A Dip in the Mile High City

 

Last week, work brought me to Denver Colorado for training. As with many work-related events, participants often do not get to choose their dining, and this occasion was not different, save for Thursday night. After four full days of presentations, Powerpoints, and volunteering, many in the group were too exhausted to venture to the city. I and a motley crew consisting of my manager and three coworkers were undaunted, boarding the light rail to arrive, after a short walk, at Vesta Dipping Grill.

The unpretentious exterior could lead one to miss the entire establishment. The inside was all dark wood and metal, an interesting combination of old and new. Except for the tables closest to the front door, which were illuminated with natural light from the windows, the remainder of the restaurant was fairly dark, electric candles at every table.

We began our meal with a round of appetizers. The two-bite Chinese pork belly was by far my favorite. Crispy and sweet on each side, with a fatty center and a yuzu mayonnaise to double down on the unctuousness, topped with orange and micro cilantro to counter the heaviness. It’s a foodgasm at $3 a pop (literally, they were served like lollipops) that I will take any day.

Other appetizers included a duck sausage topped with crème fraise, served with a red lentil salad. The duck, well-spiced in a Moroccan style, was not gamy at all, though the red lentils, while delicious, didn’t match as an appetizer. The salmon tartar was served with yuzu candied apples and crispy shallots. Simple, fresh, crisp, not fishy at all.

The real reason people go to Vesta is the sauces. Each entrée comes with a suggested three sauces, but diners can order more at their pleasure. With 25 sauces in all, your pallet can quickly become confused. Sauces range from sweet like the plum demi glaze or the pineapple puny marmalade, to the savory, like the chimichurri or herbs de province aioli, to the hot like their house made sriracha or the thai chili vindaloo. Between us, we sampled 17.

I ordered the venison (pictured below), which was both the best and the worst entrée. The deer, cooked to a perfect medium rare was meaty and tender, but still lean. It had a darker red in the center than even raw beef. The sauce was phenomenal. The dried cherry butter reduction gave me the fat that the lean meat didn’t have. Only slightly sweet, a light pink color, and rich, it encircled both the venison…and a pile of fries, oh, sorry, “pommes frites,” which were nothing special.

The special of the night, the lamb, came bone-in with a kale side salad. The tzatziki and the tarragon mustard paired especially well. I liked the dried cherry chutney more on my venison than on the lamb. The grilled prawns were nicely charred, heads removed, and were served with an avocado-green harissa hummus and fried cauliflower. The red curry sauce was a bit hot for the milder prawns, but the miso beurre blanc added a nice Asian flare. The scallops were clean and mildly oceanic, and like the prawns, needed the milder sauces. The roasted corn and the sweet onion bbq complimented the slightly sweet shellfish.

After a fine meal, during which work was only discussed briefly (thank God!), we perused downtown Denver. 16^th street, an elegant mix of the more quant architecture of Philadelphia, with the pedestrian friendliness of Minneapolis, hosted a number of street video games, which were the topic of heated competition, and very silly cell phone pictures. After a nightcap at the Apaloosa grill, which featured an awesome live band playing everything from blues (to which we danced) to rock, we ventured back to the light rail station, regaling each other with stories of travels, adventures, and songs that only a night of fine comradery would bring out in each other. Dinner is truly always better with friends.