I am Myra’s daughter, Claire Griffin. This is my story and more!
I worked in Myra’s restaurant when I wasn’t on the road as a professional actor with Intuition Theatre. I baked cakes, helped to make fresh pasta and waited on tables. Intuition Theatre toured for 20 years doing children’s theatre, Renaissance Fairs and Festivals. When I moved to Denver, I started my own business called The Lemon Sisters Market & Deli. I’ve worn many culinary hats in my life as a caterer, a private chef and as the Executive Chef for 16 years at The Cactus Club in Denver.
My mom and I have recipes we developed together, and we traded recipes back and forth after I moved to Colorado. When she closed her restaurant in 2014, I promised her fans that I would make sure her recipes would endure. She and I had talked about creating a cookbook but sadly, she died before that could happen. You will find all of the recipes here on this blog that Myra and/or I developed over the years. More about Myra and her restaurant can be found below.
xoxo, Claire
My Loves and Life
I live in Denver with my husband, James, and two adventurous cats named Leo and Oreo (known as the “kitty boys”). If you visit us at home, chances are you’ll find us either working in our vegetable and herb gardens or in the kitchen cooking. In my “free” time I cook for The Delores Project women’s shelter once a month, take walks with friends around the beautiful Denver Botanic Gardens, attend theatre productions at the Denver Center For The Performing Arts (and even act in a few small plays!), teach cooking skills to grade school children with Slow Food Denver, travel domestically and internationally, and eventually relax with a good book.
Dionysus opened January 28, 1977 on a winter day so cold that I-75 was closed from Cincinnati to Detroit.
It was important to open on that date because the day before was my birthday and the day after was Kansas Day. The first two years the restaurant was open I taught school in Detroit and came down on weekends and holidays. I had a lot to learn.
In 1985 I closed for a few months to decide if I really wanted to do this anymore. I was getting tired of everything we served. I went to New York and to California and looked around. That’s when the deli case was added and the name became Myra’s Dionysus. When I travel I get ideas for new dishes like Aji de Gallina from Peru, Mole from Mexico, or Flan from Cuba. Whatever I like, I tried in my restaurant.
Perhaps because I had never worked in a restaurant I didn’t know that some things I tried were unusual. Like having eight soups available every day. Or training enough people to cook so that anyone, including me, can take a vacation when they choose.
So many people passed through Myra’s in 37 years. Every once in a while one of the former employees would drop by or write an email from Taiwan, or Korea, and I would catch up on their life. I’m a very lucky person to have been in the position to be with such interesting people, both those who worked here and those who have eaten here. I could never have guessed it would be so much fun.”