Familiar Face - Kelly Paquette

If you've dined at Raza Fresa in Niwot (or Ajuua! as it was formerly known) during the last 17 years, chances are good that you've been served by Kelly Paquette.

Paquette began her career in the food service industry as manager of a Burger Chef restaurant. "It was my first job out of high school," the Platteville, Colo. native said. "When I had children, it became too many hours." Paquette then began a 12-year stint as a waitress at Colacci's, an Italian restaurant in Longmont.

After the restaurant closed, she became a sales rep in the food service industry before coming to Niwot. "Steve Garcia [owner of Raza Fresa] opened a year before I started," Paquette recalled. "I heard about the job from my daughter, Brittany Garner Gonzales, who went to Niwot High."

Paquette took a year off during the pandemic. "I let everybody else work, because I didn't need to," she said. "I had a dinner date every Friday night with my husband, Brad. I never had that before."

When things began to open up for in-person dining, Paquette went back to Raza Fresa at Garcia's request. She now works Mondays and Tuesdays, which gives her time to tend to her garden. "I love to garden," she said. "I'm a sunny person, I want to be outside on a day I'm not working at the restaurant. People come by my house in Mead and tell me, 'You have the most beautiful yard.'"

She has two sons in addition to her daughter, and two grandchildren as well. She also spends time with her 90-year-old mother. Paquette loves to travel, and when she retires for good, plans to move to the Scottsdale, Ariz. area.