When picking and choosing what workshops/events I wanted to attend during the Slow Food Conference, the John Currunce takeover of Beast and Bottle caught my eye. Currunce is an amazing chef and author to two books; he often draws inspiration from New Orleans and Mississippi. Of course, when I tried to make dinner reservations, they were fully booked. With that opportunity lost I decided it was best to eat dinner at Beast + Bottle anyways, since they focus on locally produced food from 20+ purveyors. So my second day in Denver I arrived a little too early to the restaurant and wandered around a local market. (Although not late, my timing was still off.) After buying a ridiculous amount of chocolate, I meandered across the street to Beast + Bottle. The restaurant was buzzing with the chattering of an older like-minded crowd; a common theme for many of the dinners I had in Denver. (The demographic of many of my workshops and dinners in Denver were a source of “interest” to me as well, but I’ll mention that in another post.)
As we took our seats and the waiter set the menus down in front of us, I marveled at the uniqueness of the dinner menu. Each entree was accompanied by a sketch of the animal that matched the protein. The drink menu was also interesting due to the fact that each cocktail was named after a famous pop song; I ordered the ‘Graparazzi’, a fun spin off of Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi. ‘Graparazzi’ contained aquavit, honey grappa, strawberry, sheep milk’s skyr, & lemon verbana. This was hands down my favorite cocktail in Denver, because of the unique flavor and mouth feel the skyr added to it. (If you hadn’t already guessed, the skyr was sourced from Fruition farms!) It really introduced me to the idea of adding skyr and other creamy substances to cocktails; something I hope to experiment with in the future.
For our starters, I ordered the ‘Rockfish Crudo’ with snap peas, persian cucumbers, yuzu (a citrus fruit), and trout caviar. The dish was light, fresh, and a bit tart; the caviar popped between my teeth and I was a big fan of the raw rockfish. Overall, it paired fairly well with my cocktail and was a good start to the meal.
My partner ordered the ‘Dungeness Crab Gnocchi’ with buttermilk-english pea nage, lemon, and tarragon. The dish reminded me of comfort food due to the warmth it radiated, but surprisingly it wasn’t that flavorful. I found it boring and not a challenge to my palette; easy to consume… but it left me feeling uninspired. Although part of this could be due to the fact I never really liked gnocchi in the first place. My critique? Add more tarragon and lemon, because it was unnoticeable in the dish.
Forever loyal to his steak, my partner ordered the ‘Coulette Steak’ medium rare with skordalia, tomato consomme, mushroom conserva, and pine nut. It was like deja vu from the night before, except less impressive. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the dish, but the steak at Fruition was just an umami overload, while this one paled in comparison on the umami scale. My comparisons to Fruition were endless, but how could I not compare when I had eaten one of the best dinners of my life the night before?! Plus I had just discovered that I loved rare steak and this steak was medium rare…
Anyways, I’m done with the comparisons, because my entree was vegetarian and extremely unique. I know I was that obnoxious person who didn’t order meat at a restaurant that literally had the word ‘beast’ in their name, but the “Red Beet Panna Cotta’ with bbq beets, dandelion greens, faro, and charred lemon sounded like a symphony of flavors ready to explode on my tongue. And I was not disappointed. Sweet, savory, tart…it was the complete package. I cherished each bite of my bbq beets and swirled the panna cotta lightly in the accompanying tart yellow sauce (charred lemon). I love it when something is a challenge to my palette and creates a thought provoking meal for me, which is exactly what this dish did.
For dessert we ordered the petite three bites. Pictured above on the far left was the ‘sweet pea cake’ topped with basil whipped cream. In the middle were the ‘blueberry gumdrops’ with tarragon. On the far right, was the ‘cucumber + mint granita’ with sheep milk’s skyr. Each small dessert was unique and interesting, with perfectly balanced flavors. My personal favorite was the granita, because it was like a refreshing summer slushy with creamy skyr on the bottom.
All in all, Beast + Bottle was an excellent example of a restaurant that strives to provide local cuisine to high end consumers. Even though it didn’t wow me like Fruition did, I was still impressed and would recommend this place for their cocktail list or unique wine list.