The Lucy show: Comedy Works graduates from fast food to Southern cuisine.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: Cover story

When Wende Curtis recruits kitchen help for Comedy Works she's really just looking for someone who's good with a microwave. That's about all the know-how you need to serve chicken fingers and jalapeno poppers at the Denver club.

That won't be good enough for Lucy, the restaurant that will sit atop her new Comedy Works venue in Greenwood Village, part of her three-story complex at The Landmark development. For that project expected to open in September, Curtis has imported a chef from New York to create a menu that features Southern cuisine and a kosher kitchen.

The restaurant part of the project grew out of a desire by Curtis to capture some of the business Comedy Works patrons generate after they leave the club, which she has long watched at her Larimer Square property.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"I spill out two- to three-thousand people a week onto the Square. And they eat and they drink," said Curtis, who named the restaurant after her French bull dog. "It has been my fantasy to put a restaurant component adjacent to the club to spill into my own."

Lucy and the tapas/martini bar that will occupy the third floor (which Curtis will lease to another party) will be part of The Landmark's $75 million entertainment complex, which also will include a six-screen art cinema operated by the Landmark Theatre Chain. Among the dozen restaurants joining the complex will be Lime, Sparrow Restaurant and Gourmet Grocer, and Little Ollie's, all celebrated names to patrons of Denver nightlife.

Although a few chains are part of the mix, such as Ted's Montana Grill and Atlanta Bread Co., Curtis liked the idea of nestling with other independent businesses. She didn't "want to be next to Chili's or across the street from The Gap."

"I am a small business owner. I support small business, and I like that eclectic thing," Curtis said. "I love Chili's ... but there are Chili's all over and The Gap's all over."

Curtis envisions Comedy Works patrons planning their evenings in one setting: "You could have a beautiful romantic dinner with unobstructed views of the mountains and the city and then go to the showroom with preferred seating."

In addition to presenting stand-up acts, the new Comedy Works will accommodate business conferences and...