Hundreds of years ago, European ships hauled exotic fruits and vegetables back from the Americas, introducing the foreign flavors of pumpkins, peppers, chocolates and tomatoes. Those who could afford extravagances like the tomato dined on pewter dishes. But as the acidity seeped into their plates, a chemical reaction occurred, leaching lead into their food and poisoning the aristocrats. They called the witchy tomato a wolf peach and threw them away.
“The common people—the farmers, the shopkeepers, even the homeless—were coming out, eating them out of wooden bowls. And they were just fine,” says Wolf Peach Public House’s owner, Jeffrey Coyle. “The idea wasn’t to put tomatoes on everything. It was really more the ‘feed everyone’ idea.”
Wolf Peach, a “finer dining” restaurant, nestles into a center in south Parker teeming with other local businesses, like Fiction Beer Company. Both of the independently owned hubs support each other while giving locals a place to gather. A food truck didn’t logistically work in Fiction’s parking lot, so Wolf Peach not only offered up food, but voluntarily eschewed in-house beer options.
“Burgers and beer speak together,” Jeffrey says. “It's like we’ve extended our dining room.”
By scanning a QR code, beer drinkers can order from a curated selection of Wolf Peach’s menu selected for how well it pairs with Fiction’s beer and holds up through boxing and delivery.
“Being neighbors, I would go over there a lot while we were building,” Jeffrey says. “They kept me hydrated for the last four months.” His go-to brew is the Juice Box, a golden kettle sour steeped in pomelo and mango.
Owned by Christopher Belila and Mallory Gillette, Fiction serves craft brews in a book-themed environment, offering 13 beers on tap that are brewed at the Denver location. They plan to start brewing trial recipes and one-off styles on-site in Parker soon. Christopher and Mallory hand-selected and installed the decorative book spines that create a showstopper of a bar, and they offer a wall full of books for patrons of all ages to peruse. Over half of their customers are families who unofficially designated the board game section as their nook for sipping craft beers and juice boxes in good company.
In August, Fiction put on an event to support teachers’ transition back into the school year with discounts, raffles, and a spelling bee. A 13-year-old claimed second place after four rounds (shooting kombucha instead of beer) and plowing through brewmaster words like diacetyl.
“We had people buying rounds of beer for teachers, and all-in-all I think we had 30-35 beers that were purchased by the people of Parker to say thanks to the teachers. We were not expecting that,” Christopher says. “I think Wolf Peach and Fiction Beer Parker are bringing stuff that is wanted or needed in the Parker area.”
At Wolf Peach, Jeffrey pulls from his childhood on his family’s Angus cattle farm to re-create a comfortable, relaxed environment with shareable plates, but Wolf Peach opts for bison instead of beef in their recipes.
“The stuff that mom made, she had three kids in high school at the same time,” Jeffrey says. “We were all athletes, so a lot of her meals were the 9-by-13 dump pans where you mix everything together, and they were all delicious.”
In addition to bison, Wolf Peach fills its kitchen with locally sourced goods like coffee beans from Switchback Coffee, and build-your-own charcuterie board options from Red River Meats and cheeses from Haystack in Longmont.
The cruvinet system is the most compelling reason to visit, allowing 16 temperature-controlled bottles of wine to remain open for nine months. When a server pops the cork and pours a glass, they place it into the system, where nitrogen flows into the bottle, making the gas between the wine and cork inert—meaning customers don’t have to commit to an entire bottle of wine.
“Parker has a growing dining scene. We’re hoping to just become a part of that,” Jeffrey says. “We’re just trying to feed people and help somebody have a really great night.”
The Forces Behind Jeffrey Coyle, Owner of Wolf Peach Public House
“I grew up on a beef farm in a little town in Wisconsin. For whatever reason, I was always around the kitchen helping mom cook food,” Jeffrey says. “My mom was an elementary school teacher and my dad was a farmer, so I had a very humble upbringing where we often ate what we grew.”
Jeffrey attended college with baseball—not a diploma—as his aspiration, but after an injury took him off the field, he started skipping class in favor of restaurant gigs. His professors noticed his passion (and absence) and encouraged him to pursue his new aspiration. Jeffrey credits his wife, Alana, for the sophisticated and welcoming interior design, and her family, who own neighboring Poulette Bakeshop, for the location discovery. (Jeffrey spotted it while helping scout locations for Poulette two years ago). Jeffrey emphasized the importance of the location, saying that If the space never became available, he would still be director of food and beverage at Brown Palace. His baseball outlet now comes in the form of coaching at Legend High School where he moonlights alongside his sous chef Rob Gaiko.
Executive Chef of Wolf Peach Public House, Luke Ostrowski Shares his Favorite Creations
After Luke Ostrowski attended culinary school in Connecticut, he cooked at fine-dining restaurants that sourced seasonal items from local farms. He even spent a period of his life catering to athletes like Stephen Curry, Aaron Rodgers, and the Giants. He’s looking forward to serving a scallop dish with an Italian twist: crispy prosciutto, fried capers, spicy tomato sauce and eggplant agrodolce. But for those looking to whip something up at home, he shares two of his creations to cook at home.
Wolf Peach’s Egg Noodle Recipe
This is a great recipe for someone ready to make fresh pasta at home. The egg noodles at Wolf Peach come with a bison ragu, mascarpone cheese, cured egg yolk and gremolata.
2 cups ‘00’ flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
11 egg yolks
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the flour and salt. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and oil. With the stand mixer on low speed, drizzle in the egg and oil mixture. Mix the dough for 2-3 minutes. Turn onto the counter and knead by hand for several minutes. It should look bright yellow and feel firm. Flatten the dough into a rectangle, wrap with plastic wrap and leave on the counter for 30 minutes to soften and hydrate.
Wolf Peach’s Lemon Ricotta Gnocchi
This dish combines lump crab, charred corn, fried leeks and butter sauce into a mouth-watering dish.
1 pound Ricotta, fresh or store bought
2 eggs
Zest of 3 lemons
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup chicken stock
Lump crab meat
Charred corn
Butter
Salt to taste
Leeks
In a large bowl, combine ricotta with eggs, lemon zest and salt. Mix until fully incorporated. Add 1 1/4 cups of the flour and knead the dough to incorporate flour. Repeat with the remainder of flour. Once a ball of dough is formed, refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut the ball of dough into fourths and roll out into a snake using your palms. Cut desired gnocchi size and dust with flour to keep from sticking (the flour will also add to the sauce). Sauté in butter until golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Add crab and corn with additional butter and 1/2 cup of chicken stock for sauce. Reduce for 2-3 min for sauce to form while swirling pan. Garnish with fried leeks.
“We’re not a place for fine dining. We’re a place to welcome everyone that’s hungry.” —Jeffrey Coyle, owner of Wolf Peach Public House