Best Dinner, Period 2007 | Mizuna | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Dinner, Period

Mizuna

Joni Schrantz
Frank Bonanno, owner of Mizuna and Luca d'Italia, has had a pretty wild run recently. There was the complicated publication of his first cookbook and the flurry of promotion that followed. There was the dissolution of his partnership at the floundering Milagro Taco Bar and Harry's up on 17th Avenue. There was the loss of two of his Mizuna vets and the promotion of two new guys to take over those top spots. And through all of it, Mizuna -- Bonanno's first and best restaurant -- has remained strong, full and, most important, vital. It's a perfect showcase for the talents (and menus) of Bonanno, one of Denver's best chefs and also a hell of a businessman. At Mizuna, it doesn't matter what night of the week you show up (unless you show up on Sunday or Monday, when the place is closed); dinner is bound to be amazing, with terrific fried anything appetizers and great fish and foie entrees.

Best Cheese Course

Fruition

Fruition
Like mod haircuts and hot pants, the cheese course seems to wax and wane in popularity year by year. There are seasons when it seems that every restaurateur in town is dumping bucketloads of money into the acquisition of increasingly strange and powerful cheeses from around the globe, others when it's tough to find a wedge of cheddar anywhere. But Fruition has found an elegant constant with its French Bleu D'Laquille: a simple plate that offers a single, good-sized slab of Bleu D'Laquille attended by nothing more than toasted brioche, a smear of fig paste and a bit of raw honeycomb sitting in a puddle of its own delicious honey.

Best Desserts

Duo

Scott Lentz
Pastry chef Yasmin Lozada-Hissom is just one of the many reasons that Duo has taken off. But she's a big reason. Her desserts -- rustic apple-cranberry tarts, completely addictive sticky toffee puddings and frozen pistachio nougat, to name just a few -- are the stuff dreams are made of (you know: sugar, chocolate, more sugar, buttercream). Any one of them makes for a perfect extravagance at the end of what's certain to have been a very good meal.

Best Free Dessert

Palace Arms

The Brown Palace
Unless you order very, very carefully, dinner at the Palace Arms may cost you the price of a decent used car -- but at least the macaroons brought with the bill are free. They also happen to be among the most delicious little cookies we've ever tasted, with a delicate texture and hints of honey, almond and sugar.

Best Moments

Restaurant Kevin Taylor

Restaurant Kevin Taylor is not only the finest expression of the classical talents of Denver's most prolific Big Name Chef, but it's provided some of our most surpassing moments of culinary bliss this past year. Not every one of the seasonal menus is perfect, but when this kitchen is on, it's brilliant, rising so far above Denver's culinary status quo that at times it can seem nearly ethereal.

Best Place to Be a Regular

Chama

There are places around town where one visit is enough. One meal off the menu and you know everything there is to know about the place. But there are other restaurants, other menus, that reveal themselves only over time. Chama is one of those restaurants, and the menu, designed by chef Sean Yontz, is one of those menus. On the surface, it seems so simple: a Meximerican three-a-day with tacos, burritos, piloncillo-spiked French toast and entrees heavy on the chiles. But after a few visits, you begin to see the careful balance of Mexican, New Mexican and nouvelle Latino influences at play here. Somewhere around meal six, you understand that with its deep tequila and mezcal list, friendly service and multi-layered menu, Chama is a truly excellent restaurant hidden in the body of a merely mediocre one. And after that? By the time you've been to Chama half a dozen times, you qualify as a restaurant regular -- and there's no question that friends of this house are treated like best friends indeed.

Best Place to Be Irregular

Brix

On the best nights at the original Brix, it's hard to tell who's an employee, who's a customer and who's a friend. Everyone just seems to wander around carrying drinks and plates, jumping from table to table doing shots and carrying on conversations about everything under the sun. Though located in Cherry Creek, Brix is about as anti-Creek as you can get, drawing a young, hip, moneyed group of weirdos, bar-hoppers and night creatures: A small-time weed dealer, a chef on the prowl or a recently paroled arsonist would get more action here than a high-powered attorney or black-jacket politico. The food is good, the drinks are strong, the vibe is cool -- but we come for the crowds, because you never know who's going to hit the Brix.

Best Lemonade

Bourbon Grill

Molly Martin
Ah, the yin and yang, the sweet and sour of Colfax, Denver's most diverse and delicious street. At Bourbon Grill, you'll find everyone from hipsters to hookers, yuppies to immigrants, cops to East High students all congregating outside the little storefront to quench their common thirst with a big Styrofoam cup of fresh-squeezed lemonade.

Best Coffeehouse

City, O' City

Hunter Stevens
When City, O' City opened in the former home of WaterCourse, it quickly became the talk of the town because it reminded everyone of that one really great coffeehouse/bar in Williamsburg...or was it in the Mission? No, Amsterdam! It's easy to see why a space where espresso drinkers can mingle with port sippers and pint guzzlers might make you think of an establishment very far away from Denver. But that's only if you saddle our city with an inferiority complex. In fact, this "down-tempo coffeehouse and bar" fits right into its home on 13th Avenue, a latte's throw from the new wing of the Denver Art Museum. And in keeping with its cool setting and ambience, owner Dan Landes (who also owns WaterCourse, now relocated to 17th Avenue) has introduced a menu of veggie pizzas as well as performances by indie musicians and DJs. No coffeehouse is better geared to this city than City O' City.

Best One-Two Punch

Paris on the Platte/Paris Wine Bar

Cassandra Kotnik
Paris on the Platte has long been one of Denver's finest jolt joints -- and now it's among the few that can legally allow cigarettes, too, due to the Platte's designation as a tobacconist. As a result, Paris is a sturdy, smoky spot for the laptop set, with a menu full of caffeinated creations that make your eyes bug into the wee hours. For those who'd rather not ride out an all-night espresso buzz, there's the Paris Wine Bar right next door. Appealing and sophisticated, with a chill-out vibe and an unpretentious list of reasonably priced wines from around the world, Paris Wine Bar soothes the jitters as well as the soul -- and counteracts all the hyperactive hooey next door.

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