Ignite

I was skeptical from the moment I first heard of Ignite, a new restaurant by Concept Restaurants, which recently opened in the Ballpark neighborhood on Larimer Street between 21st and 22nd.

Concept Restaurants is the group behind many metro-area restaurants, including Rialto Cafe, Woody's Wood-Fired Pizza, and Via Baci. Taking a quick look at Ignite's online menu, it seemed awfully similar to that at Via Baci, a casual Lone Tree pizza joint.

I've been to Via Baci many times, where I've enjoyed their spicy Diavolo pizza. While the food and ambiance are adequate to keep suburban families satisfied, I had a hard time believing it could morph into a sufficiently appealing spot on a restaurant-heavy stretch of downtown Denver.

And Ignite is surrounded by some outstanding downtown Denver restaurants. In a brave move on their part, they're directly across the street from our beloved Marco's Coal Fired Pizzeria.

We arrived at around 5:15 on a Friday evening, ahead of a 6:40 pm Rockies game. The main draw at Ignite seems to be their rooftop bar. I didn't get a chance to check it out - the wait to be seated upstairs was over an hour - but there was plenty of seating indoors on the ground level.

Mr. Oyster and I met up with a couple of friends, and we were all seated at a table downstairs. The ambiance downstairs was actually very nice. With high ceilings, an open floor layout, and windows along the entire west side, fresh air and late afternoon sunlight filled the room and lit up the bar area along the west side of the space.

As I stated earlier, the Ignite menu looked an awful lot like Via Baci's, although they seemed to be trying hard to put an "urban gastropub" spin on everything. Besides pizza and a few pasta dishes, the dinner offerings included burgers and chicken pot pies.

Mr. Oyster and I decided to share the Rosemary Chicken Pizza ($13.5) and a side of Mac and Cheese ($3)

Rosemary Chicken Pizza

The pizza was a letdown. The crust was too thick and chewy on the outside, and so flimsy at the center of the pizza that it was like soggy cardboard. The chicken pieces were dry and bland, and they were too large to eat easily off the pizza. The toppings were otherwise palatable, although the mozzarella could have used more flavor.

The Mac and Cheese was a complete disappointment.

Mac and Cheese

My husband only needed one bite before he announced "this is bad." The cheese was one-dimensional and bland. It tasted like nothing more than a tablespoon of Velveeta had been thrown in with the noodles. The portion was tiny, but that was irrelevant after tasting the pasta.

Ignite isn't cheap and the food is completely forgettable, particularly considering the quality of restaurants within a few blocks. The restaurant's redeeming value is certainly in its location and its rooftop patio.


Casual Dining

(3 of 10)

Pros: Great roottop patio and location
Cons: Below-average food, expensive


Website:
http://www.ignite-denver.com/

Cucina Colore

A couple weeks ago, we met up with Sizzling Cupcake and her friend for dinner at Cucina Colore in Cherry Creek. Neither of us knew much about Cucina Colore, but we had picked it from the list of Denver's savored.com restaurants.

Cucina Colore has an outstanding location at 3rd and Steele Street in the heart of Cherry Creek North. If you've never soaked in the atmosphere of Cherry Creek North before, let me just sum it all up by pointing out that there is a giant Lululemon store right across the street from Cucina Colore.

Our reservations were for a 7 pm dinner on a Thursday night. Inside, the restaurant was packed with attractive, well-dressed Cherry Creek types. It had a very lively atmosphere and certainly seemed to be a popular local spot.

Cucina Colore apparently offers "the contemporary expression of Italian cuisine." I'm not sure what that means, but the menu features an array of pizzas and homemade pasta dishes.

For an appetizer, we ordered the Baked Fonduta, which was a cheese dip including blue crab, spinach, and artichoke hearts, with mozzarella and fontina cheese. After assuring us that our appetizer would be "right out", we waited a significant fraction of an eternity for the fonduta to arrive.

Baked Fonduta

After our ridiculously long wait for the fonduta, we were faced with a bowl of baked cheese surrounded by a haphazard assortment of crackers. The fonduta was ok; I mostly just tasted lots of cheese and crab.

We ordered one of their wood-fired pizzas with Italian sausage, red onion, and red peppers.

Red onion, pepper, and sausage pizza

It's hard to go wrong with red onion, red pepper, and sausage as toppings. I particularly loved the spicy Italian sausage. The crust, however, was a disappointment. It was burnt at the edges but too soft in the middle. We actually ordered two of these pizzas at the table, and they were both unevenly cooked. 

As his entree, my husband ordered the Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli:

Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli

Like the pizza and the cheese dip before it, the ravioli was a letdown. The seafood filling was heavily pureed and lacked a noticeable lobster flavor. The pasta was covered with a cream sauce that was thin and weakly seasoned.

For dessert, we ordered tiramisu and cheesecake:

Tiramisu

Cheesecake

The presentation of the tiramisu was a little sloppy, and the portion a bit too big. I didn't detect much of a coffee or liquor taste, but it was basically a decent dessert.

The cheesecake, however, was extremely bland. It wasn't nearly sweet enough, and it lacked any noticeable lemon or vanilla flavor.

Even with our 30% savored.com discount, Cucina Colore felt too expensive. The tab was about $95 after our discount, including about $20 of drinks.

Cucina Colore looks and feels like a hip neighborhood spot, but tastes like a mediocre Italian chain. It also reminded me of every forgettable business lunch or dinner I've ever had. The restaurant has a great atmosphere, but service was slow and food was expensive and totally underwhelming.



Casual Dining

(3 of 10)

Pros: Great location in Cherry Creek North, lively atmosphere
Cons: Mediocre food, slow service

Website:
http://www.cucinacolore.com/

The Wooden Table

Our insatiable desire for delicious food brought us to the Wooden Table in Greenwood Village for a recent dinner. The Wooden Table is an Italian restaurant that opened just this past September, and it lies sandwiched between a couple of other shops in a pretty average shopping area at University and Orchard. We showed up to a mostly-full restaurant for reservations at 6:30 pm on a Friday night.

Despite the low-profile location, The Wooden Table boasts a co-owner who is the former Executive Chef of Osteria Marco downtown. 

Wooden Table may seem isolated in the suburbs, but it's probably appealing to the nearby residents of Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village, as there don't seem to be many comparable restaurants nearby. It filled to capacity shortly after our arrival and there was a lively atmosphere.

I rarely get worked up about restaurant decor or ambiance, but the Wooden Table seemed a bit weak on interior design. The restaurant occupies a large, sparsely-adorned single room, with white walls dotted with random black-and-white photos of trees. It felt a little empty. Also, the restaurant windows face directly out to glowing TJ Maxx and Sally Beauty Supply signs across the parking lot, so it's not a place to go for a nice view.

We started with a couple drinks and a disappointingly boring baguette with olive oil:

Bread and Olive Oil

(Yep, after that photo we decided we needed a flash. We're amateurs.)

As an appetizer, we ordered the Frutti di Mare Crudo ($13):

Frutti di Mare Crudo

Crudo is a raw, ceviche-like seafood preparation that is typically marinated in a combination of olive oil, salt, and an acid component (normally lemon or lime juice). In this case, the crudo included baby octopus, shrimp, and scallops, arranged on a layer of tonnato and chili oil. It was similar to the Insalada Frutti di Mare we enjoyed at 5280 Dines a month ago. It was light, citrusy, and loaded with tasty, fresh seafood.

We also split a half portion of the Ravioli ($10):

Ravioli (half portion)

The ravioli was stuffed with ricotta, and topped with shaved Parmesan and red sauce. The pasta was perfectly cooked, with a rich and creamy ricotta filling. The red sauce tasted a bit sweet for my preference, but was well seasoned and flavorful.

Now, let's back up a second here. Why exactly did I track down this random shopping center Italian restaurant for a slightly fancy dinner?

I had been drawn in by the allure of this:

Westword's 100 Favorite Dishes: Pork Tenderloin with Bread Pudding and Green Split Peas from the Wooden Table.

From the Westword write-up, the pork dish looked ridiculously tasty, and Apple Ham Hock Bread Pudding sounded like something I shouldn't pass up in this lifetime.

Well, my husband is really the pork lover in the relationship, so I convinced him he needed to order it.

And here it is:

Berkshire Pork Tenderloin

That's Berkshire pork tenderloin atop apple ham hock bread pudding, with green split peas and braised red cabbage ($23).

It didn't exactly look like the photo Westword posted, and it certainly didn't live up to our elevated expectations. In fact, the pork was pretty dry and weak on seasoning. I enjoyed the bread pudding, the split peas, and the cabbage, but nothing tasted particularly special, and it wasn't nearly good enough to make up for the disappointing pork.

For anyone seeking a pork dish (or, more specifically, a Berkshire pork dish), my husband's Boneless Berkshire Pork Chop at Vesta Dipping Grill last month was much, much better.

Moving on, I ordered the Meatballs ($20) for my entree:

Meatballs

That may look like regular old spaghetti and meatballs, but it was so much more than that. Somehow, The Wooden Table has managed to concoct an incredibly perfect and wonderfully seasoned meatball using veal, pork, and beef. That spaghetti-looking pasta was actually bucatini, or in layman's terms, "spaghetti with a hole down the center." Like the ravioli, the pasta was cooked just right. This was the best thing I ate at Wooden Table, and certainly more deserving of any type of "Best Dish" nod than the pork.

I'm not sure if they do this on a regular basis, but the restaurant served complimentary dessert liqueurs to all its (over-21) diners that evening. I don't care for liqueurs in any form, but my husband was happy to polish off our Amaretto and Limoncello glasses.

We finished off the meal with the Pumpkin Cheesecake ($8):

Pumpkin Cheesecake

The cheesecake was topped with a praline and pumpkin seed brittle topping, and served with whipped cream on the side. It was a lovely fall dessert, but of course we may have been easily pleased, both of us being cheesecake and pumpkin lovers. It disappeared quickly.

Two months after its opening, The Wooden Table has a basis for a great restaurant. The food is mostly very good, and the location has easy appeal for the area's residents. I felt some of the dishes needed more polish, and there's room for improvement in the ambiance.


Casual Dining

(7 of 10)

Pros: Food was mostly good. Pasta was excellent.
Cons: Disappointed with pork dish, boring location

Website:
http://www.thewoodentablerestaurant.com/

Colt & Gray

Before ever even visiting the restaurant, the husband and wife owners of Colt & Gray were my heroes. A few years ago, they quit their "day jobs" to pursue their dream of opening a restaurant. Their impressive story, plus a million glowing reviews and being a participating restaurant with savored.com lured us in for a visit last weekend.

Colt & Gray lies immediately between the Platte River and I-25, just between the Highlands and downtown Denver, and among various other restaurants and shops on Platte street. Their corner location allows for quite a bit of outdoor seating and a small vegetable garden.

I was expecting Colt & Gray to be a bit like Euclid Hall, but the similarities end at pub-style food and unusual animal parts on the menu. Colt & Gray is a bit more swanky, offers overall lighter food, and makes a big deal of their cocktail offerings rather than the beer list.

Mr. Oyster recently signed up for savored.com, which includes Colt & Gray as a participating restaurant, so we enjoyed a 30% discount on our meal.

We were fortunate enough again to be joined by the same friends who joined us at Euclid Hall and dealt patiently with our obnoxious food photography.

Anyway, we ordered a ton of food, so I need to get started on that.

Westword awarded Colt & Gray the "Best Bone Marrow" award for 2011 (since so many places in Denver serve bone marrow?!?!).  Anyway we were all over that and of course ordered the Roasted Marrow Bones ($16).

Roasted Marrow Bones

The three marrow bones were served with caramelized onions and grilled country bread. Per our waitress's recommendation, we ate each bite of marrow atop the bread with the onions and a pinch of salt. The marrow had a meaty flavor and a gelatinous texture and was basically very tasty. Each bite had a perfect balance of sweet onions, savory marrow, crunchy bread and salt.

Next were the Steamed Mussels ($14):

Steamed Mussels

While this had a wonderfully seasoned sauce, the mussels themselves were disappointing. All of the mussels were very small, and many unfortunately had a very gritty texture. For $14 for a small bowl of mussels I would really expect better quality.

I also had the House Made Spaghetti ($12):

House Made Spaghetti

This was served with a runny egg yolk much like the Open Faced Ravioli at Strings. The dish had way too many capers; their flavor was overwhelming and too salty. Even without the capers I felt this would have been too simple of a dish to be paying $12.

Next was the Braised Pork Shoulder ($21)

Braised Pork Shoulder

Yum. The highlight of the meal was definitely this plate. The pork shoulder complimented by a "summer pistou" (green smear in photo) and herb salad. The dish also contained "corn pudding", which was a lovely cube of  what I would call cornbread. The sizable pork shoulder was perfectly cooked and seasoned.

We went a little crazy with dessert and decided to order three selections recommended by our waitress.

First was the Sticky Toffee Pudding ($8):

Sticky Toffee Pudding

How could we not order this stuff after some celebrity-ish woman raved about it as the "Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network?  I don't know who Claire Robinson is, but she was dead on about how good this dessert is. Comprised of sticky sponge cake made with dates, three layers of toffee sauce, and Bourbon ice cream, it was absolute sweet perfection.

Next up was the Potted Cheesecake ($8):

Potted Cheesecake

No no, that's not a Yankee Candle. That's what Colt & Gray considers "cheesecake", but my dining companions and I beg to differ. It was extremely light and airy, almost more like cheesecake-flavored marshmallow fluff. Not that it wasn't delicious, but to call it "cheesecake" was a bit misleading. It was topped with a rich salted caramel sauce that was just too intense; it was both very salty and extremely sweet.

Our final dessert was Olive Oil and Thyme Cake ($8), served with blueberry compote and lemon-buttermilk ice cream.

Olive Oil and Thyme Cake

The cake had a perfect texture and a mild but pleasant flavor; I really didn't get a strong olive oil or thyme flavor. The compote was lightly sweetened and contained fresh, large blueberries that were balanced by the tart citrus flavor of the ice cream. Overall a very good dessert, but not as stellar as the Sticky Toffee Pudding.

I must also mention that we certainly acquainted ourselves with the cocktail menu and bartender's skills during our dinner. Everyone enjoyed their drinks, although I'm not sure any of the cocktails were exceptional. And it's a good thing we had 30% off our meal, as the mixed drinks cost $10 each. Even beers - and this was for only about 10 oz - were $8 each.

Service was excellent through the night; our waitress was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive.

We had a great time and enjoyed our cocktails and some good food at Colt & Gray, but the restaurant needs some of its dishes to be more polished for the price.


Casual Dining

(7 of 10)


Pros: Some great food, very good service
Cons: Expensive, some dishes not worth the price

Website:
http://www.coltandgray.com