The Nicolo's Pizza franchise location at 1631 Pace St. in northeast Longmont will be closing on Saturday after 20 years. The owners, couple Kent and Jeanne Blythe will be retiring. But what is the end for one restaurant marks the start of something new, as couple's mentees Jason and Jamie Perez will open JP’s Restaurant in the same location on August 12.
From noon until 4 p.m. on Sunday, the Blythes will be hosting a retirement party and all of their customers are invited. The gathering will also introduce the new tenants, Jason and Jamie Perez to the neighborhood.
Jason Perez began working for the Blythes as Nicolo’s head chef in December 2021 after serving as executive chef at Upper Crust in Boulder. The couples told BizWest.
“It’s a dream for them to go and run a business,” Kent Blythe said. “It’s set up for them; they’re not starting out brand new, trying to go from the bottom up, so they do have a good base to go with.”
The decision to retire coincided with the expiration of Nicolo’s franchise agreement and now the space will be home to JP's Restaurant, which will offer a variety of cuisines.
“JP’s is the concept I’ve always wanted to do,” Jason Perez told BizWest. “I never wanted to be held under a flag of, like, Italian. It’s just the food I like to cook. I always like to cook the different flavors and fuse different ethnicities together. I’m still keeping the pizza and what we’ve been doing here, but a different style as far as Neapolitan and Sicilian. We’ll go from hamburgers to Asian noodles to tacos to paella. It’s just beautiful food I love to cook. I love to really step out of the norm. You can get certain dishes anywhere, but here at JP’s it’ll be a unique cuisine now. You’ll have to come here to experience it.”
The couple thanks the Blythes for helping them make their dream a reality. “I’m super excited" Jason Perez, "I wake up and think, ‘This is happening! This is real! I always told my mom, ‘Mom, someday I’m going to open a restaurant.’ Now it’s that one day.”
