Below is a list of ten great finds in Colorado’s Denver/Boulder area for when you’re next in the area and want a culinary treat.
1. Frasca
1738 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-442-6966 frascafoodandwine.com
Not only is Frasca Food and Wine’s exquisite food beautifully composed, it’s thoughtful—even intellectual—while still managing to be accessible. In chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson’s hands, something as seemingly simple as a rustic ragu takes on an ethereal nature. Ask the server and he’ll divulge that it’s duck mousse that adds the unusual depth and almost imperceptible silkiness. This element of deep comfort and subtlety shines through each and every dish, rendering Frasca a dining experience unlike any other in Colorado. Of course, the wine program, led by master sommelier Bobby Stuckey, is equally distinguished—and we leave it to him to pair our courses. Add to this a remodeled dining room so graceful you’d never know it had been ever-so-slightly reconfigured. Best of all, despite the price and the national accolades, we’ve never encountered even a modicum of stuffiness. Far from it, Frasca is the very definition of restraint and grace.
2. Fruition
1313 E. Sixth Ave., 303-831-1962 fruitionrestaurant.com
One meal at Fruition is all it takes to understand why in 2010, Food & Wine named chef-owner Alex Seidel one of the 10 best new chefs in America. Seidel’s seasonal cuisine, which relies in part on goods from his 10-acre farm in Larkspur, manages to be both simple and sophisticated. Grab a spoonful of his porcini mushroom consommé, for example, and you’ll be transfixed by the rich, earthy smell of fresh mushrooms—a sensory experience matched by the bites that follow: succulent braised short rib, sweetly seared scallops, and tender bone-marrow agnolotti. Like all of Seidel’s dishes, this one is loaded with intensely satisfying flavors.
3. Mizuna
225 E. Seventh Ave., 303-832-4778 mizunadenver.com
While many restaurants become stale after just a couple of years, Mizuna still retains its edge after 10. The chief reason is that chef-owner Frank Bonanno constantly tinkers: In the past month, he’s added a prix-fixe component (something Bonanno has envisioned doing since day one). Across the menu, offerings change regularly, which means there’s always something new to try—be it the fresh, roasted bacon with house-made sauerkraut or the striped bass with Snow Creek oyster velouté. Even when he’s not on the line (Bonanno now owns seven spots in Denver) his kitchen runs seamlessly. On the wine side, eschew the list and allow your server or the wine director, Lynn Whittum, to make a selection—you won’t be disappointed. Tip: Request seating in the main dining room rather than the small overflow space.
4. Sushi Den
1487 S. Pearl St., 303-777-0826 sushiden.net
The always-packed Sushi Den is legendary for its boat-fresh fish, much of which is sourced daily from Japan. Just as impressive: Brothers Toshi and Yasu Kizaki opened the Den 26 years ago. We like to begin the meal with the chef’s special sampler plate, which might include sweet and tiny oysters on the half shell, a crispy square of miso cod, and raw, dissolve-on-contact wasabi bincho. From there, it’s an easy choice to move on to some combination of sushi or sashimi, but we’ve been equally rewarded by entrée selections such as grilled halibut drizzled with honey miso. While it may seem like an odd choice for dessert at a sushi restaurant, we learned long ago to save room for Toshi’s wife’s decadent banana cream pie.
5. ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro
1555 Blake St., #101, 303-353-5223 cholon.com
A year ago, local foodies rejoiced when Chef Lon Symensma chose Denver as home for ChoLon, his modern approach to Southeast Asian street food. Located in a polished space (think low lighting, high ceilings, and minimalist decor) in LoDo, ChoLon offers an impressive interpretation of Asian dishes. Under Symensma’s inspired guidance, typically dumbed-down items such as dumplings, pot stickers, and spring rolls are transformed into artful cuisine with sharp, creative plating and luxurious flavors. We always start a visit to ChoLon with the French onion soup dumplings, and end it with the five-spice doughnuts and Vietnamese coffee ice cream.
6. Luca D’Italia
711 Grant St., 303-832-6600 lucadenver.com
At Luca D’Italia, chef-owner Frank Bonanno’s ode to Italian cuisine, the artistry and craftsmanship of the food is attention-getting. The extensive menu includes house-made cheese and charcuterie (two of Bonanno’s obsessions), hand-rolled pasta, and a selection of fine meat and seafood dishes. You’ll feel compelled to try dishes you don’t see very often, such as pig trotters topped with baby octopus, fat Portuguese sardines laid atop bruschetta, or the rabbit tasting with savory, prosciutto-wrapped involtini rolls.
7. Bittersweet
500 E. Alameda Ave., 303-942-0320 bittersweetdenver.com
When Bittersweet opened on New Year’s Eve, it didn’t take long for the word to spread of chef Olav Peterson’s ambitious take on farm-to-table cuisine. His extensive parking lot garden supplies much of the restaurant’s seasonal produce. But it’s what Peterson does with that produce that makes dining here a celebration. His flavors are layered, complex, and modern. His inspired interpretation of classics such as clam chowder (made with mussel liqueur) and Reuben sandwiches (made with cured sweetbreads) will cause you to abandon the originals.
8. Z Cuisine
2239 W. 30th Ave., 303-477-1111 zcuisineonline.com
If a single item can define chef-owner Patrick Dupays’ cuisine, you can find it in Z Cuisine’s crostini that anchors the warm goat cheese salad. In three bites, this platform of toasted bread, soaked through with pistou (French pesto) and topped with melted chevrè, showcases Dupays’ ability to elevate the simplest of elements into rustic, exacting combinations. You see this truth of ingredient and skill across the menu. This is especially evident in the carpaccio de boeuf grille: Colorado grass-fed beef tri-tip rubbed with fresh herbs and spices—grilled rare, sliced, and served with chimichurri, a butter lettuce salad, and crispy duck-fat potatoes. As if to further demonstrate his simple methodology, Dupays recently removed half a dozen seats. This ensures a more intimate dining experience, with service that’s efficient, informed, and patient—never mind the two-hour wait for your table. To best navigate Z Cuisine, arrive early (before 6 p.m.) to secure seats.
9. Potager
1109 Ogden St., 303-832-5788 , potagerrestaurant.com
Each time we dine at the 14-and-a-half-year-old Potager, we fall in love with chef-owner Teri Rippeto’s restaurant a little more. “Urban” best describes the loftlike space’s exposed brick walls, concrete floors, and open kitchen. The cooks and waitstaff thrive on this transparency, and it carries all the way through to the menu. With the open kitchen, diners are privy to the whole process: the ingredients, the prep work, the cooking, and the final plating of the dishes they just ordered. A bonus is Rippeto’s dedication to local, sustainable, impeccably sourced ingredients (long before there was such a movement). As a result, her dishes taste of the earth and the sea with a brightness few other chefs manage to capture.
10. Colt & Gray
1553 Platte St., 303-477-1447 coltandgray.com
Just months after it opened, we put Colt & Gray on our Top 25 list—and one year later here it sits, firmly anchored among the city’s very best. We love the understated modern decor and clubby British feel of the space. We love the innovative list of cocktails (though we often default to the barman’s choice) and bar snacks like the bacon-cashew caramel corn, which caught the attention of Bon Appétit. Mostly, though, it’s chef-owner Nelson Perkins’ skill at uniting taste and texture in surprising ways that keeps us coming back. He marries a rich and silky foie gras with a rustic slice of raisin brioche and tart apple gelée to create an appetizer that is at once creamy, sweet, and tart. The chic, snug restaurant, located at the base of the Highland Bridge, is almost always packed with a democratic mix of professionals and hipsters, which proves Colt & Gray’s widespread appeal.
The above is a portion of a list that was researched and curated by 5280Magazine; for the rest of their “finds” and its original, please click here. They have lots of other great content on Boulder/Denver as well.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
