Thank you for your time and interest. We are excited to share what working at Leven looks like, but before we get going, I want to share a little history, so will be easier to understand where we came from and where we’re going. 

Like many others in our industry, working at a neighborhood restaurant was my first job. Right away, I was ‘bitten by the bug’, loving the fast pace, team environment and hospitality of taking care of people; I was hooked and have worked in restaurants ever since. For all the perks in the restaurant business, this industry has its problems. Just like others who have worked for years in the industry, I struggled with the late hours and trouble balancing family life, lack of career development, and limit on how much money I could earn. 

I knew if I was lucky enough to start my own place, I’d want to try and fix some of these problems so many of us deal with. 

When I moved to Denver, I had a craving for a hearty, delicious sandwich and was shocked when I couldn’t easily find one. The entrepreneurial side of my brain kicked in, and I started to write a business plan for a concept that could have the positive benefits I enjoyed in restaurants without the problems. I was piecing together my business plan, while working at a fantastic hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Denver named Potager. After a late shift, I was talking with Potager’s very talented Chef, Luke, and shared my dreams of building a restaurant that promoted the good and left the bad behind. 

Over the next year, Luke and I partnered, talked, tested, wrote and envisioned a fresh type of deli restaurant. 

We agreed it was important to be aware and respectful to the classic American delis. We did our homework, learning about where the model came from and why classic delis, like Carnegie Deli in New York, were on the decline. We valued the principles of the classic deli, but wanted to modernize, lighten and brighten the food. We wanted to show this with our name, which is how we came to: 

ˈle-vən ​(​noun) 

a substance, typically yeast, that is
added to dough to make it ferment and
rise.

a pervasive influence that modifies
something or transforms it for the
better.

We felt like Leven was the perfect name for us: we want to make lighter, better food, a better work environment for our team and a better experience for our guests. Luke and I agreed that our vision is to grow our business with people who want to work with us. We believe people are the most important resource in a restaurant, and we should pay people more. We will open 10 delis and a bakery in and around Colorado. We agreed that a deli is not a bar, so it will never be open too late.