Food and Love

My two favorite days of the year always happen within a week of each other. This is the week.

First is my Birthday. What makes it my favorite is that I get phone calls and emails from all the people who love me. I can think of nothing that makes me happier than talking to most, if not all, of the people I love so much in one day. What day could be better than that?!

Second is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is all about truly enjoying everything you have and really wallowing in how good your life is. Some people call that gratitude... I like the visual of wallowing in all that good feeling. Thanksgiving is all about good food and good friends. What a fabulous combo.

My Birthday was Thursday of this week. I was in Denver for a meeting. Guy came down for my Birthday and we went to dinner. We decided to try a restaurant some friends had tried to take him to for years. When we got there, we were lucky enough to get a table. Then the owner/hostess told us they'd only been open a week. The other restaurant outgrew the space and moved to a trendy location in LoDo (Lower Downtown). She had opened one of my other fave Denver spots (Table 6) for someone else and opened this one for herself.

The menu was cryptic. Had I read it on the window outdoors, I'd have moved on down the road. But when explained, the menu at Venue sounded FAB!

Guy ordered a dish that simply read:

Flat Iron
chanterelle mushrooms, pearl onions, celery root

It was a shoulder cut of beef called a "flat iron" seared medium rare (to the rare side) on a bed of green beans, tomatos, caramelized pearl onions, and chanterelle mushrooms on top of celery root puree. It was outstanding and v.savory.

I had the special, a salmon fillet on a leek reduction (leeks cooked down with broth) with frisee on top.

The appetizer was a large plate of mussels steamed in a wine sauce with caramelized fennel, french tarragon, and tomatoes with the liquid poured over crusty bread.

Dessert was creme brulee over preserved cherries... we considered it Michigan Creme Brulee.

Ahhhh!
Birthdays are to be savored.