There’s no shortage of culinary enthusiasm on downtown Denver’s historic Larimer Square, where rollicking nightlife intersects with exhilarating restaurants like Rioja, a sultry set-dressed Spanish- and Mediterranean-inspired stunner that cemented the stardom of Jennifer Jasinski, a James Beard Foundation award-winner for Best Chef Southwest.Įxcellent pizzas are on display at Osteria Marco, a commodious restaurant that showcases the wide-ranging talents of chef Frank Bonanno, whose menu parades creamy burrata, house-crafted bresaola and ciccioli and a terrific egg-crowned carbonara pizza specked with pancetta and Pecorino. The relaxed but elegant setting gets a boost from the perimeter of large windows that yields views of the city skyline. The open kitchen (snag a seat at the chef’s counter for a more personal experience) turns out lovely food that bursts with flavor and the comforting elements of nuanced Italian cooking. With its fresh-baked breads, refined housemade pastas, hearty main dishes and sensational happy hour, Panzano, a Northern Italian restaurant attached to the Hotel Monaco, hits all the high marks. In addition to the performance spaces, there’s a counter that’s reserved for old vinyl, plus a sidewalk patio, a full bar and a large kitchen that dispenses a full slate of foodstuffs that range from seafood paella and sandwiches to pizzas and the venue’s famed macaroni and cheese. He’d probably be singing the same tune if he stepped into Dazzle, a supper club in downtown Denver’s Theatre District that jazzes up the city’s music scene with local, regional and national vocalists and groups who know how to belt out Ellington, Ella and Louis with style. “It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing,” sang jazz icon Duke Ellington in 1931. The space, a siren song of bright red tablecloths and tufted banquettes offset by mint green-accented walls, is cheery, as is the service. Still, while most of the menu is traditional, the kitchen digs a little deeper, turning out goat in every guise, along with Chettinad curries from South India. Mint, located in the heart of downtown Denver just off the 16 th Street Mall, embodies the laid-back spirit of familiar Northern Indian cuisine: curries, tandoori chicken, samosas and vegetarian dishes that zigzag from roasted eggplant to spice-laced potatoes and cauliflower. A towering, glass-enclosed cellar displays upwards of 4,000 bottles of wine. The kitchen pushes all the right buttons: delectable starters, including oak-fried octopus a raw bar glistening with oysters, crab legs and lobsters and grill-etched steaks dribbling with juice. Chef Troy Guard has been blazing culinary trails in Denver for more than a decade, and while the majority of his restaurants focus on Pan-Asian cuisine, Guard and Grace bucks bok choy for beef - crimson slabs of flesh served in warm-but-modern surroundings offset by a beautifully appointed bar and lounge, a chef’s counter that peers over the expansive exhibition kitchen, and elevated, crescent-shaped booths that overlook the dining room walled with floor-to-ceiling windows.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |