33 for my 33rd: 2012

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Bloom--June 18, 2012

This is what happens when you wait ten years to visit a place you've always meant to visit. As of June 9th, Bloom is no longer open. Sad day for me...sad day for Bloom. Here's hoping my next venture will be successful.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Shells and Sauce--June 12, 2012

One of my favorite things about this foodie adventure is that I keep stumbling onto neighborhoods that I had no idea existed. For example, I have been to the Botanical Gardens, but didn't know that there was a delightful little pocket of charm just two blocks north on 12th and Elizabeth. And right smack dab in the middle is Shells and Sauce.

So good!

I love restaurants where there are so many great options on the menu it is difficult to decide what to have. Thankfully, our delightful waiter sat down with us to make recommendations. He steered me to the Chicken Picatta in a lemon and white wine cream sauce. Nestled in a bed of pasta tossed with wilted spinach, it was rich and flavorful. I was only able to eat half and am really looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow.

My lovely dinner dates.

As has been the case with most of the places that I have visited so far, I am looking forward to visiting again to try other treats from the menu. With a lovely patio and large portions of delicious food, this was a true find!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Olivea--June 3, 2012

I have been meaning to try Olivea for awhile, but recently discovered that it is run by the fine people who run Duo, which made this lovely little cafe move much higher on my list of places to visit. Thankfully, my friend Annalea came to town this weekend and provided an excellent reason to venture forth.

Our appetizers

The company and cuisine did not disappoint. Annalea and I shared a plate of fried castelvetrano olives stuffed with ricotta, house made mozzarella roulade, arugula salad with goat cheese, pistachios and golden beats and the house made cavatelli pasta.

Glad you came to visit, friend!

We intended to share our dessert, but it almost came to blows when we passed our plates back and forth to offer each other "tastes" of our almond lemon torte and chocolate and fleur de sel caramel tart.

I'll have both, thanks.

I had high expectations for this meal and was not disappointed. Every bite inspired a pause in conversation to relish the flavor and I had to remind myself that I was in a classy joint before I licked my plate.

What a great meal

I look forward to returning and sharing another meal with good friends soon. Hopefully Annalea will be back from Portland sooner than later to join me!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Sweet Action--May 30, 2012

It's summer vacation and time to celebrate ice cream season.

Having grown up in Fort Collins, I am a little biased in my tastes for local ice cream as Walrus is possibly the best there is. I can't say that Sweet Action changed my mind. It had a great variety of unique flavors. Vanilla with basil, s'more, rhubarb strawberry crunch next to Oreo, mint chocolate chip and chocolate raspberry swirl made for a colorful and tasty selection.

Yummy!

The bummer is, at least for those of us who have a hard time deciding, you can't mix flavors with half scoops. My s'more ice cream in a homemade waffle cone was awfully tasty, but it would have been nice to vary the flavors a bit. Large scoops and a hipster vibe round out this South Broadway experience, which is good, but probably not high on my list for future visits, especially with Bonnie Brae and Little Man right down the street.

Devil's Food--May 21, 2012

This restaurant was the most recommended on my list--and with good reason! Everything about it was delightful. The back patio, the old fashioned furnishings, the freakin' dessert case filled with deliciousness--amazing!

Hey Ali...good luck in the woods!

Despite it's down home atmosphere, the dinner prices were a little high. Thankfully, this was a dinner treat from my CTQ friends, so it was easier to taste a wide variety of the menu's options.

Amazing.

My entree, a pork chop in pomegranate butter sauce with Parmesan potato wedges and sauteed zucchini and squash, was worthy of licking my plate. Coupled with a fruity but dry red sangria and a lovely sampling of cheeses for an appetizer would have been totally satisfying. But then I realize that I had a little dessert shaped hole in my belly just waiting to be filled by delights from the dessert case. Chocolate mocha cake, cream puff swans, Nuttella filled pastry shells...how does one choose? I guess I will just have to go back (likely for brunch next time) and try something new. What a delightfully yummy prospect!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Dagabi Cucina--May 19, 2012

Check out those white, white legs!

For my 2nd adventure, I went off the list and out of town with my dear friend Alice.

Dagabi Cucina is a little Mediterranean gem is tucked in a strip mall off of North Broadway in Boulder. It took us a little time to find the place (thank goodness for the friendly gentlemen on the side of the road!), but it was well worth the hunt. The ambiance was lovely with carved stone and wood decor surrounding modern light and artwork. The tables were a little close together, but no worries. Alice made the reservations at 6...we were one of 3 tables eating before 7:30. The good news about our early evening is that we were there for the tapas happy hour. There was a great selection of small plates for $3, $4 or $5 and some yummy sangria to wash it all down.

Pollo Villeroy, Manchego Mashed Potatoes and bits of Alice's dinner

We probably would have been fine with just the small plates, but the menu was so interesting, we decided to order entrees as well. I got the Pollo Villeroy, a breaded chicken breast in a citrus-tomato sauce served with Manchego mashed potatoes. I'm not going to lie...the mashed potatoes were my true selling point...and they were well worth it! Actually, every bit of my meal was delightful. The chicken was well seasoned and the sauce was plate-lick worthy. Alice's dinner of the nightly empanada special filled with Spanish black sausage and pine nuts was also quite good, but very rich!

Double Chocolate Cheesecake!

In a true bout of bad judgement, I decided to get the double-chocolate cheesecake to finish this fabulous meal off. It was as decadent as this picture indicates. Yum!

I definitely want to come back to this place, but think I will learn from my very overfull belly and stick to the tapas...if anyone is willing to join me at the early bird dining hour, I'd be happy to share some delicious bruschetta with you!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

The Ale House at Amato's--May 12, 2012

A rainy Saturday evening in May! What a great first night for trying new things!

For my first adventure, I went to The Ale House. Located right at the base of the Lower Highlands, near the pedestrian bridge on 16th in downtown Denver, this restaurant offers traditional pub fair with some nice, foody touches.

If anyone has gone out with me before, especially to a burger joint, you are accustomed to my pickle obsession. I have learned that to get as many pickles as I actually want, I have to ask what kind of pickles a restaurant serves (i.e. spears, chips, etc.). When I asked this question of our waiter, Doogan, he informed me that they were "quarter-spears". I had no idea what this meant, so I asked for six. My table-mates teased me saying I probably needed to ask for six whole pickles and, as any great waiter should, Doogan offered to bring me twenty-four quarter-spears. Thankfully he didn't follow through with this. Instead, I got the six I requested, which was more than enough, a feat that few waiters are able to accomplish, making Doogan one of the best parts of the evening.

Other than this, I was most impressed by the view (amazing!), the music (just the right mix!) and the knock of statue of the David in the women's bathroom (nice!). Though the beer list is totally lost on me, it was quite extensive and looked to have some nice local options as well as other interesting choices.

Unfortunately, save for the proper pile of pickles on my plate, I can't say that I loved my meal. The burger was excellent, but my bun got soggy (my fault--I asked for a regular bun rather than the cibatta this sandwich is typically served on) and there was too much spinach for my taste. The fries were good and the berry sauce that accompanied my house-fried donuts was lovely, but the donuts had too much sugar on them.

Thankfully for the Ale House, I have a hard time judging a restaurant after only one meal (probably the reason I get stuck in ruts!), so I will likely return and stick to the more traditional pub fair, but not before I check another restaurant off my list.

One down; thirty two to go!

The Amato Burger on Whole Wheat Bun (half-pound burger, sauteed spinach, roasted red peppers and melted mozzarella) with Fries

The Plan...

I have lived in the Denver area for over ten years. I feel as though I have found numerous, high quality restaurants to frequent and have enjoyed the variety of tasty treats available in this great city. However, it is constantly brought to my attention that I get stuck in ruts too easily and never try "new" places. With that challenge in mind, I have set for myself a little goal: to try 33 new restaurants in my 33rd year of life.

Other than this, there are no other rules. I can go to the restaurant for any meal (including dessert of happy hour) and can go whenever I like. I will post pictures and reviews here for each place I visit. As long as I finish my task by April 25, 2013, I will have succeeded.

Below is a list of possible places to visit. I have compiled this list through the help of friends and wait staff who overheard my planning this weekend. I'd love to hear your suggestions as well. Just post a comment and tell me what I'm missing. The more options I have, the better chance I will succeed.

I posted links for all the menus hoping that I can elicit some company in this process. Sure hope some of you will consider joining the food and fun!

Cheers--JK

Restaurants: