Home made Italian at Paulie and Deanna's

Hi all,

Barb and I went to check out a local restaurant called Paulie and Deanna’s Italian Restaurant.



It is a Mom and Pop Italian restaurant where the main server is Deanna and of course the cook is Paulie. The space would have a romantic feel if not for the 2 TV's playing. There's one over the bar and one in another corner. The service was a bit slow but the waitress did extra little things to make sure you have a good experience. For example, she brought an extra glass of ice out with my tea because it was fresh brewed and was warm enough to melt the ice quickly. ( Please see note at end)


We started out with Deep Fried Cheese Ravioli with Homemade Sauce. We both thought this was a nice twist to the normal cheese sticks (and fought over the last one - which begs the question: why are appetizers served in odd numbers where there are 2 diners)?





For dinner, I had Stuffed Baked Shells. Sadly, I don't have a pic for these.
They were ok, but to be honest nothing special and left me giving Barb's meal the “eye”.

Barb had Chicken Parmesan.



The Chicken Parmesan had a wonderful smell and the few bites I stole were yummy. Barb enjoyed the difference from traditional Chicken Parm in that the chicken was served in small chucks instead of having to cut into a large chicken breast.


For dessert we had the Molten Cake with Ice Cream.




Though this dessert is seen often, I don’t think I have ever had a bad one and this was no exception. It was very rich, warm and yummy.

The restaurant also does a good business with carry out pizza and calzones.



Over all was a tasty meal and it is good to see a restaurant like this move in to the Firestone area.

Numbers and such:
The meal cost $37.00 total. The restaurant is located at 8196 Weld County Road 13. Next to Safeway) and their phone number is 303-833-5095.

As always thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let us know.

Barb and Jonathan

AFTER THE CAMERA

Service alert. Have gone back 2 times without the camera and both times the service was BAD as in start talking to ask about ordering something to go and wait person walks away bad and I had to find another server.

The D-elightful Dbar

Hi all,

Barb and I went out to the Dbar ( www.dbardesserts.com ) for lunch and a few take home desserts on Friday. The D bar is headed up by Keegan Gerhard of Food Network fame and of course they serve fantastic desserts all day and some great looking plated desserts after 6 pm. One thing on the menu that caught my eye though we were in too early to try was a item on the dessert menu that was called "That molten cake thingy every one has (ours is steamed with a truffle inside). Now that's worth going back for after 6pm!



We were there about lunch time after going down to Channel 9 News and talking to the people behind www.denver.metromix.com where we will soon be freelancing for them, which we are very excited about. Make sure to look at their site soon for some future entries from us.

For my lunch I had a pair of Kobe Beef Sliders.



brioche ∙ drunken onions ∙ white cheddar ∙ garlic aioli ∙ parm fries
Perfectly cooked with a nice little bit of fries. I mean really, all that needs to be said is "Kobe Beef" burgers - thats it.

Barbara had a Baked Macaroni and Cheese.



4 cheeses ∙ cheese nips & panko crumbs ∙ small salad
Very cheesey and creamy. The cheese was so stringy and gooey and delicious. Nice comfort food on a rainy day.




The cost for my 2 sliders were $10 and Barbs Mac and Cheese was $7 and for the quality of food was well worth it. We left with several deserts to try for example, a lemon tart, peanut butter cup, a truffle, a interesting twist on a rice crispy treat, a brown and white brownie and a chocolate pecan cookie. I really meant to get some pictures of them but the chocolate pecan cookie fell victim to a small fit of the munchies on the way home and the rest dissapeared quickly that day (for Jonathan at least, Barb had more restraint - hers were gone Saturday) and I think that says plenty about the quality of them. The restaurant itself is located at 1475 east 17th Ave in Denver and is defintly worth a look!

Since this is just a lunch and dessert spot I have not included a ranking, but you could not go wrong by giving this place a go!


Thanks again for coming by and as always if you have any questions or comments please let us know.

A "hidden gem" The Gold Hill Inn

Hi all,

First of all would like to say we are trying a new thing starting with this entry going to do a more of a "he said, she said" approach with both of us talking a little about each dish as we often see things a bit different.
Barb and I made it up to the Gold Hill Inn (www.goldhillinn.com) on the 3rd of August having heard good things about it from several people. Gold Hill is about 10 miles above Boulder and you get there by a mostly dirt road that winds it's curvy way up to this little town of 118 souls. We came from a different direction - coming in as we had just spent some time in Blackhawk before we headed over. Both ways you come in it is very pretty with beautiful views and it seems like there is not much of anything around till you pop into Gold Hill itself (and then still there's not much around). The Gold Hill Inn and Bluebird lodge are 2 of the main business’s here so you can’t miss it and there is parking street side or on the side of the Blue bird Lodge.





When you enter the Gold Hill you first enter a bar area where when we entered a nice jazz group was warming up and we were able to enjoy them throughout our meal. Before you are seated you are pointed to a chalk board that has the evenings menu choices on it so you can get an idea of what you want before you are taken to your table. The inn has a very rustic feel to it and for me at least I immediately loved the place and probably told Barb 4 times that “this place is pretty cool “. You are seated and given the wine list which seemed to be pretty decent from my un-trained eye. The servers here all work each table so you don’t have a certain server per se and I was afraid this would really impact service but they did a great job and never once did my drink glass go empty which is a big thing for me. ( Please see note at end)

To start you out they bring out a loaf of homemade bread with homemade jam and butter.



He says:
The bread was good and the jam which had strawberry, rhubarb, and peach in it just blew me away and I picked at it all night.

She says:
I love bread, and homemade bread the better. The jam was very good and I also picked at it during the entire meal. It was so sweet and tasty.

Next came the appetizer. This was a set item and we both got the same thing. Now all the food here is very simply presented so if you’re looking for pretty plating you will be disappointed and to be honest when I saw this come out was a bit worried, but the doubts went away when I tasted it.




This was a slice of apple and herb cheese wrapped inside a slice of ham. Now as I said all the presentation is fairly simple but as with the rest of my meal everything was good.

He says:
This had a nice flavor with definite garlic over tone and the apple gave it a nice crisp texture to the overall effect. The rating I gave this was a 6.

She says:
The appetizer was nice. I wasn't sure about the mixture of ingredients at first, but they came together nicely. I would give this a 5.

The next item out were our soups. The choices that evening were a Fish Chowder and a Cold Strawberry Melon.




He says:
I had the Fish Chowder and found it to be very good. It had large chunks of fish and vegetables in it and had a creamy texture and the fish taste and smell was not overly strong like I have run into in some of my past fish based soups. I would give the soup a 7. Barbara had the Strawberry Melon and to me it tasted and had the texture of a smoothie which is good for a smoothie but seemed a bit much for a cold soup. I would give that soup a 5.



She says:
I picked the cold soup, because the hot soup sounded very fishy. :) I'm not a fan of cold soups, but this was very good. It was like a strawberry smootie. The fish soup was very good as well, it was very strong with fish flavor. I would have liked a little less fishiness to it. I would give my soup a 6 and Jonathan's a 7.


The next out were our salads.


He says:
I had Raspberry vinaigrette and Barb had the house dressing which was like a Caesar. The salads themself were fresh with lots of chunky vegetables including onions, beets, cucumber, and tomato. I liked my salad and enjoyed the dressing and just because of the amount of vegetables and the great dressing I will give it a 6.



She says:
My salad and dressing was very good. Nice array of onions, cucumber and croutons. I'm not a vinaigrette fan, so didn't try Jonathan's. Overall, I was very happy with mine. I would give it a 7.


Next out was our main course. When they brought out the courses you were given a choice of 3 sides Yams, Ratatouille, and Spaghetti Squash.



He says:
My course was Tournedos. This was a filet mignon wrapped in bacon and with a rich brown stew sauce. The steak was perfectly cooked and tender and the sauce had great flavor. The steak came with rice and it was ok but really it was just rice. I had some of the Ratatouille and the Spaghetti Squash. The ratatouille was a bit blah to me and only had a few bites but the squash OH MY I will start out saying I am not normally a huge cooked veggie person (well outside of potatoes) but this was just fantastic had a delicate flavor that just made me happy and not a bit of this was left on the plate though half the steak came home with me. I would give this dish an 8 and lol if I was just rating the squash it would have gotten a 10 hehe.



Barb had the Pork Tenderloin with Apricots. The pork was thinly sliced and the apricots added a nice flavor to it and with the garlic mashed potatoes and the yams she picked for her side was a very good overall dish. I would give it a 7.

She says: I tried the Pork Tenderloin with Apricots. I had a similar dish at Terroir a few weeks back, but nothing else was saying "eat me" on the menu. The pork was sliced very thinly, which I liked and the apricots was a nice contrast to the meat. On Sunday, they only have mashed potatos, and that was fine by me. Nothing special about them though. Just like you make at home! The yams were good as well, again nothing special. I would give this dish a 6. Jonathan's I would give a 7.


Next out were the desserts.



He says:
I had a chocolate torte and it was rich and very cholatey and was very much enjoyed. I would give it 8. Barb had the Orange Rhubarb Pie with Walnuts which was something neither of us had had before and it was a very interesting and tasty combination. I enjoyed it but feel the torte was the stronger of the 2 desserts and give hers a 7.

She says:
I love rhubarb, so was intrigued by the thought of Orange Rhubarb pie. It was very good and sweet. I would have liked it warmed though (didn't think to ask for it that way). Jonathan's dessert was very sweet and delicious. I almost didn't give him his plate back after my taste. I would give my pie a 7 and Jon's an 8.

Last course was the cheese course. They bring out a huge plate with red and green grapes, lettuce, Melba toast, sliced apples, and 3 cheeses: Gouda, Blue, and a sharp Cheddar




He says:
Between us we had the Gouda and the Cheddar. They were both very good and this was a great way to finish off the meal. I would give them a 6.

She says:
The cheese course was a nice surprise at the end of the meal. The Gouda was very nice with the Melba Toast and the Cheddar was sharp and good as well. I didn't try the Blue Cheese as I'm not a fan. Cheese course: 7

Overall, we had a great time and the live music playing in the room beyond just increased the enjoyment of it all. It is a very rustic place but such a fantastic feel and value. If I stick to my normal rating system I would have to take off points for plating and such, but really folks just come here expecting plainly served great food with a wonderful atmosphere. The hardwood floors and exposed beams just gave it a wonderful rustic appeal.


A side note I would like to add before I go on with numbers and such. The Bluebird Inn which is right next door and is also on the website for the Gold Hill does a murder mystery several times a year that includes a champagne reception, dinner, the murder mystery, the hotel room, and breakfast the next morning for $215 a couple. While Barb and I haven’t made it out for it yet we are definantely going to and for the price can’t imagine anyone not thinking that would be a fun thing to do.

Numbers and such.

The 6 course meal is only $31.00 per person which is an incredible value. Oue over all rating ended up a 6.7 The Gold Hill Inn number is 303-443-6461. It has been mentioned in Gourmet magazine and Fortune magazine and I see why. Make a reservation soon as they close in January and come October they are only open weekends!



Thanks for stopping by and as always if have questions or comments please let us know.

Jonathan and Barbara

Post note by Jonathan. Though the over all score of the food etc ended up being lower than most of the others we have rated in this blog due to the great value and the overall feel of the restaurant I personally look forward to returning here soon probably before the end of the season if we can manage it. It was just one of those over all experiences that left me feeling good about it.


AFTER THE CAMERA

We went back here with some friends not to long ago and the service was fairly poor that night very long intervals between items and litterly had to stand up and wave to get any attention twice. The food was still very good and I am sure this was just a bad night but wanted to note it.

Dining In the Denver Area

Hi all


With the DNC coming up in Denver soon I was asked by my friends over at www.capitalspiceblog.com who do a fantastic dining blog about the D.C. area to give a few suggestions of not to miss spots for foodies here in Colorado. I will start with the higher end restaurants. Mizuna and its sister restaurant Luca d’Italia headed up by Frank Bonanno whose love for food shows up in every dish and because of this and more is considered one of the best chefs in the area! We recently had the tasting menu and had a fantastic meal. You can see pictures and descriptions of the meal in a previous blog entry. Luca d’Italia is of course an Italian restaurant and this is where chef Bonanno spends most of his time. The Websites for these 2 great restaurants is www.mizunadenver.com and www.lucadenver.com . Another wonderful spot is Fruitition which serves up French contemporary fare and always leaves your taste buds singing. The chef here is Alex Seidel and the website is www.fruitionrestaurant.com .
Now two other restaurants I just have to mention though they are a bit out of town. One is the fort www.thefort.com. When I think of a restaurant that personifies the Colorado area I think of this restaurant. Built as a replica of an old west fort and serving fantastic food and wine with a great view overlooking the city. If you can find a way this place is not to miss! But I must say for those of you who shy away from meat that perhaps this is not for you as they are very heavy on such dishes as Bison and Elk and Quail but and very shy when it comes to vegetarian fare. The last one I would like to talk about is actually in Boulder and it is called Frasca www.frascafoodandwine.com with chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson who won a James Beard award this past year.


Now on to the more casual: Vesta dipping grill - www.vestagrill.com who serves up fantastic food with a full array of sauces that adds just a whole new layer to each meal. If you are in the mood for pizza, don’t miss Marco’s Coal Fired Pizza http://www.marcoscoalfiredpizza.com, which serves up Italian style pizzas to die for. And if you happen to be out late at night and just wanting something sweet checkout the D-bar www.dbardesserts.com which is headed up by Food Network Star Keegan Gerhard and serves rich tasty deserts that will satisfy any sweet tooth.


Well, thanks for stopping by and if you have any question please feel free to let us know.

Barb And Jonathan
www.milehigheater.blogspot.com

Carrabba's

Barb and I were invited out to Carrabba’s Italian Grill last night and had a pretty good time. The food was good and the atmosphere and seating arrangements made it feel more romantic than a lot of the higher end spots we have been to lately.



Looking over the menu there was of course the standard Italian restaurant fair but also a few things that I had not seen before but I will get into that a bit later. When coming in we noticed a promotion they were having where if you buy a bottle of wine with your dinner on Wednesday night, you get a free appetizer and they send whatever is left in the bottle home with you.
We were seated promptly and as we were reviewing the menus, our server Tim came over and introduced himself and pointed out a few things about the restaurant and took our drink orders. He also brought us over some bread and a plate filled with spices, he said what was all in it but all I remember was garlic, pepper, oregano but there were others.



I found that I really liked this variation on the plain olive oil or just the garlic and olive oil I have had in other places and found myself eating several pieces of bread because of it. Barbara was not as much of a fan being more of a bread purist and our server was quick to bring over some butter when I mentioned this. For a drink I ordered a Sangria which I have not had before (as I have said before neither of us drink much or often).



I really enjoyed the taste of this drink and even Barb had 2 sips which for her is a sign she liked it. For our appetizer we choose to do the Antipasti Platter.



What it included was Fried Calamari, Bruschette of the day, and Mozzarella Marinara. It came with 2 sauces which I found to be particularly good. One was a marinara sauce and the other was another red sauce that had caprino cheese added in and this I really loved. But, Barb found it to be a bit strong. One thing of note that I found out that Carrabba’s makes their sauces in house daily and you can definitely taste it. The appetizer plate was all cooked very well and tasted good but honestly it’s pretty hard to screw up fried cheese and garlic bread. However, fried calamari can easily turn into a rubber mess but theirs was well cooked and had a great texture.

For our main courses Barbara chose the Lasagna off the regular menu.






It was a very generous helping and had tons of cheese with a very tasty sauce. Barb found it to be a bit too cheesy both in flavor and in smell. I think I have mentioned before that her sense of smell is far more sensitive than mine and strong smells can really take away the enjoyment for her. As for me CHHEESSSE MMMM GOOD, yes you may call me “Wallace” I thought it was very good and to me there can never be enough gooey wonderful cheese.

For my main course, I had a tough choice there were 2 plates on special that looked great to me. The first was Seafood di Venezia. It is a duo of succulent flavors featuring Trout Nocciola and Venetian Gamberoni which are both prepared on Carrabba’s signature wood-burning grill. Trout Nocciola is a hazelnut-encrusted filet of trout, accented with julienned tomatoes and a basil-lemon butter sauce. Venetian Gamberoni is shrimp generously stuffed with fresh crab meat and drizzled with a hint of lemon butter. That is word for word from the menu. The second was Piatto di Pollo. It features two chicken dishes on one plate, Carrabba’s signature Chicken Bryan and its newest recipe, Chicken with Port Wine Sauce. Chicken Bryan is grilled chicken with fresh goat cheese, basil, sundried tomatoes and lemon butter sauce. Chicken with Port Wine Sauce is a reduction of Fairbanks Port Wine, apples and figs blended to make an aromatic and flavorful sauce. Ok, forgive me for quoting the menu verbatim but wanted you to see why the choice was hard. I decided after much back and forth to go with the Chicken.




The Chicken Bryan was good and of course for me adding cheese to anything is a winner, however the Chicken with Port Wine Sauce - now that was YUM. It is the dish that you think about afterword and want a bit more of. It tasted a little like a very good BBQ sauce with flavors that just excited the palate. Both Barb and I agreed that this dish would have been at home at any of the more expensive restaurants we had visited in the last few months. And when I make my way back to Carrabba’s if this item is still on the menu, I will be trying it again.

We were neither of us able to finish our meals as they are very generous with portions and we really wanted to try to save room for dessert. Tim boxed up our food for us and it came in a brown bag that had a saying on it that I thought was funny.




And with that in mind we asked about the desserts and what we decided on was the following fun flight of desserts.




We shared this, of course, as it was a lot of dessert but the spoon war we had dueling for the individual pieces was epic. From right to left: Chocolate Coconut Mousse with pecans very yummy had a great rich taste that made you want to dive into it. Cannoli -after the very rich moist mousse this tasted a bit dry to us but I came back after a bit and liked it a lot more tasted just like its name sake. Third was Zabaglione - another big yum to me. The best way I can describe it is it tasted like very moist strawberry shortcake. Next was Dessert Rosa. It reminded us of a Banana Crème Pie with Strawberries. Hard to beat that. Tiramisu was next and Barb was not a fan of this one really and for that I was happy as I loved it and wanted another 2 or 3, though I would have probably burst. Finally the last one was Espresso. However, to be honest I didn’t taste it at all and the flavors were so delicate that it left almost no impression on me, not that it was bad but with five other treats there, this one just didn’t do it for either of us.

All in all we had a wonderful meal at Carrabba’s and would return the next time we are in the mood for some affordable Italian fare. And for both of us we liked their dinner menu better than either one of their main competitors. This is a great place to take the family and to just enjoy a very good Italian meal with all the normal favorites and a few surprises thrown in. And just as we were leaving, the waiters sang “Happy Birthday” in Italian to a customer nearby. That was a very nice touch.


Numbers and Such. First of all the specials that I mentioned are in place through September - that’s both the food and the wine special from what I understand. The total cost of our meal was $63.00, including tip, tax etc. and we left with enough food for left over dinner the next night. The Dessert we had was $13.00 but you can break those up and the cost would be $2.50 each. Carraabba’s website is www.carrabbas.com.



As always thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions or comments please let us know.

Barb and Jonathan


A bit of a post note: In the comments for this review we have been twice asked about our rating or lack there of for this post. We did not give this a numerical score due to the fact that even though we did enjoy our meal it was plain and simple not in the same league as other places we have visited and definately not close to such great places like say Mizuna and to compare it to such would just not work at all. However we felt we should include it in here because we want to include every non fast food place we go to not just the show stoppers.

Mizuna Saturday Night

Mizuna Saturday Night
Barb and I headed out to Mizuna in Denver where the chef Frank Bonanno is one of Denver's premier chef's. I had heard a lot of wonderful things about this restaurant and about the chef so I was looking forward to a great meal and neither Barb nor myself were disappointed.






I was a bit worried heading out that parking may be a problem but upon arrival they provide free valet parking which is very nice as the restaurant itself is located in an area where the parking is pretty limited. Looking in from the outside Mizuna looks to be just a normal neighborhood restaurant but upon entering that all changes from the warm greeting at the door and wonderful smells wafting out to the wine bottles hung on the wall that almost seem like a piece of art in themselves. Mizuna is broken into two rooms the main room that you first enter with a semi open kitchen and a smaller room offset to the right which is where we were sat. Perhaps the only down point of this restaurant that we ran into was the tables are a bit close and you can not help but hear and be overheard as you have your conversations. The night we went the air condition was out in the area where we were seated so it was a bit warm but not to terribly hot.


The menu at Mizuna changes monthly to take advantage of the freshest ingredients and everything on it looked tempting. They do however offer a tasting menu and Barb and I both love that experience, so off we went. They started us out with bread - both a white and an olive.





They were very fresh and soft inside with a nice crisp crust. Three different butters were included an herb, a honey, and a sea salt butter. I really enjoyed the herb and especially the honey but the salted butted was a bit much, especially when paired with the olive bread.

Next was our first course and this we both liked very much as what they did was a bit unique they brought out a plate with 5 different items each about a bite or 2 each.



I am going to work from right to left on the descriptions of these. 1a. Himachi with radish and a chip underneath. This had a nice citrus flavor and the combined texture of the soft Himachi and the crispy chip was a definite pleaser. 1b. A Lobster Bisque shooter. This was served warm with a wonderfully rich lobster taste and a bit of a spicy kick you felt at the end, and as an extra a nice chunk of lobster on the bottom. 1c. Bison Tartar. This had a nice texture and a fine taste but really did not leave an impression at all. 1d. Lamb with goat cheese and olive on a soft cracker. Barbara really enjoyed this and I thought it was pretty good the flavors were bold and rich but the olive for me threw it off a bit. 1.e. Shrimp wrapped in pancetta this was my favorite of the five the shrimp was very well cooked and the wrapping just added to the great flavor, Barb however has a strong dislike for anything that is "chewy" and this felt a bit chewy for her though she did enjoy the taste of it.


Our Next course out was Heirloom Tomato Soup and on the side Dungeness Crab with Caviar on Pumpernickel bread.





The heirloom tomato soup was YUM YUMMM. Ok, I know there goes the "yum" thing again and be prepared for more later, but it just fits. I am used to tomato soup being very rich with milk and cream and served hot on a winter’s day so when this came out on a hot Saturday night I was not very excited to see it, but then I tasted it. I am not sure how best to describe it but to me it truly tasted like I had just bitten into a garden fresh tomato. The flavors were spot on and it was served cool - I of course ate ever last bit of it. Barb was not as big of a fan as she does enjoy a hot soup more than a cool one but both of us agreed the flavors were great. The crab on the pumpernickel Barb loved. It had a nice crab taste and the pumpernickel just added the little bit of offset to make it very memorable.


Our next course was a house made Carrabelle Pasta with Rabbit and Fava beans. I have to get this over with before I go any further "OMG YUM!"




Barb and I have been to some pretty good restaurants in the last year or so and up till tonight the best rabbit we have had was at restaurant Daniel in NYC but this my friends beat it and by a decent margin I would say. From the incredible savory rich sauce to the well made noodles and the crisp fava beans this dish was a home run and the only 10 we have given a dish here in Colorado.

Our next course was Bass with Celery Risotto. The green sauce you see is a Green Onion Vinaigrette. And the fish was topped with morel mushrooms.




The fish was cooked beautifully, a crispy skin with the inside being very flaky. The taste was very good and not very fishy at all and the vinaigrette added a nice overall flavor with the risotto adding another fresh tasting flavor. This combined very well with the overall dish.


Next came a Honeydew Melon Sorbet with a Honey Dew Melon Spritzer.




Normally I find sorbet courses in general to be a bit blah but this had a fantastic taste that made you feel it was frozen honeydew melon not just an ice with honey dew flavors and the spritzer was very refreshing with the taste of the melon lingering on your tongue.


Next came Duck with a Duck Confit Risotto and a Foie Gras reduction served with grilled figs.





The duck was perfectly cooked and the flavors were rich and deep. The risotto was some of the best I have had and the figs just added a slight raisin flavor that instead of competing with the duck enhanced it. Barbara found the meat to be a bit chewy but liked the duck comfit alot.




We then went on to deserts. We were both given different ones - the first one was a Warm Valahona Chocolate Cake with Macadamia nut brittle and Malted Ice Cream.



This was very nioe a deep rich chocolate taste with a gooey warm center and with the ice cream and brittle - just a treat of taste and texture.

The next desert was a Banana Cream Pie with Bananna Mousse and Spiced Rum Caramel.



This was good, but nothing to write home about. I did enjoy it as I always have a thing for banana creame pie anyway but not as wonderful as the chocolate cake.

At the end of the meal we were handed 2 fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies that the chef made. They smelled delicious, but they were breakfast the next morning as we were bursting at the seams!

That was a very good meal and the best we have had in Colorado at this point. The service was spot on, without seeming to hover. Everything was well prepared and tasted wonderful. The only downsides as I mentioned before is that the tables are a bit close together and with the A/C down in the area where we were seated it did detract a bit. As far as what we rated it, the overall score was a 8.5 which is just fantastic. All the food was good, most very good and in one instance (the Rabbit and Pasta) the best we have had. We would highly recommend Mizuna!

Info and Numbers

Mizuna restaurant website is at http://www.mizunadenver.com/ and the chef as we mentioned before is Frank Bonanno. He also is the chef for Luca D'Italia and we both hope to be fortunate enough to eat there someday. You can get reservations on open table but do remember they are closed Sunday and Monday. The tasting menu is $85 per person, tax not included and the total cost of our meal was $220.00 when you add on the tip.

Thank you again for stopping by and if you have any questions about the places we have dined or have suggestions or just want to chat drop us a line anytime.

Terroir

Hi all!

Barb and I went out to Terroir in Longmont last night and had a very nice dinner. The chef there is Timothy Payne.


Coming into the restaurant had a very nice open feel the tables were placed far enough away from each other to not feel crowded and overall just a very comfortable feel. The room also has bar seating running down one side and in the back. The kitchen is half open so you can watch them working to create the wonderful food you're about to be served. When we arrived we were greeted and promptly seated and asked about our drink preferences, when the drinks arrived our server told us about one menu subsitition (flank steak instead of hanger steak) but forgot to tell us what the soup de jour was. We had to hear that when she greeted another table, but that was the one and only service problem we had and that was such a minor thing. Before the small plates came out we were served some very fresh focaccia bread that was wonderfully soft and had a very pleasing taste.

The menu they have changes often and looked very good over all. We started out with 2 small plates.



The first one was a Gnocchi (a potato dumpling pasta) with golden west sugar snap peas and garlic. The sauce had a wonderful slightly sweet taste with a hint of citrus. The peas were perfectly cooked they still had the nice crisp freshness that I just love. The longer this sat the better it became as the gnocchi soaked up some of the sauce and the creamy rich texture of the gnocchi was just fantastic.



The second was Gambas-Ai-Ajillo. Chili and white wine sauteed shrimp with 2 pieces of that wonderful focaccia bread that had been grilled. The sauce was very rich and had a definte buttery taste but the wine and the chili really came through and blended so well that we both ended up using the bread to help soak up some of it just to enjoy more of it. I am not much into having spice just to add heat so am always cautious of sauces or items that have chile and the like but this sauce was just fantastic and the little bit of heat it did give felt very pleasant and didnt send me running for water.

Next came our main courses.


The first was Grilled Flank Steak with a crispy potato cake, heirloom tomatoes and a chimchurri sauce. The steak was cooked pretty well but in my opinion even though the sauce was good it really took over the dish. The bold herb and vinager taste jumped out and grabbed your taste buds as soon as you put it in your mouth and was strong enough that the meat really didnt have room to have much flavor. That being said the sauce was very good with the parsley sweetening up the vinager and blending into a nice strong taste. A second problem I had with this dish was the first few pieces I had were fairly chewy and tough. Now I know flank steak is a very lean cut of meat but when served in a restaurant I do expect it not to take 5 min to chew down. Luckly after the first couple pieces the rest were fine and the potato cake had a nice texture and a satisfying taste. Overall I did enjoy the total package of the dish.




The second dish was a Pork Loin Chop. Long farm pork with a potato (both normal and sweet) hash with tochey farms greens and a great peach compote. Ok YUM (yes I am back to the yum word again, lol) The peach compote was just fantastic. The sweet flavors of the peached blended in so very well with this very tender perfectly cooked pork chop that Barb almost had to fork duel me for it. The presentation looked great and the hash had a great flavor this was defintly our favorite of the evening.

Next came deserts and they had several options the first one we had was:



A Vanilla Creme Brulee. This was well done with a nice fresh vanilla taste and a nice crispy top.

The next:



Was a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with a scoop of strawberry ice cream. Before I go further I must admit to being a Rhubarb crisp snob so maybe should of gotten something else. This desert had a very strong strawberry smell that hit you right before you took a bite and really strawberry was the main focus as I could taste very little of the rhubarb and there was also little crisp. I am not saying this was bad it had a nice strawberry taste that pleased the taste buds and lol not a bit was left over when we were done, but it was lacking in the rhubarb and crisp area.


Overall, I would reccomend Terroir. The atmosphere is comfortable and the food well thought out and executed and I am pretty sure we will be going back the next time we want to go out with friends in the Longmont area and for me going back to a restaurant a second time is the mark of a good restaurant. What we rated the restaurant overall was a 7.3 before the .1 decuction for the soup of day missfire. so a 7.2 overall. If this sounds low at all given my mostly overall praise please look at our rating system explanation a few posts back. Basicly it comes to this a 7.2 is a pretty darn good rating while nothing we had made me go OMG thats just incredible two of the items I would say were great and everything is very good. The cost for the meal was $73.

Well thats it for now as always thanks for coming by and if have any questions or suggestions, please let us know.


Jonathan & Barb