Chef Brother Luck is Colorado Springs’ most recognizable celebrity chef. Much of that comes from a long list of accolades. He has appeared on Top Chef and Chopped. He beat Bobby Flay on Beat Bobby Flay. He is a James Beard Award semifinalist as Top Chef in the Mountain Region.
But Brother Luck is also well known for his passion and commitment to Colorado Springs. He has been an outspoken advocate for bringing the Michelin Guide to Colorado and for pushing the local dining scene toward greater and more creative heights.
Now his Four by Brother Luck is a Michelin Recommended restaurant with a Michelin Award-winning bar manager. We spoke with Luck the morning of the Michelin Guide announcements about the awards, what they mean for Four and some restaurants Brother Luck thinks should have received Michelin honors.
Here’s the conversation, edited for clarity and length.
Springsmag: Congratulations on the two awards for Four by Brother Luck! You’ve been one of the biggest advocates for bringing the Michelin Guide to Colorado Springs. Now it’s officially here, and you’re officially a Michelin Recommended restaurant. How does that feel?
Chef Brother Luck: I mean, I’m floored right now. This is pretty surreal.
I think it speaks volumes to the fact that if you dream something, you can make that dream become your reality. When I started this process, it was out of frustration of a lack of representation. The first three years of seeing Michelin come to Colorado and not have Colorado Springs as even a consideration just rubbed me the wrong way.
So instead of getting on social media and being upset about it, I had conversations with the people that made decisions. And I advocated to bring it to Colorado Springs. I sat with Doug Price from Visit Colorado Springs, and I talked with our state representation at Visit Colorado. Then I got on stage and gave a keynote at the Governor’s Conference last year about Michelin Guide and its importance to the state and what it represents.
And here we are now.
I’m honored that the city believed in this idea, and I’m honored that my team were willing to go with me on this journey. To see us not only as a recommended restaurant but as the only independent chef-owned restaurant in Colorado Springs to be recognized, I think that’s a whole other element of this storyline. We don’t have big investors behind us. It’s literally my wife and myself making this happen every day. Our team trust us and believe in us, and I’m just grateful that they get this recognition, especially Kyle for a Colorado cocktail award.
Michelin handed out only four special awards statewide, and two went to Colorado Springs. What does Kyle’s Exceptional Cocktails award mean?
He’s just grateful. He’s like, “It’s wild.” That’s what he said. He goes, “It’s wild.”
That’s what I love about Kyle. Kyle’s been with me since I opened Lucky Dumpling in 2018. When we transitioned Lucky Dumpling to Tipperary, he really became a student. Kyle became so inspired. I saw that inspiration happening every day with him, and I told him, “You need your own stage. I’d love to give you Four and let you have that be your stage. You deserve to be front and center.”
He fought against that idea. He didn’t want to leave Tipperary. He loved the training he was getting under Sean and Inez [Fitzgerald]. Then one day he came to me and said, “I’m ready.” Here we are a year and a half , two years later. It’s crazy for him.”
I called him the day we got the inquiry on the cocktail program because we received an email from the editorial asking about it, specifically about our vintage spirit program. And I was so against the vintage spirit program when Kyle [originally] brought it to me. But he showed me the math. It made sense, and he believed in it, so we supported it.
And, you know, I had to eat my words. I was like, “I wasn’t a fan of the program when we started, and you convinced me, and I trusted you, and you delivered.”
So hats off to an amazing bar manager.
What have you learned about leadership through experiences like that?
I think that’s what restaurant ownership is: trusting your people. It’s inspiring your people and really believing in them.
This isn’t about me. If I base my success only on me, then I’m going to fail every time. And I think as someone who chased a lot of validation early in my career, it’s no longer about that.
I’m so happy to see others on my team win and elevate them because what this recommendation does for our GM Dylan [Jolly], our chef Ashley [Brown], people like Kyle running our bar program, all of the cooks and servers, they get to attach themselves to a very high luxury brand that is known internationally. Michelin is known worldwide. As I travel around the world, Michelin is a big brand. And regardless of how you feel about it in this country, in the world, on the global stage, it matters.
What does Michelin recognition mean for Four moving forward?
I think what this recognition does for us — I mean, I’m watching my group chat with my team right now, and they’re so fired up because they want more. And I think that’s exciting, but it’s also a responsibility for me as an owner to protect them.
I don’t want them caught up in this Michelin madness that happens and you become so tunnel-visioned that that’s all that matters and you break people.
Something we all agreed on from the beginning was we would not change our culture. We would not change who we are, and we were only going to focus on us. We weren’t going to focus on an accolade. We were going to focus on standards. We were going to focus on discipline.
And I think to come out of the gate with the first opportunity and receive a Michelin recommendation, it kind of sets the bar that we’re on the radar. And we’ve been on the radar with other major brands, right? I’m the only James Beard-nominated chef in the city.
So I think this is another notch in how we’re pushing the boundaries of what Colorado Springs can be.
How do you keep your team grounded and protect that culture you’ve built?
The biggest thing has just been presence, right? Being in the room, being in the conversations, the one-on-ones, making the time. I think that is the most important piece: knowing where your people are at, what they’re going through, what’s their situation, knowing how to gauge your leadership style around that. And making sure my leaders get the same type of expectation and they’re delivering that because they are a representation of us. So we have to constantly focus on protecting the team and making sure we don’t get caught up in this.
We’re not doing this for any awards. I mean, it’s great when they happen, but at the end of the day, we’re doing this for the love of our community and the passion of our industry.
What’s your message to Colorado Springs diners right now?
I think if there’s anything I can tell the people of our community, it’s support your local restaurants because we decide to invest in these communities. We have built our businesses in this community because we love this community, and when you spend your money with us, the money goes right back into the market. It goes right back into the city. So the investments and the time and the organizations that I work with, I’m able to because of the support we receive from the city.
This [Michelin] list is not a true representation of all the great restaurants in our city. I think a lot of restaurants were left off that list. But this is the first one of many. So I hope that we don’t get caught up in this comparison of who’s better.
I think we support these small restaurants that are out there fighting every day to survive in a very tough economy, in a very tough market, and trying to create experience and change narrative. And I really hope that you get out and support them.
If you want to help us, help support your local restaurant. Go see them Sunday through Thursday or go buy gift cards. They’re doing well on Friday and Saturday. So we need to see you during the week because those are the nights where they’re slower.
I hope that’s what this list really does for people.
What are some of those restaurants you felt deserved some kind of Michelin recognition this year?
I think what Latin Social does is absolutely amazing. I think Roth’s was a contender. I mean, look at the amount of dollars they put into that place, and Ricky [Biswas] is a very, very talented chef with tons of experience.
I think Fernando [Trancoso] is another, with Pin Txi Wey. I think if he still had Inefable he would have been on this list because I think he had one of the best restaurants in the city for a while.
I mean, I can sit here and name so many. I don’t think they did their due diligence for Colorado Springs, but with the recognition of us and The Penrose Room, all ships rise with the tide.
Read more about Colorado Springs Michelin honors.
Check out the list of all the Michelin Restaurants in Colorado.
And explore more local hot spots in our own 30 Best Restaurants in Colorado Springs.
