Ciao Blogger Friends,
Grab your bag! We are going to absorb ourselves in the authentic cuisine of Italy in the Highlands of Denver!
Join me at Bar Dough of Denver!
My husband, Joe, and I shared a delightful evening with our lovely neighbors, Stacey and Dave, exploring our taste buds at this little piece of Italy. What a great evening we had indulging in great food, wine and conversation!
Antipasti
We started our evening with a couple of Antipasti: Fancy Toast and Zucchini Fritters. WOW…what a beginning to this culinary adventure…my mouth is salivating as I take myself back to Friday night.
The in-house sourdough was a winner all by itself, but then add the creamy whipped ricotta, sweet black mission figs and crunchy pistachio black pepper brittle and you have a one of a kind beginning to an ahhhmazing dining experience.
Our second antipasti was Zucchini Fritters. This was an excellent way to eat our veggies!
The zucchini had a light crunch with a nutty fontina on top; then add the Calabrian chili aioli and wait mere seconds for the satisfied taste buds to request an encore!
Insalata
Ohhh, we indulged and got 3 of the 4 salads…should we have ordered the 4th…probably!
Our choices:
Cucumber Salad, Kale and Beet Salad, and the Fennel and Arugula Salad. The one we left on the menu…Panzanella Salad. But after the Fancy Toast, we thought we should eat more veggies. 😉
The flavors in this salad were so evenly balanced…it was perfection! Finely chopped kale, paper thin beets, crunchy hazelnuts with an apple scrub vinaigrette…oh man. The culinary masters of this creation deserve a medal.
Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of the boys’ salads…oops! But they were equally delicious. The creamy bean paste at the base of the fennel and arugula salad created a unique texture that surprisingly worked for me. I never would have guessed that combination would have complemented each other so well!
Dave ordered the Cucumber Salad. It had the most amazing dressing…creamy fresh and light…and also end of season. We had the last of Chef Carrie’s garden cucumbers!
Pastas
Now onto the heavy hitters…the pastas. While we were all very enamored with the special for the evening, Wine Infused Pasta with a Wild Boar Bolognese, we decided to all order something different so we could taste more items from the menu and live large like the Italians do!
First up, the Wine Infused Pasta with a Wild Boar Bolognese. Unfortunately for you this was the evening special so it probably won’t be available when you visit. But I am confident after my evening at Bar Dough, that they will have something equally as delicious!
This earthy dish was smooth and creamy with just a bite in the shells…perfetto!
The wild boar was delicate and juicy within the velvety Bolognese. Paired with a full-bodied Brunello and oooh…you’re in business!
Next up was the Capellini, served with crab, smoked tomatoes and fresh oregano. You had to work a little bit for the crab, as you can see in the pic, but it was tasty. The oregano was a little heavy for our taste, but still yummy!
My choice for the evening was the Risotto complemented with seared shrimp, broccolini, lemon, and some butter…mmmm! The flavors were soft and rich, probably the butter, with a hint of lightness from the lemon. The shrimp was a stand out for me. Perfectly prepared and just the right amount of seasoning to let its flavor be the center of the plate.
Our last pasta was the choice of my husband, the Mafaldine. This dish was unanimously our favorite. The long-ruffled noodles,
made in house by the way, as are all their pastas,
was dressed in the most scrumptious almond pesto. This was a first for me. I’ve created and eaten many basil, edamame, pea, or parsley pestos, but this one was like nothing I’ve ever seen or tasted. It was not green. It blended in with the pasta to let the subtle and smooth flavors shine and then hit you with a little kick. The fresh chile gets the prize for that finishing touch!
Could we stop there?
We could have,
but we didn’t!
Dessert menu please!
We shared the Spumoni and the Apple Torta…the pictures fall short in capturing the amazing finish to our dining experience. I could have eaten a whole pan of the spumoni!!! Not kidding! The richness was evenly balanced with the sweetness of the chocolate, the hint of cherry and the nutty pistachios…I’ve never experienced anything like this dessert. I would go back to Bar Dough just for dessert. YUM!
The Apple Torta’s flavors couldn’t have been more different than the Spumoni’s, but the dense apple cider cake paired with the crunchy granola and smooth vanilla bean ice cream were a hit at the table as well
Our evening scored BIG in my book. So glad that our friends, Stacey and Dave, were able to be a part of our culinary adventure!
One last thing that is a big deal for me when I eat out…the bathroom. I know that is a weird thing to discuss when you’re talking about food, but a great dining experience can be severely diminished with poor facilities.
I am happy to report that the bathrooms were very clean and even had a charming demeanor to them…if that is such a thing. Check out the placards by the doors…
Hilarious! I love a good sense of humor that gets right to the point.
Just keep it clean!
Until next time my friends…when I share our delightful experience ‘South of the Border’!
Ciao ~ Jennifer