Supper Club at Stowaway

Last night, Joey and I checked out Stowaway‘s newly-launched supper club.  If you’re a frequent visitor to this space, you know how much I love their breakfast, so I was BEYOND excited to try their dinner service.  We were able to walk in and get a table right away, then enjoy dinner in a space that didn’t feel crowded or like you had to yell to each other.

Their menu is small, but so carefully curated, like someone already weeded out the items you didn’t want and left you with only the best options.  So yes, there’s only one beer on draft but it’s a good one and you won’t be disappointed.  Joey certainly wasn’t.  I went for one of their cocktails, which arrived in a quaint little glass, garnished with mint and boldly fragrant.  I could smell the anise with the glass halfway to my mouth.  Guys, I know licorice is a polarizing flavor, but I LOVED this drink.

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All night happy hour on Thursdays means drinks and small plates are $2 off, so we ordered two — the smoked fried potatoes and the Moroccan carrot salad — then proceeded to demolish both.  Joey truly loves potatoes but I need some coaxing, like if they’re subtly smoky and dipped in chivy yogurt or a hearty romesco.  Both “dips” were so good, but combining them was our favorite.  The Moroccan salad was such a delight because, well haloumi (aka “squeaky cheese”) is just the best but also because all the other components tasted so good together.  Obviously the cheese was my favorite part but let’s hear it for those marinated chickpeas, golden raisins and fava beans too.

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For our entree, we split the lamb kofta and I was blown away by the presentation even before Joey turned the plate and I saw that gloriously pink beet hummus.  I’d never had lamb kofta before and I’m kind of meh about ground meats sometimes, but one bite in I was saying something like “this is the best lamb dish I’ve ever eaten!”  Lamb just takes spice so well and Stowaway seasoned this perfectly.  Also, I would be happy to just eat a plate of that house made flat bread.

Um I was already beyond full when Joey ordered the baklava ice cream and I claimed I’d “just have a bite” but then 10 minutes later I had fully eaten half of it.  Apparently pieces of phyllo dough behave perfectly in ice cream.  It tasted straight doughy, in the best possible way.  In conclusion, this restaurant can do no wrong and it is now, even more so, my favorite place in Denver ♥

Dinner at Ophelia’s

Sometimes you plan on going on a run after work but then it rains.

Sometimes you plan on staying up to watch the Rockies game but then you can’t keep your eyes open past 9:30.

Sometimes you plan on posting a glowing review of the new restaurant you went to but the experience turns out to be less than glowing.

What can you do but press on?

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Joey and I’s 8 year dating anniversary was last night and I’m not sure what the rules are for anniversary celebrations after you get married.  Do you stop celebrating the dating one and start celebrating the wedding one?  Do you kinda celebrate one and really celebrate the other?  Do you continue celebrating both because you’ll take any excuse to go out to dinner?  Yeah, I think I’ll stick with that last one.

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Ya know how I’m head over heels in love with Linger and Root Down?  Well they just opened a sister restaurant called Ophelia’s in a building that used to be a brothel.  I booked a res as soon as the restaurant opened a few months ago, figuring it’d be the perfect spot for an intimate anniversary dinner.  First stop, cocktails!  When in doubt, order the cocktail with ginger beer.

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Second stop, cheese!  We split two starters to… uh start.  The first being Peppadew Poppers, stuffed with cream cheese and served with cheese curds, a blood orange marmalade and mustard dipping sauces.  Uh yes please.  It worked out perfectly because Joey was so into the peppers and I was so into the cheese curds.  Also, we got a huge kick out of that tiny fry basket.

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You know what this meal could use?  More cheese!  This is the Spring Cheese Incident and it gets my vote for puniest dish name and my vote for best thing we ate.  Basically, it was a skillet of melty cheese with asparagus, tomatoes, zucchini and almonds on top plus pita for dipping.  Though we totally just dug our forks in it too.

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For the main event, we split the Wagyu Beef Sliders and the Bolognese, Mozzarella, Roasted Carrots & Basil Flatbread.  We both thought the beef sliders were just okay.  I actually compared them to White Castle sliders which might be good and might be bad depending on who you are 😛  But I did love the flatbread.  Who knew roasted carrots went so well on a pizza?

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For dessert, we each ordered a Smoked Salt Caramel.  A dessert for those of us who are so full but find it incredibly difficult to pass up a post-dinner sweet treat.  These were teeny so it was the perfect bite at the end of the meal without putting you over the fullness brink.  Also, we were like “do we eat these petals?”

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While the food was all phenomenal (and we actually liked it better than the food at both Root Down and Linger — what?!), there were a handful of service-related disappointments that really added up.  Maybe they were new restaurant kinks, maybe I’m hard to please or maybe it was all just a fluke but I expected more from this place.  I’m sure we’ll be back but maybe I’ll just set my standards a little lower next time.