Daniel “Chef D” Young spent 18 years cooking privately for Denver Nuggets players, billionaires John Malone and Robert Smith, and Broncos part-owner Condoleezza Rice, all while his own restaurant ambitions kept getting derailed by forces outside his control. Now he's back in front of the public, running the kitchen at Rising Phoenix, a newly opened restaurant tucked into the former Lowry commercial building at 7401 E. 1st Ave.
Young's path to Rising Phoenix runs through a string of Denver ventures that never quite got the runway they needed, according to Westword. He opened Jive Kitchen & Bar in the Golden Triangle in February 2020, only for the restaurant not to survive the COVID-19 pandemic that arrived weeks later. He later planned Hamba, an upscale Escoffier-style steakhouse and seafood concept for the ground floor of the Parq on Speer apartment tower, complete with custom chef's tables and private resident dining, but that project stalled when legal issues involving the building's owners got in the way, Westword reports.
Those legal issues trace back to Greystar, the national landlord that manages Parq on Speer. In January 2025, the Federal Trade Commission and the State of Colorado filed a federal lawsuit against Greystar, accusing the company of tacking deceptive hidden junk fees onto renter contracts nationwide, according to CoStar. That litigation helped sink Hamba before it ever opened its doors.
A Career Built Behind Closed Doors
Young's credentials run deeper than his celebrity clientele suggests. He began his culinary training at age 15 and completed a national apprenticeship under four Master Chefs, earning Certified Executive Chef status by 1992, according to a release distributed by 24-7PressRelease. Along the way, he opened Fat Daddy's and MBP (Moods. Beats. Potions.), and served as corporate chef for Pure Hospitality, the food-and-beverage arm of the Black-owned investment firm The Flyfisher Group, where he helped develop Mimosas and MBP on Welton Street in 2020 to support the Five Points commercial corridor, per CBS News. Five Points is historically recognized as Denver's Black cultural and jazz hub.
In May 2023, Young partnered with airport operator OTG to open Sunset Loop Bar & Grill in Concourse B-East at Denver International Airport, designing an all-day menu inspired by Golden's Sunset Loop hiking trails. Perhaps the most striking anecdote from his private-chef years, per Westword's reporting: Prince once called Young at 4 a.m. to cook for him and his entourage.
Erasing a Watering-Hole Reputation
Rising Phoenix occupies the space once known as Tavern Lowry, which sat vacant after Tavern Hospitality Group collapsed following an internal court fight between founder Frank Schultz and his mother — a dispute that led to property sell-offs and foreclosures across metro Denver, according to the Denver Gazette. Local surgeon and Army veteran Dr. Jacquelyn Glenn bought the building for $3.5 million in late 2025, roughly $2 million below the initial asking price, after the venue's May 2024 closure. Glenn said the project expanded to include Rising Phoenix and broader community programming beyond what she originally envisioned.
Young told Westword he is trying to erase Rising Phoenix's old reputation as a neighborhood watering hole, and that he wanted to publicly re-engage with the customer base he built over years of private and corporate cooking. He said the menu is meant to stay creative while remaining cost-effective, and that everything served comes from scratch, made in-house.
Menu Nods to Lowry's Air Force Roots
The dishes lean into Lowry's identity as a former U.S. Air Force base that trained more than one million military personnel before closing in 1994, according to the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, which still displays a 1955 Boeing B-52B Stratofortress bomber nearby. Rising Phoenix's B-52 Pizza, priced at $14, swaps pepperoni for whole slices of kielbasa sausage. The Howard Hughes Pizza, also $14, comes topped with meatballs, roasted peppers and olive tapenade.
Other menu items include the Phoenix Chips & Dip for $7.50, made with homemade potato chips, Cajun seasoning and a house-made dip; Jamaican Beef Sliders for $12, built on jerk-marinated beef, buttermilk biscuits and goat cheese; and the Stevie Nicks Sandwich, piled with oven-roasted turkey breast, lettuce, tomato, avocado and bacon. The Burger Phoenix runs $16 and features ground brisket, sautéed mushrooms and aged cheddar, alongside a broader lineup of pastas, cast-iron skillets, salads, cold plates and pizza.
A Name Dispute Next Door
Rising Phoenix's opening comes amid some neighborhood confusion over the building's other new tenant. Glenn also launched The Dove Underground at the site, but original operator Frank Schultz separately relocated his own “Soiled Dove” brand to Chopper's Sports Grill in Cherry Creek in May 2026, a move Hoodline previously reported. Schultz created the Soiled Dove concept in the late 1990s before expanding it across Denver, according to Westword's coverage of the Lowry building's revival.
The rebuilding of 7401 E. 1st Ave. also arrives as the surrounding Lowry commercial district has faced its own headaches. Persistent sewer odors at the nearby Lowry Town Center led to municipal inspections, tenant departures, and landlord litigation earlier this year, a saga Hoodline covered in its report on the district becoming something of a retail ghost town.
Grand Opening and Hours
Rising Phoenix celebrated its grand opening on August 15. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to midnight, Saturday from 9 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. More information is available on the restaurant's website, risingphoenixrestaurant.com.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)