Dining by Design: Tour the Architecture of BearLeek Restaurant

About the tour: Join us as we take an inside look at the design of one of Denver’s hottest new restaurants, BearLeek. This walking tour explores how the restaurant’s culinary ethos shaped the spatial experience, ensuring that concept, atmosphere, and execution speak seamlessly to one another. Set within a second-generation restaurant space, the project offered the unique challenge of transforming an existing basement venue into a bold and contemporary dining destination. We’ll walk through the evolution of the design, from early concept ideas to final details, highlighting how thoughtful adaptation and intentional decision-making brought new life to a long-standing restaurant footprint.

About the building:  The renovation at 2611 Walnut Street builds on the character of an existing 1948 multi-tenant structure in Denver’s vibrant RiNo district. Long home to neighborhood restaurant concepts, the building has housed a dining establishment in its lower level for more than 15 years. Today, that basement space is occupied by BearLeek, a contemporary restaurant that has reimagined the subterranean footprint into an intimate, design-forward culinary destination.

About the tour guide: Kevin Nguyen is the founder of Regular Architecture, an award-winning firm based in Denver, Colorado. Kevin’s form-meets-function ethos prioritizes the typology of a project to create beautiful, effortless spaces. In 2025, Kevin was named the AIA Colorado Architect of the Year — he and his team are also responsible for designing some of Denver’s top restaurants including Sắp Sửa, Hop Alley, Uncle, Dio Mio, Hey Kiddo, Bruto and The Wolf’s Tailor, 3 of which have received Michelin Stars. Kevin aims to work with clients who make change through their craft and enhance the way people experience the world.

Chef Harrison Porter, born in Colorado, started his culinary journey in New York City, where the fast pace and diversity of the kitchens gave him a crash course in a wide range of cuisines and techniques. His path soon led him abroad, first to Melbourne—where he cooked at a pan-Asian restaurant in a city renowned for its boundary-pushing food scene—and then to Peru, where he immersed himself in the country’s rich culinary heritage and deepened his appreciation for global flavors, technique, and tradition.

After years of multicultural experiences in kitchens around the world, Porter returned to Denver and joined Mercantile Dining & Provision at its early stages, training under Alex Seidel and Matt Vawter, blending classic French technique with bold, contemporary flavors. He later served as Executive Chef at Jacques and Brasserie Brixton alongside owner Nick Dalton, where he developed his own style through dishes that balance classic technique with global influences. Most recently, Porter was part of the culinary team at the MICHELIN-starred Alma Fonda Fina, where his perspective was further sharpened in one of Denver’s most dynamic kitchens.

In 2025, he launched his first solo concept, BearLeek— culinary memoir shaped by the breadth of his experiences in restaurants around the world, where nostalgia, curiosity, and creativity intersect to unite diners of all backgrounds.

Accessibility: This tour will be fully accessible.

Refund policy: The Denver Architecture Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization. Ticket sales support the Foundation in continuing to provide quality events to the public. We are unable to provide refunds or credits for any reason less than 48 hours prior to the event.

Please note that DAF tours take place rain, snow or shine. If your tour includes an outdoor portion, please dress for the weather. DAF staff will contact all attendees directly should a tour be cancelled for any reason.

Photo provided by Regular Architecture.