Friday, November 20, 2009

I Wish it Were My Kitchen

On Thursday I made a trip to Boulder to connect with some fabulous friends. We had originally planned to visit Salt, the new restaurant in the old Tom's Tavern location on Pearl St. Fortunately, they were booked and we were forced to go to The Kitchen. Thank you Salt! (I still want to visit Salt sometime too, though)

We dined in the Upstairs Kitchen location. There are essentially two restaurants, an upstairs and a downstairs. The Upstairs serves small plates, shared dinners, and offers a great happy hour. The downstairs is more for full course, formal meals.

I arrived early to the restaurant and was able to enjoy the happy hour offerings, which included a "Beer du Jour" for $2.50, red and white wine for $5, and cocktails for $5. I ordered a beer and a wine before the clock struck 6:30 to conclude the happy hour. I also ordered the hummus, which was delicious! Drizzled with olive oil, a sprinkle of red pepper, and served with warm, buttered ciabatta, it was a lovely start to a fantastic evening.

However, it wasn't just the great deals and food that won my affections, it was the FANTASTIC atmosphere. A darker setting, with a bar at the front, large windows looking out onto Pearl St., and cozy booths throughout the rest of the space, it was like walking into a sheek, yet comfortable living room. The waitstaff was absolutely charming and brimming with the essence of Boulder, which as a native of Boulder, I absolutely love. They were kind and soft spoken, focused on making sure their guests needs were appeased.

Then, there was the music...fabulous. I really could have stayed at this restaurant all night. I didn't want to leave. While I sat in my cozy booth, munching on my locally bred lamb burger, delicious tomato soup, and listened to Postal Service play, I wondered why it had taken me so long to visit one of the best restaurants in Boulder.

I highly recommend this restaurant. I promise you, that if you live in the Denver area, you won't regret making the trip up to Boulder to dine in this delightful establishment.

Additionally, if you have time this weekend, I recommend making a trip to the restaurant for their First Bite Boulder event, where you can get a three course meal for $26, $39, with wine. Delicious!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Carmine's Delivers...ish

For the past two years, I have passed by Carmine's on Penn, longingly staring in the windows, watching groups of people enjoying one another and gleefully filling their bellies with hearty italian tastes. I have never had an excuse to go there, until recently.

Every year a group of friends comes together to celebrate what was dubbed three years ago as "Meatfest." It began as a dinner at Rodizio's, the brazilian steakhouse, where diners devour so much meat that a flushing of the arteries should be included in the cost. After two years of this carnivorous tradition, it was obvious, we needed to find somewhere else to celebrate "Meatfest."

Voila! In comes Carmine's on Penn, a family style eatery, non-chain, Denver restaurant, popular among locals and foodies, alike. While meat isn't the main offering on the menu, there are definitely dishes with meat, and pasta, and garlic. Yum...

So, I planned a menu of salad, a few chicken dishes, baked ziti, sausage & peppers, and of course, the complimentary garlic knots. I fasted all day in preparation of stuffing myself with the food I had been wanting to try for two years.

Everyone arrived to the restaurant safely, despite the heavy snow that began to fall. As a group that LOVES to eat, there really isn't anything that can keep us away from good food. We were all seated and the stuffing commenced.

Everything was tasty, the garlic knots were dripping with butter and garlic. The caesar salad was amazing, along with the house salad. The meal was started off well. The entrees were served:

Chicken Montana: Chicken + Gorgonzola Cream Sauce = 9 (on a scale from 1 - 10)
Fontina alla Pesto: Chicken + Basil Pesto + Fontina Cheese = 9.5
Chicken Parmigiana: Pretty straightforward = 8
Bolognese: Again, obvious dish, pretty tasty = 8
Baked Ziti: Delicious = 8
Sausage & Peppers: I did not get to try this, but it looked delicious

All in all, I think everyone enjoyed the food and their evening. However, I left feeling like something was missing. As if something was ordered, but never delivered, yet, I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

A couple of days later (aka, today) I realized that it was the service that was never delivered. While it was satisfactory, it wasn't great. There was no "experience" created for the guests. I'm a bit disappointed. The food was good, the restaurant is nice, but I didn't go away feeling like, "I have to go back there, tomorrow."
I hope that this isn't a regular occurrence for the restaurant. I'm sure they have some really great service people, and maybe it was just an off night. Either way, it was lacking.

So, advice to those who visit Carmine's, scope out the friendliest looking waitperson or, don't go on an "off night."

I'm sure at some point, I will return to Carmine's and when I do, I will cross my fingers, and hope that the service I receive will be just as good as the garlic knots.