This month, Denver’s RiNo neighborhood welcomed Heretík by James Beard Semifinalist Chef Theo Adley. An encore to his beloved Lyons, Colorado restaurant Marigold, Heretík celebrates France and Spain’s coastal traditions, where exceptional seafood is a way of life and the convivial spirit of Basque Country hums along the coastlines. Opening as a counter-service restaurant, Heretík features a dynamic raw bar, hyperseasonal and sustainable seafood program, and a striking rotisserie showcasing American-raised heritage poultry.
“The Basque regions along the coast have always felt like home to me; it best articulates the way I love to cook and the way I love to eat. Bringing that to Denver, the city where I found my voice as a chef, is a full-circle moment for me,” shares Adley.
The restaurant’s six-seat counter wraps around the space, drawing guests into the rhythm of service and evoking the energy of coastal European wine bars. Beyond, the 24-seat dining room opens to a visible kitchen, where the choreography of cooking becomes part of the experience. Chefs move between the steady sizzle of the plancha and a grand rotisserie, where heritage fowl turn slowly over an open flame, grounding the space in a sense of warmth and ritual. The interplay of fire, movement, and craftsmanship calls to mind the seaside kitchens of France and Spain, rustic yet refined and deeply rooted in tradition.
Denver-based design studio Wunderwerkz and Justin and Matt Ledbetter did the design and construction for Heretík.
As always, Chef Adley brings his distinct point of view and intuitive approach to a menu grounded in tradition but shaped by a fresh perspective. The raw bar highlights seafood sourced through long-standing relationships with coastal purveyors and fishermen, with a particular focus on shellfish. A champion of American-raised heritage poultry, Adley plans to eventually rotate guinea fowl, squab, duck, and quail through the rotisserie, allowing each to take on the character of the fire. The menu is rounded out with conservas, gildas, pâté, txistorra, and other regional specialties, unfolding across four sections with standout dishes including:
Featured plates include Scallops a la plancha with bearnaise and seaweed (scallops cooked on the plancha with marinated hijiki and sauce bearnaise), Huevos rotos with morels and piquilo (a fun play on steak hache with house-made potato chips, fried eggs, and morel mushrooms with piquilo), Dungeness crab tortilla (Spanish-style tortilla espanola with Dungeness crab), and Rôtisserie poulet rouge (‘cou-nou’ heritage breed chicken with pommes allumettes, sauce Heretík and sauce verte).
“We want this to feel like a bistro you’d stumble into, where you’re greeted by oysters on ice and the warmth and aroma of the rotisserie,” says Adley. “A place where you can get curious at the raw bar, share a bird off the spit, and linger over a great bottle of wine.”
Beyond shellfish and rotisserie, Heretík reflects Adley’s deep passion for wine. The program mirrors the menu geographically, spotlighting small, family-owned producers from the Pays Basque and Côte d’Argent with sparkling, white, orange, and red available by the glass. Favorites from the cocktail program include the Abrikota White Negroni (Opal gin, Suze, Lillet), the Pan con Tomate Martini (Maud vodka, Basque vermut, bread oil), and the Viejo Moda (Atxa 3-year whiskey, 10-year brandy, orgeat).
Heretik is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 4-10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 4–11 p.m.
