Apple Blossom in downtown Denver is back in full bloom and one North Carolina chef is bringing some southern flair to guests and locals at the redux of the restaurant.

The upscale eatery inside the Hyatt Centric Downtown Denver closed its doors in December 2023, but Apple Blossom is back open and has a sprite new chef overseeing what comes out the kitchen doors.

Meet Executive Chef Adrian Faison, who’s grandmother sent him on a love affair with cooking at the ripe age of eight, and started making cakes and pies on the family farm in Cofield, North Carolina.

“I would watch her cook at a young age and my favorite thing of hers I like to cook is her Devil’s Food chocolate cake,” Faison said of one story he recalled about life on the family farm. “One of the (other) big things my grandmother had was blackberry trees, so we’d get a lot of fresh berries almost every other day, and it was the best jams she’d make every morning.”

Growing up on a farm, Faison knew freshness well.

“We’d grow muscadine grapes, we had pecan trees, we had chickens where we’d get our fresh eggs from,” Faison said of the farm in Cofield. “One of the things she grew up out of (the farm) was collard greens and she grew kale, so that’s how I learned how to farm and knew where our food actually came from because we worked in her gardens to help grow the food.”

For the next 10 years he found his love affair with food, and by his teenage years, made it his career focus.

At age 19, Faison was at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina learning how to cook. Then it was off to Harrison College — aka ‘The Chefs Academy’ in Morrisville, North Carolina — where Faison continued his studies and graduated with an associate degree in culinary arts with honors.

“I’m a country boy, but I love cuisine, and out in North Carolina there are not a lot of opportunities for chef,” Faison said, which in part is why he moved out west.

Part farmer but mostly chef, Faison’s farm-to-table motif is apparent in his dishes, too, especially the breakfast and brunch offerings he brought out west.

“One of the things I love is southern flair and I wanted to do an upscale version of that so everybody who’s not from the South can get a little bit of taste from the South,” Faison said.

He has added dishes Shrimp and Grits, and Marinated Barbeque Shrimp, to the menu as well.

“One of the biggest sellers we have is our sesame hot chicken sandwich, which is a take on a classic Nashville hot chicken sandwich but we did it Asian style,” Faison said of some of the new dishes he’s presenting.

Seasonal menus are going to be a thing as well — including a Chilean ceviche dish in honor of his Chilean wife — and which he was excited about introducing in the near future. Pastries are also a favorite of Fasion’s and he said the challenge of making them at 5,280′ vs. 280′ is that the yeasts and dough don’t want to rise correctly, but he and his staff tweak the baking process in order to make the pastries just right.

Find your journey from his farm to your table at Apple Blossom.

Sample tastings from Apple Blossom:

During a visit to Apple Blossom in mid-February, Chef Faison and his chefs made up six different dishes to try. Here’s what I thought:

1. Spinach and Arugula Omelet – $15

Such a classic omelet, but with potatoes added, the dish just ties flavors together all over. The eggs were light and fluffy (not oily) with hints of the arugula standing out the most, but the gruyere cheese and fresh tomatoes complimented the eggs very well; tomatoes were juicy. To change up the sampling, take a bite of the crunchy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside potatoes (once again, not oily). Unique omelet flavors with the arugula plus ample potatoes, but not too many, made this breakfast or brunch dish ideal for a quickly eaten dish yet filling once done.

2. Avocado Toast – $15

I can see where Chef Faison put some energy into the bread for this dish. Crunchy toast but not over done at all paired well with the soft avocado spread. Add in the pan-fired egg with togarashi seasoning (Asian spice blend), and the arugula leaves for freshness, the explosion of flavors is unreal. As the initial flavor waned, lemony/citrusy flavors augmented for a second round of flavor before swallowing. One big bite of all the dish’s elements had me wanting bite two, three and four even more.

3. Golden Beet Salad – $14

OK, this dish is amazing. It was like all the vegetables were picked 30 minutes prior by Chef Faison and the other chefs from the garden. I’ve never had beets so juicy. And the onions were crisp but sour enough from the pickling to soften the potency, and then to throw pistachios in — so tasty. Combined with the arugula, feta and the citrus vinaigrette, the blended elements worked back-and-forth with sour and sweet, then sweet and salty, then salty and sour. An OMG moment from a salad, a simple salad! That is a delightful experience indeed.

4. Angus Burger – $21

Keeping with the classic motif, this burger is not a beast of a burger but a behemoth of taste. Chef Faison’s burger was cooked medium, and juicy and scrumptious. Once again, the vegetables accompanying the meat were very fresh, too, and the truffle mustard gave a zippiness to the burger. The brioche bun was similarly toasted to perfection like the toast in the Avocado Toast dish; crunchy on the top and soft and warm in the middle. Lastly, the NOT oily, NOT too salty fries were cooked perfectly, too. The insides were warm and the outside had a slight crunch, making the whole dish easy to eat and very satisfying.

5. Rigatoni Bolognese – $28

Chef Faison loves to make pasta dishes, and he and the kitchen staff made this rigatoni dish sing with flavor. The beef ragu and mascarpone blend well together giving the dish a hearty and creamy flavor while the hints of basil and parmesan cheese mixed in complete the flavor profile. It reminded me of a traditional home-made Italian dish a fellow Italian friend’s mom makes — a saltiness from the beef, a farm freshness from the basil and a comfort feel from the elements mixed together.

6. Filet Mignon – $45

Spiciness with a steak is a flair I truly love. And this steak received the utmost attention while being prepared in order to ensure perfection when eaten as well. First, the searing on the medium-rare, cooked filet was perfect, locking in the juiciness. Second, the potatoes underneath the filet were cooked perfect with crunch on the outside and soft inside. Third, the SPIC-You-gotta-try-this chermoula sauce with herbs and olive oil took the heat up two notches when paired with a bite of filet, but toned back down once a small potato bite was added. This dish was amazing; with the salty meat, spicy sauce and subtle/sweet potatoes all working together.

Apple Blossom is at 822 18th Street, Denver. The restaurant is open 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday – Sunday, with breakfast all day, lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and dinner 4 to 9 p.m.