14 SEPTEMBER 5-11, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | to Rioja for her stage the next day. That’s when she learned that Jasinski’s husband, Max MacKissock, had opened Bar Dough in LoHi and was a partner in its parent group, Culinary Creative — a quick lesson in how “small town” Denver can be. She staged at the Italian eatery the day after that and ended up with a job offer from both spots. “That was the fi rst time in my life when I was like, whoa, I get to choose,” she remembers. “It was this big moment for me.” Ultimately, she went with Bar Dough because “it was still young, it had just opened, was still discovering itself a little bit, and I just saw more opportunity to grow.” Rising to the top In early 2020, just before the pandemic shut down indoor dining, Baird left Bar Dough to pursue a venture of her own. (She’s since returned to the Culinary Creative Group and opened brunch restaurant Fox and the Hen last summer.) At the time, Devita thought she’d be next in line for executive chef, but Russell Stip- pich stepped into the role instead. “It was a very emotional experience for me,” she admits, recalling MacKissock laying out two options: Stay at Bar Dough to be chef de cuisine under Stippich or move to another Culinary Creative spot, Señor Bear, to be sous chef for Blake Edmunds. “’Do you want one sharp sword or multiple swords?’” Devita remembers MacKissock asking her. She decided she did have more swords to collect, so she took the gig at Señor Bear, where she delved into Latin fare and recon- nected with her Puerto Rican roots. “It was like my reboot,” she says. But after two years, she began feeling burned out and frustrated. She’d stepped into more of a support role for the team, and with a lack of leadership above her in the kitchen, “I wasn’t learning,” she says. When she reached out to Culinary Creative founder Juan Padró about her concerns, he offered an unexpected opportunity: to go to Boston for a month to stage at award-winning chef Jamie Bissonnette’s restaurants. “I’d been feeling burned out for a minute and I’d let it fester,” she admits. “It was defi - nitely a moment where I was like, stick up for yourself, Stefy. Tell them what you want. They’re not going to know what you want if you don’t tell them. ... I was so nervous to have that conversation, but I’m so glad I did because it sparked a whole new chapter. Going to Boston made me grow a lot. It was a big leap.” When she returned, she jumped in to help at Bar Dough and its sister steakhouse, A5, while the Culinary Creative team worked to carve out a role for her as a trainer. But then a new opportunity came up when Stippich decided to make a move: He recently opened Osteria Alberico with the Frasca Hospitality Group. With an open role to fi ll, MacKissock called Devita. “He said, ‘I feel like you’ve collected a lot of swords. I think you’re ready to be an executive chef, and I need one at Bar Dough,’” Devita re- members him telling her. “I, like, blacked out for a second. ... I really wanted to be a chef before I was thirty.” But at 33, this was close enough, she jokes. “When I say this is a full-circle moment for me, I can’t mean that enough,” she con- cludes. “It’s awesome. It’s a life goal, and I love it here. Now I get to really go into my next level, which is, who am I as a chef?” Diners in Denver should be excited to fi nd out the answer. Email the author at [email protected]. Cafe continued from page 13 Fresh, seasonal, local produce plays a starring role on Bar Dough’s current menu. HEATHER M. SMITH/FORTUITOUS PHOTOGRAPHY
