Many people search their whole lives to find their passion, especially one that doubles as a career. And the lucky ones who do find it, often fail to go after it for fear of failure. Jonathan Power, chef and owner of The Populist in Denver, CO makes going after your passion look easy and successful.
Power began his career in the restaurant industry when he was 15, finished college with a BA in Philosophy, and was accepted into law school shortly thereafter. Before he was supposed to begin law school, he decided he needed to take a step back and make sure he was ready to head in that direction. “In high school, chasing the bigger paycheck felt like a better bet than pursuing something I loved and was passionate about,” recalls Power. “I tried my hand at a number of different fields but something always kept pulling me back to restaurant work. Power decided to return to the restaurant world and hasn’t looked back since.
Food brings people together. Be it a family dinner over the holidays or snacks while watching a football game, food is very often at the center of social interaction. I wanted to create a restaurant that embraced that; that fostered dialog between the servers and the guests, between different groups of the guests themselves, and between the kitchen and the dining room.
What are some of the challenges of creating a communal dining experience and how do you address those? We tend to ask a for a decent bit of trust from our guests. Much of our dining room is comprised of communal tables. Our menu lacks descriptions of the dishes, pulling diners into conversations with the staff about what each dish is. Our wine list intentionally doesn’t feature many popular varietals so that we can steer people to try something slightly different than what they may have otherwise ordered. Our tasting menu changes each night and is never printed to allow the kitchen to express what it feels suits a particular day. It’s not always for everyone, but we believe that guests who are prepared to embrace what The Populist is will have a unique and enjoyable experience.
How do you continuously differentiate yourself from other restaurants in the Denver dining scene? Our commitment is to growing as a team and growing in the quality of our work each and every day. I believe that if we’re really invested in those commitments, the quality of the experience at The Populist will speak for itself.
How do you measure your success? One night at a time, one guest at a time.
Photo credit: The Populist official Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/ThePopulist/timeline
The Populist is located at 3163 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205.