Peeps: Q&A with Kuvy Ax

When it comes to food and restaurants, Kuvy Ax has her hands in every pot. Ax is a public relations pro specializing in Boulder County’s restaurants, chefs and food-related businesses. She calls Hosea Rosenberg, Mark Monette and Bradford Heap clients, and she started her career while working with one of Boulder’s first celebrity chefs, James Mazzio. Ax may not have started the local foodie revolution, but she’s certainly on the frontlines.

She was born in Boulder, and after spending years living with her father in England, she moved back. After stints in radio and marketing, she decided to turn her career toward the kitchen—not her kitchen but the Culinary School of the Rockies, where she oversaw classes for home cooks. In 2001, in the midst of the rise of the celebrity chef, she began marketing for James Mazzio, who was named a Food & Wine Best New Chef. Then in the mid-’90s, it all seemed to happen: Frasca opened in downtown Boulder and The Kitchen opened. Chefs like Mark Monette, Dave Query, Bradford Heap, Lenny Martinelli and Radek Czerny made names for themselves.

And Ax was there to make sure the world knew about them.

“There was a confluence of people intent on promoting the business, and then there were businesses that were worthy of promotion,” she said.

After working with the Fresh Ideas Group for two years, Ax has now launched her own brand—Root PR—with a website (rootpr.com), logo, staffer and the works. Here, we talk with Ax about her favorite local foodie trends, dining spots and foods:

On her favorite foodie trend:
“It’s all about the celebrity farmer these days. I walked into Alfalfas, and there’s a giant picture of Anne Cure from Cure Organic. I think that’s really exciting. It’s really important to be connected to our food and the people who grow it. The more we are connected to it, the healthier we are all around.”

On the experience of eating:
“I think so much of eating food is about the experience, to be with people you care about. It’s like having a little celebration every time you sit down for a meal. I never just eat to eat. I wake up and I think, ‘Wow, I get to eat three times today.’ It’s a treat. It’s almost always with someone,” she said. “And my job is a way to feed that. It means eating out in Boulder a lot.”

Her favorite dish to cook: Indian curry. “It takes forever but it tastes like you were plunked down in an Indian kitchen.”

On her role in Boulder’s foodie fame: “It was great timing. It was perfect timing. I started doing something that wasn’t even a job. I would love to think that I helped to make a difference. I was and am genuinely excited about the high-quality stuff that’s going on here.”

On food groups: “We’re seeing all these people getting together over food. It’s an amazing trend. They all really get it.”

On her career: “I’ve been making it up as I go along,” she laughs. “I had never worked in PR when I started. I love food, and I love people who do cool stuff with food.”