John Goscha has never been in the restaurant business. But the longtime startup founder feels right at home with his newest project.
“I was just walking by and saw the space was empty,” he told BusinessDen. “And as an entrepreneur, it got the wheels turning, of course.”
That space is at 1290 N Williams St., the former home of Secret Garden Bar & Café, which owner City Street Investors abruptly closed last October.
Goscha, who lives just to the south of the Denver Botanic Gardens and was a Secret Garden customer, will open The Carriage House along Cheesman Park come the end of July.
“We’ve been able to elevate the offering and broaden the offering,” Goscha said of his concept, which is named after the back-mansion buildings that housed horse-drawn carriages. “It’s something where you can go and feel miles away from the city, but you’re right on Cheesman Park.”
The Carriage House is a European-styled café, Goscha said — “something that you’d find in Paris or even New York.” When it opens July 28, it will sell sandwiches, salads, bottles of wine and six-packs of beer grab-and-go style. Patrons will be able to enjoy those, along with pastries from local Black Box Bakery and drinks from Novo Coffee, on Carriage House’s 100-seat patio.
That’s phase one of the opening, which Goscha said he’s doing to take advantage of the summer foot traffic and to help the place find its rhythm. The spot will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to start.
“I view this as a park amenity, so I want to get open as soon as possible,” he said.
Phase two is set for September, when Carriage House will use its full 2,500-square-foot interior and offer a full bar and expanded menu until 8 p.m.
Goscha recruited Jake Riederer, a Denver food veteran who’s opened his own sandwich shop and worked at Dana Rodriguez’s Work & Class and Super Mega Bien, to build the menu.
The two met through mutual friend and Carriage House adviser Jake Soffes, who founded spots Hudson Hill and Lady Jane.
Goscha is looking forward to serving up a French onion grilled cheese and a North African tuna sandwich on a baguette, he said. Carriage House will also have small toasted focaccia bites called “toastettes.” Those, which are three for $10, will have toppings like honey whipped ricotta and pepper jam or garlic-pistachio butter with a balsamic reduction.
“I want to try and deliver top-notch hospitality,” he added. “And what I love about (Riederer) is he has such great hospitality experience.”
Goscha and his team renovated the inside, which seats 100 and has new white marble fixtures, vintage mirrors and a Parisian-style checkerboard floor. Goscha, who founded and sold consumer tech companies, financed the project himself and has no investors. He didn’t share how much he spent.
“But it was probably too much,” he said through a laugh. “We didn’t do any major structural changes, but it was an extensive remodel. And right now I’m waiting to hear back from our landlord to change out sliding doors for beautiful French doors.”
That landlord is City Street Investors, which still owns the real estate. When it closed Secret Garden last year, City Street said the restaurant was financially unsustainable. Its staff had also recently unionized.
Goscha, a Denver native who went to Regis High School, attended college in Boston and started businesses there, landing on the Forbes “30 under 30” lists in 2011 and 2012. He moved back to his hometown during the pandemic. He said he plans to donate all Carriage House profits to local causes.
“I’ve been eyeing houses in the Morgan’s Historic District ever since I was a kid,” he said of the Cheesman neighborhood where has lived for about a year. “This is about the community and about me wanting to be involved and give back, so we’re putting our money where our mouth is.”
