<\/p>\n
Pepperhead Restaurant owners Tess Monta\u00f1o-Forth and Pete Monta\u00f1o announced last week that the restaurant will close in August.<\/p>\n
Pete Monta\u00f1o will be forced to retire due to health issues, and Tess Monta\u00f1o-Forth has two young daughters at home. This summer will be the final one for the 8-year-old restaurant, and it will close Aug. 18, Tess Monta\u00f1o-Forth said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a fantastic eight years,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really bittersweet. I have loved being part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The space at 44 W. Main St. won\u2019t be vacant after Pepperhead closes, though. Chefs Luke Hubbard and Mickey Colorado, who have worked at Pepperhead for years, will take over with a new restaurant, Monta\u00f1o-Forth said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided the best thing was to let someone else with the passion, vision and opportunity to take over,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hubbard and Colorado haven\u2019t settled on a menu for their restaurant, but Pete Monta\u00f1o said they will serve many different types of cuisine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to let themselves wander around the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The new chefs will still be serving Pepperhead\u2019s signature margaritas, though, Pete Monta\u00f1o said. Tess and Pete have agreed to share the recipes.<\/p>\n
Pete Monta\u00f1o said he has experienced vision issues that will force him to retire from the restaurant business. Exposure to chilis and capsaicin, the substance that gives peppers heat, has affected his vision health, he said.<\/p>\n
Pete and Tess said the food scene in Cortez has expanded and improved since they opened Pepperhead. Tess Monta\u00f1o-Forth was only 24 when she started the restaurant. She said there wasn\u2019t much else on Main Street when the restaurant opened, but over the years more businesses slowly joined them, including The Farm, Stonefish Sushi and The Loungin\u2019 Lizard.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been fantastic since then watching new businesses open up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Being part of the \u201cRestaurant Row\u201d family in downtown Cortez is one of the top things she\u2019ll miss once Pepperhead closes, she said. One event she said will be especially hard to step away from is Montezuma\u2019s Table, an annual fundraiser dinner put on by the restaurants on Main Street.<\/p>\n
Though it was a tough decision to close the restaurant, Monta\u00f1o-Forth said she\u2019s excited to focus on being a mom to her two daughters. They will get to spend more time with their grandfather, she said. \u201cThat\u2019s going to be the coolest part of this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n