Denver Trip Report November 2024

[Mr_Happy]

I’m staying Denver for a few days. It’s my first visit. I arrived from SFO on a Friday afternoon in the midst of a big snowstorm in the area. I hadn’t seen snow in years so it was nice to see it coming down!

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La Loma

I was staying in Downtown Denver and had dinner at La Loma, which was a short walk from my hotel. La Loma is a longstanding Mexican restaurant famous for its green chili.

Soon after I sat down at the bar some complimentary tortilla chips and salsa arrived, which were addictive. The chips were the thin crispy kind and I think they are made in house as they were warm. The salsa was tomato based and slightly spicy.

To drink I had a House Margarita ($14), which had Herradura Silver tequila, Cointreau, and house margarita mix. You have the choice of the traditional on the rocks or a frozen version. I had it on the rocks with a half salt rim. It was a good Margarita.

ANNIVERSARY PLATE ($21)
La Loma’s favorites including a stuffed sopapilla, chile relleno and a chicken flauta topped with guacamole, sour cream and our famous green chile
To eat, I had the Anniversary Plate, which is kind of a sampler of a bunch of things on the menu. There was a sopapilla, which is like a fried dough packet filled with beans and cheese, a “chile relleno” which was more like a taquito filled with green chili and cheese, and a crispy chicken flauta. These were all smothered with delicious green chili that had some super tender chunks of pork. The chile was very flavorful and had a sneaky amount of heat that crept up on you. I probably could have eaten another bowl of it. Also on the side was some very flavorful Mexican rice, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and a little bit of guacamole.

I was pretty hungry and this hearty dinner at La Loma really hit the spot, and was quite filling. The highlight of the meal was the green chili, it deserves its lofty reputation.

[Phoenikia]

Glad you tried some green chili. I love it.
I even had a green chile omelette on my last visit to Colorado.

[GretchenS]

Looking forward to the rest of this report, I love when you travel!!

[bbqboy]

Any chance you’ll hit Biker Jim’s?
I’ve never had the opportunity to visit him.
He was a regular in Roadfood and all loved him.
A good guy.

https://bikerjimsdogs.com/

[Mr_Happy]

Safta

For lunch on Saturday I went to Safta, a Mediterranean and Israeli restaurant from Chef Alon Shaya, owner of Saba and formerly chef at Shaya, both in New Orleans. Safta is in the Source Hotel in the RiNo neighborhood.

Safta has a buffet at brunch on the weekend. I’m not usually a buffet person as I tend to eat a bit too much at them, but this seemed like a good way to try a bunch of different dishes solo.

This is the cocktails and coffee drinks menu. The buffet, which is $50 per person, also comes with drip coffee and/or various teas.

I had a cortado ($5.5), which had a truly impressive piece of latte art.

The sweets and pastry section. I was trying to pace myself so I just had a sour cherry blintz and a savory cheese filled boreka. There were also pastries from Reunion bakery.

Fruit, breads, and accompaniments. There was an assortment of bagels.

I had a plain bagel with half whitefish salad and half lox cream cheese, a piece of pita, and a malewach which is a Jewish Yemenite fried flatbread, with zhough, an herbal green sauce. I don’t think I’ve had a malewach before - it was delicious.

Fish and other bagel toppings. There was smoked salmon and smoked sable, and house made pickles.

Cheese selection

Eggs and stuff, including shakshouka.

Meat and potatoes. There was brisket, prime rib, and lamb shoulder, as well as latkes and roast potatoes and roasted cauliflower.

Various salads

I made a plate.

Spreads section - there was labneh, muhamarra, labneh, baba ghanoush.

I had some spreads for dessert.

This was a delicious brunch buffet. Everything was high quality. Despite my efforts, I did stuff myself a little

[Mr_Happy]

@Phoenikia

Glad you tried some green chili. I love it.
I even had a green chile omelette on my last visit to Colorado.

The green chili at La Loma was really good

[Mr_Happy]

@GretchenS

Looking forward to the rest of this report, I love when you travel!!

Thanks!

[Mr_Happy]

@bbqboy

Any chance you’ll hit Biker Jim’s?
I’ve never had the opportunity to visit him.
He was a regular in Roadfood and all loved him.
A good guy.

https://bikerjimsdogs.com/

Thanks for the rec! I go back home tomorrow in the late afternoon so not sure if I will go there but I put it on the list.

[Mr_Happy]

After lunch at Safta I went on a bit of a brewery crawl in the RiNo neighborhood. Denver is a craft beer Mecca with over 70 breweries within city limits, and over 20 within River North itself.

I started down the street at Great Divide Brewing Company, where I just had a 4oz taster of their Barrel Aged Yeti. I was trying to pace myself! It was a very nice imperial stout.

I then walked over to River North Brewery, where I had a glass of their Barrel Aged Death of Time barleywine. It’s very strong at around 20% ABV. It was quite good - it didn’t taste too boozy and was a bit sweet and rich with a bit of toffee.

Next for a break in beer, I headed over to Stem Ciders, where I had a hibiscus cider, which was not too sweet and had a bit of tart hibiscus flavor.

Next, I walked over to Bierstadt Lagerhouse, a brewery that focuses on lagers. It’s in a large warehouse with a stage and bars on two levels. Seems like a fun place to hang out. I had a Slow Pour Pils, which takes about 5 minutes to pour and comes in a 300ml serving. It was a very good pilsner with a nice head.

For the last beer stop of the night I walked over to Our Mutual Friend Brewery.

I had a couple of tasters here - a Biere Orvale, which was a very tasty saison and a
Neon Nail (the one in the back), which was a nice hoppy hazy IPA.

[Mr_Happy]

Tavernetta

For dinner after beer, I went to Tavernetta in the LoDo neighborhood, near Union Station. Tavernetta is a sister restaurant to Michelin starred Italian restaurant Frasca in Boulder.

To start I had a PAPERLESS PLANE ($15) mocktail, which had Spiritless Kentucky 74, Dhōs Bittersweet, lemon, Demerara, All The Bitter Aromatic & New Orleans. It kind of tasted like a paper plane - tart and a little sweet.

PUNTARELLE ($21)
Black Truffle, Carrot, 24 Month Parmigiano-Reggiano, Anchovy
This was a salad of puntarelles, a chicory plant popular in Rome. It had saltiness and umami from the anchovies and parm, and some perfume from the black truffle. This was good. The puntarelles were crunchy and crispy.

VITELLO ΤΟΝΝΑΤΟ ($23)
Veal, Pink Celery, Tonnato Sauce
Vitello tonnato is a dish of cold sliced veal topped with a smooth tuna and mayonnaise based sauce. This was a pretty good rendition. The tonnato sauce was very creamy and rich. I think the veal could have been a touch more tender.

TAGLIATELLE ($36)
Maine Lobster, Calabrian Chili, Preserved Tomato, Celery
For a main I had their tagliatelle with lobster, which is one of Tavernetta’s signature dishes. This was delicious! The tagliatelle were nicely textured, and the tomato and lobster based sauce was rich and flavorful. There were chunks of celery, fennel, and carrots in there for a bit of a different texture, and a generous amount of lobster.

CROSTATA DI MELE ($14)
Honeycrisp Apple, Chestnut, Creme Fraiche, Gelato
For dessert I had the apple crostata, which was quite good. The crust was very flaky.

This was an enjoyable dinner at Tavernetta. The lobster tagliatelle was the highlight for me.

[Ziggy]

Safta, beer, Tavernetta. That’s the Denver greatest hits as far as I know. That buffet looks amazing

[Phoenikia]

Looks fantastic.

[Mr_Happy]

Tocabe, An American Indian Eatery

For lunch on Sunday, I headed to Tocabe for lunch. I don’t get to try Native American food often so was keen to have some at Tocabe, which is currently the only American Indian owned and operated restaurant in metro Denver. It’s a fast casual restaurant where you order up front in a Taqueria-style line where you pick your base first - they had options including an Indian taco, salad, stuffed fry bread, and nachos. And then your toppings / fillings for that. There were also bison ribs on the menu.

I had an Indian Taco “Fancy” ($16.50), which has a base of fry bread, topped with chili beans, shredded bison lettuce, cheese, Osage hominy salsa, sour cream, and ancho chipotle sauce.

The Indian taco was delicious. The bison was tender, juicy, and beefy (bison-y?). There were chili beans that I think had some roasted green chilis in them, and hominy that was dressed in a tart sauce that added some nice acidity to cut through the fat. The fry bread was a great base for all of the toppings - it was fluffy on the inside and a little crispy on the outside. One taco was enough for a filling meal.

[Mr_Happy]

sắp sửa

For Sunday dinner, after a visit to Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station (very cool, probably the top non-food highlight of my trip), I went to sắp sửa, a modern Vietnamese restaurant in the City Park neighborhood. Sắp sửa means “about to be” in Vietnamese (thanks sắp sửa IG). I managed to get a seat at the bar without a reservation.

Menus

“trứng và trứng” soft scrambled egg, brown butter, fish sauce, trout roe, rice ($16)
To start, I had the scrambled eggs. This was great! This was some perfectly soft custardy scrambled eggs over rice with a bit of a super flavorful broth-y sauce that had peppers and fish sauce and some other things. The rice was great for soaking it up. It was topped with some salmon roe. This was a delicious mix of textures and flavors.

grilled veal sweetbreads, cilantro salsa verde, cantabrian anchovies, chile, lime ($20)
Next, I had the sweetbreads. I tend to order sweetbreads when they are on the menu. This was good. The sauce was very nice - salty and sour and herby. The sweetbreads I think could have been a bit more tender.

“bắp cải luộc” charred cabbage, anchovy breadcrumbs, egg yolk ($18)
And for a main, I had the cabbage, which was great! It’s amazing how they can make a humble wedge of cabbage shine. It was cooked and charred nicely, not overdone. It kind of had the texture of artichoke leaves. There was a creamy sauce on the bottom and some savory crunchy croutons on top. This dish could be a great meat substitute.

“chè ba màu” black sticky rice, coconut sauce, pandan jelly, peanuts, sesame ($10)
For dessert, I had the sticky rice. It was kind of like a three-colored layered Vietnamese dessert drink that is its namesake, with the sticky rice and the green jelly and the sweet coconut cream. There were lots of crunchy peanuts on top. This was quite nice.

This was a very enjoyable dinner at sắp sửa with innovative dishes with Vietnamese flavors. The highlights for me were the scrambled eggs and the charred cabbage, both of which I believe are signature dishes (and rightly so).

[Mr_Happy]

Yacht Club

For a nightcap on Sunday, I had a couple drinks at Yacht Club, a bar that has won a bunch of awards lately, including best U.S. Cocktail Bar 2024 from Tales of the Cocktail. It was quite lively for a late Sunday night, maybe because Monday was Veteran’s Day. A live band was playing country music.

I had a couple cocktails - the first was found the special’s board, a cocktail described simply as “cherry coffee Irish whisky,” which the barkeep explained was the Lazy Lightning cocktail that wasn’t on the current menu. This was quite nice, a strong cocktail with cherry and coffee flavors as described.

I also had a Forgotten Lore, which had 10yr madeira, calvados, bonded bourbon, and fermented banana. I forgot to write down anything about this one, but I remember that it was good.

[Mr_Happy]

MAKfam

For lunch on Monday I went to MAKfam, which serves dishes inspired by Chinese cuisine. Chef Kenneth Wan was nominated for a James Beard Emerging Chef award this year. I had a seat at the bar.

HONG KONG STYLE MILK TEA ($6)
Die Die Must Try iced black tea w/ sweetened condensed milk
To drink, I had a Hong Kong Style milk tea, which was a nice rendition with a fun straw. It was not too sweet.

CHINATOWN DUMPLINGS (4 for $10)
House-made chicken & chive potstickers w/ MAK soy
I wanted to try the Fancy Wun Tun Tong but they had run out. So instead I had some Chinatown dumplings, which were some good potstickers with crispy bottoms.

BAO BUN - 24H BRAISED PORK BELLY ($5.5)
Scallion, pickled radish, hoisin, sesame seed
And also a somewhat redundantly named Bao Bun with pork belly. This was quite good. The pork belly was shredded and very tender, and the bao had a nice pillowy texture.

SIZZLING SPICY NOODLES ($14.5)
House made chili oil, málà seasoning, cabbage
Finally, I had some spicy noodles off of the “Big Bites” section of the menu. I added shiitake mushrooms for 2 dollars more. These were ok. The noodles were good and the sauce was quite spicy and had a lot of the herbal lemony numbing effect from the Sichuan peppercorn. The sauce was very málà for sure. There was a good amount of nicely cooked mushrooms and cabbage. I think they could have dialed down the vinegar though, it was a little too much sour for my taste.

Menus

Overall, this was a good lunch at MAKfam, but I would skip the spicy noodles if I were to come back.

[Mr_Happy]

Cerebral Brewing

After a speedrun through the Denver Botanic Gardens and the Denver Art Museum (both well worth visiting), I had some beer at the Congress Park location of Cerebral Brewing. They have a lot of good hazy IPAs on tap which is just my speed. I had a bunch of 4oz tasters, which are served in beakers.

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Union Lodge No.1

Before a late dinner, I had some cocktails at Union Lodge No.1 near my hotel. They have lots of classic pre-prohibition cocktails on the menu and also new creations.

Union Gin Fizz
Gin, Egg White, Soda Water, Lemon, Cream, Sugar
Union Lodge is known for its rendition of the Ramos Gin Fizz, and this one was a gem. It was beautifully constructed with a large egg white foam head. There’s a straw in there somewhere. It was delicious.

They Took Er Jobs
Cacao Nib infused Tullamore D.E.W., Averna Amaro, Creme De Banana, Lemon, Orange, Chocolate Bitters, Egg White
And I also had an original cocktail, a “They Took Er Jobs,” which was also nice. It tasted of chocolate and banana, would probably make a good dessert cocktail.

[Mr_Happy]

Alma Fonda Fina

Dinner on Monday was at Alma Fonda Fina, a modern Mexican restaurant from chef Johnny Curiel. They recently were awarded one Michelin star. It’s a small restaurant and I had a seat at the counter where you can see the chefs prepare some of the dishes.

Avocado Margarita ($15)
Herradura Reposado, House-Made Daily Avocado Puree, Lime Juice, Agave Nectar.
To drink, I had their avocado margarita, which was a margarita with some avocado puree mixed in. The avocado puree added some thickness to the drink.

Frijoles Puercos ($15)
Chorizo Rojo / Salsa De Chile De Arbol / Sourdough Flour Tortillas / Queso Fresco.
I started with the beans, which were great! The beans were pureed and very smooth. And very flavorful. They were topped with some spicy chorizo and came with delicious fresh made sourdough flour tortillas.

Callo De Hacha Al Horno ($21)
Maine Diver Scallops / Serrano Ponzu / Tomato Butter / Chives.
Next some seafood - scallops served on a shell. This was also great! The sauce was buttery, rich, and savory.

Tostada De Atun ($19)
Applewood Smoked Tuna / Smashed Avocado / Chicatana Mayonnaise / Salsa Macha.
Next, more seafood - a tuna tostada with a good amount of guacamole, mayonnaise with chicatana / ants, and a salsa macha chili oil. This was another winner. The tuna was smoked and had a lot of flavor.

Taco Al Pastor Negro ($8)
Black Angus Ribeye / Guacachile / Roasted Pineapple.
I finished off my meal with a couple tacos. This was a very good taco that had thin slices of beef ribeye prepared like al pastor, complete with pineapple. The tacos came on these great blue corn tortillas.

Taco De Suadero ($8)
Heirloom Corn Tortilla / 12-Hour Confit Colorado Brisket / Salsa De Arbol.
This was a suadero taco with chunks of brisket that were a little crispy on the outside, like beef carnitas. It was also very good.

I didn’t have room for dessert, and Alma Fonda Fina actually doesn’t have desserts on the menu - the closest thing is their Camote Asado dish of roasted sweet potato with whipped requeson (a cheese similar to ricotta - thanks Google) and salsa macha. They gave me a little bit of the cheese from that dish with the salsa macha chile oil gratis to finish the meal. It was really nice, salty and sweet and creamy with a hit of chile from the salsa macha. I’ll have to try the sweet potatoes next time.

This was an excellent dinner at Alma Fonda Fina.

Menus

[Ziggy]

Everything looks and sounds great. And a Suadero sighting!
Taking notes for our next trip

[honkman]

@Ziggy

And a Suadero sighting!

Come to the Bay Area - many taco places (Oakland, Peninsula, south bay) have suadero (and other more interesting “cuts”) on their menu