2f THE[ EATING THE WAY ITALIANS DO>2F ·scene Bootlegge BEEF - HEARTY WINTER FARE> SF S& ICheshin 20s-style,6p quired]S35I FOLD UP SOME FABULOUS FOIL> 8F Restauran SAi Hosts an required!SB 'Savory I~ ThE DENVER POST WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, * SectionF 2005 SAiFrenchw tion,6•8:30p. vorymn.corn I Sousfresh DINING I Potager SA:Presents p.m.i5616G11 Wine dinn1 Its bread and butter: bold menu, fun setting lJ R FAVO R I E M:FrescaF01 fromUmbria "Holiday ir ·OEC.30!Pim menui54 8 f;J !~~~:~~: sportingequiI fordonationt Check Out ·DEC, 31 iSho theRockies'C tageivanousl By Tucker Shaw Denver Post Dining Critic City of Aun ,,,,!Christmas residmts,$481 £. Exposition A reat1oniAUR •, You can tell almost everything you need to know about a restaurant by its bookends: the bread and butter it serves at the beginning of a meal, and the coffee it serves at the end. · At Potager, a classy Capitol Hill bistro devoted to seasonal cooking and innovative dishes, the bread and butter are very, very good. So is the coffee. Sometimes rm wrong with my bread-and-butter theory, of course. But *** I Great 0 Cake Craft SAILearnthe ~-:rf~c~:~o Cook Stree SA•SU 'HO!ida !ti;T;~~-m. Culinary Sc SA·SU :Breakf p.m. Sl65i63 cu/!noryschoolr ~t.':e The Heirl0< ~~~ ~ : ~1 SA;Ho!idaycc St.. 720-936-2(. its bookends, is very, very good. Mise en Pia Great even. SA Holiday b~ p.m .. $75il80 Exlu1>it A: The room itself. With floor-to-ceiling windows that look directly onto East uth Avenue and a cunning one-room arrangement of bar, dining area and kitchen, Potager is spacious and intimate at the same time. Concrete floors and unfinished walls seal a sophisticated, urban vice that's also lighthearted and cozy; l'.ilibit B: The clientele. There's no OllM!l in the house who isn'rhaving a goilld time. Servers are busy and cheer!Wf The kitchen churns with energy, not chloos. lt's lively at Potager even on uncr°"'ded Tuesdays, manageable even on full-house Fridays. E:xhibit C: The menu. Potager's bold (=d sometimes risky) menu changes every couple of months. Take your time to reoo this moving target carefully. There's stuff that you would expect to m1se<2nola-cr:sch Stirlt UpC SA1fntermedi,: ~t:; c!~7e~~~ ~u~:!!~o~~ 866-~000-~',()l Saverino sucookingcl ites,.S40:2J9J Intemation ru1Mer!otwin pus. 303-296·3~ Tony's Marl !~~~~~es}~;;~ Beerdrinke, ,..PEC,ll jWyn~ -passionate.km: ~eerresume~ ,-and displaying its importance forlifeatthe\'.I see on a contemporary bistro menu: duck liver mousse, baked cod braridade, roast chicken with prosciutto. And then there are the double takes: Pizza with rosemary .•• and pears? Shrimp risotto with paprika ••• and or- . ange zest? Lobster •.. with ginger and carrot? Lemon and thyme souffit! ••. with peekytoe crab sauce? Fans of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, a stratospherically successful chef with restaurants in New York and Las Vegas, will recognize some of these zany flavor combinations. Granted, ideas like these don't always In-Sink-Era •DEC.31IWrite scribinghowar heat things up I over. Visit the~ ln-Sink•Erator ~ ~ilwaukee,WI ~atlonal Cu ";:,AN.91Highsc or dessert reci~ Johnson&Wa!E celebritychefT AirBalceUlt1 •JAN, lSiParen theirfavorite·-i: chance to win a ship.Submitori Ultra Cookie Ch JOO Park Ave.SJ ~':;~rules and > See DINING on 4F Best Teen C ·FED,lOIHighs petition for a ch Institutes and a Florence.Local radoonMarchl Something's missing from NYC's Aspen_ By Tucker Shaw Denver Post Staff Writer New York-You can try, but you can't get much farther from the slopes of Aspen lhan Aspen, a trendy new restaurant and lounge in New York City's Flatiron District. Sure, they have some things in common. For one thing, the place takes its name from Colorado's most famous celebrity-ridderi resort. For another, ies definitely reaching for the same glitter set. Well, son of. Aspen probably would rather see Kate Hudson at the bar lhan Goldie Hawn. Actually, scratch that. Who they really want to see here is Lindsay Lohan. Aspen, the restaurant, hasn't yet officially thrown open the doors, but it's deep into its "soft" opening. Which means you can get past the bouncer for a drink and a bite if you're insistent enough. · The Season< O£C.14IChristr p.m•.9:30p.m.f! tt Wild Oats II/I 303-317-3222. DEC,H!Winter rodaBlvd.,303-6 very office has them. And every office is particularly nice to them this time of year: '.fhose folks who have a way with a holiday cookie and a love of sharing their goodies irlth colleagues. W:e have our own cheery bunch here at The _Denver Post. T.J. in Sports, whose white-anddark chocohlte treats practically set off a riot among co-workers. E Barb in Editorial, whose chocolate-dipped shortbread wins her brownie points year-round Cyn, thia in Features, who keeps her grandmother's pizzelle recipe alive and, in tum, her deskmates lively. Dana, who assembles Colo111,do Sunday each week and dateoatmeal cookies each December. These folks are genuine cookie heroes, and we salute them. And we steal from them, as well. Tak- Santa's Belly Buttons I Filled Holiday Crescents ing their recipes home and pass. ing them off as our own. (If nobody asks, it's not our obligation to disclose, tjght?) So this year, we asked them to get baking a little early so we could roll out their best dough for readers, as 'well as their fellow journalists. We humbly offer these recipes as a Christmas gift to you. - Denver Post Staff I Nearly Nonna's Pizelles I Almond Macaroons Photo by RJ SANGOSTI I The Denver Post > See ASPEN on 6F " A waist is a terrible thing to mind. ~' DAVI! -Light Up lour Holiday With 1he ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS CBNBTBRPIBCE BARRY Cake crafts JAN.6A7llear basketweaving; Jan.7IS25I410 netlENGLEWOO{ City of Auro JAN.JOI Hearty &ChorizoandM SSlnonresidl!nts tionAve.,303-32 Mailca/endariten Ca1endar.11K-Dcr e-mail Li\•ing@der 4F THEDENVERPOST * WEDNESDAY,DECEM BER7,20ris' ===== ===== ~~=== ===a, FOOD I======= =====~;; ;;;;;;;;;:;,;; ;;;;;;;;;;,;;; ;;;; < CONTINUED FROM IF work. But when they do pull it off at Potager, it's on. It was one of these leap-of-faith dishes that sealed my feelings for Potager: linguine with tomatoes, pears, nuts, capers ,and currants. At first glance, I thought, no way. Too crazy and, well, no bacon. But I took a leap of faith anyway. Lucky me. This was a truly spectacular bowl of pasta. A perfect snake pit of just-toothy strands of linguine tossed with barely caramelized cubes of pear, tart but sweet marinated tomatoes, and a nutty trifecta of cashews, pine .nuts and walnuts. Scattered over the top, a handful each of capers and currants, little Trojan horses carrying opposing blasts of brine and fructose. Oils from ~e tomatoes, nuts and capers meld together, glistening, And in the middle ofit a.JI, a capitol dopie of creamy, slow-melting mascarpone just waiting to be stirred into the noodles. or dolloped onto each bite, one at a time. With so many moving parts, this dish could have been a disaster. But it was delicious, and I was floored. Eating it was Interactive, like a game: With so many distinct components, you can build millions of combos on your fork. It was unusual, busy and ebullient; a real stroke of genius. When the~· menu changes, I'll DµSs it. Other high points on the current (winter) menu: homemade gnocchi Photosl1yRJSanoostllTlw0c11vcrPost While Potager's menu changes often, its intimate yet lively one-room arrangement of dining room, with chanterelles and shallots. bar a~d kitchen is a fixture. Roasted figs with ricotta and arugula. Curried butternut soup with turc of Potager is its wine-pairing artistic ambitions, Lofty standards, pear marmalade.' Saul'Ced opah recommendations. Listen to your deep talent, remarkable attention with celery root. instincts and don't be afraid to orto detail, bravado. Low points on the menu are few, der outside the wfoe lines. Sure, And really, really good bread and but they're here. A fast-changing the Georg Mahn Dornfelder (Gerbutter. menu means some unperfected many), suggested as a pair with the dishes. Lamb shoulder roasted lamb sauSage with sun-dried cherDining critic Tucker Shaw can be with garlic and white beans was ries, was perfect. But the Snowden reached at 303-B20-i95B or well-prepared but ordinary. Lost Vineyard cabemet (Napa), dining@dcnvcrpost.com. Smoked trout salad was burdened, pcgg0d to wash down the lamb not e~cecl, by potatoes. And tryshoulder, didn't work. Thankfully ing to make any sense at allofthe there was a Langmeil syrah (Auslemon and thyme soufflC with tralia) on the menu, and that did Potager pcekytoe crab sauce was an exerthe job nicely, Seasonal American/Conllnental cise in tail-chasing. Know this: It's not cheap to cat at 1109 09de11 St. 103·832·5788 i "'"'"' Potagcr. But the prices aren't out But who else is daring enough to Atmosphere: Sophislic,1ted but c.1su,d dming in a of line with the rest of the best res~ put a lemon and thyme souffiC stylish ,1nd f1ie11dly ur~,111 bistro with peekytoe crab sauce on the taurants in Denver, given the 11~ menu? Takes guts, and guts are rarlevel of talent on display, you Plates: Small plates, $6.50-$18 Enlrees, $18-$26, er than ever in kitchens these days. won't foci ripped off. Hours: Tuesday-TJ1ursday 5.10 pm. Friday and SatIt is worth noting that Potager Some seating advice: Potagcr urday 5-11 p.111 will make vegetarians happy. Dedoesn't accept reservations, so Delalls: All m,1Jor credit c;irds ,1ccepted. No reser• The unusual combination of linguine, tomatoes, pears, nu~s, capers pending on the latest menu, you ' come early or late. And if you can, vations. Wtlee/ch,11r ,1ccess1ble. Street parking plus might find a delicate beet risotto or and currants topped with mascarponc is pasta perfection. be picky about yo'ur seat. At the a small lot in back Outdoor garden during wann a hearty wild mushroom lasagna. wrong table, the roaring ventilamonths Pumpkin, sage and pine nut ravioli. At one visit, I found pears in my ap~ tice to Potager~t dessert. But if tion system overhead carr.ffllTQC«tc- ·::y~r visits. you do nothing else, sit at the bar Sauteed mozzareUa cheese with ol- petizer, main course and. dessert..} your conversation. Jockef '.Coi ,fta~ for a cup of coffee or a glass ive-caper sauce. And, of course, of Sau- ble by the windows. , love pears arid all, but next time I'll 011rstarsystem: ternes and a ramekin of Potager's the gnoccbi and linguine. order the chocolate pudding for Potager chef-owner Teri Rippcto ****: Exceptional creamy, sweet, bitter, smooth, It is also worth noting that Potag- dessert. is clearly a curious person who *••:Gr£'at coma-inducing chocolate pudding. er is devoted to seasonal cooking. Have I incntioned the chocolate ••:Very good likes to study, experiment and Simple, classic, perfect, (And don't Thi~ is great, but wa,tch what you •:Good pud~ing? There aren't enough col· learn. She also likes to show off, A worry, it's always on lhc menu.) order, of things can get redundant. 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