rlm

Kyle Wagner's review of Frasca today in the Post: Wine, food and customers at Frasca get the utmost care

He also has a Mexican-Asian fusion restaurant in Denver called Zengo.

Lehndorff mentions Big Papa's and another 'cue proprietor known as Yazoo BBQ Company in today's Rocky: New rib joints revel in smokin' hot 'cue I think Big Papa's will be next for me. I mean, SWEET TEA outside of the south, honest to god?! With the sugar mixed in for you while the tea is hot, rather than just sugar packets placed on the table that won't dissolve in your cold tea?

Just a heads up that Frasca's website is now more functional and contains the wine and food menus: Frasca Food and Wine

Anyone heard any updates on L'Absinthe or Bombay Bistro? Are these places close to opening?

If you're swinging into Durango, go to Ken & Sue's on Main Street for your fine dining experience. Check out this run-down: Durango, CO Eats Pagosa Springs

I went to M&D's once and enjoyed the ribs (hot links weren't as good). Catfish was good, but I am used to my father's fresh-caught, perfectly-filleted specimens and my mom's batter and god-like southern cooking capabilities, so there's really no comparison. Brother's BBQ is more of a fast food joint with platic utensils. Mr. rlm really likes the chicken sandwich. The ribs were thankfully good without extra sauce, as I didn't really care for their original blend. The Broomfield location is wedged into a weird spot. Will have to try KT's again. It's been so long since I tried the one in Broomfield I can't really remember much about it. I've heard the Hickory House in Aspen is great though. Anyone been to Brickyard BBQ? Amy, what is Chapter One?

Mmmm. Soft shell crab. Thanks for the heads up. I'm trying to remember exactly where Moshi Moshi Bowl was. What other stores/restaurants are nearby? So is the Muzak porno-music cheesy, disco-classics-remade-with-a-string-section cheesy, or something else entirely (Slayer meets Barry Manilow perhaps)? And where ya been, Katzenjammy? Busy like the rest of us, I gather.

BA=Broken Arrow??? Have you ever been to the Warren Duck Club in the Doubletree in Tulsa? One of my friends ate there with her new husband the evening of their wedding and just said it was "expensive," but didn't really elaborate. Yes, OKC is Chain City and there are lines out the door for Olive Garden, although there are a few places I liked when I lived there such as La Baguette. I read in another thread somewhere that the cafe at the OKC Art Museum is supposed to be good, although I am skeptical of their statement that they are bringing "a taste of Chicago, San Francisco, and London to Oklahoma City." (Should this thread be in the Southwest or the Heartland?) Are there any other egulleters in Okie-land that would want to have an outing sometime? I live in Colorado, but I'm in Oklahoma several times a year visiting friends/family. Would be nice to explore some of the new dining places.

Good to hear that things are looking up for the Tulsa dining scene. I have relatives in Oklahoma and several college friends from Tulsa, so it's nice to hear about something more ambitious than a TGI Friday's opening. This gives me hope for my next visit. Since the website for Table Ten currently only contains the menu and no information on the chef or owners, is there any other news you have on the place, Joiei? Any local buzz? Since Tulsa residents seem a little more progressive than other areas of the state, I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a culinary movement. At one time Tulsa was the smallest city with a ballet, symphony, and art museum, causing some residents to cry that they should secede from Oklahoma on the basis of being more culturally enlightened!

I previously read Dorothy J. Gaither and John Brecher's charming, "Love By the Glass," so when I saw their new collection on the shelves, "Wine For Every Day and Every Occasion," I had to buy it. I don't subscribe to the Wall Street Journal so I am not able to read their Tastings column unless I happen to buy a newsstand copy for expressly that purpose. Just curious what others have thought of their books and/or their column. An aside: Unbeknownst to me when I purchased it, one of the stories in the book features the father of one of my best friends from college. I had just stayed at her father Brandon's bed and breakfast that he purchased with his new bride in Colorado about a week before I bought the book. I turned to page 161 and there was a story about Krista and Brandon Caldwell of Los Angeles and the wine they enjoyed the day after their wedding in the Grand Canyon. I almost fell out of my chair. Egullet-friendly link to the book: Wine For Every Day and Every Occasion

We had the Chef's Tasting Menu again at Adega and noticed it is now $75 instead of $69 for the menu (wine pairings are still $45). We really enjoyed the food, but four of the six wine pairings had a decent amount of residual sugar in them. Since there was sweetness/richness in the dishes as well (such as the cinnamon added to the Apple Confit in the Roast Breast of Squab--course #3), my tummy was doing flip-flops by the end of the meal. I'd prefer to start out with a Brut Champagne rather than the Demi-Sec Laurent-Perrier we were served, for example. The second wine was listed as a 2000 Ernest Burn Pinot Blanc from Alsace, though I wasn't paying attention when it was poured. We drank a very heavy, rich, sweet concoction that didn't seem like an Alsatian Pinot Blanc to me, although I've never had one from Ernest Burn before. It really seemed like a late-harvest Riesling to me. (Perhaps someone who's had this wine before could comment.) There were two reds wedged in the middle of Sugar Fest 2004 (an Australian Shiraz and a 2000 Bordeaux, which the young sommelier on duty referred to as a "rock star vintage."). The last two wines were a sweet Italian wine and a Moscato d'Asti (we were actually poured the La Spinetta Moscato d'Asti, not the La Morandina listed on the menu). Way too much sticky sweetness for me overall. There was only one course we did not care for--the "Ham and Cheese Sandwich" (course #5). The Smithfield Ham was incredibly salty. Mr. Rlm's tongue-in-cheek comment for this course was, "The key to enjoying a bad wine is to serve it with food that is even worse." Our favorite courses were the Toasted Almond Bisque (course #1) and the Maple Braised Short Rib (course #4). I am not a big fan of almonds (especially when they end up in rice), but we were both startled by how good the bisque was and how the warm, smooth puree contrasted nicely with the cool Acorn Squash "Ice Cream" and the crunchy Sage Crackers (they were actually grissini instead of round crackers as you might picture from the name). The Maple Braised Short Rib was so tender you could cut it with your fork. It was served with a Shallot Puree (which had the consistency of paste), Seared Grits, and Sweet Potato Bread. Two courses that were middle-of-the-road were the Seared Diver Scallop (#2) with Truffled Sausage and the Fall Tangerine Curd (#6). I would have enjoyed the dessert more if I had not ingested so much overpowering sweet wine earlier in the evening. I could not finish this dish or the accompanying Moscato D'Asti either.

Tara Q. Thomas (who also writes about wine for the Denver Post) has a paragraph about Frasca in December's Wine & Spirits Magazine (in the CityScene). It is not yet up on their website in the CityScene area (although blurbs about Brix, Adega, Table 6, and Swimclub 32 are there).

The Yellow Scene has a review of Icon in their Oct 04 issue: ...Icon blends the sensibility of a ’50s diner with the sleekness of an urban eatery to craft an efficient, visually pleasing, and family-friendly space. They seemed to like the place, although they said the grilled chicken sandwich is actually fried and "unremarkable," and the fries were referred to as being "medium-caliber."

I'd like to say my memory is iron-clad, but I will share that if you say "pretty-please," they will give you a copy of the paper menu. Theirs is closer to a soup consistency than gravy, and yes, it's a little more haute than mom's, but it's warm and comforting and makes me feel five again.

Okay, Matt, the menu I had this week has similar items on it, only with different preparations. The Tagliatelle now is served with a Sugar Pie Pumpkin "Brodo" and the Risotto is with Tocai Friulano Cucumbers and Butterscotch Melon Vinaigrette. Some of the combinations sound odd, but they end up tasting magical. There is also a Hawaiian Bass Fillet, Pork Loin (not shaved this time and served with razor-thin slices of apples, leeks, and a smidgen of "horseradish broth"), Mint Brioche Crusted Long Family Farm Lamb Leg, and the ribeye mainstay (only I don't remember it being served with chanterelles before, and Ken Macy isn't mentioned on the menu this time). Starters included Roasted Anjou Pear, Valencia Onion Soup, Soft Boiled Hedgerow Farm Hen Egg Salad, Chanterelle Mushroom Strudel, Lamb Relish, a Pork Pate, and, of course, the Salumi. We both had the Hot Chocolate dessert that Fred mentioned. Too rich to finish, but very good. It is similar to what my mother makes and calls "Chocolate Gravy" (sounds less fancy than Frasca's menu description). Service was good, but we weren't as crazy about our main server this time (granted, the one on the last trip was exceptional). When the wines for the main course were brought out for a taste while I was still attempting to enjoy my bubbly, I made a comment about it. This was followed by an explanation about how “actually champagne is an excellent palate cleanser and Bobby has us use it between our tastings on Saturdays.” Well, boo-ya for you, but I’d rather not use my $18 glass of Billecart as a palate cleanser. I’d rather enjoy it uninterrupted, but thank you for the insight, Robert Parker. I think it bugged me more after I'd already left the restaurant and thought about it. Overall, it was a wonderful trip again. They were quite busy for a Monday, but we arrived a little early and were promptly seated.

Welcome, Aileen!!! We always need more CO people to post here. Another Boulder County-area person as well! I think this lends even more credence to the argument of having our next egullet get-together in Boulder somewhere.

Matt, we may be going this week again if we can get a table at a reasonable hour, so I can update you if the menu's changed. The anniversary is this week, but we've both started new jobs recently and our schedules are a little wonky. On the copy of the menu I have, there are several veggie-friendly items: Tagliatelle (tomatoes, basil oil, tomato broth) Risotto (porcini mushrooms, lemons, onions) Gnocchi Corn soup Tomato salad Potato salad When I was in college, I didn't even attempt anything more expensive than Taco Bell unless someone else was paying. That whopping $4.25/hr work-study job just didn't go very far. I only enrolled in "Math for Poets" (a.k.a. College Algebra), so I don't think I'd ever attempt something like theoretical chemistry. So "good on ya," Matt.

Just the basic demographics of Denver. When my friend Raymond visited CO from the Bay Area for the first time for a Niners-Broncos pre-season game, he surveyed the crowd and declared, "Damn, Denver is...pale. Give me your binoculars. I think I see a brother way over there." A waiter at a restaurant in the Denver 'burbs the day before kept staring at him and acting weird at our table. Waiterboy finally asked if he was a professional athlete and we burst out laughing. You just have to shake your head sometimes at the assumptions people make, and tip accordingly. 15% sounds pretty generous for the bonehead that waited on you. Edited to ask: Did you speak to a manager about the way you were treated? I did that on my first trip solo to Cap Grille (about the hostesses) and never had problems after that.

Hmm. Their website used to be mymizuna.com (that's what still shows up in search engines), and I was never able to find one for Luca. So thanks to Lori for posting the new URL. Looks like there's one for Luca too! Haven't been in a while, so please let us know how the meal goes, Mongo. I also expect a 1000-word essay on why you've chosen to try Mizuna before Frasca.

Thanks for the pm, mongo. I still haven't made it to Woodlands yet (maybe next week). Could I have an egullet site administrator write a nasty-gram to my place of employment and tell them to quit scheduling meetings from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm? That is just pathological.

We took my parents to Icon when they were in town since they wanted a burger and I didn't want to drag them to our suburban McDonald's hell. Burger was better on this trip (the double was big-n-messy like a good burger should be, and they remembered all of the toppings) and the counter service was much improved. No change to the fries, and I wasn't bowled over by the onion rings either. My mom was the only one at the table who enjoyed the fries, so there were obviously a lot of people like her in Icon's focus groups prior to opening. She also devoured her vanilla shake and loved her burger. (Keep in mind that my mom lives in a small town and is excited that I live within driving distance of both Super Target and Super Wal-Mart.) My dad doesn't like eating in restaurants since he is paranoid about germs, so I wasn't sure what to make of his shoulder-shrugging "review." (I'm fairly confident he would do the same thing at the French Laundry.) He did clean his plate except for an odd fry or two.

Alas, it appears that I won't be able to leave for lunch this week at all. Looks like it's going to be cafeteria time for me all week due to our schedule. Please let me know if you and Mrs. Jones go and enjoy it so I'll know whether to keep it on the "must try" list or not.

What?! Better than the "award winning" Lucca Lucca? Surely not! There was an article on Frasca in yesterday's Daily Camera in the Business section: Fresh Kids on the Block

I almost ended up going here instead when driving around looking for Masalaa (which is across Peoria from the shopping center Woodlands is in). I will definitely be checking it out next week, so if anyone goes soon, please post recommended menu items as soon as you can.