Juan Padró, founder and longtime CEO of Denver’s Culinary Creative Group, is stepping away from the top job at the restaurant empire he helped build, shifting into a consulting role while keeping an ownership stake. The leadership shuffle lands just as the group defends itself in court against a former server’s lawsuit over how mandatory service charges were used, a pairing of events that has the city’s restaurant world watching closely.
Company leaders say the move is about growth, not retreat, and describe the changes as part of a long-term strategy to take the homegrown brand national without losing its Denver roots.
New CEO Takes the Reins
According to The Denver Post, Culinary Creative has tapped Richard Flaherty, the former head of Punch Bowl Social, to succeed Padró as CEO. The group also promoted Blake Edmunds to chief culinary director and elevated Lauren Barash to vice president of marketing.
Padró is not disappearing from the scene. The Post reports he will stay on as a consultant and retain equity in the company. In a written statement quoted by the paper, the group said the restructuring was “designed to position the Culinary Creative Group for thoughtful national expansion while preserving its founding ethos.”
What Employees Allege
The leadership change comes as a 2025 lawsuit from former server Marianna White works its way through the courts. White alleges that mandatory 20 percent service charges at some Culinary Creative restaurants were not distributed to staff as promised and that a substantial slice of those fees instead went to management, according to Denverite…