Farow Restaurant to open in former Lucky Pie space

Since Lucky Pie closed its doors last August, many have been wondering what business might replace it. Finally, it looks like the community may have its answer. Area chefs Lisa and Patrick Balcom recently announced that, as early September, they will be opening a new restaurant in that Cottonwood Square space.

The Balcom’s signed the lease for their restaurant, called Farow, on June 30. Speaking just a day later, they said they hoped to present a menu that focuses on the kinds of seasonal, and hyper-local foods they’re passionate about.

“What’s important to me is sourcing. If it grows in Colorado, I won’t outsource an item from somewhere else. I’ll wait until it’s in season to use it,” said Patrick. “Also, our spices are all single-origin, we know the names of the people growing them, that’s also very important so that we know they’re being properly compensated.”

Diners will enjoy a series of seasonal salads, breads, pastry, and sandwiches featuring housemade deli meats created from area meat producer Buckner family ranch. Also featured will be a series of small plates or a six-course tasting menu paired with a sommelier-supported wine program.

“We’ve found that small plates are perfect for a casual, sharable dinner with friends,” said Lisa. “Guests can try a little of everything and not have to commit to a full plate.”

The Balcoms bring strong culinary backgrounds to this concept with a combined 38 years of industry experience. Since moving to Colorado from Charleston, SC just three years ago, they have worked at area locations including Boulder-based Blackbelly and Sarta.

While Lisa’s experience focuses on pastry creation and front of house operations, Patrick started cooking professionally as a teenager. He spent extensive time cooking in the kitchens of some of Charleston’s most prominent hotel restaurants.

Since settling here, they have developed relationships with a range of local farmers and ranchers. With their focus on fresh, local eating and support of other agriculturally-based, sustainable community small businesses, they plan to pursue B-Corp status.

Although the couple lives in Longmont, they chose Niwot as the home for their restaurant, partially because they found the right space. “We’ve been searching for a location for a while now,” said Lisa. “In fact, we started off as Longmont Bakehouse and planned to open a restaurant/bakery concept in Longmont. Unfortunately, space is limited in Longmont as far as restaurants go. We started looking elsewhere and Niwot has such space availability and was such an amazing community.”

Given that the space has previously housed a restaurant, they hope to be able to welcome new diners fairly quickly. But hiring staff may prove to be a bigger challenge than getting their space ready to open.

“We’re starting to hire now and hoping to begin training in mid-August,” Lisa said.

She further shared that she’s hiring for all positions including servers, hosts/hostesses, and kitchen help and plans to provide as positive a work environment for them as possible. The Balcom’s are planning to forego tipping in favor of a more equitable and reliable 20% service charge that will allow them to pay servers more.

For more information email [email protected].