Amass

Jefferson Park is an up-and-coming part of Denver -- but has it arrived as a dining destination? Amass was opened in the fall of 2014 by chef-owner Joe Troupe, formerly of Lucky Pie Pizza & Tap House, who took over the space in a new residential development that Corner House had vacated following an eighteen-month run. Amass bills itself as a French bistro -- but the restaurant doesn't look the part. Instead of candles, curtains and quaint photos of the French countryside, Amass's art-free dining room sports wood paneling set in light and dark horizontal stripes, contemporary bulbs and floor-to-ceiling windows that look like black mirrors after dark. The room is much more welcoming in the daytime, when those same windows let in views of the trees across the street; it would make a lovely coffee shop. And that might be a better idea for this neighborhood than Amassâ??s current concept. "French food is the best food in the world," says Troupe, who has a very ambitious menu â?? one thatâ??s perhaps too ambitious for his tiny kitchen.