10.22.2008

RESTAURANT Denver: 1515 Market St / fine dining meets honky tonk


1515 Market Street, Denver, CO I ended my trip in Denver on a high note, food-wise that is. This place had a split personality, consisting of a funky bar downstairs and a dining area with fancy glassed-in wine room upstairs. I must have arrived at an odd hour (9:30?)—as the serious diners upstairs were on their way out and the serious drinkers downstairs had not yet arrived. Faced with the option of dining categorically solo, I almost chose to exit, but then opted to sit in the downstairs bar—which totally worked in my favor. I had the super cool and friendly staff all to myself and at my beck and call. My luck continued with my picks from the menu. The dandelion salad was extremely fresh and vibrant, with perfectly balanced tastes of bitter and sweet and textures of crunchy and creamy. They did not skimp on the portion of the Three Styles of Duck, which consisted of a confit leg, spring roll, and rendered breast. I don’t think my photo does justice to the Pollock-like styling of the dish whose components' flavors played to each other so beautifully. Having been so impressed by the offerings so far, I re-examined the menu and came across Cold Caesar Salad SOUP with bacon foam, croutons, tomato concassés, and caesar dressing. What? How did I miss this item? Though I had already done two courses, I decided that I HAD to try this, and was more than pleased with the outcome. This soup all-of-a-sudden made gazpacho obsolete, and upped the ante for sophisticated summer fare. My compliments to Chef Chris Laramie.

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