A dinner to relish at Relish

Matt Fackler took his inspiration for Relish from Colorado.

Lemon braised artichoke with roasted garlic herb butter. Venison carpaccio with Humboldt Fog blue cheese, organic olive oil and black pepper. Chicken fingers (for lack of a better term), smoked and fried and served with summer sweet corn and blue crab risotto and grilled squash.

I actually felt my knees go a little weak when I read that one. Standing right there on the sidewalk, about to go into a swoon. Only one problem: Relish wasn’t open. So we were stuck with just the menu, locked inside a glass case by the door of this restaurant in Breckenridge.

Because I don’t ski and don’t much care for nature that’s not going to eventually end up on my plate, it took a lot to get me all the way up to Breckenridge. It took even more to get me up there a second time. But Relish, chef Matt Fackler’s two-year-old Colorado-inspired restaurant, was enough. More than enough, really.

In fact, If I didn’t have other plans, I’d be headed right back up the mountain today just for a shot at a table in his dining room, and another great meal like the one I describe in this week’s Cafe review.

But unfortunately, I do have other plans. I’m still tracking some of the fallout from the closure of Jim Sullivan’s last two restaurants — detailed both here in Café Society and in this week’s Bite Me. I’ve also got news from Pete Arendsen about how his company, Ice Cream Alchemy, is doing in an economy in which lots of folks can’t afford soup, let alone ice cream.

And finally, I took a run back to Café Bisque to check out the new brunch there for Second Helping. A busy week, to be sure. All in all, though? I kinda wish I was back at Relish for just one more meal…— Jason Sheehan