In the three years since COVID-19 upended so many aspects of life, including the hospitality industry, we've said goodbye to a lot of longtime restaurant favorites. While those losses hurt (RIP Annie's, Breakfast King, Saucy Noodle, Bonnie Brae Tavern and many more), I'm optimistic about the future of dining in Denver.
While I've already eaten a lot of great meals this year, three of the best came from places that just opened in 2022. (they all made our list of the ten best new restaurants in the city published in December.) These eateries were impressive when they debuted, and they've not only maintained that energy, but gotten even better in the months since.
At Lucina, the food is all about bright, vibrant Latin flavors, while I crave the homemade pastas at Point Easy. But at Stone Cellar Bistro, which debuted in charming Olde Town Arvada last June, it's nearly impossible to pick a favorite dish from a menu that offers everything from fried chicken to foie gras.
Stone Cellar Bistro is led by two longtime friends who come across as opposites. Jordan Alley has dreadlocks and also runs a food truck called G Wagon that got its name from an incident that involved mistakenly smoking weed in front of cops. Brandon Kerr, who's more clean-cut and quiet, met Alley when the two worked together at the now-closed Z Cuisine. Before returning to Denver to open this venture, Kerr did a stint at Husk, Sean Brock's widely acclaimed South Carolina restaurant.
The northern suburbs aren't loaded with fine-dining options, and the Arvada community has welcomed this upscale addition, with more and more people getting wise to Stone Cellar's particular balance of creative, carefully crafted plates and stellar, un-stuffy service.
Since opening, the restaurant has built a tight-knit team that includes some heavy hitters, including maître d' Jenne Harris, who has been working in the local scene for 38 years. "I'm just so proud of what we're building here," she says.
And she should be.
After warmly welcoming me and my guest to the eatery, Harris led us to a table where we met our server, Rob, another industry pro who happens to be her husband. Here's a play-by-play of the meal, which was impressive from start to finish (even though we definitely over-ordered):
The drink offerings include beer, wine, N/A options and a number of cocktails. Since I'm a frequent negroni drinker, the Perfect Negroni ($16) caught my eye. "That's a big claim," I remarked. But bartender Jeremy Crabtree — who, we learned, has an impressive tropical shirt collection that he likes to show off during shifts — did indeed serve a better negroni than any other I've tried. It used Bareksten Botanical Gin, Cocchi Vermouth and Cappelletti instead of the usual Campari, lending the libation a lighter, fruitier edge that felt just right for spring.
The food menu isn't divided into sections, but it does run from smaller plates to larger entrees, and we kicked off the meal with a pair of indulgent picks. The Foie Gras Parfait ($19) has been on the menu since the beginning, though its presentation and accompaniments have been tweaked here and there. On this visit, it came as a cake-like slice encased in a crust of clarified butter. Dollops of Meyer lemon curd, pickled currants and basil leaves from local purveyor Mountain Man lent a bright, acidic contrast to the rich dish, which was served with a supremely buttery brioche.
The Aged Beef Tartare ($15) came next. While both tartare and foie gras seemed to be on every fine-dining menu pre-pandemic, they have become rarer since, and Stone Cellar Bistro manages to make both seem fresh. Here, raw beef was mixed with tangy sauce gribiche, a French cold egg sauce made with cornichons and capers; it was topped with a pile of ultra-thin crispy fried potatoes and sprigs of dill, which added freshness.
To counter those rich dishes, we'd opted for a salad course. A typical wedge brings a triangular chunk of iceberg with blue cheese crumbles, tomatoes and bacon — but this was no typical wedge. Instead, we got a wide, flat slice of iceberg (far easier to cut up into manageable bites) over a dilly green goddess dressing and topped with a thin slice of guanciale, a shower of salty shaved cured egg yolk, bright lemon zest and sunflower seeds for crunch ($14). Salads rarely steal the show, but I'd go back for this one.
Schnitzel seems to be having a fine-dining moment, and it's always a winner when it makes an appearance at Annette (there's currently a fish version on the menu of the Stanley Marketplace eatery). The pork loin picatta with capers at Point Easy is another stunner, and similar to Stone Cellar's fried pork schnitzel option ($18). Here, the ultra crispy, thinly sliced pork was drizzled with brown butter and also served with capers, as well as small, dilly cucumber wedges and a grilled lemon. The best part, though, was the mustard, which is made with IPA from New Terrain.
Next came the big, meaty Bangs Island mussels ($29), served in a heaping bowl with thin, crisp fries. Instead of a typical white-wine broth, these were made with State 38 Distilling's Damn Smooth Absinthe, which lent a pleasantly subtle anise note balanced nicely by the citrus of oranges.
We couldn't help but dunk the mussels into the sauce of our next dish. Described on the menu as Crispy Confit Duck Leg ($37), the entree was a flavor bomb — though the duck wasn't really crispy. That was a misstep easy to forgive, though, thanks to the tender, succulent meat that fell from the bone. Paired with cabbage, sweet peppers and shiitake mushrooms swimming in a red curry broth, this would make a memorable meal for one, or a main to share.
With Kerr's experience at Husk, the fried chicken was a must. So we powered through one last savory course, and it was well worth the effort. The "Wildfire" Fried Chicken ($16) included legs, thighs and wings that had been fried in duck fat and dusted with Cajun seasoning and a drizzle of hot honey before being served. The craveable chicken was crisp, tender and decadent, with just the right touch of heat. Although the menu here shifts seasonally, this is poised to become a staple.
On the back of the dessert menu is a long list of aperitifs — and digestifs, if you went a little hard, as we had. But after a pause and a few sips of something to settle our stomachs, we were all in, ordering two of the six dessert options (I plan to go back for an affogato with sweet cream ice cream). For a light and refreshing option, try the Citrus Sundae ($8), which includes sorbet in two flavors — blood orange-hibiscus and Meyer lemon-thyme — that comes over crunchy toasted macadamia nuts with two citrus pizzelle cookies on top.
Pound cake isn't something I typically see on restaurant dessert rosters, so I was curious to try Stone Cellar's, especially since it came with sour cream ice cream ($10). Cut in two long, slender slices, it took me back to eating Entenmann's with my grandmother as a kid, although the tangy ice cream and smooth roasted-chestnut mousse made the whole thing come together in a totally grown-up way.
Bottom line: Arvada is lucky to have this restaurant. But even if you live on the other end of the metro area, Stone Cellar Bistro is dishing up destination-worthy fare.