Most diners never see one of the most important meals served at a restaurant.
Hours before the dinner rush begins, cooks, servers, bartenders and dishwashers gather for a family meal — a pre-service tradition that gives the staff a chance to slow down, share food and connect before the pace picks up.
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At Bonanno Concepts’ Capitol Hill “Block,” where Mizuna, 225 E. 7th Ave., Luca, Vesper Lounge and Salita sit side by side, it’s a ritual employees look forward to as much as dinner service itself.
Four days a week, Mizuna daytime sous chef Gerry Perez, whose tenure started with the Bonanno group at its inception 25 years ago, cooks for roughly 75 staff members. He transforms pantry staples and seasonal ingredients into everything from fragrant curries and veggie-packed pastas to sheet pan pizza. His legendary “Gerryladas” — an enchilada dish so beloved it earned its own nickname — have become the stuff of restaurant lore.
“Family meal is a big deal around here,” said Jacqueline Bonanno, who co-owns Bonanno Concepts with her husband, chef Frank Bonanno. And after over two decades of Perez pouring love into those pre-shift dinners, it’s easy to see why.
At many dining establishments, family meal doubles as an unofficial test kitchen. Cooks take turns stepping away from the regular menu to try new techniques, showcase favorite recipes or transform odds and ends from the walk-in into something memorable. Every now and then, those staff-only dishes prove too good to keep behind the kitchen doors.
That creative spirit is alive at MAKfam, 39 W. 1st Ave., which has been serving elevated Chinese comfort food since 2023. Chefs Kenneth Wan and Doris Yuen rotate family meal duties among the line cooks, giving everyone a chance to flex their creativity. “Family meal is an opportunity for our chefs to cook something that interests them and showcase their skills,” Wan said. “It helps foster creativity and gives our chefs a platform to show their fellow coworkers what they are capable of.”
That freedom has already produced menu-worthy dishes, including chef de cuisine Liana Amica’s chilled tofu salad with silken tofu, cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, cilantro and black vinaigrette. Another staff meal favorite, a rich mapo tofu prepared by Aimee Zheng of Panda Bao, previously on staff at MAKfam, also spent time on the menu.
At Champagne Tiger, the French-American diner and queer community space that opened in Denver’s former Tom’s Diner, 601 E. Colfax Ave., in 2024, family meal serves as both a daily reset and a proving ground for new ideas.
“Family meal is one of the ways we create community within our restaurant,” said chef Josh Hood. “It’s time to take a break together from daily service,” while giving young chefs and expos a chance to practice using food scraps creatively, experiment with new dishes and sharpen their skills.
Some of those experiments make the leap to diners’ plates, too. Pasta dishes first tested during family meal have later appeared as weekly Pasta & Piano specials, proving that the next standout menu item might begin as a platter shared around the staff table.
The same spirit of experimentation carries over at Sắp Sửa, 2550 E. Colfax Ave., a modern Vietnamese restaurant that recently celebrated its third anniversary. There, husband-and-wife chefs Anthony “Ni” Nguyen and Anna Nguyen encourage cooks to make the most of whatever ingredients are on hand. A fried tofu dish topped with a fragrant scallion, ginger, chili and bonito sauce became such a hit during family meal that it graduated to the menu for months before evolving into a version featuring crab.
More recently, cooks Ben Ward and Nova Lopez transformed leftover ingredients into a Middle Eastern-inspired spread of pork patties, tzatziki and cucumber-tomato salad using ingredients destined to be used up before the next delivery.
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“Family meal can be an easy thing to write off as a nuisance, or just something that needs to be done,” Anna Nguyen said. “They took it and made it great.”
For Zuri Resendiz, family meal is about making sure everyone working at his restaurant has a moment to pause.
At nearly two-year-old Luchador Tacos & More, the chef-owner of the intimate eatery known for its inventive blend of Central and Southern Mexican and Peruvian flavors makes a point of feeding his five-person team at the end of every shift. On slower nights, everyone can sit down together. When the restaurant is busy, Resendiz waits for a lull in service, then sends employees to eat in turn, insisting they take a real break rather than grabbing bites between tasks.
“We have the privilege of making whatever they want,” he said. One night that might mean ramen; another, tacos or quesadillas. Family meal has also become a launching pad for new ideas. A birria grilled cheese dreamed up by sous chef Heriberto Sosa has become a perennial staff favorite and will likely land on a future menu, while a Colorado lamb huarache made the jump from family meal to special before earning a permanent place in the restaurant’s lineup.
But for Resendiz, the meal itself matters more than what’s on the plate. When he sees cooks or dishwashers trying to eat standing up, he stops them.
“Bro, take a seat,” he tells them. “You have to take the time to really enjoy it because we don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow.”
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Gerry’s Sheet-Pan Pizza
The Bonanno Group restaurants always have plenty of dough and fresh cheese available for menu items, so sous chef Gerry has made Tuesdays a favorite with his sheet-pan pizza, usually served alongside a crisp green salad tossed with a simple homemade vinaigrette.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 8 cups high-gluten flour
- 4 cups cold water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ ounce fresh yeast
Gerry’s Favorite Toppings:
- Crushed San Marzano tomatoes
- Pepperoni
- Diced serrano peppers
- Fresh mozzarella from Luca
- Parmigiano Reggiano, for dusting
Directions
Mix all ingredients in a mixer with the dough hook for 8 minutes. Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a ball. Place on a cookie sheet and let proof in the refrigerator for 4 hours (preferably overnight).
Roll out dough on a sheet tray and let it proof on the counter for one more hour.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and top with your favorite toppings. Return to the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.
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