Blvck Svm and BRUTØ team up for two nights of fine dining and fine rap pairings in Denver
Evan Dale // January 31, 2025
Inherently simple, yet only mastered through practice and technique, a line cook – a smattering of hooped earrings ascending from his lobe – parlays two spoons against one another, pinching their necks and scooping Aleppo butter from one of the small, silver bowls into the other until the smooth, sweet, spicy oval is ready to be plated next to a wood-fire-baked cheddar and chive biscuit, and fried chicken dusted with tiger prawn. There are many marriages here on just one plate, and the line cook has 14 of them to present one night; 22 the next. And that’s just one course. There are 12 total, some solid, some liquid, most a creative duality of both. Technique, practice, perfection, repetition. Two spoons, the tools of consistency – the marriage responsible for creation – that lies foundational to any good kitchen. But this isn’t just any good kitchen. This is BRUTØ – a brutalism inspired tasting concept in the heart of Denver’s lower downtown, where not once, but twice – 2023 and 2024 – a Michelin star has been awarded for the distinction of a kitchen that brings to life the expectation of modern fine dining, albeit with only a wood-burning hearth oven for heat. There are no grills, there is no fryer. There is exceptionally creative cuisine, oft-comforting, always exciting and new.
Like the spoons used later in the meal to quenelle smoked gouda ice cream onto a plate with hazelnut nougat, berry compote leather, and caviar, BRUTØ’s chef: the ever-charismatic Byron Gomez, and Blvck Svm: the Florida-born, Chicago-based rapper who has since his 2022 EP, mangalica mink, found his lyrical footing slicing through the thematic discourse of fine dining, immersed themselves in cross-creative collaboration to swell their respective individual talents. For two nights, BRUTØ x Blvck Svm – a michelinman tasting dinner and listening party.
For two months, the two artists brought the concept to reality, working to mold Blvck Svm’s aptly titled debut 2024 album, michelinman – which explores fine ingredients and fine dining at unparalleled poetic depth – into a tasting menu where every track is paired with a course along a progressive dinner. For any chef, the lyricism of michelinman is a well-stocked and expensive pantry of goods. Cremini broth, umami, Iberico jowl, shell of a beetle, mocha, oak. Perigord, gherkin, porcini. Octopus, garlic, scallions, chanterelles. Beurre blanc, chimichurri, turbot filet. There is plenty to work with – perhaps too much – so cutting the fat, making the stock, and whittling it all down to the kind of depth and thoughtfulness that went into the album itself, would take the stroke of true culinary ingenuity, and time.
By the time the 14 guests seat for night one on January 26, that thoughtfulness is omnipresent. The details make way for marriages, quenelles dot tableware and turn into masterpieces on the plate. Sake, cider, champagne, and cocktail pairings breath liquid life into the warm light of BRUTØ’s uniquely articulated space; into the curious and contemplative faces watching – and listening – to chef and Svm’s harmonious vision come into focus. A speaker out of view, tucked behind the hearth oven, is pumping michelinman loudly into the small space. Both artists discuss their journey, their collaborative vision. And then, the first course – a liquid one paired to vantablack: white-oak barrel aged Toki Japanese whiskey, Bozal mezcal fat washed with Spanish jamon Iberico, Italian Alchermes, mocha and mushroom broth, umami bitters. Smoke and mouthwatering depth welcome the guests, and welcome, too Blvck Svm, Chef Byron, and the BRUTØ staff into the kind of kick-off necessary for the settled flow state to take over.
Track to track, course to course, liquid to solid, and spoon to spoon, the dinner party progresses forward. Guests speak among themselves and to their neighbors about what they’re hearing; what they’re tasting. They ask questions to Blvck Svm, who speaks with a certain diligence and quiet confidence about his recent experiences traveling the US and Canada, tasting life changing meals at renowned awarded kitchens, holes in the wall, and everything in between. Guests ask questions to cooks, who speak on their technique to ensure the porcini chuwanmushi is texturally just right; on drying pork into floss so that it is light and fluffy. And they ask questions to servers and bartenders, who speak pridefully yet nonchalantly on BRUTØ’s story and how their own stories have intersected with that of the restaurant’s rise.
Conversation in and out of instrumentals as guests fork, knife, spoon, sip, and handle their way through a course, gives way to silence and contemplative read-along as the next track is introduced. Blvck Svm’s understated delivery makes sonic space for his high-flying lyrical prowess to be fully heard, digested, and ultimately paired with an ensuing dish or drink. Another marriage – another quenelle – delicately creating something – an experience – with technique and precision. Eventually, the flow-state wraps beyond the smoked gouda ice cream with caviar, and into a more all-inclusive conversation amongst everyone inside of BRUTØ’s walls. Knives down, lyric books and menus, too. Reflection.
There is warmth post any good meal. Those who ate are content, and those who cooked are proud and relieved. Here, he who rapped, is perhaps more on stage than he’s been at any point throughout the evening, speaking on his influences and his journey to this moment in a communal Q&A session about something that none of these guests have ever experienced; that no one has. Naturally, there are a lot of questions, guests satiated and looking for explanations to how not only their bellies, but their souls and their minds, too, feel so particularly full. A tasting menu with drink pairings, and musical pairings beyond that has formed a new expectation for what these fans of good food and good rap consider. But it won’t be the last time they – or anyone else – has an opportunity to experience this particular kind of marriage – this specific shape of quenelle.
BRUTØ x Blvck Svm was the rapper’s first go of this concept, and there are sure to be many unique iterations with many new kitchens in many different cities soon to come. So, keep an eye out for more. Listen and taste to Blvck Svm and BRUTØ for now.
FULL PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE EVENT BELOW:
