Arp's and The Creede Hotel
Beschermde donatie
For those who don’t know me, my name is John Arp.
I opened a restaurant in the mountains of Colorado, in a town called Creede, which is nestled in the wilderness at the head-waters of the Rio Grande. We serve hand made comfort food and some fancy specials. We are open all year in a seasonal town that has this fantastic Repertory Theater just down the street where I used to act on stage until I opened this restaurant in March of 2015.
There is a historic hotel a few doors down. It was built in 1892, the year Creede was founded. It has a lot of history.
It’s mostly a pretty colorful history which is good, because it’s painted kind of bright. It’s festive.
But, you also feel its history when you walk through its rooms. It’s authentic. I truly think it is a rare jewel on earth in that respect, and let’s just say it’s a fixer upper.
I had this crazy idea this last summer to open the Creede Hotel in conjunction with my current restaurant two doors down, because the hotel had been closed the summer before and it’s the kind of place that wants to be open. I was also pretty happy about the extra refrigerator space, I must admit.
I did way too much, way too quick, and mostly not so well on the food front. But, we got her open and we patched her up. We peeled wallpaper, painted, polished it up a bit. We put some really cool hammered copper counters in the front room, and dropped some antique furniture in there. We even replaced the 50 year old showers in the rooms. Just seemed like the right thing to do.
I think I had the right idea to leverage both spaces, there is just a better way to do it all. I’d keep a lid on it next summer.
Sometimes the more you do the less you make. The more meals you make in a seasonal town, the more you have to rely on notoriously crazy traveling chefs… and you have to find housing for them!
A cue from my acting training; less is more.
My idea going forward:
First, I’d make the front room of the hotel a retail bakery space. I’d partner with a certain bakery in the valley to fill it up, and let the concept grow from there. I think the new copper counters lend to a bakery feel and these folks that I'm chatting with at the moment bake fresh bread.
Maybe, after a year, we could overlay a lunch crepes theme that would complement the bakery, but not until we have the people to do it!
We’ll build it in stages at the right time.
Second, I would refine the original Arp’s concept to: Elevated Fast Food and Fancy Specials.
Creede sits at 8852ft ; )
It would be a reduced menu that is still made from scratch. I’d just make the menu smaller to fit the space.
Once we have the people (and only then) we could layer on dinner at the Creede Hotel in the summer.
It should be signature dishes designed to get you to the show on time. I love the idea of complex slow cooked meals served quickly. Its the kind of cooking that I do best. Its the kind of cooking that I think I'm built for, and, people like to do what they are good at.
A well-traveled friend once told me that his favorite restaurant in New York was one that only offers about five entrees at a time, but they are terrific and you are in and out to get to your Broadway show. The hotel kitchen is already set up for a streamlined concept.
It should be fancy, fun, and as fast as you need it to be.
Finally, those four hotel rooms! As pretty as we made them, they still don’t have TVs and it feels like you are sinking on the Titanic when you are walking to the bathroom. We could lean into the authentic, really old… um, I mean “Historic” quality of the rooms that are low frills and priced accordingly to maximize the occupancy.
It’s a historic hotel in a Colorado mining town next to a 54 year old Regional theater. It’s authentic, convenient, and cool if it’s branded right.
It is haunted, you know…!
Anyway, that is how I would move forward given the chance.
I think folks in Creede would enjoy a bakery “store front” in the front room of the hotel.
The hotel dinner could be signature dishes worth traveling for and still be efficient and affordable.
And, the original Arp’s location could do a lot less on the menu, and do it really well.
Why, 50,000?
1) The hotel really is a fixer upper, no exaggeration there, and I think it is worth preserving.
2) The winter cash flow in Creede can be a bit sparse for a restaurant to make it through to the summer.
3) Reality is a pretty good teacher, and I feel like I just got a PhD.
I feel like I did the right thing in exactly the wrong way!
I'll get it right this time by focusing on the details.
I'd love to do fewer things much better and build it up properly.
I think what we are doing could come together and become two valuable and sustainable amenities for Creede.
Thanks for considering,
John Arp
I opened a restaurant in the mountains of Colorado, in a town called Creede, which is nestled in the wilderness at the head-waters of the Rio Grande. We serve hand made comfort food and some fancy specials. We are open all year in a seasonal town that has this fantastic Repertory Theater just down the street where I used to act on stage until I opened this restaurant in March of 2015.
There is a historic hotel a few doors down. It was built in 1892, the year Creede was founded. It has a lot of history.
It’s mostly a pretty colorful history which is good, because it’s painted kind of bright. It’s festive.
But, you also feel its history when you walk through its rooms. It’s authentic. I truly think it is a rare jewel on earth in that respect, and let’s just say it’s a fixer upper.
I had this crazy idea this last summer to open the Creede Hotel in conjunction with my current restaurant two doors down, because the hotel had been closed the summer before and it’s the kind of place that wants to be open. I was also pretty happy about the extra refrigerator space, I must admit.
I did way too much, way too quick, and mostly not so well on the food front. But, we got her open and we patched her up. We peeled wallpaper, painted, polished it up a bit. We put some really cool hammered copper counters in the front room, and dropped some antique furniture in there. We even replaced the 50 year old showers in the rooms. Just seemed like the right thing to do.
I think I had the right idea to leverage both spaces, there is just a better way to do it all. I’d keep a lid on it next summer.
Sometimes the more you do the less you make. The more meals you make in a seasonal town, the more you have to rely on notoriously crazy traveling chefs… and you have to find housing for them!
A cue from my acting training; less is more.
My idea going forward:
First, I’d make the front room of the hotel a retail bakery space. I’d partner with a certain bakery in the valley to fill it up, and let the concept grow from there. I think the new copper counters lend to a bakery feel and these folks that I'm chatting with at the moment bake fresh bread.
Maybe, after a year, we could overlay a lunch crepes theme that would complement the bakery, but not until we have the people to do it!
We’ll build it in stages at the right time.
Second, I would refine the original Arp’s concept to: Elevated Fast Food and Fancy Specials.
Creede sits at 8852ft ; )
It would be a reduced menu that is still made from scratch. I’d just make the menu smaller to fit the space.
Once we have the people (and only then) we could layer on dinner at the Creede Hotel in the summer.
It should be signature dishes designed to get you to the show on time. I love the idea of complex slow cooked meals served quickly. Its the kind of cooking that I do best. Its the kind of cooking that I think I'm built for, and, people like to do what they are good at.
A well-traveled friend once told me that his favorite restaurant in New York was one that only offers about five entrees at a time, but they are terrific and you are in and out to get to your Broadway show. The hotel kitchen is already set up for a streamlined concept.
It should be fancy, fun, and as fast as you need it to be.
Finally, those four hotel rooms! As pretty as we made them, they still don’t have TVs and it feels like you are sinking on the Titanic when you are walking to the bathroom. We could lean into the authentic, really old… um, I mean “Historic” quality of the rooms that are low frills and priced accordingly to maximize the occupancy.
It’s a historic hotel in a Colorado mining town next to a 54 year old Regional theater. It’s authentic, convenient, and cool if it’s branded right.
It is haunted, you know…!
Anyway, that is how I would move forward given the chance.
I think folks in Creede would enjoy a bakery “store front” in the front room of the hotel.
The hotel dinner could be signature dishes worth traveling for and still be efficient and affordable.
And, the original Arp’s location could do a lot less on the menu, and do it really well.
Why, 50,000?
1) The hotel really is a fixer upper, no exaggeration there, and I think it is worth preserving.
2) The winter cash flow in Creede can be a bit sparse for a restaurant to make it through to the summer.
3) Reality is a pretty good teacher, and I feel like I just got a PhD.
I feel like I did the right thing in exactly the wrong way!
I'll get it right this time by focusing on the details.
I'd love to do fewer things much better and build it up properly.
I think what we are doing could come together and become two valuable and sustainable amenities for Creede.
Thanks for considering,
John Arp
Organisator
John Arp
Organisator
Creede, CO