Home, sweet Second Home

Who knew? Who knew that on the first warm Thursday of spring, the hot place in Cherry Creek would be Second Home? I started the evening with what was supposed to be one drink at Cucina Colore. That turned into appetizers at Elway's and more drinks at North. And then it was like the Pied Piper had called all Creekers to Second Home, of all places. The last time I'd been at this restaurant/bar inside the JW Marriott, I thought I'd run into a retirement convention — the median age in the place was at least 65. But on this beautiful, exceptional night, the entire Cherry Creek North Wrecking Crew crowd was in the house, and Second Home was anything but retiring. The bar was filled to capacity and the outside patio chock-a-block with pretty people in all their glory, sitting around the amazing fire pit that gives women a glow even the best bar lighting can't replicate. I must have appeared somewhat bittersweet, though, because when I asked our waiter for a drink suggestion, he came up with the Chocolate Covered Cherry Martini ($9), made with Van Gogh vodka infused with chocolate chips and black cherries, chocolate syrup and cream. It tasted a lot like melted Neapolitan ice cream. But aside from this overly sweet, weighty cocktail, the entire night felt like the embodiment of spring, with Second Home getting a second chance after a long, hard winter of the same old, same old in Cherry Creek.