Sydney Younggreen and Brian de Souza opened The Regular at 1432 Market St in 2023. (Courtesy The Guest)
After over a year-long hiatus, Brian De Souza and Sydney Younggreen are ready to welcome back their guests. The couple, who opened the LoDo fine dining restaurant-turned-event space The Regular in 2023, are set to reopen The Guest within the space. But when the reservation-only dinner series returns to 1432 Market St. on Nov. 6, the couple will welcome another chef to their table.
“We started having some conversations with Culinary Creative and decided to partner up on this space,” said De Souza, a native of Peru. “We had that speakeasy area built for The Guest, so we thought we might as well use it. We have the team and ways to do it.”
Both The Guest and The Regular are now a part of Culinary Creative Group, the local gaggle of restaurants led by CEO Juan Padro, whom De Souza described as a mentor.
Padro said CCG bought a majority stake in the concepts earlier this month, with Younggreen and De Souza retaining a “substantial” stake. His group has done similar deals with chefs at CCG’s other concepts like Kumoya and Magna Kainan.
“That’s kind of what our model is. If you think about it, we’re an incubator and invest heavily in chefs, and women and minority-owned businesses in particular,” Padro said. “If you see who our chefs are and who’s leading (our restaurants), you’ll see this is a natural fit for us.”
Inside De Souza and Younggreen’s $2 million space at 1432 Market St. (Courtesy Bird Tree Productions)
De Souza said nothing much will differ from The Guest of old, which they started in 2020 at his and Younggreen’s Boulder apartment. Soon after, it moved to their Wazee Street loft and then to Market Street when they opened The Regular in 2023. But they decided to nix the offering a year-and-a-half ago to get more space for their restaurant.
When The Guest returns, it will have seatings of 15 people each that will begin at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. with constantly changing offerings. An evening’s menu could feature anywhere from 10 to 30 courses. Pricing hasn’t been finalized, but The Guest charged $225 per person when it previously operated.
“It’s just chef-driven food, that’s what you can expect every time you come,” said De Souza, who got his feet wet in New York City’s culinary scene, where he met Younggreen. The two moved to Colorado in 2019, and De Souza worked at Michelin-star winning Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder.De Souza calls The Guest a “tasting room,” albeit for food instead of beverages.
“We don’t have a posted menu,” he said. “That defeats the purpose of mystery and the experience of going and experiencing the unknown.”
The spot will be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and if all goes well, De Souza plans to add another night or two. It will retake the 2,000 square feet of the spot’s total 6,500 square-feet, which it had before it closed. The total buildout cost around $2 million, De Souza said, and was done years ago before The Regular opened.
Juan Padro
“When you look at that street, it’s all bars and stuff like that. They got the bike lane, the bus lane – it’s not an ideal street for restaurants,” CCG’s Padro said. “But for a tasting menu, it’ll work and that’s kinda the DNA of who they are.”
The move caps years of change for De Souza and Younggreen. In the spring, the couple decided to turn The Regular into a full-time private event space, shifting away from open fine dining to hosting more corporate gatherings. Being near offices, the convention center, venues and sports arenas made the area a natural fit, De Souza said.
Padro said The Regular will fill a gap for CCG. He said he has turned down upwards of 15 private dinners in the $10,000 to $15,000 range each month because the group didn’t offer it.
“We were getting a lot of requests for events to the point where we couldn’t take them because we had the restaurant,” De Souza said. He added that The Regular’s revenue and profits took a jump immediately after switching the model.
“You go from having to be open seven days a week, a lot of labor costs, food costs, etc.,” he said. “And you can completely reduce that by having events.”
De Souza thinks having The Guest back in the fold will give potential clients an opportunity to experience he and Younggreen’s hospitality before booking. He’s also just happy to have things more settled in the space.
“It’s just been part of the process, being able to adapt to circumstances and be able to go through twists and turns,” he said of his experience as a restaurant owner and operator. “It’s not just cooking. It’s operating a business and it needs to be successful not just for yourself, but for your team.”
Sydney Younggreen and Brian de Souza opened The Regular at 1432 Market St in 2023. (Courtesy The Guest)
After over a year-long hiatus, Brian De Souza and Sydney Younggreen are ready to welcome back their guests. The couple, who opened the LoDo fine dining restaurant-turned-event space The Regular in 2023, are set to reopen The Guest within the space. But when the reservation-only dinner series returns to 1432 Market St. on Nov. 6, the couple will welcome another chef to their table.
“We started having some conversations with Culinary Creative and decided to partner up on this space,” said De Souza, a native of Peru. “We had that speakeasy area built for The Guest, so we thought we might as well use it. We have the team and ways to do it.”
Both The Guest and The Regular are now a part of Culinary Creative Group, the local gaggle of restaurants led by CEO Juan Padro, whom De Souza described as a mentor.
Padro said CCG bought a majority stake in the concepts earlier this month, with Younggreen and De Souza retaining a “substantial” stake. His group has done similar deals with chefs at CCG’s other concepts like Kumoya and Magna Kainan.
“That’s kind of what our model is. If you think about it, we’re an incubator and invest heavily in chefs, and women and minority-owned businesses in particular,” Padro said. “If you see who our chefs are and who’s leading (our restaurants), you’ll see this is a natural fit for us.”
Inside De Souza and Younggreen’s $2 million space at 1432 Market St. (Courtesy Bird Tree Productions)
De Souza said nothing much will differ from The Guest of old, which they started in 2020 at his and Younggreen’s Boulder apartment. Soon after, it moved to their Wazee Street loft and then to Market Street when they opened The Regular in 2023. But they decided to nix the offering a year-and-a-half ago to get more space for their restaurant.
When The Guest returns, it will have seatings of 15 people each that will begin at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. with constantly changing offerings. An evening’s menu could feature anywhere from 10 to 30 courses. Pricing hasn’t been finalized, but The Guest charged $225 per person when it previously operated.
“It’s just chef-driven food, that’s what you can expect every time you come,” said De Souza, who got his feet wet in New York City’s culinary scene, where he met Younggreen. The two moved to Colorado in 2019, and De Souza worked at Michelin-star winning Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder.De Souza calls The Guest a “tasting room,” albeit for food instead of beverages.
“We don’t have a posted menu,” he said. “That defeats the purpose of mystery and the experience of going and experiencing the unknown.”
The spot will be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and if all goes well, De Souza plans to add another night or two. It will retake the 2,000 square feet of the spot’s total 6,500 square-feet, which it had before it closed. The total buildout cost around $2 million, De Souza said, and was done years ago before The Regular opened.
Juan Padro
“When you look at that street, it’s all bars and stuff like that. They got the bike lane, the bus lane – it’s not an ideal street for restaurants,” CCG’s Padro said. “But for a tasting menu, it’ll work and that’s kinda the DNA of who they are.”
The move caps years of change for De Souza and Younggreen. In the spring, the couple decided to turn The Regular into a full-time private event space, shifting away from open fine dining to hosting more corporate gatherings. Being near offices, the convention center, venues and sports arenas made the area a natural fit, De Souza said.
Padro said The Regular will fill a gap for CCG. He said he has turned down upwards of 15 private dinners in the $10,000 to $15,000 range each month because the group didn’t offer it.
“We were getting a lot of requests for events to the point where we couldn’t take them because we had the restaurant,” De Souza said. He added that The Regular’s revenue and profits took a jump immediately after switching the model.
“You go from having to be open seven days a week, a lot of labor costs, food costs, etc.,” he said. “And you can completely reduce that by having events.”
De Souza thinks having The Guest back in the fold will give potential clients an opportunity to experience he and Younggreen’s hospitality before booking. He’s also just happy to have things more settled in the space.
“It’s just been part of the process, being able to adapt to circumstances and be able to go through twists and turns,” he said of his experience as a restaurant owner and operator. “It’s not just cooking. It’s operating a business and it needs to be successful not just for yourself, but for your team.”
