At the beginning of 2023 Dana Rodriguez quietly passed the reins of her popular restaurant Super Mega Bien in Denver to her long-time employee, chef Victor Mena, and his wife Jenn Mena-Wenstrom.
"I chose Victor because he has been with me for 20 years and helped me open all the restaurants," said Rodriguez, who also owns nearby restaurants Cantina Loca and Work & Class, as well operating as executive chef for the revamped local icon Casa Bonita.
"We come from the same place in Mexico and developed similar ideas,” she said. “When I leave him in charge of Super Mega, he doesn't even call me to ask the questions, he knows my answers, that's how good we work together."
Photo credit: Melissa Champion
So, when Rodriguez's long time business partners Tony Maciag and Tabatha Knop decided to fully retire, she knew she wanted to give the opportunity to Mena and his wife, who is also a restaurant professional.
"Vic and I both feel that if we take care of our team with health insurance, a 401(k), and create a space where someone can earn a living wage and have managers that support them, then they will stay, rather than working just for tips and moving on to a busier place, which is standard," said Mena-Wenstrom, mirroring Rodriguez's sentiment. "We worked a long time in different restaurants and we came away knowing how we want to run things."
Though Mena started at Super Mega Bien a year after it opened in 2018, he had worked with Rodriguez at her first solo restaurant, Work & Class, as well as at other notable Denver restaurants including chef Jennifer Jasinski's Rioja and Bistro Vendôme, the places that helped launch Rodriguez's career. Now, Rodriguez wants to help Mena run his own kitchen and solidify a future for himself and his family.
"The restaurant industry is hard, people put themselves into it forever and a lot of chefs we see, they die, they suicide, they don't have a retirement in place at 70, and you don't have any money," Rodriguez said over the phone. "I wanted to make a difference so people could take care of themselves."
This is why the chef wanted to pass down Super Mega Bien to valued employees. And, though the couple officially took over in January 2023, the team didn't publicly announce the shift until this past fall in order to give them time to adjust and work out the kinks. It's a team effort, said Mena-Wenstrom, who is a sommelier who and also worked in restaurant management at Denver restaurants including Root Down and Que Bueno Suerte. While her husband handles the food, she oversees the front- and back-of-house as director of operations.
One year in to their ownership, the drink and wine list reflect Mena-Wenstrom's sensibilities, and Mena has managed the menu, adding his own spin to the pan-Latin dim sum concept. Unique in Denver, Super Mega Bien is based on Chinese dim sum-style service, in which carts with small plates gets pushed around the dining area for customers to take and add to their tab.
Current options include roasted remolacha (Jamaican jerk marinated beets with goat cheese), pork wings with Cholula barbecue sauce, and arepas de queso, all ranging between $12 and $15. Diners can also order big plates from the kitchen, such as puerco negro with tortillas ($34) and bacalao, a stunning dish featuring oil-poached octopus with adobo-marinated cod, ajo negro sauce and roasted carrots ($38).
While Mena and Mena-Wenstrom oversee the menu, staff and day-to-day operations, Rodriguez still has a stake in the restaurant. But overall, she said, she wants the couple to handle choices, knowing she is available for any questions, emergencies or major plans. That way, she said she can concentrate on her other projects such as Casa Bonita, an iconic Colorado Mexican restaurant bought by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Rodriguez was tapped as executive chef shortly after the pair bought the restaurant in 2021. To paraphrase the chef's sentiment, reopening Casa Bonita has been a crazy roller coaster and it's nice for her to know Super Mega Bien is in good hands.
"I wanted to keep the integrity of the restaurant so I put it in their hands, and I am there to support and give what they need to be successful," said Rodriguez. "This is the perfect example of, ‘Yeah, you can own [a restaurant] and make your money and make the same opportunity for others.’ That's the legacy and what I wanted to work towards."
