Posted by admin | Posted on 20-10-2011
Category : Uncategorized

For us, creating a restaurant is much more than finding a location, hiring a chef and then opening the doors. It is a labor of love and an opportunity to share our passion for good food and great hospitality. ChoLon is an extension of our home and values, offering old and new friends a place to gather while they enjoy an incredible dining experience. Lon Symensma and Alicia Pokoik Deters met in 2000 while they were both doing fellowships at The Culinary Institute of America in Escoffier, the Classical French restaurant at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. The next year, along with two other friends from the CIA, they shared an apartment in New York City and began professionally working in New York’s world class restaurant scene. In 2002, Alicia departed the Big Apple for the mountains of Colorado to complete her MBA and MS in Real Estate and Construction Management at DU while Lon decided to continue his culinary training and left NYC to travel throughout Europe and Asia. Lon spent a year working at two Michelin two-star restaurants in the south of France and apprenticing at the acclaimed Arzak rest
aurant in San Sebastian, Spain. The following year Lon continued his travels throughout Southeast Asia and China under the guidance of mentors and renowned chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Gray Kunz and was a part of the opening team at Jean Georges Shanghai. When Lon returned to New York City, he joined Jean-Georges at his iconic Southeast Asian inspired restaurant, Spice Market. Alicia completed her studies in Denver and married Jim Deters in 2004. They decided that Denver was the perfect place to settle down and start a family, and have since had two children. All the while, Alicia and Lon kept in close contact and talked of one day opening a restaurant of their own. Fast-forward to 2010, with numerous culinary accolades and four years at Buddakan, which earned a coveted New York Times two star review and was named the fifth highest grossing restaurant in the United States, Lon moved to Denver to join Alicia and Jim to make their dream a reality. And if the celebration of a restaurant is not exciting enough, Alicia and Jim are expecting their third child just in time for the opening of ChoLon this October. Alicia, Jim, Lon and the ChoLon team are thrilled to join Denver’s thriving culinary scene. With access to local, sustainable agriculture and a community with an appetite for healthy living and inspired cuisine, the Mile High City is an ideal place to showcase Lon’s talents in the kitchen.
For more information, visit: http://www.cholon.com/