New Italian Restaurant Coming to Warehouse District, From Barcardia's Owner and a Denver Chef

It all started with a snowstorm. Three years and many, many meetings later, the result is a new Italian restaurant in the Warehouse District called Sofia. It will be run by Denver's Culinary Creative Group and New Orleans' Billy Blatty, who owns Barcadia and Ohm Lounge.

Blatty was in Telluride, Colo., training for an expedition to Alaska's Mount Denali. A snowstorm hit, so he drove to Denver for dinner. He wanted pizza, he Googled reviews and ended up at Bar Dough, run by Culinary Creative.

"There is nothing like this in New Orleans," Blatty said. Next year, there will be.

Sofia, based closely on Bar Dough, will open in early January at 516 Julia St., next to the new Auction House Market food hall. Or maybe it will be called "Sophia." The spelling of the name is still up for debate.

"We don't tie ourselves to Italian cuisine, but we respect it," said Max Mackissock of Culinary Creative, which also runs Señor Bear and Highland in Denver.

The new restaurant, housed in a warehouse space with 25-foot ceilings, will have wood-fired pizzas, pasta and roasted meats.

"I don't mess with flavor profiles," Mackissock said. "People invented this a long time ago and realized these things taste good together. From there, we just extrapolate and have fun."

Mackissock, after years of cooking in a landlocked state, is also looking forward to using local seafood in New Orleans.

"People come here on vacation to eat," Mackissock said about New Orleans. "I don't know if there is anywhere else in the United States where you can say that. To me, that's so exciting."

The restaurant will also launch the Sofia Foundation, which will give an annual grant of $30,000 to a promising student from a New Orleans public school who plans to study music in college.

"Our school system is always ranked among the lowest-performing in the nation," Blatty said. "At the same time, we want to give back to the city of New Orleans and its heritage by supporting music."

Mackissock has created similar foundations at his Denver restaurants to support specific causes.

Sofia likely won't be the last collaboration between Blatty and Mackissock. They're already talking about other restaurants in New Orleans and taking Louisiana's flavors to Denver.

"We hope this is the first step for us," Blatty said. "We're not trying to be better than anyone else. We just want to play with the big boys."

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