Be Careful What You Wish For
For many generations of Park Hill residents, the corner of 23rd Ave. and Dexter St. was defined by the Park Hill Drug Co., a pharmacy whose owners were local residents, not national corporations. For decades neighbors were known by their first names, could go in and pick up a bottle of wine for dinner, and have their prescriptions delivered to their door if they felt to ill to go out and pick them up.
New generations of Park Hill residents will identify that corner as the site of the Cherry Tomato, a “new” Denver institution that retains many of the physical characteristics of its predecessors and many of the neighborhood qualities that new developments strive to duplicate. Strong reviews have brought customers from the entire metro area, but the Cherry Tomato’s owners, Tom and Wendy Felese, take pride in the number of neighbors who regularly dine there, arrive on foot, and whom they consider friends and community. Wendy Felese, the Cherry Tomato’s manager and surrogate mom to the babies whose parents are dining, will never forget Park Hill neighbors climbing over snow drifts after this winter’s storms. She’s convinced they made the effort not only to cure their cabin fever, but to support the restaurant they knew was struggling with a big drop in business.
A Surprise Beginning
In 1996, the Feleses were one of several young families who had recently moved onto the 2300 block of Cherry St. They quickly formed friendships stimulated by their children who shared the street and each other’s homes as comfortably as their own. Soon the adults began sharing Friday night potlucks. The “star” of many of those dinners was Tom Felese, a Bronx native with an Italian-born mother with a priceless meatball recipe. Tom not only had his mother’s recipes; he had ten years experience cooking in an Italian restaurant in upstate New York called Vinnie’s (how fitting is that?), and perhaps even better, a degree from the Culinary Institute of America. Those potlucks were a too well kept secret!
Tom had wanted to own his own restaurant for almost as long as he’d been cooking and soon the jokes around the Cherry St. dinner tables about starting a restaurant turned serious. Tom, who moved from back east to enjoy Colorado skiing, found himself cooking at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Denver. Living in Colorado’s ski towns on a young chef’s salary was a struggle Tom was unwilling to take on. While waiting for the bus one morning at 23rd and Dexter, Tom noticed the Bobby Dazzler bakery that occupied the corner location for a short time had closed. The Cherry St. neighbors, the Feleses, the Nomensens, the McCorts and the Websters, got “right on it,” as Tom describes it, and within weeks were dealing with the landlord, lawyers, petitions for a liquor license and an established neighborhood association, Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. (GPHC).
A Hard-fought Battle
For many years, and for reasons that may always be debated, GPHC had a long-standing, unwritten policy of opposing applications for liquor licenses in the mostly residential portions of the neighborhood. Opponents of the liquor establishments saw them as a threat to a community whose safety and stability was at one time severely challenged. Many newer and older residents, and of course the principals of the new restaurant saw the situation differently: diners in good restaurants want liquor, and the economics of running restaurants demand it.
After protracted negotiations that were at time rancorous, an agreement was reached between the Cherry Tomato and GPHC, and the little restaurant that could... did. Almost immediately long lines formed outside the entrance and they remained through cold and hot evenings, through the seasons and now, through the years.
Wendy Felese, who grew up near Park Hill, explains that she is sensitive to both sides of the issue and that the Cherry Tomato group “went into this with the best of intentions, and hoped to be given the chance to prove ourselves.” Neighborhood values have changed and the Cherry Tomato has paved the way for several other restaurants in the community that serve liquor and for the most part have been well received. The other three Cherry St. families gradually sold out to the Feleses whose passion for the project never waned and, in fact, has grown.
One of the provisions of the agreement was that the Cherry Tomato would not open an outdoor eating area. A couple of years ago, Wendy Felese addressed the GPHC board about amending the agreement to allow outdoor seating, and after neighbors on Dexter St. objected, the Feleses dropped their plans.
Giving Back
Tom and Wendy Felese celebrated the Cherry Tomato’s 10th Anniversary during the week of March 12. They introduced new menu items that “chef Felese” has been perfecting for several months. The celebration also donated a portion of proceeds for the week to The Gathering Place, the drop-in center for homeless women and children temporarily housed at Montview Blvd. Presbyterian Church, and to the Park Hill Branch Library whose story hours have entertained hundreds of Park Hill children, including the Felese children whose parents were busy building a neighborhood institution.
Cherry Tomato Celebrates Ten Years in Park Hill
By Arthur Rosenblum
Greater Park Hill News
March 15 - April 18, 2007 Edition
