Asia Like It

L'Asie is not the groundbreaking restaurant I first hoped it would be, nor is it the dreadful restaurant I next expected it to be. It's the restaurant that I was told it was going to be all along. It may not be the restaurant that belongs in the space it occupies (the dimness and candle-studded brick, low ceilings and short bar put me more in mind of a true bistro or sexy night spot), but it's the one in that space now, a better-than-average neighborhood Asian restaurant set in a much-better-than-average space. Now they just need to get rid of those two large banners hanging on both street-facing sides of the building, which make the place look slightly more tawdry than it is and smack of desperation.

Great expectations: The difference between my assumptions about L'Asie and reality made me think about the stories I hear from people who've gone to Frasca (1738 Pearl Street in Boulder) for dinner and come away unimpressed. I've gotten letters, phone calls, seen their harebrained ranting on the foodie message boards. Almost without exception, they begin with something like "...heard this was supposed to be the best restaurant in Colorado, the best restaurant in the West, one of the best restaurants in the country" and end with "...a perfectly good meal, but nothing like I expected from the best restaurant in the world."

These people aren't stupid. They're not even wrong. What they are is deluded -- mostly by people like me. Is Frasca the best restaurant in the area? Yes, it is. Most likely, it's the best in Colorado, and I could certainly make a case for it being the best in the West. In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to put it up against any restaurant in the United States -- because even if Frasca didn't come out on top, I know the guys wouldn't embarrass us. But the people who go there for dinner and come away less in love with Frasca than I am are doing so because they've been hearing things like what I just said for years. They've seen the fawning hand jobs in the press; they've read about the awards and nominations that owners Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson and Bobby Stuckey have chalked up. So these people walk into the place expecting not just dinner, but an epiphany. Demanding it, in some cases. And providing that to every person at every table at every dinner service is a tough job for anyone. Even God is stingy about handing down epiphanies to us hairless monkeys, and he's God. If he felt like it, he could give me a brand-new Ferrari every day of the week.

Starting now.

While I wait for that Ferrari, the guys at Frasca are revving up for their latest enterprise: not just selling wine, but making it. Stuckey and Mackinnon-Patterson are teaming up with sommelier Richard Betts from the Little Nell in Aspen to produce the initial batch of Tokai Friuliano "Scarpetta" (which is Italian cook slang for the bread used to wipe sauce off a plate). The wine will be available soon -- but how soon?

"I don't want to jinx it," Stuckey told me when I talked to him late last week, just before he headed to the Taste of Vail to meet up with Mackinnon-Patterson. After that, the partners were off to Friuli, Italy, for a final tasting before the bottles start to roll. "I'm a nervous Nellie -- you know that. I'm afraid that if I say anything, this whole thing is going to blow up in my face."

The partners first went to Friuli last year, to get contracts for the juice produced by a small family vineyard. The magic that turns plain grape juice into wine is now done, as is the blending. All that's needed is a final sip, a nod, and then a bottle. When finished, the Scarpetta will be available from the cellars at both Frasca and the Little Nell. Stuckey would like to see it in stores, too, but "I want to make sure I know what I'm doing, right?" he says. "On our last trip, everything tasted great, but you never know."

Loose lips sink sips.

Leftovers: Celebrate the coming of summer at Marczyk Fine Foods when the market, at 770 East 17th Avenue, fires up the grills at 5 p.m. Friday, April 20, for the first Burger Night of the season. And there's more reason to celebrate: Marczyk marks its fifth anniversary this weekend, with storewide discounts and plenty of local vendors' free products to taste all day Saturday, April 21.