Brutø, part of the Id Est Hospitality group, is not your typical Denver restaurant. With just 18 seats and an unorthodox tasting menu, it’s a raw, honest expression of chef Byron Gomez’s craft. Since taking over in early 2024, Gomez has shaped a new identity for Brutø, blending his Costa Rican heritage with his Michelin-starred background, honed at restaurants like Eleven Madison Park.
To understand Brutø, you must first understand Brutalism—not just its concrete-heavy architectural style but its philosophy of rawness and unadorned beauty. “Brutalism is about celebrating things as they are,” Gomez explains. His tasting menu embraces this ethos, elevating humble ingredients, focusing on raw materials, and stripping away pretense. This belief resonates throughout the meal, which is as much a cultural expression as a culinary experience.
The heart of Brutø is its wood-fired oven, a Brutalist centerpiece that reflects the space’s raw, unembellished aesthetic. “It takes brute force to handle wood and regulate the heat,” Gomez says, emphasizing the primal nature of the cooking process. This is evident in dishes like the roasted half squab, served with Palisade plums, where the claw remains intact—a visceral reminder of the raw origins of the meal.
Gomez’s Costa Rican roots also play a pivotal role in the menu. A standout is the mushroom canapé, foraged locally and preserved using Brutø’s in-house fermentation program. Served on a kelp chip, the dish is a reflection of Colorado’s rugged mountains and the restaurant’s commitment to sourcing locally. “It’s Brutalism in a bite,” Gomez says, celebrating the ingredients in their purest form.
The presentation of each dish mirrors the Brutalist aesthetic. Gomez collaborated with local ceramic artist Kazu Oba of O’baware to create custom plates that complement the raw, angular lines of the design movement. Each dish, from lamb tartare with fermented huckleberries to the corn and uni course, carries a message: nothing is wasted, and every element has a purpose.
The hearth bread course made famous by the New York Times remains a staple, a dish so beloved that Gomez jokes about diners rioting if it were ever removed from the menu. The bread, made from heirloom Colorado grain, is served with house-cultured butter infused with lacto-fermented ramps. Gomez’s approach here is simple: if it works, don’t change it. But what does change are the accompanying elements, ensuring that each course feels rooted in the present moment while maintaining the integrity of the past.
At Brutø, there is no printed menu. Diners embark on an 11-course journey, with each dish revealing itself as a surprise. The meal concludes with an “impact receipt” detailing the restaurant’s sustainability efforts—detailing what each course highlighted and the ingredients’ origins. It’s a reflection of Gomez’s zero-waste philosophy, which earned Brutø a Michelin Green Star.
As Brutø moves into its next phase under Gomez’s leadership, the restaurant continues to refine its identity. With a revamped menu set to launch in November, Gomez is poised to push Brutø even further, building on the foundation he’s laid in his first few months. “The transition period is over,” he says confidently. “Now we’re ready to tell the real story of what Brutø is.”
What is clear is that Gomez’s Brutø is a restaurant that asks more of its diners—not just to eat but to think, to engage with the process of cooking and sourcing, and to understand the broader context of food. In doing so, Brutø manages to marry the rawness of Brutalism with the refinement of fine dining, creating an experience that feels both visceral and thoughtful.
