Sometimes we all need a little help when it comes time to impress a date. Certain restaurants may please the tongue and fill the belly but don't tug on our emotions. The selections we have gathered here have that certain something—perhaps a light-speckled patio, or a roving musician, or inspirational garden—that can wow a date, and put them in the mood to satisfy other appetites. Presented in alphabetical order, here are the top ten romantic restaurants in Denver.
Sometimes we all need a little help when it comes time to impress a date. Certain restaurants may please the tongue and fill the belly but don't tug on our e... more
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1
Bistro Vendôme
1420 Larimer St., Denver, CO 80202 / 303-825-3232
Owner Jennifer Jasinski, her partner Beth Gruitch, and chef de cuisine Matt Anderson regale Francophiles with a contemporary menu of French fare at this charming bistro tucked into an alleyway in Larimer Square. Start with mussels cooked in a garlic and white wine broth to soak up with a warm baguette. On cool days, the thick, fragrant onion soup is very satisfying. Our favorite entrée is the juicy, grilled steak frites served simply au poivre or with a classic béarnaise sauce; the roasted chicken breast with garlic, olives and a tomato coulis comes a close second. Be sure to try the pommes frites, easily the best in Denver. A 60-plus-bottle wine list includes some very good house wines at $6 a glass. For brunch, we might sip a pastis cocktail while waiting for our pain perdu with citrus honey or crêpes filled with a combination of bacon, ham, soft-cooked egg and truffles.
2
Briarwood Inn
1630 Eighth St., Golden, CO 80401 / 303-279-3121
Elegant, dignified and old-world, this Golden stalwart makes for a memorable dinner out. That is thanks to its striking setting at the base of the foothills and an opulent and romantic ambience illuminated by chandeliers and adorned with stained glass, dark cherry wood, antiques and tapestry fabrics. The Briarwood is certainly not a cutting-edge restaurant, but its classy appeal resonates with the crowds who have been coming here for nearly 30 years. Renowned for its topnotch service and goliath wine list as well as its prix-fixe menu, this is a special occasion experience that lingers long after you’ve had a nightcap in the bar. Dinner begins with an impressive appetizer tray festooned with shrimp, duck and chicken liver pâté, smoked salmon butter, a medley of marinated vegetables and cheese dips. It’s easy to satiate your appetite in one full swoop, but then you’d miss out on the salads and main dishes that zigzag from filet Wellington and elk medallions to the cioppino and lobster Thermidor. The dessert finale includes fresh fruit and petits fours.
3
Corridor 44
1433 Larimer St., Denver, CO 80202 / 303-893-0044
The name is a playful acknowledgement that the oddly shaped space is only 44 feet long. But what it lacks in size, it makes up in style: oversize crystal chandeliers, gilded mirrors, animal prints, luxe fabrics, all very much like a chic Paris apartment. Chef Eric Laslow sold his restaurants in Portland, Oregon and moved to Denver to open this chic place in the former Josephina's space on Larimer Square. This restaurant offers a different take on the small-plates approach to dining. Each dish is presented as a miniature work of art almost too pretty to eat. From the crudo (Italian for raw) selections, we especially recommend the yellowtail with chive oil; and oysters on the half shell with frozen lemon grass and yuzu mignonette. Hot menu favorites include crab and roasted corn flan; oven-roasted mussels with spicy sausage, fennel and garlic; and grilled shrimp with salsa verde. Desserts can be as simple as fresh berries with zabaglione or as complex as the darkly delicious Madeira-fig bread pudding. The restaurant offers a dozen sparkling wines by the glass and more than fifty by the bottle. The bar also serves a dozen different martinis and an entire list of classic cocktails.
4
Deluxe
30 S. Broadway, Denver, CO 80209 / 303-722-1550
We consider this the kind of unpretentious, intriguing restaurant that friends recommend to friends. Deluxe is tucked in among vintage clothing boutiques, antiquarian bookshops and stores that sell Fifties furniture and collectibles (the chef's wife owns Decades just down the street). It's a part of town that's still a little rough around the edges, but you couldn't tell from the hip, dressed-in-black crowd lined up outside the door, waiting for the restaurant to open. Inside the noisy, 30-seat eatery, there's more black---booths, chairs, tables, even napkins. Wild, leopard-print carpeting and some small paintings on the walls are the only splashes of color---except for the food. A pleasurable dinner might start with a creamy wild mushroom soup and end with cheesecake ice cream on a homemade ginger cookie. The unusual paella features the chef's own chorizo and creamy saffron risotto rice. Plump ravioli come stuffed with pureed pumpkin and goat cheese, drizzled with a sage scented brown butter and garnished with shaved Parmesan. Locals make a bee-line to the four stools at the copper-covered bar with its kitchen view. Some come for a special-of-the-day flatbread pizza, others just for the soup. The wine list is interesting (Yalumba Cabernet from Australia and Kent Rasmussen Pinot Noir from California, for example) but not extensive, with all wines offered by the glass.
5
Duo Restaurant
2413 W. 32nd Ave., Denver, CO 80211 / 303-477-4141
In a nineteenth-century mercantile building with high ceilings, exposed-brick walls and tall windows, this neighborhood restaurant is always packed---and always worth the wait. All of the hard surfaces make for a noisy space, better suited to a festive dinner with friends than a romantic evening. Chef John Broening (formerly of Brasserie Rouge) has created a small menu, but a good one. Expect creative comfort food from the first bite, with starters like rich duck confit with straw potato cake. A perfectly grilled pork chop sits atop buttermilk mashed potatoes. The roasted half chicken, served with saffron rice, has salt-crisped skin and juicy meat. Mushroom ravioli float in Parmesan-porcini broth. A moderately priced wine list includes many offerings by the glass, and beer aficionados can enjoy Colorado micro-brews like Fat Tire and Cutthroat Porter. Locals often drop by after dinner and grab a seat at the bar---loosely divided from the dining room by vintage windows---for dessert and a cup of inky espresso or a café grande spiked with Grand Marnier and a hint of chocolate. Try the apple tart with house-made vanilla bean ice cream and the frozen pistachio nougat---like ice cream only richer and wrapped in a thin tuile.
6
Mizuna
225 E. Seventh Ave., Denver, CO 80203 / 303-832-4778
Soft yellow walls, lots of artwork and well-spaced tables set the tone for this cozy neighborhood restaurant. Arrive a little early and sit at the copper-fronted bar to get a great view of the intricate ballet taking place in the small open kitchen. Chef-owner Frank Bonanno calls this kitchen his food laboratory and, with a few exceptions such as the lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, the menu changes monthly. You may find a smoked-rabbit corn dog with mustard-onion relish and beef tenderloin with a creamy bacon sauce, or miso-roasted diver scallops and halibut with black olive gnocchi. You’ll want to wipe your plate clean with the freshly made bread. If you have an evening to devote to food, reserve the six-course chef’s menu (paired with wines) that changes nightly and features the most experimental combinations in the house. For dessert, it’s a toss-up between the Meyer lemon cheesecake and the warm Valrhona chocolate cake. Service, overseen by Bonanno’s wife and partner, Jacqueline, is attentive but unobtrusive. The wine list is extensive and expensive, with only a handful of bottles within the $30-$40 range.
7
The 9th Door
1808 Blake St., Denver, CO 80202 / 303-292-2229
The restaurant is named after the bar in Spain where novelist James Michener hung out with his expat friends. (Later, he wrote about it in The Drifters.) Everything in this former warehouse space is the color of mangos and pomegranates. Venetian glass chandeliers, gauzy curtains and a floor painted to look like leather complete the ambience. A mirrored bar---perfect for people-watching---runs along one wall. Briskly efficient, the waitstaff hurries to and from the kitchen, balancing dozens of small plates at a time. Specials are spelled out on a huge chalkboard---mussels with sun-dried tomato pesto, grilled asparagus wrapped with cured salmon, crispy pan-fried artichoke hearts with lemon-thyme aïoli. Try any dish featuring the salty, thinly sliced serrano ham. Our hands-down favorite is serrano ham fried into bacon chips and served with manchego cheese, sweet quince jam and slabs of freshly baked bread, For dessert, go for the smooth lemon-rosemary flan, a sangría-poached pear with figs or house-made orange ice cream with just a hint of cardamom. The wine list is heavily Mediterranean, with dozens of excellent sherries and ports as well as a large number of Spanish and Portuguese wines, many by the glass.
8
Restaurant Kevin Taylor
Hotel Teatro, 1106 14th St., Denver, CO 80202 / 303-820-2600
Chef Kevin Taylor's cosmopolitan signature restaurant has an understated urbane elegance equally suitable for a power dinner or a romantic one. This luxurious sage and gold room offers chic comfort with wide silk upholstered armchairs, heavy gold tapestries at the windows, wood paneling and a changing display of paintings from Denver galleries. For appetizers, try the open ravioli of Maine lobster and asparagus, and the blue crab fritters. Other best bets: the Broken Arrow Ranch antelope steak with a red currant sauce and port-poached pear, and the char-broiled New Zealand John Dory in a Bordeaux sauce. The fact of the red meat-fish dichotomy is no problem since we are able to choose the appropriate accompaniment from Taylor's selection of over 20 wines by the glass, which includes a '96 Napa California Girard Chardonnay and a '97 Markham Vineyards Merlot. The finale to this tasteful indulgence is the bittersweet liquid-center chocolate cake, a house specialty.
9
Vesta Dipping Grill
1822 Blake St., Denver, CO 80202 / 303-296-1970
This funky, urbanized spot pulsates with a cosmopolitan crowd of well-heeled city dwellers. The long, sinuous, molded-concrete bar buzzes from the second the doors fly open, and on weekends, expect a standing room only situation. Snag a seat if you can, if only to socialize while enjoying one of the best sangrías in the city. The convivial dining room, painted in bold red and gold hues, is illuminated by sexy lighting from the muted wall sconces and enormous conical lights-as-art. It’s also a beacon for sophisticated foodies who ponder executive chef Matt Selby’s eclectic menu, a New American roster of meats, fish and vegetarian options, all of which can be paired with one or more of the restaurant’s 31 signature dipping sauces. The best appetizer may well be the Vesta roll, sushi-grade tuna wrapped in nori seaweed and sesame seed---crisp on the outside and raw on the inside, served with wasabi cream sauce. Try such entrées as mirin-glazed salmon with balsamic soy lentils and Sambuca spinach; grilled beef tenderloin with crispy potatoes, oven-roasted tomatoes and wild mushroom butter; and an ancho-grilled lamb tenderloin with drunken black beans and roasted fennel. The servers, most of whom are garbed in black and inked with tattoos, are knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating.
10
Z Cuisine
2239 W. 30th Ave., Denver, CO 80211 / 303-477-1111
This is the kind of food you'd be eating if you had a French grandfather who loved to cook---hearty cassoulets, game terrines and, of course, both sweet and savory crêpes. French-born chef Patrick DuPays, who owns Z Cuisine along with his wife, Lynnde, is a master of home cooking. A huge chalkboard menu announces what's for dinner. Summer or winter, we start with soup. Lobster bisque, creamy leek and carrot, or vichyssoise are always first-rate. Cassoulet maison is a bubbling casserole of white beans laced with bacon and garnished with duck-leg confit. Also try the gratin of wild mushrooms with spinach, cheese and lots of cream. For dessert, we suggest sweet crêpes with dark chocolate and caramelized bananas or a simple wine-poached pear. Rustic tables, a mismatch of wooden dining chairs, big windows looking out onto a quiet side street and the beautifully haunting voice of Edith Piaf fill in the background. Most of the silver-leaf on the mirror over the bar has peeled off, contributing to Z Cuisine's always-been-here look. The wine list is short, mostly French and it works with the food.
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