No. 63: Bouillabaisse from Deluxe
In 2004, when Dylan Moore opened Deluxe on a stretch of Broadway that had yet to burgeon, he wasn't entirely sure his moody little food temple was going to make it, but over the years, the tiny restaurant that could has steadfastly evolved into one of our favorite hangouts in the city, in part because of the intimate chef's counter that overlooks Moore's culinary kingdom, but mainly because of Moore's command performances in that kingdom.
He doesn't change his menu every five minutes -- or even every five months -- and he doesn't bow to faddish trends, and that's just fine with us, because if it ain't broke, why fix it? He did, however, redo his board just over a month ago, and while he's toying with changing it more often than he has in the past, we're praying to the gastronomic gods and goddesses that he doesn't do a damn thing with the bouillabaisse, because not only is it one of our favorite dishes -- it is, without a shred of doubt, the best bouillabaisse in Denver. Moore perfumes the soup, sea-soaked with pudgy mussels, shrimp, fleshy cubes of sea bass and whatever else he feels like lobbing in, with saffron and fresh fennel, and serves the generously portioned bowl with triangles of focaccia, streaked with grill marks and smudged with a pervasive rouille smooched with garlic.
Hungry for more? All the dishes in our countdown are linked below:
No. 100: Italian wedding soup from the Squeaky Bean No. 99: American Classic Burger (and fries) from Tarbell's No. 98: E's clam linguini from Mangiamo Pronto No. 97: Queso a la plancha taco from the Pinche Tacos wagon No. 96: Prosciutto-wrapped jalapeño poppers from Tony's Market No. 95: Fried chicken from the Pinyon No. 94: Seafood soup from Farro No. 93: Posole from The Porker No. 92: Breakfast Burrito from the Taco Wagon in Lafayette No. 91: Hummus from Shish Kabob Grill No. 90: Albondigas meatballs from Solera No. 89: Lemon-ricotta doughnuts from Olivéa No. 88: Döner kabob from Shondiz No. 87: Roasted cauliflower salad from Euclid Hall No. 86: Beef cheek enchiladas from El Diablo No. 85: Fried Brussels sprouts from Panzano No. 84: Pork osso buco from Osteria Marco No. 83: Cazuela Colombiana from Cafe Brazil No. 82: Chicken potpie from Devil's Food No. 81: Sichuan braised beef noodle soup from Zoe Ma Ma No. 80: Larb nua from Taste of Thailand No. 79: Pork shank from Argyll No. 78: Truffo panino from Shangri-La Cafe No. 77: Pig-snout tacos from Guadalajara Authentic Mexican Buffet No. 76: Speck and maple ice cream from Pizzeria Basta No. 75: Tom yum goong from Thai Flavor No. 74: South African black ruff from TAG No. 73: Gumbo from Bistro One No. 72: New England clam chowder from Bittersweet No. 71: Celery and lime popsicle from Spuntino No. 70: Curried split pea soup from Modmarket No. 69: Mais pizza from Pizzeria Locale No. 68: Risotto frutti di mare from Firenze a Tavola No. 67: Frico caldo from Frasca Food & Wine No. 66: Sea scallop and rock shrimp noodle bowl from Bones No. 65: Luther Burger from Crave No. 64: Chongqing Chicken from East Asia Garden
In late 2009, we embarked on a culinary journey that took us through our favorite dishes in the Mile High City -- one hundred, to be exact. Now we're back with round two, counting down (in no particular order) a hundred more of our favorite Denver dishes in a list that, by our imperfect calculations, should be wrapped up...sometime this year. If there's a dish you think we need to try, tell us about it in the comments section below, or shoot us an e-mail at [email protected].
