Chef Byron Gomez this week announced he will be leaving downtown Denver’s BRUTØ this summer, and that his final menu will be a tribute to his home country.
Dubbed “A Love Letter to Costa Rica,” the menu will be available from April 1 to June 30; reservations are now available.
“It will be a range of classical dishes presented in a modern way,” Gomez said this week. “There will be fermentations dating back to ancient practices from native tribes. It will also explore and present some Afro-Caribbean influences.”
A dish on BRUTO's current menu, from chef Byron Gomez: Santa Barbara purple uni, butternut squash bisque, compressed Colorado apples, butternut squash pickle and lemon thyme. (Jeff Fierberg, provided by Brutø)
The chef said he will honor his father and grandparents with a variation of rosquillas, a savory ring made with local corn masa, and serve plates highlighting the place’s abundant produce. “It’s an interpretation of my Costa Rica,” he continued, adding that the decades he’s spent in the United States never dimmed the importance of his early food memories or the pride he has for his home country. (His family moved to Long Island when he was 7 years old.)
When Gomez — the Eleven Madison Park (New York City) and “Top Chef” alum (he was on Season 18, set in Portland and airing in 2021) — started at BRUTØ in March 2024, he thought he was only going to be there for three months. He had just moved to Denver and was looking to see where his talents fit in the city’s evolving scene. He was still riding high off his televised momentum and had recently closed out a chapter in Aspen after running the kitchen at the now-shuttered 7908, a chic restaurant and club.
At the same time, Chef Kelly Whitaker was trying to figure out the next iteration of BRUTØ, the downtown open-kitchen concept that has always centered around its massive hearth oven. Chef Michael Diaz de Leon had just left, leaving behind a set of sizable shoes.
It was synchronicity. Gomez took the reins, and shifted the cooking away from De Leon’s avant-garde Yucatecan offerings, creating multi-course experiences focused on global fine dining that emphasized fermentation, local grains and meats. He subsequently won two consecutive Michelin stars of his own, expanded the restaurant to include Studio, a retail and classroom space, and delivered five original menus.
“This will be the first time that a Costa Rican menu will be highlighted at the Michelin level,” he said of his sixth and final menu.
Since opening in 2019, BRUTØ has always been an evolving project. While not necessarily an incubator, it has continually acted as a hotbed of experimentalism and a place where chefs can spread their wings while also absorbing the Id Est Hospitality ethos. “We want to see a lot of change in our industry, whether it’s through people or ingredients,” said Whitaker.
Gomez, meanwhile, feels that he’s left his mark, and graduated from the most learning-intensive and successful portion of his career. “My main concern is always to work toward a position where I leave a legacy. Did I leave it better than I found it in terms of leadership, culture and mentorship? I feel like I accomplished that,” he said.
And he couldn’t be happier with the terms of his departure. “First and foremost, I’m not leaving BRUTØ on a bad note. This is a mutual decision between Kelly and I,” he said. “We have a personal friendship. BRUTØ has just been an extension of that.”
Byron Gomez on “Top Chef” Season 18. (Stephanie Diani, provided by Bravo)
Whitaker said the team is currently looking for BRUTØ’s next chef, who “will be the center point of what we’re trying to do,” adding that the next version of the restaurant will surely be as different from Gomez’s interpretation as Gomez’s was from de Leon’s. Even so, the mission will remain the same.
As for Gomez, the future is bright — but unclear. “Personally, I’d like to just keep that to myself and not disclose what’s next. And that’s a nice thing to do. That privacy is a luxury,” he grinned.
In the meantime, a special collaborative dinner with a chef from San Jose, Costa Rica — Sikwa Restaurante’s Pablo Bonilla — is scheduled for May. In 2025, Bonilla became the first Costa Rican chef to be recognized by The World’s 50 Best Latin America.
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