The Three Best Bites We Had in April

April brought some big changes here at the Westword Food & Drink desk. Beloved Molly Martin made her exit with style, while yours truly stepped in. To say it’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks is an understatement, but I’m not complaining. 

While the transitioning from old job to new, platform training, and general onboarding means I haven’t had the chance to get out there and eat as much as I’d like, there are still a few highlights to report. They include a menu revamp at a Denver restaurant pioneer, a real thinker from one of the city’s most promising new upstarts, and a big plate of meat. 

Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar is hardly a newcomer to the Denver dining scene, but it does have a new menu. Earlier this month, the LoDo restaurant was the first among the four Jax locations to convert to an entirely new menu, billed as its most significant refresh in the concept’s thirty-year history. 

Among the more obvious changes is a hard lean into shareable plates, both small and large. There arensome pretty cool options to choose from there, including a grilled broccolini in a tonnato sauce and a lobster dish mimicking a Japanese tonkatsu. But it was the daily Hunk O’ Fish special that rocked me back on my heels. 

The featured fish changes nearly daily, and is outlined in a special menu insert detailing not only the species of fish, but also where and when it was caught, and even by whom (as in, the actual name of the boat it came in on). 

As the fish included changes often, so does the preparation and overall dish. This one was an Alaskan halibut served on a conserva of mushroom with artichokes and sauteed shitake mushrooms. But the fish itself was cooked to perfection. That execution, combined with the fact that it was about as fresh a catch as you can get on a plate, really put things over the edge. It was meant as a plate to be shared by the table, but I may have taken more than my fair share. 

On the newer end of the restaurant spectrum, I finally got myself over to Rougarou in Five Points. Despite out early reservation, the place was already lively and buzzing. As at Jax, the menu here lends itself well to small plates and sampling, of which I’m a huge fan (and critics be damned). The more bites to try, the better. 

The standout here was the pork shoulder; in addition to perfect execution of all the components, it was a really smart dish from a conceptual standpoint. The menu lists it simply as pork shoulder, sorghum-tamarind glaze, and chow chow. But behind each of these descriptors is a lot of intentional choices that made what landed on the table far more than the sum of its parts. 

The shoulder itself was spoon tender, with a welcome hard char that added a little caramelization and crunch. The tamarind glaze by itself pushed the edge of sweetness that threatens to go too far, only to be restrained by the balance of the acidic, almost bitter (in the best way) chow chow. And toasted sorghum (which I at first thought were sesame seeds) added a hint of nuttiness that tied it all together. Just a really smart series of choices that speaks volumes to the kitchen’s point of view. 

Finally, I had what was supposed to be a quick happy hour over at chef Dana Rodriguez’s Carne that wound up lasting a few hours, thanks to a very large plate of pork. It’s always fun to ask servers or chefs what they think diners should order: When they come back with something that’s not just the most expensive dish, pay attention. 

And we did, opting for the Can Can pork: a massive bone-in pork loin chop with both ribs and belly attached. It was served sliced, splayed out with the rib cuts above the bone and loin below, both moist and full of al pastor flavor. You can use the fresh tortillas if you like, but I enjoyed just straight forking up the slices along with the shaved pineapple and salsa verde. 

Not bad for a “short” month of dining out. And this is a good time to get out there yourself and see what the city’s restaurants are doing. As we settle into spring, my inbox is packed with new menu announcements from restaurants taking advantage of the seasonal bounty.