Denver Food & Wine Festival giving platform for new restaurants and chefs to share their food

Local food and wine lovers, this is your week. The Denver Food & Wine Festival is returning on Wednesday for a four-day event.

The festival features some of the state's top chefs and finest wines, but it's also an opportunity for up-and-coming restaurants and their owners to have a platform to let others know about their food.

That includes the owner of Luchador Taco & More. Chef Zuri Resendiz, who goes by "Chef Z," opened the restaurant to customers just three weeks ago in Denver's Whitter Neighborhood. However, the journey to opening this brick-and-mortar location began two years ago.

Resendiz also owns the Luchador Food Truck, which he opened back in 2022. He said it only seemed fitting to open a food truck during the pandemic because food trucks were becoming more popular at the time.

"I love my food truck, don't get me wrong. But at the end, I'm a chef, and I'm always thinking of new ideas," Resendiz said. "That's when I decided to open a restaurant. I missed that part."

That led him to open the restaurant location.

"When I decided to open my restaurant, I wanted to make something that represents my brand with fine dining, but also tacos as well, because we are in a neighborhood and we want to make everybody happy," Resendiz said.

Resendiz said is from Mexico and has lived in Denver for 17 years. He began a new life for himself, that focused on cooking. He said the business's name, Luchador, comes from the idea that everyone wakes up, puts their mask on, and gets ready to tackle the day ahead.

The restaurant and food truck serve upscale, Mexican and Latin-inspired dishes. Much of the inspiration comes from Resendiz's travels to countries like Mexico and Peru.

"I'm Mexican and I'm always representing those flavors, but I always do my twist in it," Resendiz said. "All my food that I do is always inspired by respecting the culture, respecting the roots, but at the end we are chefs, and we want you to know about our food."

Resendiz is now ready for this next chapter of owning a restaurant. He has participated in the Food and Wine Festival in previous years, but he said this is the first year he's representing his own business, and this week is a chance to let others know about it.

"With a restaurant, you can open new doors and new windows to go through people. I want people to try my food. I want people to feel my journey through my food, and I think we're going to accomplish that," Resendiz said.

Resendiz will be competing in the Shake & Brake Showdown which is a food truck and cocktail competition that is happening on Thursday. He'll be competing against more than a dozen others. Resendiz said don't expect to see him serve anything from his food truck menu or restaurant menu at the Denver Food & Wine Festival, but you can expect a lamb-inspired dish if you do attend the event.

The Denver Food and Wine Festival kicks off on Wednesday at the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus. The event runs through Saturday.

For more information about the festival, click here.