Colorado Restaurant Compendium

[pechelman]

Root Down $$ - Eclectic Classic Modern?
1600 W. 33rd Avenue
Denver, CO 80211
303.993.4200
.

bump for root down
they have a harvest menu tonight only which sounds incredible

Roasted and Raw Butternut Squash Salad, Blue Cheese, Grant Lettuces, Citrus Reduction

Cannellini Bean Soup, Shrimp, Green Cabbage, Carrots

Mushroom and Barley Croquette, Mushroom Ragout, Brie

Seared Duck Breast, Four Onion Risotto, Port Huckleberry Sauce

Winter Squash Upsidedown Cake, Carrot Sorbet, Vanilla Sauce

50pp
wine pairings available

[smmokan]

I know Bistro One in Denver has already been reviewed, but I wanted to give it a shout out because the wife and I just had an amazing anniversary meal down there tonight. By no means am I a critic like the rest of you guys, but Bistro One was kick-ass. I had the Crawfish Mac and Cheese for an app, my wife had the French Onion soup... both amazing. Best Mac and Cheese I've had, ever.

Entrees: I had the Sweet Soy Buffalo, she had the Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Ravioli. Both were plenty large and very tasty- one of the best cuts of meat I have had in a while, and it was prepared perfectly. I would highly recommend B1 for anyone in the area who's looking for a great meal in a pretty cool setting.

The service was great also- although not too crowded on a Sunday night. We made the reservations through their website using Open Table, and I had put in the comments that it was our 1st anniversary. The waitress came to our table, told us happy anniversary, and gave us each a glass of complimentary champagne. I'll be going there again, and hopefully soon.

[sidewall]

Q-4-U in Frisco is a favorite when I'm there. The smoked beef brisket is oh so nice.

[mitch buchannon]

Fruition - awesome. Approx. 6th and Downing, Denver.

Appetizers were roasted red pepper bisque feat. crab cake and pasta carbonara feat. pork belly. Both fanfuckintastic.

Entrees were duck breast and the veal cheeks. Duck breast was good, but not amazing, but the veal cheek was epic.

I don't remember the pricing structure, but you can browse the menu at their website.

[Pegleg]

PSA - First Bite Boulder's coming up Nov. 14-21. Make yer reservations now, the better places will fill up soon. I'm hoping to get back to Black Cat, Colterra and maybe Arugula.

A pox on anyone who goes to Cantina Laredo for this event.

[Danno]

Ate at Colterra last night for First Bite, it was pretty freaking good.

[Rontele]

I know Bistro One in Denver has already been reviewed, but I wanted to give it a shout out because the wife and I just had an amazing anniversary meal down there tonight. By no means am I a critic like the rest of you guys, but Bistro One was kick-ass. I had the Crawfish Mac and Cheese for an app, my wife had the French Onion soup... both amazing. Best Mac and Cheese I've had, ever.

Entrees: I had the Sweet Soy Buffalo, she had the Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Ravioli. Both were plenty large and very tasty- one of the best cuts of meat I have had in a while, and it was prepared perfectly. I would highly recommend B1 for anyone in the area who's looking for a great meal in a pretty cool setting.

The service was great also- although not too crowded on a Sunday night. We made the reservations through their website using Open Table, and I had put in the comments that it was our 1st anniversary. The waitress came to our table, told us happy anniversary, and gave us each a glass of complimentary champagne. I'll be going there again, and hopefully soon.

Glad you enjoyed it! Its right in our neighborhood and a great place to go.

[AbsolutStoli]

first bite boulder going pretty well. kicking my ass, but thats kind of a good thing.

if i could afford it, and had the time, id def. check out black cat. bacaro also looks interesting. happy (fka happy noodle) is a good bet...one of my friends is the chef de cuisine there, real good chef. maybe mateo.

if any of you guys stops in at Q's, the celery root bisque is REALLY good. 2nd course is all good, but id prob. go with the mahi or the ravioli. i dont really eat pork, but that dish is pretty solid as well. lemon tart or apple crostada for dessert...hands down my favorites.

on a separate note, i went to the gondolier (on pearl st. in boulder) last night with a girl im seeing. shes kind of a regular there, so she knows everyone. we sat at the bar and chatted with the bartender, had some drinks (shes a bartender, so we experimented with finding a mixer for hendrics heh). did the tapas menu for happy hour (i got the calamari and humus, she got the lemon basil shrimp and fried eggplant puttanesca). for dinner she got the buffalo chicken pizza (special that day) and i did the lasagna with the spicy meat sauce.

so ok, nothing really special about the food. its basically just italian comfort food, but thats kind of a good thing too, sometimes. the lasagna hit the spot, even though the sauce was nowhere near spicy. the pasta had some tooth to it, but still fork tender. ricotta was fresh, and the portion was of a good size. my calamari was cooked perfectly, not rubbery, and the batter was light, crispy and not greasy. humus was ok. the shrimp was tasty, but again nothing too extraordinary. the eggplant, however, was fantastic! melted in my mouth, but had a nice crispy crust also. didnt try the pasta its served with, my date said it was overcooked...so kind of hit and miss there. she said the pizza was very good though.

long story short, this place has a pretty weak rating on yelp, and i can understand why (the ambiance really doesn't match the food)...but its really worth a look though. the bartender and chef are good people, really friendly and down to earth. and the food is not terrible, and prices are pretty reasonable for boulder. i cant speak for waitstaff service, since we sat at the bar, so i dont know if its timely or attentive.

[pechelman]

fried eggplant puttanesca

what exactly was this?

fried eggplant in a puttanesca sauce or a fried eggplant puttanesca sauce?

if the latter, what the hell is that?! sounds great.

i heart puttanesca
just wish more places did it and weren't afraid of offending someone with the big flavors. guess thats why i make it at home.

speaking of puttanesca, since you're a chef, put down some puttanesca, put down a nice fillet of broiled\flashed or fried (really the way to go imo) or however you want to do it, something like trout is perfect. Top with chopped hb egg and green peas. drizzle with a little bit of beurre blanc or a white wine butter sauce, something with a little acidity and brightness. Even just lemon juice or some vinegar is enough. done.

Very traditional spanish dish, but with a slight change by taking some of the traditional fish toppings that overlap and using them in the puttanesca instead. (ie capers and olives and tomatoes)

[Danno]

AbsolutStoli, the gf and I considered going to Q's for FBB, the menu looked good. What really stood out to me was the Kahlua Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding, that sounds awesome (sorry to see it is not one of your faves). We do have reservations at Mateo for Friday.

Also, went to Happy Noodle House a couple of times right after they opened and was really underwhelmed. Went there again a few months ago for lunch and it was good, and went there last week and it was really freaking tasty. They seem to be dialing it in, which is great.

I will NOT be going to Black Cat for FBB, kind of a sore subject. I called to make a reservation and they told me that they were only doing FBB at 5pm and 9:30, fed me some line about how it was too hard on the kitchen. They later changed this story (when pressure of sorts was applied), claiming that there was some misunderstanding. I don't know if the person I originally spoke to was clueless, or that (more likely) they realized that it was a terrible PR move to limit FBB diners that way, but I am pretty pissed that I called to make a reservation, they had tables open, and yet wouldn't take my reservation. So I won't be eating there in the near future, especially when there are so many great restaurants here that seem happy to have me and my $.

[AbsolutStoli]

what exactly was this?

fried eggplant in a puttanesca sauce or a fried eggplant puttanesca sauce?

if the latter, what the hell is that?! sounds great.

it was the former. i think its pretty much like eggplant parmasan, but with puttanesca sauce. but it didnt taste like it was baked in the sauce, more like lightly breaded, fried, then baked for a bit with cheese on top and served over pasta in sauce with some more sauce on top. or maybe he deep fries it. whatever he did, he got the crunchy crust AND the melt-in-your-mouth meat of the eggplant both together. unfortunately, the puttanesca wasn't very BOLD, or at least not what i'd consider bold. i dont know if he mellows it down for the boulder palette or what...it was still a tasty sauce though. i would def. order that tapa again.

speaking of puttanesca, since you're a chef, put down some puttanesca, put down a nice fillet of broiled\flashed or fried (really the way to go imo) or however you want to do it, something like trout is perfect. Top with chopped hb egg and green peas. drizzle with a little bit of beurre blanc or a white wine butter sauce, something with a little acidity and brightness. Even just lemon juice or some vinegar is enough. done.

Very traditional spanish dish, but with a slight change by taking some of the traditional fish toppings that overlap and using them in the puttanesca instead. (ie capers and olives and tomatoes)

that sounds really good. i actually did something similar for lunch for myself one day. all we had was pizza sauce, but i added lemon juice, capers and pickles and basically poached a piece of salmon in it. turned out pretty good for something ive never made before and didn't really know what was going to come out.

we were doing a tomato butter sauce for a special dish a few weeks back, i think doing a puttanesca butter suace would absolutely kick ass with some trout, or maybe a halibut. maybe over some panzanella...

AbsolutStoli, the gf and I considered going to Q's for FBB, the menu looked good. What really stood out to me was the Kahlua Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding, that sounds awesome (sorry to see it is not one of your faves). We do have reservations at Mateo for Friday.

dont get me wrong, the bread pudding is really really good! im just more of a fruit dessert vs chocolate type. plus the bread pudding is on our regular menu, so you can have it any time, whereas the lemon tart might be going away after this week when FBB ends.

say hi to allison from dan at Q's...i think shes the bartender at mateo. we went to culinary school together.

Also, went to Happy Noodle House a couple of times right after they opened and was really underwhelmed. Went there again a few months ago for lunch and it was good, and went there last week and it was really freaking tasty. They seem to be dialing it in, which is great.

yeah, they've def. been tweaking the menu. i was there for the last round of changes (just to say hi to my buddy) and all the dishes they were presenting to the staff looked awesome! i went and had the lemongrass shrimp after that and it did not disappoint.

sorry to hear about experience with the black cat. thats pretty lame. i have not been in their kitchen, so i dont know what their deal is, but we cook for Q's, corner bar, catacombs and room service, with 2 happy hours, and we manage to get it done. so its kind of BS that its "too hard on the kitchen".

[Pegleg]

FWIW, I went to Gondolier last year and figured, it's an italian place, they must have a decent pizza/calzone. Wrong. Calzone dough was dry and crackery, filling was minimal and tasteless (I think I got artichoke hearts, feta, mozz... should've been a salt lick, but not so much).

The only thing I've ever had there I thought was worth having again is their all-you-can-eat pasta - I do love fresh, homemade pasta, and for $5 it's a steal. Otherwise I stay away.

[smmokan]

The only thing I've ever had there I thought was worth having again is their all-you-can-eat pasta - I do love fresh, homemade pasta, and for $5 it's a steal. Otherwise I stay away.

This is wise advice. Their $5 all-you-can-eat deal was amazing when I lived 5 blocks away, and their pasta is damn good.

[pechelman]

we were doing a tomato butter sauce for a special dish a few weeks back, i think doing a puttanesca butter suace would absolutely kick ass with some trout, or maybe a halibut. maybe over some panzanella...

let me know when you're doing this and we'll make the long trek up

[pechelman]

since the talk of bistro one is relatively still in the air

went there last night as we had a meeting a few doors down and had some time to kill before another meeting 2 hrs later. it was happy hour and the place was mostly empty.

i was left underwhelmed with everything
our server, while competent, was weird. very phony.
at times I felt his attention was overbearing given the small size of our table
The pace of the service was slightly awkward as well. Slow drinks, fast appetizer, slooow entree.

we were there during happy hour, so it was nice to have 1$ off my Leffe (served in the traditional chalice). Overall, their wine list was meh. BTG was at a premium, BTB had a reasonable selection. Would expect a little more for a place with their menu and being 5 doors down from a wine shop.

Food
Had the Sweet Greens, Fr Onion Soup, Lamb Bourg, Chix w "breadpudding", and a scoop of mint ice cream.

The salad was excellent, but really, its a salad. Pretty fool proof.
FR Onion Soup was above average, but disappointing. Stringy, killed, too thin pieces of onions in an overly salty and peppery broth, with over done cheese, floated ontop of tiny salad croutons. Much room for improvement. Lacking on the sherry as well.

Lamb Bourg
Honestly, it was good, but it lacked depth of flavor one expects with a dish like this. There was a dull fatty overtone to the whole dish that really killed the flavor of everything on the plate. Might as well have been beef. All the chunks of the lamb also had no browning or caramelization. Most of the chunks were tiny shreds of meat. The pasta was cooked perfectly.

Honey Rosemary Garlic Chix with Mushroom-Rosemary Breadpudding
what a let down
The chicken was both overdone and had almost none of the fat rendered or crisped on the skin. It was dry inside and that gummy rubbery fat on the outside.
The flavor of the chicken was bland, tasted neither of honey nor of rosemary.
The breadpudding was a nice idea, but really, it was stuffing that was very forcibly packed into a ~3" ring mold. Again, there were no mushroom or rosemary in the stuffing. It was also packed so tightly, that the bites of this part of the meal were so overwhelming and so dense and so dry, it was borderline inedible. A disgrace not only to stuffing, but to breadpudding. Shame on them.
The champagne cream was tasty, but much too rich to complement the overly dense\dry stuffing and flavorless dry chicken.
Again, I felt with the sauce and stuffing, these items lacked a depth of flavor and were focused too much on being overly rich and fatty, and thus overall detracted from the flavors that the waiter said the restaurant and kitchen strives to protect by having a greenhouse on their roof.

Lastly
Mint Ice cream. Not peppermint, but green mint from the garden.
This type of mint, in my opinion, has a tendancy to taste slightly synthetic and chemical, akin to saccarin or splenda if used in too great a quantity. Unfortunately, the first thing I tasted, was an overwhelming chemical taste and was put off. The texture was also off, had a bit of graininess, like what one might expect from pureed leaves. It was a let down.

All in all, someone in the kitchen knows what they're doing, but the lack the attention and vision to create truly balanced and complete flavors.
I am planning never to return.

Id recommend root down or opus for a similar and superior experience.

[Rontele]

Did you go into that wine shop? Its cool. Sorry you didn't like Bistro One.

You should have gotten the ribeye.

[pechelman]

not yet on the wine shop, but thats what our coordinator says who is right next door.

B1 was ok.
For the price, I just think there are much better options, and without the pretense.

i didnt feel like steak at all

I also feel that ordering chicken\poultry at places like this is one of the best ways to evaluate the skill of the chef. Its very hard to do it excellent ime\imo.
I also didnt want anything that rich or heavy, so I figured chicken would be the answer, and over the duck as well. The waiter recommended the chicken as the best dish to showcase the skills of the kitchen, which is what I asked him.

[JoeStrummer]

Let me know if any of you cats want one of these, I think I have a spare.

http://eatdenver.com/dinr-deck?28e5b...6a4f1d133e51f0

[concretejungle]

Pizzeria Basta
http://pizzeriabasta.com/

We went skiing with one of the co-owners (a friend) on Saturday and got a couple of salads and pizzas. I'm not a foodie so if you want in depth reviews of flavor profiles and such check out the menu and then go for yourself. We didn't sit down and eat so I can't comment on service but I would expect it to be very good. It's a reasonably sized restaurant that has a nice atmosphere without being too intimate or too large.

The pizzas were cooked in their wood fired oven and came out perfect. The salads were simple but delicious and they had quite a few good beers on tap and wines by the glass. Didn't try the desert but I'm sure they're excellent. The building is out sort of nondescript and in the Peloton development but I'd recommend searching it out as we were impressed.

[Danno]

Denver Restaurant Week, bitches! http://www.denver.org/denverrestaurant/

I have reservations at Restaurant Kevin Taylor, Rioja, Terroir, and TAG.

[Missing Sock]

Denver Restaurant Week, bitches! http://www.denver.org/denverrestaurant/

I have reservations at Restaurant Kevin Taylor, Rioja, Terroir, and TAG.

solid choice with TAG and Rioja.

[Pegleg]

Pizzaria Basta - $$ - Neopolitan Pizza
3601 Arapahoe Avenue (in the Pelaton)
Boulder, CO 80303
(303) 997-8775

I read the review in the Daily Camera saying that this place was the best pizza in Boulder, maybe in all of Colorado. So, I went with high expectations that were not really satisfied.

They serve neopolitan pizza, which means generally smaller pies cooked in a wood oven at high temperature so the crust is blackened in spots, ideally with a nice balance of crispy, chewy, and airy textures. Usually not too many toppings. It is not NY style (big, thin, floppy slices with lots of red sauce and cheese), Chicago style (basically a pizza casserole with a pastry-like crust that you eat with a fork and knife), or Colorado style (very bready crust, generally crappy). California style is kind of a bastardized neopolitan, with bizarre (if sometimes tasty) toppings but usually disappointing crusts. Pizzaria Basta serves more of a true neopolitan.

The appetizers were tasty but small, and the salads were very good (especially the woodfired veggie salad - I'd go back just for that). But we were there for the pizza, which failed to deliver. Crust was just OK - puffy around the edges, some nice charred spots - but not amazing; the texture was decent but the flavor was lacking. The big turn-off was the toppings; they just didn't taste like anything. I think maybe the kitchen forgot to season anything. The housemade sausage just tasted like generic "meat" - no spice or salt at all. Same for the housemade mozzarella cheese, the sauce, and everything else. I kept trying another slice from each pie (we tried three), thinking I should be enjoying this, but it was just bland. Too bad.

My wife commented that the neo pizza at the Med is better; I think Basta has a much better crust, but the Med's pizza is usually well seasoned and flavorful which makes the overall experience better. My choice for best neo pizza in Boulder is probably Radda. I'll probably try Basta again; maybe with lower expectations it will fare better.

Oh, and they were out of all the less-expensive wines on the menu. Bad form (though possibly due to a rush of business after the very positive review in the Camera). Their coffee/espresso, however, was quite amazing.

[Danno]

Restauarant Kevin Taylor tonight, I'm fricking stoked!

[Danno]

Rioja -- $$-$$$ -- Mediteranian / Local and Seasonal
1431 Larimer St.
Denver, CO. 80202
303.820.2282

I was invited to have lunch yesterday with Loren Trefethen over at Rioja. Initially I declined because I had a warehouse tasting in the afternoon and the GABF that night. Now I'm glad I changed my mind. I had never been to Rioja before, and had heard mixed reviews of the service. I arrived promptly at 12:30 and found 3 or 4 other wine buyers at the bar enjoying a glass of chardonnay. The space seemed fairly small and intimate, but it was well lit and had that sort of classy but rustic ambiance that seems so popular in Downtown restaurants these days. Most of the tables were full, but we were seated promptly after I arrived. We started off with a nice little Mediterranean lunch assortment of cured meats, cheeses, olives, fruit and an interesting truffle fennel salad. Our group grew to about 10 people and the wait staff got us situated with menus and wine quickly and without disturbing our conversation. As we ate our appetizer and talked about the winery and the wines the staff took our lunch orders. I hadn't looked at the menu so I told the waiter to have the chef prepare whatever she thought would best complement the wines. This was the only point when the service was less than impeccable. The server interrupted our host to ask for his order. Surely he knew that as soon as Loren finished his sentence he'd stop and give his order, but the waiter must have been a bit impatient. Either way, lunch was served and I received a perfectly rare Colorado lamb burger with house made mozzarella and a spicy tomato aioli. I couldn't have asked for a better complement to the three cabernets that were served during the main course. Chef Jen hit a home run by using simple ingredients and simple preparation to make a kick ass dish. A quick glance around the table revealed artfully crafted plate presentations and some pretty high quality ingredients. We were finished with lunch by about 2:00.

My verdict: Chef Jen is obviously someone who cares about the details. The food was top notch, and the service was quite good with a few very minor exceptions. I wasn't paying, but my burger cost $10.50 which seems reasonable enough. The tuna nicoise salad complete with fried quail egg was $17.50 which doesn't seem out of line. The experience left me feeling like I need to make some time to go back for dinner.

I just ate here for Restaurant Week. While I know that one shouldn't review a place based solely on one meal, sometimes every part of a meal is so well done that you just know it would be great the second time around. Rioja is such a place. Clearly one of the best restaurants in the Denver metro area. Goddam was that meal good!

[telepariah]

Sushi Sasa lunch.

I know I should hesitate to judge a restaurant on lunch alone but if I go somewhere for lunch and you want me to return for dinner, it better be good.

Sushi Sasa has come with some great recommendations from other reviewers on this thread so Kazumi and I decided to give it a try. We both agree, lunch was very disappointing. Service was fine. Our disappointment was purely with the food. Granted, we have a very Japanese perspective on things, but this was just not up to snuff.

Kazumi had the moriawase lunch (nigiri) special. I had the gyu-donburi. We also ordered some toro and saba nigiri. Our lunch came with a choice of soup or salad. My salad was very nice. I liked the citrusy, mayo-based dressing a lot and the greens were fresh. Kazumi had miso-shiru. It had almost no floating ingredients and there was almost no trace of dashi. The flavor was bland. The next thing we noticed was the sushi rice was cold -- really cold. Sushi rice should be room temperature to lukewarm and freshly made. Was this last nights leftovers? Unacceptable. The fish, with the exception of the toro which was fine, was dry -- really dry. The ebi was so overcooked I had a hard time chewing it. It was a piece of rubber that I had to rip off the tail. Also, the sushi fish had no wasabi on its underside. We figure this is just catering to an American audience who either loves or hates wasabi. But sushi should have a touch of wasabi on the underside of the fish. Having no wasabi should be the option, not the other way around. In any case, if they don't put wasabi on the fish, they should give us the option to have it. Just providing wasabi on the side is not authentic. My gyu-don was tasty enough but it was drowning in sauce. I like the gyu-don at Izakaya Den a lot more. The saving grace was the toro, but that too suffered from the old and cold rice. Actually, the spicy tuna roll was ok, though the rice was also too cold.

Before tax and tip, lunch (no alcohol, no dessert) was $57. Really, you can get better sushi in a convenience store in Japan for less than $10 -- $15 in a department store basement. If dinner is supposed to be competitive with Sushi Den or Izakaya Den, there had better be a hudge step up. But frankly, having had the lunch, we are reluctant to spend $250 on dinner for two at Sushi Sasa when we can go to one of the Dens and get consistently great food.