Fuel & Iron opens: Here's what to know about the long-awaited Pueblo food hall

Pueblo's long-awaited Fuel & Iron Food Hall is finally open to customers.

The food hall's owners want to use it to promote culinary arts in the Steel City by acting as a "launching platform" for new restaurants at a much lower price than is usually associated with opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

The food hall, which opened Monday and has a grand opening event planned for Friday, features a Solar Roast Coffee as well as five new food concepts:

• Mosh Ramen, which offers Asian-fusion-inspired noodles with a punk-rock aesthetic.

• The Hungry Buffalo, which serves buffalo meat cooked in several different ways.

• Diavolo Hot Chicken, a concept from the founders of Bingo Burger that puts a Pueblo chile twist on Nashville hot chicken.

• Santa Fonda, which serves handmade tacos and side dishes inspired by the street vendors of Mexico City.

• Steel Crescent Kitchen, which offers a taste of New Orleans with items ranging from po'boys to muffalatas.

Food hall to serve as 'incubator' for new culinary concepts in Pueblo

While the five vendors are the first concepts to appear in the food hall, co-owner Zach Cytryn said they won't be the last.

Cytryn said each food hall vendor pays a lease on a "shorter than usual" basis — usually about 1½ to 2 years — with the goal of helping each restaurant establish itself so its owners can open their own brick-and-mortar sites in Pueblo after completing their lease.

The departure of one vendor will then free up space for another new entrepreneur hoping to debut their own concept, he said.

Cytryn described the food hall as an "incubator" for new culinary concepts in Pueblo.

"It's a lower cost of entry," Cytryn said. "Someone can come here and once they get a bit of a track record, a proof of concept, they can get the bank they need to open up in town, then we backfill them with another awesome concept."

Fuel & Iron, built inside the old Holmes Hardware Building, is the first food hall of its kind in Pueblo, Cytrn said.

He and business partner Nathan Stern saw the popularity of food halls in major cities such as Denver and decided to bring the concept south.

"Everything about food halls made so much sense to us: it's family friendly, there's different options, you can get a drink, and we had a thesis — every community can support at least one food hall," Cytrn said.

So, why Pueblo?

Cytrn said he fell in love with the city the first time he saw it, while Stern's first job coming out of college was in Pueblo.

"I feel like Pueblo is a hidden gem," Cytrn said.

"A lot of People in Denver aren't that familiar with Pueblo, they never come down here. This downtown has so much character, it could be even better if it's activated with certain concepts ... if this building was in Denver, it would be developed 20 years ago. There's nothing like this left," he said, referencing the 36,000 square-foot building in the heart of downtown Pueblo.

Fuel & Iron apprenticeship program to develop chefs of tomorrow

While the food hall will help launch new restaurant concepts, it will also feature a robust apprenticeship program, led by Culinary and Education Director Chef Mo Montgomery.

Each year's apprenticeship program will feature a cohort of eight apprentices who will be paid $16.77 per hour, with a raise every 1,000 hours of work, meaning they'll finish their apprenticeships at approximately $18.50 per hour.

Montgomery noted that apprentices will work in all of the different restaurants of the food hall and learn different techniques from each chef.

"During the course of their apprenticeship, they'll pick up 11 different nationally recognized certifications," she said.

With the cutting of Pueblo Community College's culinary arts program in May of last year, Montgomery hopes the apprenticeship program will help keep culinary education alive in Pueblo, and preserve the rich culinary culture of the region, she said.

"We have also partnered with the Pueblo Heritage Museum for some of our (diversity, equity and inclusion) programming to give context to the unique food of Pueblo, for the history of the folks who have occupied this land for the last 10,000 years or so, but also the four countries that have occupied this land as well."

Questions, comments, or story tips? Contact Justin at jreutterma@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @jayreutter1.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Here's what to know about the new Fuel & Iron Food Hall in Pueblo