Uchi Teams With New Orleans Chef Donald Link For Latest Garden Series Dinner

Since opening last October, chef Tyson Cole’s Austin transplant Uchi has been becoming one of the more celebrated restaurants in RiNo, both for its regular menu and a commitment to creative one-off meals. This summer’s Garden Series — a collaborative multi-course dinner served family-style in the lovely Altius Garden behind the restaurant — has already seen a partnership with Tavernetta’s Ian Wortham, a team effort from visiting chefs from across the Texas locations and an evening conducted by Cole himself. The monthly menu sees resident chefs at their most creative with items that combine cuisines in unexpected, delightful and novel ways. This month, James Beard Award-winning chef Donald Link of the famed New Orleans Link Restaurant Group will bring his upscale Southern, French and Cajun styles to the table.

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Link and his business partner Stephen Stryjewski have a small empire of acclaimed restaurants including Herbsaint, Cochon, Cochon Butcher, Calcasieu, Peche Seafood Grill, La Boulangerie and Gianna — which see the chef’s technique spread across cuisines covering Southern, French, Italian, Cajun, pastry and butchery. He is also the author of two cookbooks — Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link’s Louisiana and Down South: Bourbon, Pork, Gulf Shrimp & Second Helpings of Everything

The menu will feature 11 courses including brandade toast with curried crawfish, tempura gulf shrimp with sauce chien, beef tartare with egg yolk and snow crab topped with oyster aioli and yuzu chess pie. Wine and sake pairings are also included in the ticket price.

The garden’s intimate lighting and impressive view of the city give the dinners a particular and charming shimmer. The feasts meander across roughly five hours, with the courses being cleverly spaced to maximize the social nature of the occasion. As the weather starts to cool, and the series is just one spread away from concluding for the year, Link’s visit should bring some of the most inventive dishes to grace the garden’s table.

Uchi is located at 2500 Lawrence St., Denver. The event takes place Thursday, September 26 from 6 – 11 p.m., Tickets are $175 and available here.

All photography from last month’s Tavernetta collaboration, courtesy of Casey Giltner unless otherwise noted.

Photo by Kyle Cooper