Power Bar.

• Author: STEVENS, M. EASTLAKE
• Position: The Manhattan Grill - Brief Article

AT MANHATTAN GRILL, MEET AND GREET DENVER'S RICH AND FAMOUS

Not many bars or restaurants end up on the front pages of both Denver dailies, even if they host a party commemorating the final episode of "Survivor," which became the national pastime last summer. Few others are known for hosting a former U.S. vice president -- Dan Quayle for a business meeting -- just a few months after they open. Or for a party hosted by Annabel Bowlen, or any number of swanky charity events.

The Manhattan Grill has done all that. In fact, an Internet search of local newspaper coverage over the past year taps 87 stories that mention the Manhattan Grill, and more than half the references are made by Denver's society columnists.

The Manhattan Grill is hot.

Part of the nine-month-old restaurant's success lies in its history. It occupies the same space -- downstairs at 231 Fillmore -- once occupied by the Bay Wolf, a hotspot for the city's glitterati in the high-flying 1980s. Good reviews have played a role. Location -- in the heart of Cherry Creek, an area without a steak and chop house -- has to be a key. The ownership, the bar, the food, the ambience: it all fits.

Part of it, too, is just "kismet," an intangible word meaning that all the planets of the universe were in the right place when Bruce Garrett came upon the space a couple of years ago.

It started before the place opened, with a fundraiser.

"We had a benefit for the Diane Price Fish Foundation," said Garrett, the restaurant's general manager and head of the ownership group. "They had a mailing list of 3,000 names. We charged $15 at the door to get in for the benefit and 600 people showed up."

After managing Goodfriends on East Colfax for eight years, Garrett started looking for a location for his own place two years ago. "For 20 years I had been thinking about my own restaurant -- it had to have a...