This restaurant might be named for the common man, but it's uncommonly good

Mark Manger

The Populist's broken duck cubano. See also: Behind the scenes of The Populist

Location Info

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The Populist

3163 Larimer St.
Denver, CO 80205

Category: Restaurant > New American

Region: Downtown Denver

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Details

The Populist
Bar mix $4
Apple parsnip soup $7
Carrots three ways $9
Pork boudin blanc $12
Bacon and egg $8
Broken duck cubano $12
Braised jackfruit $17
Bavette steak $18
Huitlacoche agnolotti $14
Chocolate and popcorn $7

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• Round two with Jonathan Power, exec chef of the Populist
  April 4, 2013
• Exclusive first look: The Populist opens on Wednesday
  November 12, 2012
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More About

• Jonathan Power
• Noah Price
• Josh Sanford
• Food and Cooking
• Eating Out

Questions are asked of us, too. Some are big, such as why food of this caliber should be surprising here when it's expected at higher prices, in fancier settings, in other parts of town. Others are simpler: What do you feel like eating tonight? Free of labels, the menu allows you to choose what you want, without constraints of first course, second course, sides. Plates are meant to be shared, so you can order two courses or seven, traveling from France to Mexico to India and back without being stopped at customs.

By the time you reach dessert, you're ready for whatever the kitchen might throw your way. But it's Josh Sanford, not Power, who's in charge of pastry at the Populist, and instead of that liquid-nitrogen malt or another witty yet grounded dessert, you get one cigarillo of chocolate ganache and four kernels of caramel corn on an empty plate the size of the Sahara. You look at your friend, who laughs out loud. Delicious, yes, but so precious, so unrelentingly gourmand, you have a question of your own: Is this the Elitist or the Populist? The rest of the meal has already answered that, though. And with food this good and prices this reasonable, you're already waving the server over for another go at dessert.