The Aspen City Council will hear presentations from 520 Grill, Bamboo Bear, Jaffa Kitchen and Masala and Curry about their concepts for the city-owned affordable restaurant space at 455 Rio Grande Place next week.
Council members agreed to move forward with those four proposals during a work session on Monday. They selected the four proposals out of the 12 that were submitted because they are all existing or former local restaurants that have proven success in the Roaring Fork Valley, and all proposed menus that the council said would still be considered affordable in the community.
“When I narrowed down my list, I also thought about experience in the community. We’ve not always succeeded in bringing in vendors or restaurants that have not previously operated a restaurant or establishment here,” Councilwoman Christine Benedetti said during the work session. “So I think bringing in someone who really does know the market based on having been in the market would be a good decision for us to make.”
Councilman Sam Rose chose his finalists based on how well-known they were in the community, their financial stability and affordable menu prices.
Rose and Councilman John Doyle proposed moving forward with 520 Grill, Bamboo Bear, Jaffa and Masala and Curry. Benedetti originally proposed the first three, but agreed to include Masala and Curry if the council wanted to move forward with four finalists.
Councilman Bill Guth wanted to move forward with only 520 Grill, Bamboo Bear and Jaffa. He said Masala and Curry might not be the best restaurant for the space, especially because some of the target clientele will be children.
“I think it’s a great concept and a great restaurant, I’ve eaten there, I just don’t think that’s the right concept for that space,” Guth said. “I don’t think it works well to serve sort of the kid users in that location, which, for me, is an important consideration.”
Mayor Rachel Richards agreed to move forward with all four. She said that it was important to her that applications showed they already had the staff to get up and running.
“It is a tough town to make it, you know, I keyed in on things when people said, ‘We plan to hire locally,’ versus, ‘We already have staff,’” Richards said. “Most people don’t realize what it’s going to be like to try to hire locally.”
The four finalists are all locally-owned businesses in the valley. 520 Grill is an existing restaurant in downtown Aspen that has been operated by owner Troy Selby at 520 E. Cooper Ave. since 2010. In 2020, it was rebranded to Silverpeak Grill.
In December, T&W Partners LLC, which operates Silverpeak Grill, filed a lawsuit against its landlord that alleges extended construction at the Fat City Plaza building effectively shut down business for much of 2025 because of lost revenue.
Selby said in his proposal that he has been priced out of the free market and wants to carry his business on to the subsidized space across from Rio Grande Park.
Bamboo Bear is a former Aspen restaurant that operated at 730 E. Cooper from 2016 until 2021. It operated in a building known as the Buckhorn Arms building across from City Market, which is owned by developer Mark Hunt.
It is a fast-casual Vietnamese restaurant that was founded by Vincent Bagford and Xuan Ha. They want to “reestablish a proven Aspen restaurant operator with a strong local following,” according to their proposal.
Jaffa Kitchen is a Middle Eastern restaurant owned by Doina Musteata and Alexei Rotaru that has operated at 400 E. Valley Road in Willits since 2020.
It offers “robust Middle Eastern cuisine that is currently underrepresented in our Aspen community,” according to the proposal submitted to the city.
Masala and Curry is a restaurant at 730 Cooper Ave. in Glenwood Springs that is owned and operated by Oscar Clinton and Dhananjaya Airee.
The owners proposed two restaurant concepts (bidders were allowed up to two proposals). The first would be consistent with the current Masala and Curry menu, offering Nepali, Indian and Himalayan cuisine.
The second concept would take Masala and Curry’s current operations and make it a fast-casual South Asian kitchen. It would offer build-your-own-bowl style meals.
The city council will interview the finalists during a Feb. 2 work session. Following that meeting, council members will select and announce a preferred operator during a regularly scheduled meeting and likely enter into executive session to discuss lease terms.
As for the rest of the eight applicants, council members suggested they could be possible options to take up shop in Armory Hall once it is redeveloped. The city is gearing up for a major redevelopment of the former city hall building into a food hall and community gathering space.
The Armory will feature kitchens for five different food vendors. It will be run by a master lease operator who will oversee the different vendors. The city is in the middle of seeking qualified applicants for a master lease operator for the Armory.
The project is scheduled to be completed in summer 2028.
“I thought, when I looked at this list, how encouraged I was by the Armory food hall that was coming about in hopefully summer [2028],” Rose said.