Pierre Michel French Bakery Revisited

Rewind a couple months back, to our first visit to Pierre Michel Organic French Bakery. After reading a million rave reviews about the Highlands Ranch bakery, we were disappointed by soggy French toast and a disturbingly gargantuan baguette omelette. Not too impressed, we rated the restaurant a 6/10, and had no overwhelming urge to return.

Except their pastries did look very tasty. And Yelp was filled with such glowing Pierre Michel reviews. And it was sooo conveniently close to our house.

We went back last week looking for a break from our usual breakfast spot, and still curious about the delicious-looking pastries.

Our meal started off with a raspberry-peach pastry:

Raspberry Peach Pastry

By the time we had finished off this innocent-looking treat, our perception of breakfast had changed forever. The organic fruit sat on a bed of sweet, rich pastry cream, surrounded by flaky, light, and buttery dough. The overall flavor of the pastry was light and mildly sweet, allowing the natural flavors of the fresh berries and peaches to shine through. I'm not sure if we can ever eat pastries from anywhere else again.

After that, we tried a few of their savory dishes.

The Croque Monsieur ($7.5):

Croque Monsieur

This classic French sandwich is basically a ham and cheese with brioche toast. While the filling was very average, the brioche was perfectly light and airy.

Omelette "Hivernale" with Tomatoes, Potatoes, Pesto ($10.2):

Omelette "Hivernale"

This omelette gets no points for presentation. In fact it was more of a scramble than an omelette, and it was swimming in some sort of oily liquid. That being said, it tasted ok, although was a bit salty. Like my baguette omelette at our last visit, the portion was just too large.

Oh, and all that food was served with French bread, butter, and homemade berry jam:

French bread, butter, jam

My new-found love of Pierre Michel prompted me to show up on Christmas Eve morning to pick up pastries for Christmas lunch. Unfortunately, everyone else in Highlands Ranch had the same idea. I showed up at 8:25, just 25 minutes after their delayed opening at 8 am, and I grabbed the last four available pastries.

Clockwise from top left: Blueberry Cream / Pear, Banana, Chocolate / Blueberry / Pear, Chocolate

They were a hit. Like our previous pastry experience, these all contained a perfectly flaky pastry dough, rich cream or chocolate, and fresh fruit.

Oh, don't worry, we've been there plenty more times and sampled a good chunk of the menu.

Vegetable Omelette in Puff Pastry ($7):

Vegetable Omelette in Puff Pastry

The omelette (again, more like a scramble than omelette) that was hidden inside the pastry included asparagus and tomato. It was very tasty, and certainly a more reasonable portion than the plain omelette or omelette baguette. But the buttery, flaky puff pastry was really the best part.

The wrapped croissant ($6):

Wrapped Croissant

This croissant was filled with ham, cheese, and plenty of Dijon mustard. This seems to be a popular item, as they were sold out of it the first few times we went to Pierre Michel. Like everything else cooked in the restaurant's oven, the croissant was flaky, buttery, and perfect.

And of course, we've had more pastries:

Pear and Cream Pastry

Since discovering their pastries, I need to revise the previous 6/10 rating I gave Pierre Michel. The French bakery is an outstanding place for breads, pastries, and croissants; execution of standard savory foods is more average.

Everyday Dining

(9 of 10)

Pros: Outstanding baked goods, especially pastries. Reasonably priced for organic.
Cons: Non-baked food are average overall. Bakery runs out of items quickly. Small space.

Website:
http://www.pierremichel.org/

Pierre Michel French Bakery

Hidden just under my nose after all these years in the suburbs is Pierre Michel, an organic French bakery located in Highlands Ranch.

Pierre Michel lies in a very small space at the end of a Highlands Ranch strip mall, and stands out from its neighbors by not being a chain restaurant. This same shopping area houses an IHOP, Panera and Starbucks for those looking for breakfast fare.

Despite the generic surroundings, the interior of Pierre Michel was quaint and very cozy, with brightly colored tablecloths and fresh flowers at each table.

Diners order at a counter when they walk in, before taking a seat at one of only a few tables and waiting for their order to be served. Pierre Michel seats only about 20 people, and was nearly at capacity during the Saturday of our visit. It seems to be a welcome respite for those looking for a break from the standard suburban chain options in the area.

Pierre Michel offered a wide variety of delicious-looking French pastries on display, but we passed them up in favor of a more substantial meal.

I started off with a very tasty Cafe au Lait:

Cafe au Lait

My husband ordered the French toast:

French Toast

This simple presentation of French toast included homemade blackberry jam on the side. The jam was very pleasant; it was fresh and had just the right about of sweetness. Unfortunately, the French toast tasted bland and a bit soggy, and was just disappointing overall.

The French toast order included a side of eggs:

Scrambled Eggs

These were sort of half-scrambled and had a slightly runny yolk component. They were simple and very fresh, with a touch of salt and pepper on top for flavor.

I ordered the intriguing-sounding Omelette Sandwich, which included French baguette bread with a ham and cheese omelette cooked inside.

Ham and Cheese Omelette Sandwich - As Served

No, I didn't eat a giant loaf of bread for breakfast; let's take a look at the innards:

Ham and Cheese Omelette Sandwich

Whoever decided to stuff an omelette inside of French bread is a genius. It was good. The freshly-made bread, in particular, was excellent. It was coated with butter on the inside, and had a soft center and crunchy exterior. The eggs had a similar texture to my husband's scrambled eggs, with ham and cheese generously mixed in.

The downside of the omelette: Like Le Central near Capitol Hill, Pierre Michel aims to serve authentic French food, but its portions seem much more authentically American. I'm pretty sure this baguette-omelette hybrid would've fed a French family of four. For an entire day. Even with some help from my husband, I was able to finish off only half of it.

Service was friendly and attentive but slow. It was also fairly hot inside the restaurant.

We paid $21 for our meal, which is a decent price considering how much food we received and the fact that the restaurant is 100% organic.

This family-run operation completely shuts down on Sundays, so Saturday is the only day to visit on weekends.

We're interested in another visit to try some of the French pastries. While I loved my omelette sandwich, the portion was far too big for a French restaurant, and the French toast was forgettable.


Everyday Dining

(6 of 10)



Pros: Loved omelette sandwich, authentic French food in Highlands Ranch, good prices for being organic
Cons: Some portions too big, slow service, disappointing French toast


Website:
http://www.pierremichel.org

The Buff

I grew up in Boulder, and yet every time I return I'm amazed at just how many Boulder institutions I've never actually made it to. Like the Sink or the original Old Chicago or until very recently, the Buff.

I was in town to visit a friend from a million years ago who was in town for just a few short days. She suggested the Buff, which, somehow after 18 years in Boulder I had never actually been to (how did Man v. Food get there first??).

The Buff is at 28th and Canyon, oddly situated in the parking lot of a Best Western that is in dire need of an update. Parking was very scarce on the day we arrived and I'm sure it's like that on most weekend mornings.

We showed up sometime around 10:00 am on a Saturday, to what I understand is a typically busy weekend service at the Buff.  We were promised a 10-15 minute wait, which surprised me with the number of people mulling around outside. We were seated on time and I suppose the vast number of tables inside helps them keep the line moving.

The Buff is actually kind of an unusual restaurant for Boulder in that they just serve regular ol' good food. There's no guarantees of your eggs being freshly retrieved from a local farmer, no fancy seasonal menus and no promises of everything required to operate the place being eco-friendly. The food is cheap, the portions are huge, and I can't imagine a place more appealing to a poor college student.

My friend started the morning off with an enormous latte ($3.25):

Latte

Followed by an enormous portion of Eggs Benedict ($10):

Eggs Benedict

Is that Eggs Benedict or is that soup? Who knew there was such thing as too much hollandaise sauce? I didn't try any of the benedict but my friend felt the sauce was too greasy and way too generously applied.

I ordered the California Omelet ($10), which came with red potatoes and wheat toast.

California Omelette

My omelet contained avocado, bacon, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, sour cream and green onions. With that combination of ingredients, it's hard to go wrong, and the giant omelet was basically pretty good. The potatoes were fresh and well seasoned. Like the latte and the eggs benedict, the portion size of this plate was way too big.

Service at the Buff was good, but like Snooze was a bit rushed for the sake of managing the wait outside. I loved the lively atmosphere, but the food was below average for Boulder.

Everyday Dining

  (6 of 10)



Pros: Cheap, "normal" food in Boulder, lively atmosphere
Cons: Portions too large, Eggs Benedict drowning in hollandaise

SALT

It seems that all of America is clamoring for people to cut their sodium intake, and Salt in Boulder is serving it up to customers in generously filled little trays.

My husband, my mother and I showed up at Salt looking for brunch at noon on Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The outdoor seating was filled but the inside was maybe only a third occupied. I was surprised at how much busier Salt's next door neighbor, The Kitchen, appeared.

We were soon seated indoors and presented with the salt selection shown above, which consisted of a pink Bolivian salt and a white Sicilian salt.

The brunch menu at Salt offers a variety of sweet and savory dishes, and we couldn't resist the allure of the Glazed & Cinnamon Doughnuts ($6) as an "appetizer".

Glazed and Cinnamon Doughnuts

These were incredible. They were served with a tangy lemon curd and a spiced chocolate sauce that had just a slight hint of heat. The warm doughnuts tasted freshly fried and had a perfectly soft and light texture.

For our main dishes, I ordered the Chilaquiles Negro ($12). Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish, and I believe chilaquiles roughly translates into something like "intentionally soggy egg-covered nachos that are delicious and you eat them for breakfast".

Chilaquiles Negro

This came smothered in refried black beans, salsa verde, onions, roasted chicken, cilantro, two eggs over easy, and crème fraiche. I never really figured out how I was supposed to it eat (is it really messy finger food or really tricky fork food?), although it was served in its authentic form. The combination of ingredients was outstanding, especially the very fresh and perfectly cooked eggs. I ate as much as I could and then let my husband dig in to finish it off.

Speaking of my husband, he ordered the Roasted Long Farm Pork Loin Sandwich ($15).

Roasted Long Farm Pork Loin Sandwich

This monster of a sandwich included spinach, fontina mornay, bacon, scallion scrambled eggs, and polenta fries on the side. It amounted to an awful lot of protein in every bite.  The sandwich was good but very filling and lacked a punch of flavor. My husband only ate half of it before throwing in the towel (but he was then able to finish off my chilaquiles).

The polenta fries were well cooked and win novelty points, but I realized I wasn't enough of a polenta lover to eat more than just a few.

And for my mother, the House Smoked Wild Alaskan Salmon Melt ($15):

House Smoked Wild Alaskan Salmon Melt

The salmon came smothered in fontina cheese on a locally made Udi's bagel. I enjoyed the smoked salmon but the salmon coupled with the cheese made for a very salty meal.

Speaking of salty, considering the name of the restaurant and the copious amount of it sitting in front of us during our meal, I expected the food to be very lightly salted, thereby allowing customers to use the fancy foreign sodium chloride to their heart's desire on their meal. This was not the case. The food seemed to have typical restaurant sodium amounts in it, and I felt no need to add any additional salt. I tried a tiny bit of the two varieties just to see what they tasted like; I'm no gourmet but it was just normal salt to me.

The food was very good but generally didn't blow me away (ok, the doughnuts were awesome). Great service and atmosphere. I would definitely visit again, especially to try Salt for dinner.


Casual Dining

 (7 of 10)

Pros: Great food, local ingredients
Cons: Portions too large


Website:
http://www.saltboulderbistro.com/

Snooze, Visit #2

Note: This is a follow-up review after our first visit a few weeks ago. 

It was inevitable: the allure of all the amazing-sounding dishes we didn't get to try at our last Snooze escapade drew us in for another visit last weekend.

This time, we brought a couple of friends along and tried to show up early-ish to minimize the wait. Fortunately, the four of us only had to wait 20 minutes after our 8:45 Sunday morning arrival for a table (keep in mind this is the suburban location at Southglenn).

The portions at Snooze being too large, and the amazing food options being too numerous, we decided to drive our waitress crazy with a mishmash of everything delicious we saw on the menu. I should point out that our waitress was really nice about our goofy orders and did a great job.

Let's get started.

Half order of Sticky Bun French Toast:

Sticky Bun French Toast (half order)

We all loved this, but it was extremely rich. The single slice of toast was smothered in a generous helping of syrup, nuts and cream cheese icing. Even splitting the half portion among four of us, it was hard to finish the whole plate because it was so sweet.

A full-size order of Peaches 'n Cream French Toast:

Peaches 'n Cream French Toast 

This wasn't as delectable as the Sticky Bun variety, but also not as overwhelmingly sweet. I loved the crunchy granola topping and the refreshing taste of the peaches.

We warned our friend that there was no way he could finish an entire portion of the Blueberry Lemon Bar Pancakes, but he ordered them anyway.

Blueberry Lemon Bar Pancakes

He finished them off. Unbelievable. These pancakes have a pleasant tart flavor and are covered in a honey-yogurt sauce made with local Noosa yogurt. My husband preferred these over the Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes from our last visit.

We also ordered two of the Juan's Breakfast Tacos (a normal portion comes with three). The tacos came filled with scrambled eggs, shredded hash browns, jack cheese, ranchero sauce, and we added chorizo to make things more interesting.

Juan's Breakfast Tacos

I loved the ranchero sauce, and I definitely preferred the tacos over the breakfast burrito I had at my last visit. Still, I thought they needed Cholula for an extra kick.

Finally, I couldn't decide between eggs benedicts, so I went with one each of the Caprese and the Upstream Benny. The Caprese had an heirloom tomato atop mozzarella and ciabatta bread, topped with the usual poached egg and hollandaise sauce, with basil pesto and balsamic. The Upstream Benny included smoked salmon on bacon-jalapeno spoonbread.

Left: Caprese Benedict   Right: Upstream Benny   Back: Hash Browns

The Caprese benedict tasted like a hybrid of bruschetta and eggs benedict. I really enjoyed the fresh flavor of the tomato, but the mozzarella was so gooey that it was a bit hard to eat. I preferred the very unique Upstream Benny (I'm a huge salmon fan), although the spoonbread just tasted like cornbread to me. The hash browns were just average.

Feeling like a seasoned Snooze pro after all that food (ok, I really only have two visits under my belt), I bring you the following recommendations for any visit to Snooze:

• Be prepared for a wait at any of their locations
• Not the most relaxing experience as things can be rushed for table turnover
• Portions, especially for sweet dishes, are way too big. Get a half order, or split with lots of friends, or both
• Recommend getting additional meat and/or veggies in savory dishes

Snooze seems poised to take over the planet, with new locations coming soon in Boulder and San Diego, CA, so be prepared for a future full of giant breakfast burritos and red velvet pancakes. I know I'm ready.

The food at Snooze is very unique and mostly awesome. We've always had good or great service, and the waits have never been too awful. I'm therefore handing out an additional star to Snooze @ Southglenn, so they're now an 8-star joint instead of a 7-er from the initial review.


Everyday Dining

(8 of 10)



Pros: Great food, able to mix and match menu items, really unique breakfast choices
Cons: Long waits, feeling rushed, giant sugary portions

Website:
http://www.snoozeeatery.com

Denver Biscuit Company

Any of you who have read my Silver Creek Diner review have probably been sitting at the edges of your seats since that post, wondering in frantic anticipation:


What happened to the quest for amazing biscuits and gravy in Denver?!


Relax, my friends. I shall put you at ease with my recap of our recent visit to Denver Biscuit Company.

Our meal at Silver Creek Diner failed to fill the void in my husband's life caused by insufficient hometown biscuits and gravy, but we have continued to keep our eyes peeled for a worthy contender.

Enter the Denver Biscuit Company. Recommended by a friend and seeming to be an obvious candidate for delicious biscuits and gravy, Mr. Oyster and a friend and myself all headed to their Colfax location last weekend for breakfast.

After hearing so much about the nomadic Denver Biscuit Company food truck, I was really expecting more a of a hole-in-the-wall place for their brick-and-mortar venue. Instead, the location - on an eclectic strip of Colfax just south of City Park - was surprisingly swanky and yuppie-fied. The spot is shared by Denver Biscuit Company, Fat Sully's Pizza, and the Atomic Cowboy bar, each with their own hours and contributions to the feel of the restaurant.

Denver Biscuit Company location shared by Atomic Cowboy and Fat Sully's Pizza.
I was wondering why there was a full bar in a breakfast place.

Oh, and I was also wondering why there was a giant cowboys vs. aliens mural-painting.

And our food:

My plate was the "Ellsworth", a biscuit sandwich containing buttermilk fried chicken with honey, stone-ground mustard and homemade pickles. Terrified of the sweetness of the honey, I asked for it on the side.

The Ellsworth, honey on the side

Ohh this was wonderful. The enormous biscuit was light and fluffy and not too buttery or heavy tasting. The fried chicken was perfectly seasoned, with a crunchy crust and very tender meat. I loved the spiciness of the mustard, and I was glad I asked for the honey on the side so I could add only the small amount I wanted.

Our friend ordered the biscuit French toast, which came with pineapple compote as the "compote of the day".  She asked for the compote on the side and received a ridiculously large, soup-sized bowl of it with the french toast.

Biscuit French Toast

I tried a bit of her dish and loved the unique flavor and fluffy texture of the biscuit French toast itself. We were all underwhelmed by the pineapple compote; the acidic sweetness of the pineapple seemed to have been completely cooked out, leaving only a sad mush behind.

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, the verdict on the biscuits and gravy:

Biscuits and Gravy

Yes, it tasted as delicious as it looks. Giant, fluffy, flaky biscuits smothered in a generous helping of sausage-packed gravy. One pleasant surprise with this dish was the sausage was fairly spicy and a added a nice kick to every bite.

A couple of gripes: service was a bit slow, and I didn't order any coffee but they make you fetch your own coffee at their "coffee bar". If I wanted to fetch my own beverages I wouldn't have gone out to eat.

But there were happily filled stomachs for all. If you love biscuits, go to Denver Biscuit Company.


Everyday Dining

 (8 of 10)

Pros: Great food. 

Cons: You have to fetch your own coffee. Slow service.

Website:
http://www.denbisco.com

Duo Restaurant

Every once in a while, on a lazy weekend morning, my husband and I manage to drag ourselves out of bed, hop in the car, and drive far far out of the suburbs to treat ourselves to delicious brunch in the city.

Last weekend was one of those occasions, as we trekked to the Highlands for an encore visit to Duo Restaurant on Sunday morning.

The last time I was at Duo was sometime in the era of a million years ago, with Mr. Oyster and my mother, for what I remembered was a fantastic brunch.

It was just my husband and me this time, looking for a repeat of the great food from our previous visit.

Duo is tucked fairly deep in the Highlands at 32nd and Zuni. We had reservations on a Sunday for the restaurant's open at 10 am. Within a few minutes of being seated, every table was occupied. Note to anyone eating at Duo at a similar time: make reservations.

Duo is yet another farm-to-table type place that reminds me a lot of The Kitchen in Boulder. It's got a cozy, homey feel that includes napkins that look like this:

How quaint. 

I ordered the mushroom scramble ($8), which included scrambled eggs with mushrooms and spinach, with a side of crispy potatoes and a slice of homemade bread.

Mushroom Scramble

It was perfect. The scramble was very healthy and fresh tasting, although too large of a portion for me. And I love love love their crispy potatoes; they come well-seasoned with a wonderful crunchy exterior. 

And for my husband, the cider glazed pork "benedict" ($10). Direct from menu: poached eggs, grilled sourdough bread, slow roasted cider glazed pork, whole grain mustard cream sauce, crispy potatoes.

Cider Glazed Pork Benedict

This was a completely unique twist on eggs benedict and we loved it.  The eggs sat on a bed of roasted pork, which were atop a slice of sourdough bread. The eggs were perfectly poached with runny centers that melded with the cream sauce, sourdough, and pork. 

We were well attended to at Duo and left with some wonderful brunch in our stomachs. Just as good as I remembered it. 

Casual Dining

 8 of 10

Pros: Delicious food, good service, fresh, local ingredients

Cons: Reservations needed

Website:

http://duodenver.com/

Snooze

Snooze is another restaurant that's kind of a big deal, and I've been wanting to go for months now. I mean, this is a place that offers Red Velvet Pancakes, how can you go wrong?

The downside of being kind of a big deal is that everyone else is trying to eat there too. When we stopped by their Centennial location last Sunday morning, a quick look at the crowds standing outside idly made it obvious we were in for a bit of a wait. They also don't take reservations, which was frustrating.

We were told by the staff that our party of 2 would be a 15 to 25-minute wait. That stretched out to about half an hour before we were seated.

Snooze has a pretty jazzy looking interior, with pale green walls, giant orange light fixtures, and huge circular tables. It was, of course, packed to capacity.

Making a decision on our meal selections was tough. There were about five or six dishes we each wanted to try. I'll just refer to you to their full menu. You'll understand our dilemma.

My husband decided on the Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes. From the menu: Caramelized pineapple chunks with housemade vanilla crème anglaise and cinnamon butter.

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

These pancakes were every bit as rich and delectable as you'd imagine. Fluffy, white pancakes filled with sweet pineapple pieces and topped with a rich drizzle of rich sweet cream-cheesy "syrup" that was almost like a glaze.

The only problem? It was way too sweet and rich for the portion size. This is a hyperglycemic attack on a plate.

I didn't notice until after we'd dug in was that Snooze offers "a la carte" pancakes. I really wish we'd just ordered a single pancake alongside something with more nutritional value. The two enormous pancakes were just too much.

Anyway, moving on to my selection: the Breakfast Burrito. From the menu: Filled with scrambled eggs, hash browns, house black beans, cheddar & jack cheese, topped with salsa fresca and your choice of green chili or ranchero.

Breakfast Burrito with Green Chili

This monster was delicious, but why such a measly helping of green chili? I was expecting a far more generous smothering. The burrito was a little bland and would have been outstanding with more green chili flavor in each bite.

My portion was also too big, and even with some help from my lovely partner in crime, we had to push ourselves to finish three-quarters of it.

Our service was alright. Obviously it was a very busy place and I felt like we were rushed a little bit for the sake of table turnover.

I'd definitely return to Snooze, assuming I could get there early enough in the morning to avoid a substantial wait. The menu has too many delicious-sounding items that I have yet to devour.



Everyday Dining

 (7 of 10)

Pros: Great tasting food. Unique options. Cheap.
Cons: Long wait to eat, and they don't take reservations. Beware the full pancake portions (I recommend a la carte pancakes).

Website:
http://www.snoozeeatery.com