First of all, I had no idea what the inside looked like even though we’ve walked past it a hundred times. It has a rustic and homey feel, and I love the drawings above the open kitchen area. It’s hard to see but there are two raisins kissing the pig! So cute!
We both eyed the menu for awhile trying to figure out what to order and I settled on two appetizers while Dan ordered one of the many succulent entrees. The first appetizer that I had been eyeing was the Tater Tots (with frisee, bacon, whole grain mustard, and a 150 degree egg.) I mean really, who can resist upscale tater tots? Not this girl!
My only complaint was that the egg was a little cold, but I broke the yolk and mixed it with the frisee and tater tots, which made a nice salty and fluffy combination, with a little bit of vegetable in there for health purposes. I didn’t really notice the mustard, but Dan thought it was slightly overwhelming.
The other dish I ordered was the grilled barramundi belly (with radish salad, dill, lemon, and chips). This dish was fresher than a certain prince from Bel Air. I particularly liked the tang of the lemon dressing. Unfortunately, it was so big that I couldn’t finish it all, but Dan gallantly stepped in to help out.
Dan decided to go a more decadent route and ordered the Porcetta with gnocchi, artichokes and browned butter. After some Googling (and asking the waiter), we determined that porcetta is basically a fancy word for pork.
This dish was deceptively big. I had a couple of bites, and the pork was quite tasty, with a hint of sage from the sauce. The gnocchi were much larger than we expected and so doughy that they tasted like mashed potato pillows. Dan must have approved, since he sopped up every drop of browned butter with our leftover bread.
We were pleasantly full and ready to head home when I noticed some increased security around the restaurant. We gabbed about it all the way home and decided that the Governor must have been eating dinner there right after us! Who else gets police escorts in Denver? Our brush with celebrity provided some fun fodder for our walk home.
Have you been dreaming about visiting a restaurant? Did the restaurant live up to your expectations?
