Denver's Top 25 Restaurants: Trillium

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Part of my 30 before 30 list is to eat at the Top 25 Restaurants in Denver (Updated list below) and thanks to restaurant week, I have knocked off another. My girl Katie and I went right after work to this little spot on 21st and Larimer.

Positives:

GREAT service- even with my dairy allergy and a pretty set menu for restaurant week, they made me a special and YUMMY dessert.
Beautiful food presentation- every dish was just lovely for the tummy and the eyes.
Food was delish: let’s break it on down

  • Drinkage: I got the Trillium cocktail and it was delish for $10. Strong too—get it with vodka and go sit in the adorable couch/lounge area for happy hour.
  • Appetizers: I got Toast Skagen: poached shrimp, dill mayo, brown butter brioche, lemon fennel salad, and salmon roe. The highlight for me, of course, was the dill mayo and the lemon curd mix. So much sweet and sour going on here, it was unlike anything I had ever eaten.
  • Main: Gold Canyon "never, Never” New York Strip: apple horseradish potato salad, pickled mushrooms, arugula, fried leeks, and danish blue cheese cream. I, unfortunately, had to have it without the Danish blue cheese cream, which would have really set it apart I think.
  • Dessert: they made a lemon meringue cake looking thing with some crazy flavored sherbert that was so tart but with a touch of lavender. It was just such a treat to get to eat dessert at a restaurant.

Negatives:

It's not there were really any negatives to note here except that their regular prices would probably prohibit me from returning. The fact is, if I am going to have a $100 meal, at this point, it is going to be at Colt & Gray... without question. The steak probably got a bad wrap here because of the lack of blue cheese delish-ness, but for me, this will be added to the "it's a good place to get a nice cocktail" list, and then move along to a more affordable (and yes, likely more predictable menu) spot.

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Here's the updated list: (18 left)

  1. Frasca's Food and Wine (Boulder)
  2. Cholon We have eaten at Cholon 3 times now: get the pork belly buns--or anything else on the menu and lose your mind.
  3. Sushi Den It is sort of awesome that Sushi Den is our local sushi spot.
  4. Mizuna
  5. Bittersweet
  6. Potager
  7. Fruition Went for our 4 year anniversary and it was AMAZING. Probably my favorite restaurant in Denver.
  8. Luca D'Italia
  9. Fuel Cafe
  10. Old Major See post here.
  11. Oak at Fourteenth (Boulder)
  12. The Populist--no reservation needed
  13. Beast and Bottle
  14. Cafe Aion (Boulder)
  15. Twelve Restaurant
  16. Colt & Gray See post here.
  17. Table 6 Went here for a date night 2 years ago and we were totally underwhelmed. Won't be back.
  18. Rioja
  19. Duo Restaurant
  20. Il Posto
  21. Tag Raw Bar
  22. Linger
  23. Trillium
  24. Euclid Hall (bar-ish)
  25. Spuntino ($18 or <)

Denver's Top 25 Restaurants: Old Major

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Part of my 30 before 30 list is to eat at the Top 25 Restaurants in Denver.Here's the list:

  1. Frasca's Food and Wine (Boulder)
  2. Cholon We have eaten at Cholon 3 times now: get the pork belly buns--or anything else on the menu and lose your mind.
  3. Sushi Den It is sort of awesome that Sushi Den is our local sushi spot.
  4. Mizuna
  5. Bittersweet
  6. Potager
  7. Fruition Went for our 4 year anniversary and it was AMAZING. Probably my favorite restaurant in Denver.
  8. Luca D'Italia
  9. Fuel Cafe
  10. Old Major See Below
  11. Oak at Fourteenth (Boulder)
  12. The Populist--no reservation needed
  13. Beast and Bottle
  14. Cafe Aion (Boulder)
  15. Twelve Restaurant
  16. Colt & Gray See post here.
  17. Table 6 Went here for a date night 2 years ago and we were totally underwhelmed. Won't be back.
  18. Rioja
  19. Duo Restaurant
  20. Il Posto
  21. Tag Raw Bar
  22. Linger
  23. Trillium
  24. Euclid Hall (bar-ish)
  25. Spuntino ($18 or <)

We knocked another one off the list last week while Andy was here: Old Major in the highlands. Here's my yelp review:

We came here with a group of 6 after my friend and I were sworn in as attorneys. We had family and husbands in tow. It was a delight to see that the greeter was the greeter we had at fruition a year and a half ago and was the sweetest man ever. Let's get to it:

  • During happy hour we ordered the pork fat fries (do this again at all times and all days)
  • I got a Moscow Mule
  • Once sat, the restaurant sent over complimentary champagne. LOVELY
  • I got the duck with the risotto... OMG. WONDERFUL.
  • LB got the nose to tail: DELISH

There are two negatives: The first was that the server had a really hard time splitting our check up and so it took almost half an hour to get out of there. Second, upon reflecting on the menu, and thinking about returning, I think that it is incredibly difficult to discern what is a main and what is an appetizer. Also, if we are comparing meat to meat, Colt & Gray's steak still tops my list for meat spots. Many people left still hungry after dinner and for the price, that was not expected.

My peeps.