Staff Report
PICO at The Los Alamos General Store completed its first year of business in February, and the restaurant celebrated the milestone.
Owners Will Henry and Kali Kopley and their chef, Drew Terp, welcomed friends and supporters to an evening of food, drink, thanks, reflection and general festiveness, as the trio prepared themselves for a dynamic second year.
With its opening, PICO brought to Los Alamos’ burgeoning culinary scene a sense of place and history, family and intimacy, intertwined with a thoughtful wine program and elevated, but comfortable, locavore dining.
“We know the hospitality industry; we know what garners customer respect. In everything we do, we strive for authenticity – from the wine to the food to the physical space,” Kopley said.
Terp has cooked in and run multiple Michelin-starred kitchens. He has both a worldliness and an appreciation for present locale, and the ability to create a menu to match the restaurant’s associated wine philosophy.
Henry and Kopley chose the 1880s vintage building that houses PICO due to its history and place in Los Alamos’ timeline. The building continues to fulfill its original destiny as a mercantile, in part, through Henry and Kopley’s retail portion of The Los Alamos General Store, which includes a 2,000-bottle wine shop. The restaurant side of the business – and the building – takes its name from historical figure Salomon Pico, an infamous local bandit said to have been part of the inspiration for the legend of Zorro.
PICO will grow this spring to include a 2,000-square-foot outdoor area with additional seating, a fire pit, a chicken coop, bee hives and raised gardens, bringing PICO’s locally sourced menu even closer to home.
“When we complete the outdoor area, the restaurant’s eggs will come from right outside our back door; our bees will provide honey for our dishes and drinks, as well as our house-made condiments and provisions, and the garden will offer up home-grown herbs and produce, to supplement the fabulous ingredients that we receive from our local providers,” Chef Terp said.
Also in the works for PICO is a full bar; the restaurant will debut a cocktail program in the coming months, crafting drinks meant to be paired with Chef Terp’s menu items.
PICO at The Los Alamos General Store is at 458 Bell Street, Los Alamos.
For more information, call 805-344-1122, go to www.losalamosgeneralstore.com, or follow the restaurant on Facebook.com/losalamosgeneralstore or at instagram.com/picolosalamos.
