Denver chef Amos Watts, proprietor of The Fifth String, has died weeks forward of the acclaimed restaurant’s reopening.
Watts, 43, died Sunday morning after a medical episode, in line with his pal Justin Brunson and former mentee Caroline Glover. Neither had been absolutely certain of the character of the episode.
“He touched numerous of us in his time right here in Denver,” Brunson stated. “He’s going to be enormously missed by all of the cooks right here on the town. All of us beloved him. He was a large man, a really wonderful particular person.”
Brunson described Watts as “one of the proficient cooks Denver has ever seen.” However cooking wasn’t at all times his plan.
“I wasn’t all for something in school,” Watts stated in a 2011 interview with Westword. “And I by no means, ever thought I’d be a chef, however I dropped out of school, and my dad informed me to go prepare dinner.”
Watts grew up in Nebraska and located his approach to Denver to go to culinary faculty at Johnson & Wales College. He started working at Jax Fish Home in LoDo and met Brunson, a daily on the restaurant, in 2003.
Watts moved away from Denver and ultimately landed in California, the place he labored as sous chef at Cyrus, a Michelin Star-awarded restaurant. He returned to Denver round 2011 and ultimately turned the pinnacle chef at RiNo’s Acorn.
It was at Acorn that Watts skilled Caroline Glover, a James Beard award-winning chef who went on to open Annette and Touring Mercies within the Stanley Market.
“He mentored fairly a couple of younger cooks which have gone on to open their very own locations or be govt cooks,” Glover stated. “I feel that speaks to the kind of chef that he was. I do know that was actually necessary to him, that he supplied as a lot information as potential for folks to develop. That must be considered one of his greatest legacies.”
Glover stated she thrived below Watts’ steerage and excessive requirements, studying how you can steadiness flavors and take note of particulars. And after Acorn, she stated Watts turned a cheerleader for Annette and went from boss to pal.
“He was undoubtedly a power within the culinary world,” Glover stated. “He was bigger than life. I realized a ton below him.”
Watts left Acorn round 2015 when Brunson requested him to be his govt chef at LoHi’s Outdated Main. The duo labored collectively for a couple of years earlier than Watts left to assist the proprietor of Acorn, Bryan Dayton, open the Mexican restaurant Corrida in Boulder in 2017.
“Amos was considered one of my greatest associates,” Brunson stated. “It was actually wonderful to work aspect by aspect with any individual that was so proficient and enjoyable.”
Three years later, the pandemic hit, and Brunson wished to get out of the restaurant enterprise. So he bought his lease for the Outdated Main area at 3316 Tejon St., in addition to all fixtures and gear, to Watts.
“He had enormous aspirations to be on his personal and function a restaurant along with his spouse Jessica,” Brunson stated.
Watts and his spouse opened The Fifth String in 2020, specializing in small-plate “upscale American” meals, wine and cocktails. They closed in LoHi final August, partly as a consequence of a well being scare. Watts informed BusinessDen in February that docs discovered benign tumors on his jaw.
“I didn’t know if I’d be capable of be a chef,” Watts stated in February. “That was scary. I simply wasn’t capable of be there as a lot.”
Seven surgical procedures and a clear invoice of well being later, Watts stated The Fifth String — which had been quickly working from a Ballpark vineyard — would reopen with its personal area alongside Colfax within the Hale neighborhood.
“We’re simply able to prepare dinner and convey again The Fifth String to its unique state,” Watts stated in February.
The Fifth String — which Westword included on its 2023 “Prime 100 Eating places We Can’t Reside With out” checklist — was lower than two weeks from reopening on the time of Watts’ demise, in accordance Brunson. He stated he doesn’t know what is going to now occur with the restaurant.
“He was one of the jovial, humorous, excited, energetic, lovely people I’ve ever met in my life,” Brunson stated. “He beloved everyone, working exhausting and cooking exhausting.”
Watts is survived by his spouse and two youngsters, son Loren and daughter Sloane.
“He actually made them part of each enterprise he did,” Glover stated of Watts’ household. “If you happen to knew Amos, you knew his household and also you knew how a lot they meant to him.”
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This story was reported by our companion BusinessDen.