It’s no secret that local entrepreneur J.W. Roth likes to do things big. His Roth Brands provides prepared foods to Walmarts and grocery store across the nation. His Ford Amphitheater set a new standard for music venues with its private fire pit suites, and his Venu Holding Corporation plans to build similar luxury concert venues around the country. So it’s no surprise that the newly opened Roth’s Sea and Steak and its upstairs bar, Brohan’s, have launched with the highest of aspirations and set an extremely high bar for fine dining in Colorado Springs.
“We set out to build something that would change the culinary landscape here in Colorado, and I believe we have done just that,” Roth said in a statement to the press.
Roth’s and Brohan’s have been part of the Sunset Amphitheater-turned-Ford Amphitheater since the beginning, as Roth told us back then. But it has taken two full concert seasons to complete the new restaurant and bar. It has been no small project totaling $44.5 million to create the 58,700 space that includes Roth’s Sea and Steak, Brohan’s and nine private luxury event spaces that accommodate 12 to 220 guests each.
Roth’s and Brohan’s are the showpieces that opened in November to big buzz. Both are perched at the back of Ford Amphitheater and built to maximize wide-angle views of the concert venue below and the Front Range spanning the horizon. Brohan’s has its own separate space at the top of an ornate circular staircase from their shared entry. Roth’s features plush semicircular booths all aligned westward toward a full wall of windows. The sunsets are indeed gorgeous from both.
A Seasoned Team With Big Goals
With such a large price tag, it’s no surprise Roth brought in a pedigreed staff to execute at the highest level.
General Manager Jeroen Erens is a native of the Netherlands who comes to Roth’s most recently from the Country Club at Castle Pines with a career that spans leadership positions at Michelin-starred restaurants and a tenure as export director for one of Austria’s most celebrated white wine producers Domäne Wachau. A large wall of wine greets guests in the foyer Roth’s, and Erens’ wine ties are evident in the impressive and vast wine list. The collection notably ranges from $5 glasses of house wines to bottles reaching as high as $3,850 for a rare 2021 Screaming Eagle from Napa Valley. Guests can choose from 27 wines available by the glass, plus another eight on a Coravin system, which extracts wine from a bottle without compromising the remaining wine.
At the helm of the kitchen is Executive Chef Ricky Biswas. Biswas left medical school in his native India to pursue a career in hospitality at age 18. His journey led him to the French island of Mauritius as a sommelier and gave him a front row to the workings of a traditional French kitchen. After seeing the respect, love — and fear — that staff had for the head chef, he chose a culinary path and threw himself into the pursuit of becoming a chef.
Biswas traveled, worked, learned and trained in locations including Singapore, Dubai, South Dakota, Edinburgh for culinary school, and eventually France. There he honed his craft under Franck Putelat, recipient of the prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France and Bocuse d’Or, at the Two-Michelin-starred La Table de Franck Putelat. He also did additional training at acclaimed kitchens including The French Laundry (Napa Valley), Coi (San Franciso) and PRESS (Napa Valley), eventually rising to an executive chef position at a luxury guest ranch in Wyoming. But larger platforms beckoned, and Biswas says he was drawn to Roth’s for the culinary freedom and potential to attract national accolades such as the Michelin Guide.
“As a chef, this is my 17th year, and I’m still all in,” Biswas says. “There is no plan B; this is it. I say that either I’m going to die in the kitchen or I’m going to be the best chef. That’s what my mentality is.”
It’s an ethos he says was inspired by his father who spent a career in the Indian army: If you’re going to do something, go all in. “In the world of chefs, we say that if you are an actor, you win the Oscars. If you are a chef, you win the Michelin,” Biswas says.
In keeping with his training, Biswas runs his kitchen in a traditional French style with some modifications for current times. While he sets the tone with a relentless hand’s on approach and attention to detail, he also fosters a collaborative team spirit. Everyone in the kitchen addresses each other as Chef as a sign of respect.
Previewing Roth’s Menu
His passion for the art of food is obvious as Biswas walks us through tastings from a variety of dishes. The presentations are gorgeous and intricate. And each dish sings with excellence. There’s a complexity to the flavors, yet also a simplicity that lets each stand on its own.
Case in point, the simply named Halibut is easily one of the best dishes I’ve eaten all year. Wrapped in brilliant green savoy cabbage leaves, the halibut is steamed like all the fish at Roth’s to maintain moisture. A Champagne beurre blanc sauce add another subtle layer of freshness, thanks to its blend of apple, turnip, radish, chives and citrus zest. And a topping of trout caviar adds a unique smokiness that Biswas says is its natural flavor. Exquisite.
Then again, so is the French Onion Soup. It’s presentation is worth the show as the liquid is poured over dehydrated vegetables and funneled through a Heisenberg siphon borrowed from craft coffee. The caramelized onion literally melts in your mouth.
“I want my guests to come enjoy the seafood and come enjoy the steaks, but I also wanted to give them something they have not seen,” Biswas says. “This is who we are as Roth’s as we are calling ourselves fine dining. There’s no point for me telling that I’m trained in Michelin and I come from a Michelin background and have big mentors who are trained. I want to bring that flair into [dishes like] this beautiful, simple French soup. It’s a lot of love and care.”
I could go on about Chef Ricky’s Farm Beet Tartare (a recipe featured by Forbes), Elk Tenderloin and Prime NY Strip. All are beautiful and symphonius on the palette.
“I have a philosophy here which is: You cook like a grandma; you plate like a Michelin star,” Biswas says. “Because I’m trained in classic cuisine, I cook every dish very classically. But when it comes to presentation, I want to plate it like, Oh, wow, what is this?!”
Roth’s emphasizes both sides of its Sea and Steak moniker. There’s a sushi menu at the cocktail bar, and the menu is well balanced between fish (halibut, turbot, sea bass, black cod, caviar, diver scallops, oysters) and steak and land-based meats (including Wagyu Short Ribs, Beef Wellington, Duroc Pork Chop, various steak cuts and more). Roth’s steak cuts come from the Winter Frost Wagyu program. Biswas waxes poetic about the balance of earth and sea, masculine and feminine.
“It’s two beautiful [sides of] nature: strength and patience. We want to bring it together,” Biswas says. “You get the strength from the ocean; the land gives you the power, the peace. We don’t want them to fight with each other. We want them to eat full of love.”
Roth’s offers a versatility of options, from its sushi bar to regular menu to chef’s table experiences. Price-wise on the regular menu, salads and starters range in the teens and $20s. Entrees span $39 to $149 with steaks on the high end.
Biswas expects to start offering chef’s table dining in December. With seating facing the open kitchen, that experience will offer seven courses, but Biswas says in reality it will be more. He and Erens will conduct that service, using it as an especially creative playground with monthly changing menus. “It is a super special menu; nothing will feature from our main dining room,” Biswas says.
Drinks at Brohan’s
Upstairs at Brohan’s, you’ll find smaller, sharable plates, excellent cocktails and elevated lounge vibes. It’s a swanky, sophisticated space made cozy by conversational seating around fireplaces at both ends. This is the space for before- or after-dinner drinks or a lighter experience on its own.
The bar carries Roth’s nickname for his close friend and business associate Gary Tedder, who is the father to OneRepublic’s frontman Ryan Tedder. Its menu was created by Los Angeles-based Ice and Alchemy and overseen by Bar Manager Lazlo Steele, who has drawn on his longtime local experience to add touches like Loyal Coffee in the Old Friends, a riff on an old-fashioned made with cognac, peated Scotch and coffee-infused sweet vermouth.
Brohan’s also features a limited membership program that sources unique or favorite spirits, storing them in individual lockers. Twenty-five were prereleased to investors, and 25 more will be opened to the public.
“Anything your heart desires — you tell us what you want, and we’ll source it for you,” Erens says. “We have exclusive allocation for like 2020 Dominus, for example, Pappy Van Winkle , all the special things that you would want to store in your locker.”
It’s yet another detail meant to elevate Roth’s Sea and Steak to a higher level. Biswas believes Colorado Springs can provide the market for such elevated hospitality, and he hope to draw diners from Denver as well.
“Denver is not only the place to have the best dining experience,” he says. “When I got hired, I said, ‘JW, how far do you want to go? Do you want this restaurant to be just mediocre? Or do you want to tell people that this is the best dining they will ever have?’ We will do everything in-house. There’s no point for me learning so much, bringing in so much experience and not using it. Otherwise there’s no fun.”
Explore the menus and make reservations at rothsseaandsteak.com.
