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Slow Groovin’ to open Redstone pizza spot

Jason Auslander
The Aspen Times
The owners of Slow Groovin' BBQ have bought the Crystal Club Café in Redstone with plans to turn it into a pizza restaurant and bar.
Courtesy of Billy and Kim Amicon

The guys behind Slow Groovin’ BBQ in Marble and Snowmass Village are taking over a longtime Redstone restaurant, though the new location will not be a barbecue joint. Propaganda Pie will feature pizza, salads and sandwiches in a family friendly setting beside the Crystal River, said owner Ryan Vinciguerra.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” Vinciguerra said. “My dream is to put some smoked meats on delicious pizza, so there will be some cross-over.”

Vinciguerra and his Slow Groovin’ business partners, Nail O’Connor and Steve Horner, will take over the Crystal Club Café, a longtime Redstone eatery. Former owners Billy and Kim Amicon sold the property to the Slow Groovin’ crew last week after running the restaurant for 28 years.



“We figured it was time to turn it over to another operator before we got too old to do other things,” Billy Amicon, 67, said Friday. “It’s time to turn it over to young blood.

“It’s been a great run.”



Billy and Kim Amicon moved to the Redstone area from Ohio nearly 30 years ago to take advantage of the recreational opportunities in the mountains, he said. They plan to remain in the Redstone area for a majority of the year, but will spend most of the winter months at a home they own in Florida.

“We love it here,” Billy Amicon said. “We’re just not as active in the winter as we used to be.”

The Amicons had been talking to Vinciguerra about the change for awhile and are happy their beloved café will continue to operate as a restaurant.

“I’m glad to see it as a place I could still go to,” Billy Amicon said. “We’re really happy with [Slow Groovin’].”

The Crystal Club closed for good a week ago, he said. The new owners plan to make a few changes, though wholesale renovations are not necessary, he said.

Vinciguerra said Propaganda Pie is scheduled to open Memorial Day Weekend and will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner thereafter. The “propaganda” theme will feature old advertisements from World War II like Rosie the Riveter and cleverly named pies on the menu, he said.

The restaurant will feature counter service and a full bar that will serve pitchers of sangria and margaritas, among other beverages, Vinciguerra said. The restaurant will also feature a lively outdoor scene complete with yard games, picnic tables and comfortable chairs by the Crystal River, he said.

“It will be basically like [the Slow Groovin’] Marble [location] except with a pizza vibe,” Vinciguerra said.

He and his partners are still working on the identity of the pies they will serve, but are leaning toward offering two different crusts, he said. One will likely be a rustic, flat-bread-style crust, while the other will be a “Detroit-style” thicker crust, Vinciguerra said.

The Redstone location will be the third restaurant opened by Vinciguerra and his partners since they opened the first Slow Groovin’ location in Marble eight years ago, he said. The second Slow Groovin’ restaurant opened at the beginning of 2017 on the second floor of the Snowmass Mall.

jauslander@aspentimes.com


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