EDGEWATER, Colo. — Under most circumstances, Danielle Lee might view Saturday’s opening of the Edgewater Public Market — her first day as the owner of a brick-and-mortar restaurant — as a nerve-wracking experience of entering a whole new world.
But as she looks across the floor of the Denver area’s newest food hall at her 14 eatery compatriots, the owner of Slideshow Sliders actually feels more like she is at some kind of class reunion. After all, nearly every restaurant that has taken a stall within the 52,000-square-foot food and retail hall is someone that has been with her at food-truck rallies, farmer’s markets or festivals — and most continue to operate a restaurant on wheels in addition to the set-in-place kitchens they have at 5505 W. 20th Avenue.
“It’s exciting. It’s a new venture and the camaraderie is great,” Lee said ahead of the debut of the market.
Indeed, LCP Development has put together an eclectic collection of eateries, as well as eight retail shops, a coffee shop, a bar and a soon-to-open brewery to comprise the first food market in this Jefferson County city located just across Sheridan Boulevard from Sloans Lake. And while the restaurants vary from Ethiopian to Venezuelan, from exotic-animal servers to chicken-tender providers and from eateries that make lobster mac and cheese to those that make lobster grilled cheese, nearly all have the common background of working their way up from an investment in a lower-cost food truck to being invited to settle down and offer their wares to the crowds that will gather at 20th and Depew streets.
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