since i moved to denver, noelle and i have tried to have weekly dinners, just the two of us. [we haven’t managed to do it every single week, but i’d say we’ve done pretty well given our busy schedules.] we created a list of restaurants that we wanted to try and we’ve slowly but surely been checking them off. one of the restaurants on our list was the populist, a lovely little place in rino [my neighborhood!] with the coolest patio ever. [you should check out the restaurant’s website – it shows a glimpse of said patio… pretty sweet with the vines and string lights.] unfortunately, we went in february on a cold and icy night, so there was no patio-sitting, but it has a cozy little inside and we had a grand time.
{it’s a small little place!}
we ended up doing the chef’s seven course tasting menu which was A-mazing. the best part was our server – she told us about everything we were eating in detail, which of course i loved! sorry for the bad coloring on the photos – the light was dim in there – but here’s what we ate:
{course 1: smoked steelhead trout rillettes [a kind of rough pâté of shredded trout mixed with olive oil and lemon zest], croutons, cucumbers and dill relish, whole grain mustard, preserved lemons, everything-bagel crips, brussels sprout kraut, aquavit [a scandinavian spirit flavored with caraway and coriander].}
{course 2: roasted cauliflower & quince soup – basically roasted cauliflower and quince with white wine, cream, shallots, and garlic poured over fried sage and fresh cracked black pepper.}
{course 3: mizuna & butter lettuce salad with an apple tarragon vinaigrette, powdered bacon, danish bleu cheese, grapes soaked in tarragon, candied walnuts.}
{course 4: crispy celery root steak – a slice of celery root dredged in egg and breadcrumbs and fried, with a celery root purée and a celery root crumble, along with blood orange, dijon emulsion, and hazelnut butter.}
{a palate cleanser: granita made with aperol aperitif [a rhubarb and bitter orange italian alcoholic beverage] and kumquat.}
{course 5: piquillo pepper cavatelli rojo with merguez-style house-made lamb sausage in a brown butter sauce with fried chickpeas, mint, sheep’s milk feta, and sunflower seed gremolata.}
{course 6: cider-braised pork cheeks, parsnip purée, broccolini, caramelized pearl onions, fried beet chips, beet and apple cider vinegar gastrique.}
{course 7: milk and honey semifreddo [custard-style] with honey crumbled pine nuts, orange flower honey drizzle, white chocolate with bee pollen and lavender, dehydrated milk, dulce de leche covered honeycomb, molten sea salt.}
{and the coolest thing was our wonderful server brought us out complimentary glasses of birbet, a semi-sparkling sweet red wine with raspberry and blackberry notes.}
this was such an fun little dinner date and i can’t wait to go back and enjoy that cute patio! thanks to the populist for the fabulous time and fabulous food and thanks to noelle for the fabulous company! i love our girl dates. :)