Colorado Restaurant Compendium

[Danno]

L'Atelier $$$
1739 Pearl St, Boulder
(303) 442-7233

I ate here a few years ago with my parents and pegleg and soon-to-be mrs. pegleg, and it was delicious, possibly the best meal I have had in this town. But I hadn't been back since. Well, my brother is in town so we gave it a shot. And it did not disappoint. This is a real fine dining meal, no cheeseburger or pizza or sammich on the menu. The mussel and lobster stew was very tasty (but not enough seafood flavor), the gnocchi was awesome, the pork saltimbocca was excellent, and the tortured baby cow scallopini was amazing. Entrees were in the mid-20s and starters were 10-15. They have a fixed price "recession special" on Wednesdays ($29?), and bottles of wine are half price on Tuesdays, so a bargain can be had.

It's right across the street from Frasca, which is reputed to be one of the best restaurants in the state if not the country, but L'Atelier holds its own.

[Meadow Skipper]

...High class aspen places:

Pinions: Get the crab cakes. And be prepared to eat again in a few hours because like most super fancy places, the portions are tiny.

Noted. Any others that I should consider for a wife's really special birthday (ends in a 0) night in Aspen?

[pechelman]

^ look for a post from rontele
i think he posted a few without writeups

otherwise maybe he'll be along shortly

[Rontele]

Noted. Any others that I should consider for a wife's really special birthday (ends in a 0) night in Aspen?

When I am there, I am usually down valley in Carbondale, so my Aspen eating experiences are somewhat limited. When we go to Aspen, however, my old-man always insists on eating at Pacifica. I can see why. Its really good, fresh, well presented seafood. A special place indeed.

[lemon boy]

FWIW - I have heard that Matsuhisa is really good.

[Meadow Skipper]

When I am there, I am usually down valley in Carbondale, so my Aspen eating experiences are somewhat limited. When we go to Aspen, however, my old-man always insists on eating at Pacifica. I can see why. Its really good, fresh, well presented seafood. A special place indeed.

FWIW - I have heard that Matsuhisa is really good.

Cool. Thanks, I'll check those out.

[pechelman]

Inari's Bistro
http://www.inarisbistro.com/
Palisade, CO $$
Returning to Palisade for another quick weekend getaway after over a year resulted in the opening of Inari's to turn this 1 restuarant town into a 2 restuarant town. The previous, Red Rose Cafe, which I reviewed, while still being good food, is no longer the goto place if you come through this town. Inari's is a somewhat indescribable mix of ethnicities, but everything we had was excellent. Unique takes on a lot of foods (those which we ordered and saw ordered) and everything presented nicely. Service was average, but for a 2 restaurant town, theres not much to complain about. They feature lots of local foods, produce, and wine which is always a plus in my eyes.

Il Bistro Italiano $$
http://www.ilbistroitaliano.com/
Grand Junction
After the many reccomendations, we were excited to try this place, especially since theres not really any good italian here locally.
I was fairly disappointed in everything but the service which id probably say was satisfactory to slightly better. All we wanted was some pasta and sauce, but between pechelwomans extremely bland ragu with meatball which tasted as nothing more than unseasoned-haphazardly formed meatballs, my puttanesca with hardly any flavot despite being advertised with 3 of the most flavorful culinary ingredients i can think of (capers, olives, and anchovies), and the mushy soggy pasta (hey, but it was homemade! :rollseyes) we wont be coming back. I will say though that they have quite the notable winelist. If you want to go for some italian in this town\area, id say to maybe give DOlce Vita a shot as it looked much better when we walked past it after dinner.

[mr_gyptian]

FWIW - I have heard that Matsuhisa is really good.

bring a pile of cash, but this place rawks.

[Meadow Skipper]

bring a pile of cash ...

Packing a fat wallet seems to be the case in general for a nice night out in Aspen.

[mitch buchannon]

Listing for Sushi Den is on the first page and I went back this past Friday for the first time since last fall. Dinner started at 7 pm and I was with 9 other people. For a $400 dinner, the service could not have been worse. We specified which food should be brought out 1st, 2nd, etc. and the waiter brought everything at once to one half of the table but not to the other; some dishes brought to the wrong people. Further, various plates were taken away that weren't even finished or deemed finished. Should've complained but it was a friend's birthday. The food was okay and I'm sure my opinion is certainly masked by the horrible service. Will certainly not go back. Only bright spot was the Saint M Riesling.

Sorry it sucked and I agree that bad service is a horrible thing ... but you're in for $45 a head. Not exactly Alinea or Nobu here.

[pechelman]

he was with 9 other people, so total of 10
so 40$ a head

just sayin



sounds like the lesson here with sushi den is to order only what you want to come out, so maybe next time try placing 1 order. then putting in the 2nd when the first arrives, and so on. shouldnt be a big hassel or intrusion to your meal or conversation flow at a sushi place since you just scribble down what you want on that peice of paper

[pechelman]

touche

i hear ya
sounds simple and reasonable enough to me and ive never been there
just a thought for those that might go there and try something similar

[squatch]

The one time i went to sushi den, I wasn't that impressed. The food was decent, not spectacular. (granted I went for lunch). It was just meh overall...maybe if it wasn't so hyped up I'd feel differently.

[lemon boy]

Agreed. Sucks that the price went up to 5 from 4 though

I usually roll either the cajun or salmon benedicts, both are good. The fried oysters on the cajun are always really well done. P'man has indicated that the hash can be less than outstanding.

[pechelman]

the salmon bene was good when i had it, so x2
and yea, the hash left something to be desired (mainly meat)

though i will say, that making my own hollandaise has absolutely ruined eggs benedict at restaurants, because its no where near as good as I know it could be

[Danno]

though i will say, that making my own hollandaise has absolutely ruined eggs benedict at restaurants, because its no where near as good as I know it could be

I'm a fan of Lucille's hollandaise, much better than the usual gloppy fare. But I have never made it myself.

[lemon boy]

But I have never made it myself.

then don't. It really is a lot better. But yes, lucille's>BoB's hollandaise.

[MakersTeleMark]

A couple links for you folks:

http://culinary-colorado.blogspot.com/

http://www.chowhound.com/boards/6

[Rontele]

A couple links for you folks:

http://culinary-colorado.blogspot.com/

http://www.chowhound.com/boards/6

Good stuff. I like the first one's write up of Panzano. I used to be down on that place as just a typical 17th Street haunt (frequented by wanna-be celebrities like local newscaster Bob Kendrick).

I recently had the opportunity to dine there for lunch and was impressed. The grilled caesar salad was tasty and unique and the lamb was $$$.

[Danno]

I've eaten at Panzano twice, firm located across the street wined and dined me. Both times it was quite good.

[pechelman]

Don Carlos Taqueria - $
http://doncarlostaqueria.com/
Littleton
Its nice to find a local mexican place that has good everything. From the smokey\spicy salsa they bring out with the chips, to the bistek ranchero, to the chicken mole (really damn good), to the fish tacos, to the jalepeno salsa they bring out with your entre, to the sopapillas, its all good and at a good price. Its definitely at the top of my list for good Mexican in this area of town. As far as Ive seen, they arent big on the red\green chile but rather moreso on the salsa they provide. Small'ish menu with lots of grill and seafood items as well for those who arent into the whole burrito\enchilada type fare. Their mole\enchilada sauce is freaking great.

[AbsolutStoli]

frasca - $$$-$$$$+
boulder, co

ill try to write a more detailed review, but this place is absolutely the best in boulder if not colorado. definitely a different level of dining experience and food than anywhere else in town. if you dont mind dropping some coin on a dining experience, this place is worth every dime. we did the tasting menu (4 courses - app, pasta, entree, dessert) and it was all unbelievable. the service was top notch and every suggestion our waiter made killed. it was 3 of us so we ordered everything different and tasted each others', his suggestions were all #1. the wine list is ridiculous! its like a novel.

my friends and i also had dinner at Q's last friday. they wanted to see where i worked, and ive never actually sat and eaten in the dining room there, so it was a different experience from my typical Q's eating. comparatively speaking, food was on a lower level from frasca. we also did the tasting menu here (the chef's 5 courses). although the portions seemed small (appropriate) at first, at the end we couldnt even finish the 4th plate. dessert was obviously devoured by the girls, but the meat course was half finished. the food was imaginative and interesting, but some things were a little below expectations (seasoning was slightly off on some things...thats really it, actually). i liked the way the courses were presented (cold app, seafood course, hot app, entree, dessert), but it was a LOT of food. wine list isnt as extensive as at frasca, and i dont think we have a sommelier, but you can find a decent bottle on the menu.

we also drove up to estes park and saw some nature (first time for my friends in CO, theyre from nyc). while there we kind of struggled to find a place for lunch that wasnt a pub or fast food. thought that wild rose (http://www.wildroserestaurant.com/) was a safe bet...how wrong we were. the service was clueless. my friend asked for a recommendation for what seafood was good, and he recommended the elk burger. WTF? maybe we were just expecting too much...but i definitely wont walk in there again. better off with pizza or something.

[mr_gyptian]

Packing a fat wallet seems to be the case in general for a nice night out in Aspen.

bring two piles of cash if you're hitting matsuhisa

[Danno]

frasca is money, I have eaten there once and will go back again soon. Only place I have been to that I felt rivaled it in Colorado (and I know that there are many places I have not been) were L'Atelier across the street and Restaurant Kevin Taylor in Denver.

[Rontele]

Little Shanghai Cafe, 456 S. Broadway, Denver (303) 777-9838 Chinese $-$$.

Coming from Chicago, Denver doesn't have great Chinese food. Peter's is okay, but you can't really eat there. I worked late the other night and had a hankering for the 'nese. Little Shanghai sits on So Broadway (across the street from the what I hear is better Imperial Restaurant). Anyways, to the chase. It looks like every other Chinese restaurant I've been in with the token fish tank (I wonder when the last time they cleaned it?) and fried noodles when you sit down. I had a spring roll, wonton soup, and Sesame chicken. It wasn't half bad--good enough to satisfy a crave. The food is salty (duh?), but the big kicker was that they actually used white meat in their seasame chicken and not the gliblets and gizzards found at lesser restaurants. In some, it should not really be destination restaurant, but if you are in the 'hood and have a craving, why not?