A Dish Here, A Dish There

Seared foie gras with fried bacon bread pudding and fig compote at Solera:



Crappy picture. Great dish.

My Latest Obsessions

Just random thoughts on two food products I'm obsessing over these days. And they just happen to be local.

The first is Chocolove's (from Boulder) Almonds & Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate bar.



At Christmas, a coworker gave me a Chocolove bar with cherries and almonds. It was great. So when I saw chocolove bars on sale at Vitamin Cottage I picked up some of the other flavors, the aforementioned obsession and one with crystallized ginger in 65% dark chocolate. That one could become an obsession if the almonds and sea salt one didn't exist. OMG, just enough salt to make the dark chocolate seem even richer. It is SO good.

My other obsession is Noosa yoghurt, also from Boulder.



And I'm not just saying this because 5280 Magazine just featured this as their obsession this week. I discovered it last week when I visited the relatively new In Season Local Market in Highlands--a very cute (VERY small) market that only carries local products. This place is about the size of a closet! I got one container of the Noosa raspberry yoghurt and the next day had to track down some more. Luckily my Whole Foods carries it. Yogurt doesn't usually excite me, but this stuff is incredible! It's really thick and tastes more like a pot de creme or something. I've tried all 3 flavors (that I could find) and love them all equally.

So run out and get both of these products, if you can. I'm not sure you can get the yoghurt outside of the Denver area, but you can order the Chocolove online.

Denver Restaurant Week Update: Rioja (and a little TAG)

The first night of Denver Restaurant Week we went to Rioja. Their DRW menu featured many of its regular items, but some with an upcharge. I started with some kind of pear/almond cocktail that was thick, since it had pear puree in it, but was delicious. They brought around their bread. One thing that Rioja does especially well is homemade breads and crackers. A server brings around a large basket of bread with several choices. I had the lavender sourdough and goat cheese-rosemary bread. I LOVE that lavender sourdough. I mentioned it before when I posted about Rioja's Sips and Snacks. I'm afraid I did not get pictures, so here is one from kevinEats.



For our appetizer, we got the Rioja “picnic” to share--a trio of artisan meats (prosciutto, soppressata, and salami if I remember correctly), gorgonzola, olives, almonds, truffle fennel salad, orange confit, and sweet goat cheese balls with pine nuts that were battered and fried. It came with homemade crackers. It was all delicious, but the salad, confit and goat cheese balls were out of this world. It's an appetizer for two and quite filling. I love me a meat/cheese/ snack plate and this one was exceptional. Here is a picture from Meal Makeover Moms.



Before I get to the entrees, let's talk about dessert. You got to choose one dessert to share for their DRW menu (I don't know what they do if only person orders the DRW menu). We got their famous beignets--sweet goat cheese and black mission fig filled pastries served with a ruby port wine reduction. These beignets were on Denver Magazine's "100 Things You Must Eat in Denver" and rated the highest of that list on Must Eat Denver. Here is the latter's picture:



They definitely live up to the hype. Oh my, the texture. They literally melt in your mouth--it's not just a cliched saying in this case. They have a light crispy outside that starts melting away almost as soon as you put them in your mouth, revealing the sweet goat cheese. There is not an overpowering figgy taste. The figs just add a little more sweetness to the beignet. I swear their little pillows of heaven and may be one of my all time favorite desserts. My only complaint is that there were only 5 in the serving and that wasn't enough to share! If you go this week, order an extra one. You'll be glad you did.

For our entrees, I got the Muscovy duck breast with saffron manchego risotto, pistachio pine nut stuffed Medjool dates, a saffron almond cracker, and spiced citrus jus for a $7 upcharge. I was so looking forward to this and was so disappointed. Everything on the plate was amazing, except for the duck, and sorry, but the meat of your entree is kind of an important part of the meal. The duck was ridiculously tough and chewy. I couldn't cut or chew through it and finally gave up on it (I was afraid it would fly across the room while I tried to saw through it! BTW, Rioja, you need sharper steak knives). The risotto was great and tasted comfortingly like cheesy rice a roni, haha, and I mean that in a good way. The pistachio stuffed dates were sweet and nutty and I would love to try to make something like that for a party appetizer someday. The cracker was so good. And I don't usually get excited about crackers!

B had the Colorado lamb two ways for a $4 upcharge: grilled t-bone, house made lamb merguez sausage, crisp couscous pillows, caramelized fennel, tomato coulis, and preserved lemon yogurt. He was also disappointed. The sausage and couscous "pillow" was very good, but the grilled t-bone was gristly and also hard for him to cut. Bummer! This dish was pictured in the Denver Post article about Rioja recently:



Because the entree meats were so disappointing, we can't help but wonder if they used lower quality cuts for DRW. Or maybe we just got unlucky. Perhaps we have "sucker" stamped on our foreheads? I'm kicking myself for not saying anything. I don't know what I was thinking. So really I'm to blame as much as the kitchen.

But for that complaint, we still had an incredible meal. Everything else was so outstanding, including the service, that it more than made up for the one downside. The rest of the food really was ridiculously good.

I must add a little side note too. Prior to Rioja, we stopped in at TAG next door for a quick cocktail. They were busy, but there was room for a bar. They have the most amazing mise en place for a bar that I've ever seen (Is that term used for bars too? I think so). Check it out:



They had numerous fresh herbs, like thyme, cilantro, mint, etc. They had homemade tonic and grenadine; Little droppers of homemade bitters; and who knows what else. It was gorgeous and so cool! Our bartender was incredibly nice about all my questions and even explained how to make tonic, since I noted that I didn't realize real tonic is not clear and bubbly. To make it, basically you take a bunch of herbs and citrus juice, boil it up, and strain it, and add some sugar. Here's a recipe I found on the web. I don't know how close it is to TAG's recipe, but it'll give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

I had the Full Monty with gin, brandy, lemongrass/coriander syrup, and lemon. It was garnished with a cucumber slice and the bartender carefully placed some coriander seeds on the slice with forceps. So pretty! And delicious, of course. The bartender noted that this drink will be (or has been?) entered in a Hendrick's gin contest. I can see it as a winner. I definitely can't wait to go back to TAG for more than just drinks.


Postscript: The great thing about a restaurant like Rioja is that it's so popular people take pictures of their food and post them on the web. Thanks to all whose pictures I used. I'm never sure of the etiquette of using other pics on the webs, but if any site owners have a problem, let me know and I'll take them down. I enjoyed reading all your posts.

Terroir Restaurant in Longmont, CO

It's embarassing how long ago I had this meal (hint: First Bite Boulder), but it was a meal worth posting anyway.

We decided to trek to a far, far away land called Longmont. While it was a trek, it was also fun to take a mini "trip" for the evening. Terroir focuses on local, seasonal ingredients, so the menu probably changes regularly. While many of the dishes below were available on the regular menu at the time, they aren't now, although there are some dishes that are similar. I went with the recommended wine pairings with the dishes and they did well with the pairings.

For our first course, B had the blue cheese gnocchi made with White Mountain Farm potato, moucou creamy blue, and rosemary. The blue cheese was not over-done and this was our favorite of the starters.



I had a beet salad made with "My Momma’s Hat" beets (how cute is that name?), Haystack Mountain fresh chevre, candied walnuts, Oxford Garden greens, and a beet vinaigrette. If you love beets this is the salad for you. To me, beets are okay, but just okay. I try them on a regular basis to see if I can figure out the fuss, but I still haven't. This salad was very "beet-y" and was decent, but didn't thrill me. I thought it was a bit over-dressed too. But it was definitely a beautiful salad with the red and gold beets and red dressing.



My main was the hit of the night--for me at least--it was a bit sweet for B. I tell you, I am still dreaming of this dish. If I ever see it on their menu again, I'm making the trek to Longmont. It was maple-glazed duck confit with spaetzle, Long Family Farm bacon, and brussel sprouts. Heck, even the brussel sprouts were tasty! That can be difficult. Unlike B, I did not think the dish was too sweet. Everyone knows bacon tastes great with maple...yummy salty sweet goodness...but don't think there was anything breakfasty about this dish. It was a hearty and filling true "dinner" dish. I practically stuffed myself trying to eat every morsel, it was so good. If we hadn't been in public, I probably would have licked the plate.



B had the River Ranch oxtail ragu with house-made papperdelle, winter greens,and gremolata. This also was a nice, hearty dish for a cold winter night (which it was).



For dessert we had lavender crème brulee, which I really liked. Lavender in a dessert can be overpowering, but this was just the right touch--the lavender really stood out without tasting like a Crabtree and Evelyn soap. We also had a toasted coconut semi freddo, which really did not excite me, but wasn't bad. If they had added some dark chocolate, it would have tasted like an Almond Joy and that would have done it.

There were several hits and no true misses, so if you're up in the Longmont area, I would definitely recommend checking Terroir out.

Colt and Gray

B and I went to Colt and Gray, Denver's new "gastropub" on Saturday. I'm not sure why it's considered a gastropub and not a restaurant. The atmosphere was not what I would consider pub-like--more of a modern restaurant with clean lines. And the bar was fairly small--although, granted, the place is fairly small altogether. But, really, I don't care what they want to call themselves, because the food...oh, the food!

We had a bit of a hard time finding the place. They are not at their published address of 1553 Platte Street, but are around the corner. And they don't have a sign yet. We had to go up and ask some servers standing outside if we were in the right place. We didn't have reservations, but were able to get a seat at one of the bar tables.

The menu ranges from "bar snacks" to small plates to full entrees. I was disappointed to see that the "kids menu" disappeared from the website. I never saw the actual menu, but they had a page "under construction" for it when I first visited the site. A menu that includes the kind of food they serve plus a kids menu gets me really excited. They may still have a kids menu by request, but I didn't check, since we were sans boys. If they don't, I hope they will still create one. We need more good restaurants that kids can go to in Denver.

I started with one of the "classic" cocktails called "The Aviation," a gin and lemon-based drink. B had a Fuller’s Mr. Harry ESB, which they have on tap. They also have a decent beer and wine list.



We decided to stick with small plates so we could get a wider range of tastes:



From the "bar snacks" portion of the menu, we ordered the Long Farm Crispy Pig Trotter. I must admit we were expecting a pig's foot to gnaw on and we were actually kind of excited about it. But we got this:



And we certainly weren't complaining! Other than a pea-sized piece of bone in mine, these were perfectly delicious--a minced pork patty fried in a crispy batter and served with grainy mustard and salad. They were finger-lickin' good.

Next up: Chili Garlic Prawns with Coriander and Cashew Pesto and Avocado Citrus Salad:



This was our favorite dish. The prawns had a smoky flavor and the pesto was so good we practically licked our plate. In fact, B tried to pull a fast one, saying "Look over there!" so that he could swipe his finger across the plate while I looked away. The oranges in the accompanying salad were sweet and tart and fit beautifully with the other flavors.

The Oysters on the Half Shell with Citrus-White Wine Mignonette



were good, but I wanted the mignonette to have a stronger flavor. I enjoyed them, but they just didn't compare to the one's I had recently at Indulge French Bistro. Perhaps, if I hadn't had those in my recent memory, I would have been more excited by these.

We were wanting more so ordered a charcuterie and cheese plate with



house-made country pate, a blue cheese that was not on the menu but the server recommended, Boccalone Nduja, Bresaola, and Collo Rosso cheese (a soft cheese). The plate came with grainy mustard, mango chutney, and cornichons. We both liked the Boccalone Nduja best. It's a spreadable salami and the meat in the little tin above. It's spicy and oh, so delicious. The pate was good. Actually everything on the plate was really good. I would have enjoyed some honey to go with the cheeses (in addition to or in place of the mango chutney), but that's just my personal preference.

Our server was very friendly and knowledgeable and quite attentive until the place started filling up. It took a long time to get our second round of cocktails and we were told that the bar was "backed up," despite the fact that the place was not that full. I'll chock that up to the place being new and won't fault them, because overall the experience was great.

ETA: a friend just pointed out that Ruhlman's blog has a post on the Aviation cocktail. Yummmm!

I can't remember the name of the second cocktail I had but it was another one of their "classics" and was made with chartreuse and calvados (in addition to ?) and garnished with delicious (non-maraschino) cherries.

Lola

B and I had a fun night at Lola recently. The kids were with the grandparents, so we hurried out of work and tried to make happy hour on a Friday. It turns out that 5:45 (15 minutes before happy hour ends) is a great time to get there, because that's right about when they kick people off a few tables on the patio to make room for diners. Since we were planning on eating, we got one of these tables right away, and still got to get a round for happy hour--a margarita for B and some sort of basil and lime concoction for me. I was a little disappointed in the latter. While I don't want a strong basil taste in my drink, I'd like to taste it a little. The drink didn't taste much different than the margarita.



We ordered the chips and tomatillo-green apple salsa to start, but got the charred tomato-chipotle salsa (shown above). Call me greedy, but when a restaurant makes a mistake like that, it really peeves me when the server doesn't leave the "wrong" dish there for you to eat. It was whisked quickly away while she went to get the right one. We'd already tasted it--what is she going to do, give it to someone else? I hate wasted food. Plus I would have liked to have had both salsas, of course! If I were the server, I'd bring the requested dish, but leave the mistake one there for the table to eat. Anyways...the tomatillo salsa was especially good.

We ordered the agave glazed pork belly sopes with cactus pickles, green chile mustard, and crispy onions to start. It was tasty--especially the cactus--but a little bland.



I ordered the field greens salad with manchego, fried green tomatoes, and cilantro vinaigrette--mainly because I can't resist fried green tomatoes. And these were especially good. Another peeve--the server brought my salad with our entrees. My entree was the chile blackened yellowtail tacos. These were fresh, but a bit underseasoned. Here are both dishes:



B got the ranchera smothered relleno burrito:



I was a little underwhelmed with Lola. My food was a little bland. The stars were the tomatilla salsa and the fried green tomatoes on my salad. The service was okay, but not stellar (although my server had an adorable hair cut!).

Here we are, with me looking smuggy. We had fun anyway--we were out without kids!



After we stopped in Zio Romolo's Alley Bar for a quick drink. It was a spur of the moment thing and we stupidly didn't realize it's attached to Pasquini's at first. It's an adorable skinny bar with gorgeous bar work (see the website), but my favorite part was the pictures in the ladies room (actually in Pasquini's), like this one:



It makes me laugh, what can I say? The bartender was nice and they had a good selection of locally made booze.

We stopped at Indulge French Bistro on the way home, just to check it out. We sat at the bar with the very loquacious and self-deprecating bartender who looks a wee bit like Eric Stolz (it's gotta be the long red hair). He made me a Manhattan with St. Germaine liqueur, which was good, although very sweet. And, on a whim, we ordered the Island Creek Oysters on ice with mignonette aspic. Oh my, were they good! I swear I could have eaten 7 orders of them. Here's a really crappy pic that doesn't do them justice at all. I will definitely head back there for more tastes sometime.

Mountain Feast

We had a fantastic lunch at the cabin on Sunday. Take a look at our version of food porn. Every vegetable came from either one of our gardens or a farmers market. My garden has actually been producing some since the disastrous hail storm. And check out the cool Hall dishes my mom has.

First some sliced tomatoes from my garden. I think these are Roma:



Sauteed green beans with onions from my sister's garden:



More of the grilled globe squash with pesto and parmesan (from the farmers market):



Corn bought directly from a local farmer in Eastern Colorado (by my sister):



Grilled yellow squash (I can't remember if this came from my or my sister's garden):



Palisade peaches from the farmers market:



We had chicken (not pictured), but also a little fish that my brother in law caught that morning. My dad grilled it with butter and lemon and it was delicious, even though we each only got a few bites. It's not such a pretty picture, but twas tasty. Here it is on the grill:



It was my sister's birthday and she asked for fruit pizza in place of a cake. Our recipe has a brown sugar, butter, and pecan crust, rather than the traditional cookie crust. Much better, in my opinion.



And I took picture of these awesome tongs that were my grandmother's just because I love them. They remind me of an archaic medical tool. I've already claimed it after the parents are gone, haha:

They All Beat Me To It

I've been eating lots of asian meals in a bowl lately. I've had these pictures to post and then found stuff about both restaurants on other sites today.

First, a recent lunch at Domo, an absolutely stunning Japanese restaurant. It's worth going there just for the decor and garden. But the food ain't bad either. Is it the "best in Denver" as so many say? Not sure about that, but it's pretty darn good. And yes, as everyone says, the service is lacking. And yes, it also annoys me that they are so hard core about the "no condiment" rule. I don't think I'd ask for condiments, but it bugs me that I can't. And they don't bring your food out at the same time as the person you're sitting with. Hate that. But look at these beautiful trays of food:

A noodle bowl with udon and shrimp tempura:



Nabemono with Kara miso (chili and Japanese bean paste) and Tori Nabe (chicken and vegetables):



Both served with 3 country side vegetables.

And delicious Jamaica iced tea: "Jamaica tea is made from the red hibiscus flower and is one of Domo’s most popular herb teas. Jamaica tea is rich in vitamin C and potassium, and said to be good for your heart and digestion. So this season’s harvest is fresh, delicious and good for you too! This robust, citric tea is imported directly from Mexico." It's so yummy and refreshing. Sadly they were out of Sapporo, so B had to make due with a Kirin.

So today, I see that Denveater has a post on Domo. Much more thorough than this one and lots of great pictures.

I also went to Pho 95 for the first time this week. All the rave reviews on that Yelp link are true. The food is so good and comforting and the service is so great. The waiter mentioned is so nice and gave my friend and I a lesson in eating pho.

Here's my seafood pho. My mouth waters every time I look at it.



And our spring roll and the pho "accoutrements" on the side:



So this morning, I see a post on Twitter with a link to "How to Eat a Bowl of Pho" and referencing Pho 95. Another good post with delicous pics.

Tonight: something different--Mexican at Lola. Can't wait!

Wine Bar Week - Wednesday

On Wednesday, we started with lunch at Sherpa House in Golden. Love this place! And hope to post more about it soon. I've tried numerous dishes there and all have been excellent. They have a gorgeous patio too and really cool decorations inside--it's practically a museum. They serve Nepalese, Tibetan, and Indian food.

On this particular day they had some fish specials and I got the salmon. The picture looks ridiculously yellow, because we were sitting under a yellow awning.



We ended up having dinner at Marrakech Cafe on S. Colorado and I was pleasantly surprised. We hadn't planned on going there, but ended up there after a day of mishaps. I judge a middle eastern restaurant by its baba ghanouj and theirs was really good.

We saw Food, Inc. at the nearby theater and it was good, but hey, they're preaching to the choir here.

On our way home we stopped at Sketch Wine Bar. Warning: despite their address and articles about them, they are NOT on Broadway, they are around the corner on 1st. We were full so did not eat, but I had a nice glass of red and some of their white sangria, which I really enjoyed. They limit you to three. I'd like to go to the limit some time. It was very refreshing and not overly sweet. The dj was annoying and unnecessary for a quiet Wednesday night (okay, not so quiet with her loud tunes). Do you really need a dj to play Hall and Oates, and not even mix it with something else? So we sat outside and enjoyed the night air and Baker people watching.

Anxiously Awaiting Pickles

I pickled for the first time last weekend. I made dill pickles with regular ol' pickle mix from the grocery store. I needed to do something quickly with my cukes that I had to salvage from the great hail storm (more to come on that).

Earlier that day, I saw some beautiful carrots at the Boulder Farmers' Market: yellow, white, and purple. So I decided to try a recipe I'd seen in Molly Wizenberg's book: Spicy Pickled Carrots with Garlic and Thyme. This was the just about the last recipe that I thought I'd try from this book and it turns out it was the first one! I just couldn't resist those beautiful carrots and I was in a pickling mood.

So I'll be trying both sets of pickles this weekend and will report back on how they turned out. But for now I'm just enjoying how pretty they look in my garage frig next to B's keg of Golden City Beer.

So why was I in a pickling panic? Well, we had the hail storm of all storms about a week and a half ago and it destroyed my beautiful garden. Our roof, a window, 2 screens, and a gutter need to be replaced, but I'm most upset about the garden, which now looks like vegetable slaw.

Just look at the carnage:







I salvaged what I could: about 5 cukes, 2 zuchhini, 2 yellow squash, and a couple of tomatoes. I might still get some tomatoes and possibly some zucchini, but for the most part the garden is toast. And it was my best one ever. Whah!

Wine Bar Week - Tuesday

On Tuesday of our week with no kids, I met B at Caveau Wine Bar for their happy hour. I had taken the day off and celebrated with a massage at Massage Envy, which turned out to be a mistake. The masseuse coughed and hacked through the whole thing, claiming she had just eaten something peppery. I should have left, since it was uncomfortable, gross, and not even a little relaxing, but I was too chicken. So I was needing a glass of wine. (Who feels like that post-massage?)

Caveau has a nice wine list. Again, it was mighty hot that day and the place was blistering. I noticed they didn't have many wines in their racks--they were all in the temperature controlled coolers. We also shared the meat and cheese plate, which had 3 meats and 3 cheeses.



We later headed over to D Bar Desserts, since it was just down the street. They have a small, but good wine selection. We sat at the bar and watched owner Keegan Gerhard make something delicious, actually painting with chocolate. He was teaching a woman his techniques, which was interesting to watch. The place is definitely an homage to him with Food Network shows playing on a television screen and a digital photo frame displaying his works.

We weren't terribly hungry and I mainly wanted dessert, so I had a watermelon salad and B had the recommended baked mac & cheese made with four cheeses, cheese nips, & panko crumbs. I heard Gerhard tell another person at the bar that the cheese nips were to give it a Kraft mac'n'cheese-like taste.



So then dessert, what we really came for. We started with their famous "Cake and Shake," choosing vanilla on both sides.



It definitely lives up to the hype. I especially enjoyed the shake with the little malted milk balls.

But I thought the ice cream sandwich was even better.



They start with homemade waffles with rock sugar baked right in. And they make the waffles when you order it--they're not premade. They top it with vanilla ice cream and the most heavenly smelling 3-cherry compote. I thought I was going to keel over from the smell of the cherries cooking. It's fun to watch your dessert made to order right in front of you. Talk about making your mouth water! Then they top all that with amaretto cream.

The young man making our ice cream sandwich said he works at D Bar only once a week and works at a sushi bar the rest of the time. I thought that was an interesting combination and you could see a sushi-like attention to detail in his dessert.

My sister is really into baking and desserts and probably should have been a pastry chef. I can't wait to bring her here.