Coastal Greek fare is on display at Denver’s newest restaurant Kini’s

Kini's opens with upscale Greek seafood, a rarity in Denver. Photo credit: Kini's.
A tray of meatballs at the Greek restaurant Kini's

Upscale restaurants dedicated to Greek food are hard to come by in Denver. Rarer still are places spotlighting Greek seafood. Enter Kini’s, an ambitious, new Cherry Creek restaurant that prepares many of its dishes in a wood-fired oven. 

Equally exciting is the restaurant group behind it: NYC’s famed Quality Branded, which operates hits such as Quality Eats, Don Angie, and Quality Italian (including a location in Denver at the Halcyon hotel). It’s part of the restaurant group’s effort to transform the dining scene at the stylish Clayton Members Club and Hotel.

Kini’s serves as the star attraction in this redevelopment, while Greek wine bar Cretans and piano lounge Chez Roc are formidable supporting players. Given this is a Quality Branded project, one thing is certain: high-quality food and service that’s just as good for a special night out as it is for a weeknight pick-me-up.

“We get some people coming in to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries, or, you could stop in for a nice mid-week treat,” Coady Coughlin, the executive chef at the restaurant, says. “There’s always a fun, high-energy atmosphere happening in the dining room.”

A plate of oysters on ice kept on blue tile next to a few dips including a red dip.
The menu at the restaurant is inspired by Greek seafood from the island of Syros. Photo credit: Kini’s

The restaurant gets its name from the coastal village Kini on the Greek island Syros, which inspires Coughlin’s menu.

Highlights include the salt-baked red snapper, an elaborate item that needs to be ordered 24 hours ahead of the meal. Coughlin finishes the dish with a theatrical flourish, pulling the two-to-four-pound fish from its salt shell at the table before sending it off to the kitchen for plating. It’s an ideal centerpiece to share between four people. 

In fact, the menu is full of shareable plates: octopus with lemon tahini, and the grape leaf-wrapped sea bass with preserved lemon are just two of the choices. There are plenty of options beyond seafood as well, with some of the standouts including meatballs with a date molasses drizzle, a whipped goat cheese and saffron dip, and cacio e pepe orzo. 

A bartender mixing a drink at the Denver Greek restaurant Kini's.
Kini’s spotlights Greek liqueurs such as Mastiha. Photo credit: Kini’s

The beverage menu stays true to the Mediterranean theme with cocktails such as the sumac spritz and the cherry Crete. The former features Prosecco, grapefruit, and a housemade sumac liqueur, while the latter is a nod to the local neighborhood with its use of cherry, whiskey, and Mastiha, a Greek liqueur made from the resin of Mastic trees. There’s also a selection of Greek wines and local beers.

It’s hard to conjure the Greek seaside in arid Denver, but Kini’s has managed to do just that thanks to a collaboration between the design teams at AvroKo and Handwerk Art & Design. The verdant space has plants hanging from the thatched ceiling, bright blue and white accents, and light wood tables and floors. Grab a seat in the 80-seat dining room or perch up at the stunning 16-seat horseshoe bar. 

Kini’s is open Sunday and Monday from 5 pm to 9 pm, and Tuesday to Saturday from 5 pm to 10 pm.

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Freelance journalist Linnea Covington lives and eats in Denver, the best place for green chili and epic hikes with fantastic sandwiches.

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