Chef Andrea Frizzi's Next Chapter: Risica Milanese Pizzeria + Wine Bar at Edit RiNo
NOVEMBER 7, 2024 • DENVER, CO • MONTANA RAE, PRINCIPAL
On October 17, 2024, Risica LLC executed a ten-year lease for the ground-floor retail space at 3463 Walnut Street at Denver’s Edit at River North development. The concept is Risica, a Milanese-inspired pizzeria, oyster bar, and wine bar from Chef Andrea Frizzi.
Andrea has been shaping Denver's Italian dining scene for nearly two decades. For anyone unfamiliar, a brief history is in order.
A Milanese foundation
Andrea grew up in a family restaurant in Milan, raised by a Venetian mother and a Tyrolean father. He began cooking at thirteen, graduated with honors from the four-year program at the Italian Culinary Academy, and spent twelve years working in Milan before moving to the United States in 1993.
After several years in New York kitchens, he arrived in Denver convinced the city was ready for authentic Italian cooking. In 2007, he opened Il Posto on 17th Avenue in Uptown. The concept found its audience quickly. By 2017, he had doubled the footprint and relocated the restaurant to 26th and Larimer, a meaningful bet on the neighborhood's trajectory.
An evolving footprint
Alongside Il Posto, Andrea expanded. In 2016, he opened Vero Italian at Denver Central Market, where his wood-fired pizza became a signature of the food hall. In 2018, he took over Tammen's Fish Market in the same building. He later opened a second Vero location at Denver International Airport.
In 2023, Andrea departed Il Posto. He views the concept today as one better suited to refined hotel settings around the country. His focus has turned to what he sees as the next chapter of RiNo dining: food-forward, polished, and convivial, without the stiffness of traditional fine dining. What was once an emerging neighborhood has become a fully formed dining and cultural district, and the residents, office tenants, and workforce of RiNo are ready for something different.
The concept
The name comes from an Italian proverb, "chi non risica, non rosica," or "no risk, no reward." The menu will center on wood-fired pizza al trancio, a Milanese tradition, alongside a fresh oyster bar, charcuterie and Italian cheeses, and signature dishes drawn from Andrea's years in Denver kitchens, including carpaccio, arancini, and his mother's lasagna.
The bar program will feature Italian wines by the glass and bottle, local and Italian beers on tap, aperitivi, and a full cocktail list. The oven is a Mugnaini, built on a Valoriani core and crafted in Napoli.
The space is being designed by Brandon Anderson of LIV Studio Architecture and Design, the Denver firm behind Denver Central Market and many of the city's best loved hospitality interiors. From the oven to the finish plan, every detail reflects Andrea's view that Risica should feel specific to this building, this block, and this moment in RiNo.
Construction is set to begin soon, and Risica is expected to open in the coming year.
See the Transaction Page →
Property listed by Axio Commercial Real Estate | Lease completed by Montana Rae while practicing at Henry Group Real Estate
