After growing up in New York’s Hudson Valley, Chef Paul Reilly moved to Colorado to attend CU-Boulder, graduating with a degree in Literature, but quickly found that becoming a chef was his life’s calling. He packed up for Telluride, where he worked at award-winning restaurants Allred’s and 221 South Oak.craft, Reilly moved back to New York and enrolled at the esteemed French Culinary Institute. In 2004, Paul moved back to Denver to help open Mirepoix – recognized by Food and Wine, then became Executive Chef and Owner of Encore on Colfax in 2007. Paul takes inspiration from his youth in the lush Hudson Valley, sourcing the highest-quality ingredients and putting his unique riff on new American cuisine, collecting numerous accolades while doing it. Paul was recently a member of the Denver FIVE, where he was invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York.

 

Following Encore’s closing in 2012, Paul spent the summer staging in the kitchens of some of New York’s finest chefs, including Gavin Kaysen and Bill Telepan. He also won the prestigious Jean-Louis Palladin Professional Work/Study Grant, issued to just eight chefs from around the world, and apprenticed at Browne Trading Company in Portland, Maine. In his down time Reilly enjoys spending time with his wife Shannon and daughter Grace, tending to his vegetable garden, travelling and skiing.