Off Menu with Chef Yong “Peter” Ho of Oak at Fourteenth

On the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving I settled into the chef’s kitchen view seat at OAK at Fourteenth. I expected an out-of-the-way seat on a slow night, but that’s not what happened. Initial quiet slowly evolved into a procession of diners coming through the doorway and a steady drum of order tickets printing in the kitchen.

As things got busier, I noticed Executive Chef Yong “Peter” Ho standing at a counter adjacent to the restaurant’s ovens. He held a pair of chopsticks in his left hand when he sometimes rearranged food in a plate or bowl. Every few minutes he would exchange the chopsticks for a knife. Then he would finish with a plate that would be taken away to the dining room. As an observer, I felt the calm and focus from where I sat.

“My role is to support the team, the cooks, the sous chef. Provide the tools they need,” said Ho when I asked about his approach to running a kitchen. “I need to give them the right direction and make an environment where they’re comfortable.”

Chef Ho had years to hone this approach. Born in South Korea, he began cooking during his time in the army while stationed in Germany. After attending a California culinary school, he went on to work at some of the country’s most acclaimed fine dining restaurants including Michelin-starred Aldea, the Clocktower, and Aureole.

“I liked to travel, and I moved around a lot, heading to Chicago after graduate school, then to New York,” he said. Ultimately, the outdoors called and brought him to Colorado where he worked as executive chef under James Beard award winner Jennifer Jazinski at Rioja.

Just about a year ago, Ho took over the kitchen at OAK at Fourteenth, adding his creativity to the much-loved modern menu that, in September, earned a recommended designation from the Michelin Guide. He’s been busy, creatively freshening the restaurant’s core appeal by adding selected Asian elements to bring surprise and depth to patrons’ tables.

He applies his approach and passion for sourcing locally, even in winter. “We try to get all our produce from the area. I try to get to know what kinds of products are available and then create my menu,” he explained, adding that he’s found there’s even a good amount of ingredients available in winter such as farmers’ stocks of storable items, like squash, that keep through cold weather.

I enjoyed items that showcased this approach. I tried the OAK roasted potato gnocchi with nori goat cheese, served with butternut squash that picked up a wood-fired smokiness from the preparation. The highlight of it was the cheese, with salt notes and creaminess that played against the richness of squash and potato. Then, Ho asked me to try the restaurant’s duck breast, which was perfectly cooked and went well with coconut, lentils, curry, and red cabbage.The mix of flavors was intriguing, surprising to me, and completely satisfying.

I sipped OAK’s zero-proof cocktail, Nao de Chai, with both plates. Made with non-alcoholic mezcal, chai, agave, lime, and orange, the drink was rich and autumnal. It paired better with the gnocchi than the duck, but it was a fun, cool-weather complement to both dishes. I would have it again, though I would be curious about whether the heat from alcoholic mezcal would make it richer.

Ho explained his approach to me after I’d tasted. “I think about the seasonality of what I cook but also about infusions. It’s a small kitchen, and we have a lot of people coming in at the same time. Sometimes it’s even more like a neighborhood restaurant, not just a special occasion stop. I try to cook a lot of different menu items, so they can come back a lot of times, see their friends.”

That neighborhood feel is the best way to describe the sense I got from the restaurant when I left after my meal. It was 8:15, and the dining room was still being filled with patrons, settling into their chairs, talking over cocktails, and connecting with friends. They were lingering, talking, and enjoying a meal. Ho was plating and expediting, not seeming to miss a moment.