1530 16th St.
Denver, CO 80202
Category: Restaurant > International
Region: Downtown Denver
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1 user reviews
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Building community through food is a lot to ask of any kitchen (small "k"). The Denver outpost's staff, under the direction of chef Godell and general manager Kate Kaufman — not to mention Matheson and Musk, who visit regularly — is trying. But a bit more attention from both the front and back of the house — to a fillet that needs trimming, to the doneness preference on steak, to the guests left at the bar for twenty minutes while their eventual table sat empty, to the plates that needed clearing — would safeguard the qualities we've come to associate with the Kitchen brand.
As would those hand-rolled chocolate croissants and a chance to unwind with good friends in the softer morning light.
I love the Kitchen in all of its restaurants and am thrilled with the Denver spot! Do not miss brunch although I have gone to Boulder many weekends. I love the Denver space for lunch, happy hour, dinner and Monday night Community night! They are building community here- have you been to a TED discussion? Savor every bite- the Kitchen is the best!
Some of the above commenters must have obviously applied for the Westword food critic job, and been denied. Maybe they could start their own food blog?
Montonat and Dever Dave must be trying to outshine or maybe out shout each other. Play nice guys. I will withhold a more formal review of the Gretchen's writing and review skills until she has a chance to settle in more. But I like what I read so far from her. She clearly has talent. And not one mention of history I think. So I know she really went there rather than researched the place on line.
@ybarcewski Not trying to outshine, and especially not trying to out-shout (everyone gets to say what they want). Just disagreeing with someone online. But I will try to play nice: I'll change my above word choice from "illiterate" to "semi-literate" and from "chimp" to "circus-trained orangutan." They always seems so much wiser and more pensive than chimps.
Great review... it's nice that she writes about more than dish!! I am looking forward to many more.
I agree with the review.
I am a guy LOVING everything the Kitchen BOULDER has done, and I am in total agreement with the review. We went to the new Kitchen Denver, and left wanting more. Almost sterile experience and I think the glam of the city overshadowed their ideals.
Best of luck in the future to the Kitchen Denver, I hope to visit again and be blown away.
Well, the new reviewer is obviously a literate, intelligent writer but I'm missing some passion for food and detail regarding her dining experience here. This review needs a little edge - not Jason's necessarily but a point of view. Also, quite short for a Westword restaurant review and I was left wanting more, just as I was on my visit to this restaurant. Nary a mention of service, cocktail offerings or the wine list. Yet I get another recitation on the local, organic, natural this and farm grown that - even what the pigs eat. When I read a restaurant review I want to feel like I've been there. I am not particularly interested in where they buy their carrots or what they do with leftovers.
The first two paragraphs should have gotten Patty's red pencil IMO - total waste of space based on brunch they don't serve here. Finally, I'd like some sort of rating (I don't particularly care what kind of scale she uses) but something to tell me if I can skip this very pricy place or if I simply must go post haste. Instead she wrapped up with yet another another soliloquy to the non-existent chocolate croissants.
So, as ratings go, I rate this review and The Kitchen Denver, based on my very expensive and overbearingly loud visit, both a C+. At least this review didn't cost me $275 for dinner for two. It's her first review though so I'm hoping she'll take this in the spirit in which it was intended. It is not meant to be harsh but rather to simply point out what a loyal Westword restaurant review reader thinks could be improved upon.
@Denver Dave Agree and disagree. I don't need ratings, they're overused and more to the point, not terribly useful. And the first two paragraphs were fine, IMO. And I don't read reviews for a play by play of the meals or the restaurant, so the lack of discussion of every relevant item is fine.
That said, I agree that something was missing in the review. Overall, it was fine, but somewhat sterile. While I'm not sure I know what adding "edge" even means, I do think the review could have had a little more life to it. As one of the past reviewers (Jason, I think) mentioned, there is a freedom to reviewing in Westword that may not be available in stuffier venues. Gretchen should try to use more of that freedom, IMO. Of course, while Jason was roundly lauded after he left, he routinely received criticism in these comments for using too much of that freedom in his reviews! But speaking only for myself, I'd rather read a piece that is interesting yet doesn't tell me everything about a restaurant than read a piece that tells me everything about a restaurant but bores me to death.
@Bagwhan I disagree with you on the ratings Issue - Guide Michelin as referenced in my response to Mantanot issues probably the most influential ratings of restaurants on the planet. The rating scale is only reliable if you trust the source. How can you be a reputable source if you are unwilling to commit to a rating? Otherwise, you are free to equivocate and never be held accountable for the recommendation of a restaurant (or lack thereof). Who is really going to argue with Gretchen's review since we don't really have her definitive opinion? Yeah, "I like something, didn't like others" just doesn't do it for me.
@Denver Dave I'll gladly take the insults, since it indicates that your attempts at logical debate have failed.
Fine - I give you 1 little piggy for having your head so far up your ass. Gretchen's review was pabulum and you know it. She did not take a position on whether or not she was recommending this restaurant and that IS her job as a restaurant critic. You sir, are the chimp, or is that chump, if you don't get that.
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@Denver Dave @Bagwhan There's a huge difference between a giant list of restaurants in a guidebook and a weekly restaurant review. The guidebook exists to help visitors and residents of a specific location narrow down choices. Michelin gives ratings for overall quality (the stars), comfort (the silverware icon), and value (value being relative - the US cities that have Michelin guides must serve some dishes that are under $40 to get a "good value" rating.) Relying on the rating system of any one guidebook is a fast and easy way to find places to eat that may fit your idea of good restaurants. (Note that there are no symbols to designate a lack of quality.) But you certainly don't have to be smart to use it. A chimp could be taught to point to the restaurants with the appropriate symbols that designate quality (and then could probably use a Garmin to navigate there).
A weekly restaurant review, on the other hand, delves into the details of individual dishes, service, and atmosphere. What you call "equivocating" is nothing more than liking some things and not liking others and telling it as it was experienced. The overall impression is conveyed by the theme or premise of the review - which in this case can be summed up pretty easily: "the Kitchen Denver would be better if they stuck to their mission statement of 'building community,' as exemplified by their superior brunch at the Boulder location - the lack of which at the Denver location being indicative of a colder and less detail-oriented experience." And then you could add "I give it 2 and a half little piggies out of six!"
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@Denver Dave Rating scales are for the illiterate.
The Kitchen prides itself on "the local, organic, natural this and farm grown that - even what the pigs eat;" it's part of how they sell themselves, so it's definitely relevant. What maybe could be pointed out is whether this focus means anything to the diner in terms of the quality of the food.
If you want edgy, just , mentally insert the adjective "fucking" before every noun. Hours of fun. For example, the headline becomes "Fucking Attention to fucking detail would safeguard the Kitchen's fucking brand in fucking Denver." Saves the writer some time and you can pretend Sheehan wrote it.
Well, I wouldn't say the Guide Michelin (which "resorts" to a rating scale) exactly appeals to illiterates. Having a rating scale forces a reviewer to make a "decision" about a restaurant's relative worth and that is what the job is all about. In the end it comes down to having the guts to stand up for a rating. Just equivocating doesn't cut it for me. "Well, I liked this but I didn't care for that" but not having the guts to assign a rating - b.s. - IMO
I'm also totally over the useless, pretentious recitation of the provenance of every ingredient on the menu (or in reviews) - still don't care where you bought your fucking carrots (to plagiarize Jason's trademark potty mouth). Does your food blow my hair back or not?
@Denver Dave Michelin is not a rating system that shows a restaurant's "relative worth." It's an award based on absolute measures where only the best of the best can even hope to achieve one star. Sure, it's a shorthand, but it's shorthand for knowing that a specific restaurant has been inspected and has passed rigorous specifications for quality. The folks at Michelin would never even set foot in a place like El Taco de Mexico, which arguably serves some of the best food in town. How do you use a rating system that gives equal credence to your appraisal of both Frasca and Maria Empanada (for example)? Let me answer that for you: you can't.
If a person's reading comprehension skills are not up to the task of gleaning the overall impression of Gretchen's review (which I think most of us got), then maybe a pat little rating system would help them out. But then again, in the era of "Epic Fail!", maybe anything longer than a Twitter post is asking too much of the readership.
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