The Kitchen - Denver
1530 16 Street
Denver, CO. 80202
303-623-3127
Chrissy:
Not that we were sick of each other, but Jack Tripper and I decided to invite another friend along for this next review. After having read our previous Restauviews, Janet was curious to join us and we liked the idea of Three’s Company.
Not that we were sick of each other, but Jack Tripper and I decided to invite another friend along for this next review. After having read our previous Restauviews, Janet was curious to join us and we liked the idea of Three’s Company.
So, off to the Kitchen the three of us
went via Denver Bcycles on a warm spring evening.
Jack:
o.k. fine, I'll be a dude in this scenario. Located in the former Gumbo's spot, The Kitchen is in an ideal location on the corner of 16th and Wazee. If you can get a table by the window, you have one of the best seats in town for people watching. We are pretty sure we saw 2 prostitutes before our entrees arrived.
o.k. fine, I'll be a dude in this scenario. Located in the former Gumbo's spot, The Kitchen is in an ideal location on the corner of 16th and Wazee. If you can get a table by the window, you have one of the best seats in town for people watching. We are pretty sure we saw 2 prostitutes before our entrees arrived.
Chrissy:
This was not my first time at this new location, and I have been to the Boulder location of the Kitchen many times. My first thought looking at the Denver menu was: seafood?! I thought the Kitchen was all about local farmers and ranchers and recycled grease. We’re a loooooong way from any ocean. I thought of the Kitchen in Boulder as a place to get John Long pork and produce from Cure Organic Farm, not oysters that were flown in. I suppose if I liked seafood, I would be excited and not judgmental. Instead the emphasis here seems to be creating a sophisticated dining out experience—not trendy, not thematic--just good food in a comfortable space.
This was not my first time at this new location, and I have been to the Boulder location of the Kitchen many times. My first thought looking at the Denver menu was: seafood?! I thought the Kitchen was all about local farmers and ranchers and recycled grease. We’re a loooooong way from any ocean. I thought of the Kitchen in Boulder as a place to get John Long pork and produce from Cure Organic Farm, not oysters that were flown in. I suppose if I liked seafood, I would be excited and not judgmental. Instead the emphasis here seems to be creating a sophisticated dining out experience—not trendy, not thematic--just good food in a comfortable space.
Jack:
The space is lovely; spacious, warm and inviting with exposed brick, dark wood floors and soft chandelier lighting. The kind of place that should have been named Linger (rather than the place that is named Linger but at which you don't feel welcome lingering).
The space is lovely; spacious, warm and inviting with exposed brick, dark wood floors and soft chandelier lighting. The kind of place that should have been named Linger (rather than the place that is named Linger but at which you don't feel welcome lingering).
The Kitchen Denver is the sister
restaurant of the highly acclaimed The Kitchen in Boulder. Much of
Denver has been excited to get our own The Kitchen without the 36
corridor drive and trustifarian drum circles. Both restaurants call
themselves Community Bistros. According to their websites, they have
coordinated with the community on everything from the construction of
their restaurants to the beer they serve. Their stated mission is
“creating community through food” and they are committed to
environmentally-friendly practices. I like that. The only thing
better than serving delicious food in a beautiful, relaxed atmosphere
is making your patrons feel good about supporting you. Supporting
community and being environmentally-friendly helps to take the guilt
out of gluttony. I enjoy feeling as if I'm doing good in the world
while I'm stuffing my pie hole.
Chrissy:
We started ordering appetizers to share and kept up with the triple-dip approach through the main course and then dessert. Does anyone else even remember that beet salad? I loved it, but then we discovered the goat gouda gougere delicacies and the salad was quickly shoved aside. I personally thought olives marinating in olive oil was too messy, but we still managed to eat them all. The hummus bruschetta & sprouts was divided up three ways, with not a crumb left on the plate. The same cannot be said of the Long Farm Pork Terrine & Dijon. It turns out Janet is a foodie—she will eat anything! Jack spread a bit on toast while asking, “Is this head cheese?” It isn’t.
We started ordering appetizers to share and kept up with the triple-dip approach through the main course and then dessert. Does anyone else even remember that beet salad? I loved it, but then we discovered the goat gouda gougere delicacies and the salad was quickly shoved aside. I personally thought olives marinating in olive oil was too messy, but we still managed to eat them all. The hummus bruschetta & sprouts was divided up three ways, with not a crumb left on the plate. The same cannot be said of the Long Farm Pork Terrine & Dijon. It turns out Janet is a foodie—she will eat anything! Jack spread a bit on toast while asking, “Is this head cheese?” It isn’t.
Jack:
We actually had a bit of trouble ordering. Nothing jumped right out at us as a must-have from the entree options. Luckily they have a wide variety of interesting starters. They also offer quite an array of seafood as both starters and platters. But please don't confuse their seafood platters with those that could be served by someone with a paper pirate hat. These are for true seafood lovers – mussels, clams, oysters, fish and crustaceans all cooked (or not) to perfection, I'm sure. They even offer caviars. We stuck with the landfood, however:
We actually had a bit of trouble ordering. Nothing jumped right out at us as a must-have from the entree options. Luckily they have a wide variety of interesting starters. They also offer quite an array of seafood as both starters and platters. But please don't confuse their seafood platters with those that could be served by someone with a paper pirate hat. These are for true seafood lovers – mussels, clams, oysters, fish and crustaceans all cooked (or not) to perfection, I'm sure. They even offer caviars. We stuck with the landfood, however:
-Marinated Olives: a variety of olives
in a slightly sweet, tad tangy oil marinade.
-Hummus Bruschetta & Sprouts: You
really can't go wrong with hummus. Topped with sprouts, tasted just
like Spring.
-Goat Gouda Gougere: Or cheesy poofs,
as I liked to call them. Our favorite, by far, of all the foods we
sampled. Goat Gouda in a pillowy, slightly salt encrusted puff
pastry. It melted delicious cheesiness right in your mouth.
Wonderful flavor and texture! We could have eaten a dozen. Each.
-Roasted Organic Beet Salad: with
hazelnuts & chevre, this was pretty much what you would expect –
freaking deliciousness.
Then things got a little weird from
there. Maybe it was the wine or the beautiful Spring weather that
made us feel a little carefree, ambitious, adventurous. We threw
caution to the wind and ordered the Long Farm Pork Terrine &
Dijon as well as the Bone Marrow with capers, parsley and toast. When
I was younger (like this time last year) I could be cajoled into
going streaking after a couple glasses of wine. Now I just get dared
into ordering strange meats. It was at this point that Chrissy and I
realized that we are not very adventurous eaters. Sorry. We like
white meat chicken. Janet, however, triple dog dared us to branch
out and since she was our guest and we didn't want her to think we
were weenies, we caved.
Chrissy:
I have not had crispy chicken skin like that since I was a child—I’ve missed it! I hardly remember the quinoa salad that was our other entrée. It was about this time I wondered what had become of the bone marrow—did we order it or not? There had been a lot of discussion about this. In the strange lineup of things it came out when one would expect a palate cleanser. I took one look at that dinosaur bone and the nearly gelatinous marrow and declined. Jack again smeared a carnivorous substance on toast and gobbled several bites before declaring, “It’s disgusting.” Janet also nibbled at it. I should mention that my dining companions are athletes, or at least athletic people, who enjoy pushing their physical limits, whereas I am someone who is well aware of her limits and can merely spell athlete correctly.
I have not had crispy chicken skin like that since I was a child—I’ve missed it! I hardly remember the quinoa salad that was our other entrée. It was about this time I wondered what had become of the bone marrow—did we order it or not? There had been a lot of discussion about this. In the strange lineup of things it came out when one would expect a palate cleanser. I took one look at that dinosaur bone and the nearly gelatinous marrow and declined. Jack again smeared a carnivorous substance on toast and gobbled several bites before declaring, “It’s disgusting.” Janet also nibbled at it. I should mention that my dining companions are athletes, or at least athletic people, who enjoy pushing their physical limits, whereas I am someone who is well aware of her limits and can merely spell athlete correctly.
Jack:
The Pork Terrine was probably great for those who like such things. I thought it tasted like a Missouri picnic. It was made worse by the fact that Janet wouldn't tell us what it was so I assumed the worst. We found out later that it is merely pork shoulder and chicken livers but in my mind, I had built it up to be eyeballs and assholes. Now the Bone Marrow intrigued me. I've long heard it called prairie butter and recently read about how flavorful it is. When the waitress served it, however, she made the fatal mistake of giving us the instruction to just 'smear it' on our toast. I wasn't able to get the word 'smear' out of my mind as it was in my mouth. Bone Marrow is flavorful indeed but also gelatinous and very smeary. So.... onto the chicken
The Pork Terrine was probably great for those who like such things. I thought it tasted like a Missouri picnic. It was made worse by the fact that Janet wouldn't tell us what it was so I assumed the worst. We found out later that it is merely pork shoulder and chicken livers but in my mind, I had built it up to be eyeballs and assholes. Now the Bone Marrow intrigued me. I've long heard it called prairie butter and recently read about how flavorful it is. When the waitress served it, however, she made the fatal mistake of giving us the instruction to just 'smear it' on our toast. I wasn't able to get the word 'smear' out of my mind as it was in my mouth. Bone Marrow is flavorful indeed but also gelatinous and very smeary. So.... onto the chicken
The Wisdom Farm
Chicken Char Grilled was served with harissa, cumin, yogurt,
cucumber, couscous & almond salad. I stopped myself from asking
the server if our chicken had been happy and had other chicken
friends on the farm, like in the Portlandia episode. I didn't have
to ask. Our chicken had definitely had friends, you could taste it.
He or she was so incredibly deliciously char-grilled and the couscous
side was a perfect match. I would definitely come back for the
chicken. Our other entree was Asparagus and Quinoa. It was also
actually a very nice compliment to the chicken and would have been a
fine vegetarian item but as a main dish it couldn't quite hold center
stage. It would have won an Oscar as a supporting actor but could
only ever be a nominee for best actor, had this been the food Academy
Awards.
Chrissy:
There was barely a word between us as the sticky toffee pudding melted in our mouths, followed by spoonfuls of pot au chocolat. Knowing that we had an uphill bike ride back home meant we could eat all the dessert we desired.
There was barely a word between us as the sticky toffee pudding melted in our mouths, followed by spoonfuls of pot au chocolat. Knowing that we had an uphill bike ride back home meant we could eat all the dessert we desired.
Jack:
All in all, we had a wonderful dinner. Great ambiance, attentive but not oppressive service, expertly and thoughtfully prepared food, happy chickens and happy customers. I would absolutely recommend this restaurant. There is a little something for everyone and it would be a nice setting for a special occasion. And, as long as it's not a formal occasion, I highly suggest Bcycling your way there on a sunny Spring evening with friends.
All in all, we had a wonderful dinner. Great ambiance, attentive but not oppressive service, expertly and thoughtfully prepared food, happy chickens and happy customers. I would absolutely recommend this restaurant. There is a little something for everyone and it would be a nice setting for a special occasion. And, as long as it's not a formal occasion, I highly suggest Bcycling your way there on a sunny Spring evening with friends.
Décor: Stylish, but homey in a way
that led to a 3-hour dinner. Love those light bulb chandeliers!
Waitstaff: Not too fussy and able to
answer our silly to serious questions about the food
Food: Non-foodies and foodies will not
go hungry
Saucy talk: Are there prostitutes in
LoDo? Discuss.
Tip: Just order the chicken already!
Um, you wanted to be the dude.
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