Dear Emilia, a new Italian spot from the team behind Restaurant Olivia is set to open Thursday, Jan. 29, in Denver’s River North Arts District. The 88-seat restaurant at The Current is framed as an ingredient-focused love letter to Emilia-Romagna, channeling the region’s cured meats, hand-rolled pastas, and Lambrusco traditions through Colorado produce plus sustainably sourced seafood and meat. Chef Ty Leon, bar director Austin Carson, and hospitality director Heather Morrison are leading the opening service and kitchen teams.
Menu structure and price points
The menu is split into starters, sides (d'accompagnare), pastas (e poi), protein dishes (e ancora), and off-menu desserts. Dishes include gnocco fritto with domestic prosciutto and preserved-pear mostarda ($18), lasagna verde layered with bechamel ($28), and anolini filled with braised beef cheek ($26). A seafood stew built around Colorado rainbow trout, mussels, and clams is priced at $44, while a strip loin served with focaccia, miso ja,m and pesto modenese comes in at $65. These dishes and price points were detailed by The Denver Post.
Inside the RiNo dining room
Set on the ground floor of The Current at 3615 Delgany Street, the dining room is designed to feel warm and intimate, with arched ceilings, carved nooks, and a focal batteria of balsamic barrels. Seating covers the main room, a 10-seat patio, and a private space for roughly 20 guests, giving the team flexibility for both casual evenings and more celebratory dinners. Local coverage and an early look at the space were shared by Westword.
Team pedigree and local cred
The Olivia crew arrives with recent accolades in hand. Heather Morrison received a Michelin Outstanding Service award in the Colorado guide’s 2025 special awards, and Restaurant Olivia was named a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality. Those honors are noted in the Michelin/Visit Denver announcement and James Beard coverage from PR Newswire and Axios Denver, respectively. Wine director Scott Thomas has built an Italian-leaning list that spotlights Lambrusco, including a dedicated Lambrusco flight.
Opening logistics and reservations
Dear Emilia opens to the public on Jan. 29 and will serve dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. Reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made online, with the team urging diners to plan ahead given the limited size of the dining room and the early-week evening hours. The reservation guidance and operating hours were reported by The Denver Post.
Cooking approach and what to try
The kitchen leans into Emilia-Romagna traditions, including tortellini in brodo, garganelli, and mortadella, while working in hyper-local ingredients such as Colorado trout and Boulder County beef alongside house-made preserved condiments. The team previewed several dishes at a Dear Emilia tasting and pop-up hosted through Restaurant Olivia, featuring items like smoked trout tigelle and gnocco fritto with bison mortadella. The pop-up and tasting lineup are described by Restaurant Olivia.
For Denver diners, Dear Emilia lands amid a broader winter run of high-profile RiNo openings and positions itself as a focused alternative to more general Italian concepts by zeroing in on a single region’s pantry. Expect evenings that revolve around pasta, Lambrusco bottles, and a small-plate rhythm suited to diners who like to plan and explore northern Italian flavors.
