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A Family Affair

The duo behind Pearl Street staple Japango extends their definition of “family” to their loyal staff

For Jon Banis and his wife Erin, hospitality is the business they know; and for the last 11 or so years, they’ve made a partnership out of it. Finding themselves working and falling in love in the halls of their restaurant, Japango, they’ve forged quite the name for themselves in the realm of contemporary Boulder dining. With Jon taking ownership in 2007, the Banises, now with their 10-month old baby, became the family behind Japango’s great success—success, they say, that wouldn’t be possible without their other family: their staff.

Restaurants can sometimes be overlooked. They’re something people always assume will be around, but this last year notably changed that narrative as many Pearl Street staples closed their doors permanently. Likewise, great sushi is a rare find in landlocked states, but Jon and Erin have upended that stereotype, working hard to provide the highest quality of everything for their customers, from rare fish to rare whiskey. Japango’s  2013 remodel, which added their notably cool lounge and jellyfish aquarium, gave them the space they needed to expand. The restaurant’s whiskey collection, now slimmed down to more eclectic brands, once held the title of the largest Japanese whiskey collection in Colorado. 

With veteran alchemist Stanley behind the bar and chef Iwo-San behind the scenes in the kitchen, the creativity of what Japango has to offer in constantly in flux. New cocktails and specials are available every week, so it’s not uncommon to see these two (one a purple-haired renegade, the other a proper 70-year-old Japanese sushi chef) bouncing ideas off each other, working together to create interesting pairings. 

The staff, the managers, the owners—everyone is a valuable partner in the restaurant’s success, everyone makes the Japango brand what it is. Even during the darkest times of last year, the Japango family still created a dining experience for people rather than becoming strictly transactional, which is commonplace now that ‘To-Go’ is the gold standard of safe dining. It’s the interaction with community, the social aspect of dining out and the escape of it all that people were craving, and what Japango was able to deliver. 

“We’re so grateful and proud of the last 10 years,” says the Banis duo. “The staff are the ones who have really made us successful. This year there’s been a question mark of what’s next and how we’re going to keep adapting. Once we get one thing figured out, it’s onto the next thing—what and where can we enhance? We say it with humility, but we’re proud of what we’ve created, of our staff, and of what we continue to evolve into."

So Hot Right Now

Wagyu seems to be the item on the docket this month. Stanley fat washed a 1792 Full-Proof Bourbon with Wagyu, a process which rounds out the “hotness” of such potent whiskey and creates a richer, more full bodied drink. Using this in an Old Fashioned, he adds lemongrass-banana infused maple syrup and the house yuzu skin-peppercorn bitters—excellent for pairing with Iwo-San’s specialty Wagyu dishes.

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