foundation.

THE BASIC DEETS: Folks can purchase a Straight Up Gift meal for $6 or a Giving Meal (get one, give one) for $12. Every hot, wholesome meal purchased gets delivered directly to someone in need! Meals are available for purchase on-site at the restaurant or in our online store (visit the link below).



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Building Community Through Food

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Building Community Through Food

During times of strife, we instinctively focus solely on our own survival. The Preservery, like most other restaurants in America, has been in survival mode since the pandemic began. But it is impossible not to also look outward at all the suffering and economic hardship that has rippled throughout the local community and beyond. In the Five Points neighborhood, where The Preservery is located, there are numerous small communities of people living without shelter, clustered in alleyways and along sidewalks and likely living in near-constant fear of being upended. As the temperatures continue to drop and winter sets in, their situation becomes much more dire.

“I was so struck by an interaction I had, recently, with a guest.” Explains co-owner Whitney Ariss. “An older gentleman came into the restaurant asking about the sign we had out front advertising our six-dollar to-go burritos. He was wearing many layers of soiled, worn-out clothing and by all appearances was likely living without shelter. My first instinct was to offer the burrito for free, but when he reached into his pocket and fished out six crumpled dollar bills, I imagined he felt a sense of pride in being able to purchase a meal for himself and I didn’t want to spoil that.”

Afterwards, Ariss was moved by the feeling of being able to provide affordable nourishment to somebody who was in need. But how many more folks like him were living outside, nearby, and didn’t have six dollars or even one dollar to spend? Soon after, a plan was hatched.

“We are turning our focus to a new goal: Feeding as many people in need, particularly those who are living without shelter in our own neighborhood, as we possibly can.” says Ariss.

How will it work? The Preservery will offer one menu item every day that is freshly prepared, hot, nourishing and, of course, delicious. They’re calling them Giving Meals. The offerings will rotate regularly to include soups and stews, mashed potato bowls, burritos and the like. Each purchase of a Giving Meal will equal one free meal to someone in need. For only $12, guests will be able to “get a meal, give a meal.” Those who are feeling generous can purchase a Straight Up Gift meal for $6 if they’d simply like to purchase a meal outright.

“So many of us drive by these encampments, which can be found all over the city, that are full of people living without shelter and we think, ‘I wish I could help.’” Says Ariss. “This is a really simple and affordable way to do that. We hope it resonates with folks in our neighborhood, and the greater Denver area, who care as much as we do about building community through food."

Want to help? Call (303) 298-6821 or come by The Preservery to purchase a Giving Meal or a Straight Up Gift Meal.

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Social Distance Dining

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Social Distance Dining

It’s a new form of hospitality: making sure our team and our guests are safe!

Although our world is pretty far from being back to normal, we have gently stepped forward into a new world of Social Distance Dining and are very excited to welcome folks into our space. We realize those of you who still need to be cautious will likely not be wanting to go back to dine-in services just yet, so we are still happily offering delivery and carry-out services that are safe and contact free.

For those who are longing to come visit - we can’t wait to see your beautiful (masked) faces! And we want you to know that we are taking lots of extra safety measures beyond what the state’s reopening guidelines dictate to ensure that everybody has a safe experience as well as fun!

Some things that will be different
- Our seating capacity is only at 50%
- We are strongly encouraging guests to make reservations and requiring all walk-ins to register one party member’s name and contact info in order to facilitate contact tracing if necessary
- We are closing all entry points except the front entrance in order to ensure that our patio guests are socially distant from walk-up guests, and that every person who enters the restaurant checks in with our host
- As we have been doing since the pandemic began, we are sanitizing all high-traffic surfaces, providing sanitizer to all guests and washing our hands with great frequency. And, since we’ve had a bit of extra time on our hands, the restaurant has been thoroughly deep-cleaned in all areas and we will continue to maintain a frequent cleaning schedule.
- For now, there will be no bar seating in order to protect the team member working behind the bar

We have put together some Social Distance Dining guidelines for our guests to ensure that we are all on the same page when you come to visit. We appreciate your patience as we navigate this new way of doing things and of course we welcome any feedback or questions you may have. You can email co-owner Whitney Ariss at whitney@thepreservery.com any time! Or, just come talk to us!

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