PRESS

"Restaurateur Alon Shaya's childhood visits to grandma's house clearly made an impression—Safta (the Hebrew pronunciation for "grandmother") is an ode to her warmth and delicious cooking—he even took a rose she painted and imprinted it onto the glassware. Shaya's menu brings modern Israeli flavors to the Mile High City: pomegranate-braised lamb shank, harissa chicken with charred lemon, falafel and lamb kebabs all appear on the menu, but the salatim may be the star. These small, shareable plates like hummus, baba ganoush and labneh are served with airy pita bread, and can easily make a meal in themselves." Full Article.

"Take yourself off the main drag in RiNo and head to the rooftop restaurant Safta, for the Middle Eastern food and the Denver skyline views. Influenced by Israel, Bulgaria, Yemen, Syria, Morocco, Turkey, Palestine and Greece, the dishes range from family-style meat entrees to veggie-friendly curries. But the real gratification here is the freshly baked pita, which is complimentary and addictive. The warm bread makes for a great vessel to dip into the lamb ragu hummus, crispy eggplant, shakshuka and other deliciousness — so you won’t feel guilty about ordering a second round." Full Article.

"When chef Alon Shaya opened Safta in 2018, he made us rethink hummus and falafel. No longer the stuff of cheap and satisfying college takeout meals, as executed at Safta, these dishes rise to the level they deserve in the canon of world cuisine. Shaya made us not only appreciate the standards, but introduced us to Israeli dishes rarely seen before in Denver." Full Article.

"Among a handful of chefs to achieve national recognition for turning modern Israeli cuisine into a phenomenon, New Orleans’ Alon Shaya brought it to The Source Hotel in RiNo in 2018, and — pandemic notwithstanding — Safta has been a smash hit ever since." Full Article.

"Back at The Source, take a culinary journey through Israel via Europe, North Africa, and the rest of the Middle East at Safta, where James Beard Award–winner Alon Shaya often draws on his grandmother’s recipes for such dishes as the addictive cheese borekas and lutenitsa, featuring garlicky roasted eggplant and peppers." Full Article.

"Doesn’t everyone prepare duck matzah ball soup and harissa-roasted chicken for their seder? Safta’s Passover meals serve four and are priced at $195, though it’s well worth ordering the flourless Vahlrona chocolate cake for an additional $40." Full Article.

"From running restaurant kitchens to brewing Coloradans’ favorite craft beers, women are leading in all facets of the Front Range’s exciting dining scene—and driving its success. In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, we hope this list makes it easy for you to find and support female-owned and -operated establishments from Aurora to Boulder and beyond." Full Article.

"Since 2018, when Liliana Myers became pastry chef at Safta, chef Alon Shaya’s acclaimed modern Israeli restaurant in Denver, she has baked countless trays of pistachio baklava, chocolate tahini pies, and semolina cakes with orange blossom ganache. But while her Sephardi and Middle Eastern dessert game is undeniably strong—“When I first started, I bought dozens of cookbooks and tried to learn everything that I could,” she said—Myers also makes room for her family’s Ashkenazi pastry roots." Full Article.

"Safta, which means “grandmother” in Hebrew, is a personal project for New Orleans chef/restaurateur Alon Shaya; he opened his first restaurant outside of Louisiana at Denver’s Source Hotel in 2018." Full Article.

"Safta in RiNo is cooking an entire to-go Hanukkah feast for four people (starting at $175). The menu includes tahini hummus, tershi (a pumpkin dip from Libya), pita, lutenitsa (pepper-tomato relish), labneh, latkes, harissa-roasted chicken, lamb shank, and six sufganiyot (half of which are filled with strawberry cream, half with kumquat marmalade)." Full Article.

"Safta re-opened for takeout on May 13, which means you should probably be making a beeline over there to grab the spicy-tart Urfa Chile Paloma ($10). Made with ancho chile liqueur, smoky Urfa chile simple syrup, grapefruit, and tequila, this drink has got sass to spare." Full Article.

"We miss Safta's creamy hummus, fresh-baked pita and housemade pickles, but now you can get all of that plus other small plates and entrees to go." Full Article.

"Israeli restaurant Safta became one of Denver, Colorado’s foremost dining destinations from the instant James Beard Award–winning chef Alon Shaya ventured beyond his home base of Louisiana to open it in 2018. To score a plum gig there, you’d better have one heck of a résumé. Jen Lordan does, having held managerial roles at such major New York destinations as Blue Hill, The Dutch, and (gone-but-not-forgotten) Dovetail before moving to Denver. So when the general-manager position opened up, she was a shoo-in." Full Article.

"In Denver, chefs Alon Shaya and Edward Lee (and The Lee Initiative) wanted to directly help the thousands of restaurant workers who suddenly lost their jobs. So they turned Shaya’s now-empty restaurant Safta into a relief center." Full Article.

"Safta Restaurant joined a national effort on Monday to serve members of the hospitality industry displaced from the coronavirus outbreak by providing family meals and household supplies. The restaurant will make 300 meals each day for unemployed workers in need of help while many businesses are closed or operating on a limited capacity." Full Article.

"After more than 1,500 customers lined up around the block for a bake sale benefiting Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains last summer, a group of Denver restaurants will hold another on Saturday, Dec. 7. Safta, the Israeli restaurant at The Source Hotel, will host the event together with Reunion Bread Co, Acorn, Oak, Brider, Moxie Bread Company, Dio Mio, Blackbelly, Annette, Beast + Bottle, Work & Class, Tag restaurants and more local purveyors." Full Article.

"Picking up where The Populist left off, this year Safta will host the Denver Planned Parenthood Bake Sale. On December 7, in the Source Market Hall, some of Denver’s top chefs will collaborate on the event centered around festive treats in the benefit of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. For the event, James Beard Award-winning chef Alon Shaya and wife Emily Shaya along with Safta Pastry Chef Liliana Myers have compiled a who’s who list of Denver’s restaurant scene to collaborate on the delicious delectables." Full Article.

"Chef Alon Shaya opened this Israeli spot in RiNo’s The Source Hotel after previously making a name for himself (and winning a James Beard award) during his time at the helm of a pair of New Orleans restaurants. Safta is the Hebrew word for “grandmother” and the menu is partially based on Shaya’s own grandmother’s recipes." Full Article.

"Happy new year! At least from me and my family, who just celebrated Rosh Hashana on Monday and Tuesday. That’s why this week’s Add to Cart comes to you on a Wednesday: Part of my observance of the Jewish new year includes being fully offline and unplugged from technology, which means no newsletter writing, but many opportunities to connect with those around me, face to face." Full Article.

"If you’ve been to Safta, chef Alon Shaya’s temple of modern Israeli fare inside the Source Hotel & Market Hall, you know that it’s nearly impossible to avoid eating way too much of the exquisite wood-fired pita, the glorious, silky hummus (which comes in five different iterations), and the bevy of cold and hot small plates—with not an inch of table (or stomach) space remaining for entrées." Full Article.

"For one night only, diners have the opportunity to savor Alon Shaya’s modern Israeli cuisine paired with pours from Denver’s TRVE Brewing Company and Athens, Georgia’s Creature Comforts Brewing. Buy a token at the Safta’s Counter in the Source Hotel lobby and choose from three food-and-beer stations, where you can have a plate of za’atar fried chicken, corned beef pot pie, or kebabs—with all the fixins’—accompanied by three four-ounce brews." Full Article.

"If you’re not aware of the history of the neighborhood, arriving at Denver’s Source Hotel might elicit a “Where am I?”/middle of nowhere sense of confusion. There’s a gritty, warehouse feel to the surrounding streets due to the fact that the neighborhood just north of Denver downtown’s high rises was, in fact, an industrial center at the turn of the 20th century." Full Article.

"So many places, so little time. Summer really hits its stride in July and although you might think that would mean hefty airfare prices, hotel minimum stays and rate hikes, it can be quite the contrary. Just follow our guide to the five locales that are some of the most popular (yet inexpensive) places to venture to right now." Full Article.

"During brunch at Denver’s Safta, a cart full of colorful bottles turns heads as it rolls by. The bright orange slices on the cutting board, green fragrant fresh mint, and deep-purple blackberry purée gleam like a stoplight of drink ingredients. Or, more accurately, a sign to go ahead: Order another drink and settle in for a show when the bartender wheels the restaurant’s spritz cart to the table to make drinks right in front of customers." Full Article.

"Alon Shaya really loves food. He loves cooking it, being around it, learning about it, and teaching others about it. Born in Israel and raised on cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, Alon now calls New Orleans his home." Full Article.

"I sent a lot of people to Safta after it opened in the Source Hotel & Market Hall this past summer—advance scouts who returned with tales of pita revelation, as if they had eaten an ur-bread. The pita really is that good. It arrives from the wood-fired oven as hot as coals, charred, and puffy. Tear into it immediately; your fingers may smart, but you won’t care." Full Article.

"One of the most noticeable things about James Beard Award-winning chef Alon Shaya’s big new Denver restaurant is how obviously feminine it feels. At Safta, orchids line the shelves, roses climb the glassware, blonde wood crosses the tables, a soft pink wallpaper and blush tiles cover all the walls." Full Article.

"Alon Shaya has pulled in two James Beard awards, a feat as jaw-dropping as winning two straight Super Bowls or hugging the golden statuette two years in a row. So you’d think he would have gotten the memo about bread service, and how the cool kids no longer give it away." Full Article.

"If you think hummus is a cold, dense chickpea paste that comes in a plastic container—or that pita is stale and crumbly by default—you need to dine at Safta, the two-month-old modern Israeli restaurant inside the Source Hotel & Market Hall in RiNo." Full Article.

"Alon Shaya, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind New Orleans’ perennially packed Saba, debuted Safta, his latest restaurant and Denver’s first destination for modern Israeli cuisine." Full Article.