“Pan-seared scallops, shrimp and white wine sauce. Garlic. Pecorino cheese. Our original spaghettini is timeless,” says Venanzio Momo, owner of Cucina Colore in Denver, CO, which is celebrating thirty years in business this month. It's got a bright future, too, even as development in the area promises more change to come, including the closure of the Cherry Creek Elway's at the end of August.

Spaghettini was one of the first dishes Cucina Colore served when it opened in 1994. Three decades on, Momo can’t imagine opening for dinner service without it. It all began, as a neighborhood Italian joint often does, with family. “My mother had a deli, Theresa's Italian Specialties Deli, on the border of New Jersey and New York,” he says.