The owner of one of Denver’s most successful food concepts of the past two decades has left his stall at Avanti Food & Beverage to focus on his mobile business and tend to personal health issues.
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Jim Pittenger debuted Bikers & Bakers, his follow-up to Biker Jim’s Gourmet Hot Dogs, late last year inside of Avanti, N. Pecos St.. Circumstances involving a short-term lease as well as illness, however, have left him with less time and energy to devote to the food hall, he said Monday.
“Up until this year, I’ve been a pretty young late-sixty-year-old,” Pittenger said. “I’ve started feeling more like a late-sixty-year-old than I’d like.”
Bikers & Bakers will continue catering corporate events and vending at farmers’ markets, Pittenger said. His hot dogs are also for sale during World Cup watch parties at Skyline Park in downtown Denver, 1701 Arapahoe St..
News of Pittenger’s departure was shared by Avanti’s management less than a week before his last day, Sunday, June 14. The food hall announced his replacement, an Italian sandwich concept called Ciao Babe, at the same time.
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Ciao Babe’s owner, Niko Diamantopoulos, had brought his doner kebab shop, Berliner Haus, into Avanti around the same time Pittenger moved in. The specialty at Diamantopoulos’ new stand will be sandwiches made with schiacciata, a Tuscan flatbread.
“I’ve always found that if you can make a niche and make it really good, then people are gonna go for that,” Diamantopoulos said of his food ventures.
Ciao Babe’s soft opening is slated for Thursday, June 25.
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