A Week Of Eating Deliciously
Posted on | February 28, 2007 at 11:30 am | 6 Comments
As part of Denver Restaurant Week (Feb 24 – Mar 2), the gf and I ate at Rioja last night. DRW is a good deal. You can eat at any of the 150 participating restaurants for $52.80 for two people (or $26.40 for one). (5280 miles is the elevation of Denver – The Mile High City.) It’s a good chance to try out places you wouldn’t normally try, especially if you don’t do a lot of fine dining because of budgetary issues. I have actually been to Rioja before (with Mitch and Shalini), and liked it a lot, but N had never been there and I wanted her to experience it. Even though I made the reservations weeks ago, the only ones I could get were 5:15 on a Tuesday. DRW reservations fill up fast. It wasn’t very crowded when we got there, but it did fill up fast.
What you get for that $52.80 is dependent on the restaurant. Most of them will have a limited selection from their regular menu, including an appetizer, an entrée and a shared desert. Some will throw in a drink. At Rioja, you could choose one appetizer and one entrée per person, and a shared desert. Seven of the appetizers and nine of the entrées from the regular menu were available for the DRW price, though the remaining items could also be ordered instead for a small or large supplemental fee depending on the item. For appetizers, I had the comice pear flatbread (even though I don’t like pears), and N had the baked hand made mozzarella (which was fabulous). For entrées, I had the grilled gorgonzola stuffed quail and she had the horseradish and potato crusted salmon. For desert, we had the bread pudding. All topped off with some exquisite wines, of course. Everything was great – “celebrity chef” Jennifer Jasinski cooks for the tastebuds. As I’ve said before, It all just melts in your mouth and the flavors blend together perfectly. The service was helpful and attentive.
I wish I had the time and the money to sample more DRW restaurants this week. Next year, I’m definitely making some reservations early. With the astounding amount of outstanding restaurants Denver has, I don’t think I’ll ever run out of places to try. I think there’s a very good chance Denver may be the best place to eat in the country.
Latre.
Comments
6 Responses to “A Week Of Eating Deliciously”
February 28th, 2007 @ 2:13 pm
Um…no. The SF Bay Area has a seemingly infinite supply of great restaurants. Even if Denver is good, I don’t think it can compare. That being said, having more great food available than is possibly edible is great, whether it’s 1 or 100 more restaurants than you can get to.
February 28th, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
Denver is, for my money, the best city in the world – OVERALL. That said, living near Beverly Hills as we do, we’ve had a few “fine dining” experiences (invariably on someone else’s nickel) that didn’t suck. And I’ve had my absolute favorite dining experiences in several other places –
- Vegas, to get stuffed at the buffets
- somehow the bakeries in Paris make a simple ham sandwich taste like you never had one before
- Tasmania – YUM! even my wife, a dyed-in-the-wool Melbournian and a foodie, admitted the vittles there were pretty darned impressive
Actually, forget the others, just visit Tasmania.
“It’s like Australia without the flies.” – Tassie tourism bureau
March 1st, 2007 @ 5:20 am
That is a pretty good deal. Restaurant Week in DC is $20.07 for lunch and $30.07 for dinner each. They raise the price a penny each year.
I at the Buckhorn Exchange when I went through Denver this summer. I don’t know if that is too touristy, but the elk sure was tasty.
March 1st, 2007 @ 6:30 am
I’ve never eaten at the Buckhorn, but I want to. There is a touristy aspect to it, but locals are expected to experience it also.
March 1st, 2007 @ 11:56 am
All I want to know is: does Casa Bonita participate in Denver Restaurant Week?
March 1st, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
does Casa Bonita participate in Denver Restaurant Week?
No – the problem is that $52.80 would feed 8 people at Casa Bonita (not counting admission to Black Bart’s cave).