Rioja – Denver, Colorado – A Needed Reinvention – 6.8 – James Meléndez / Jaime Patricio Me

I had great hopes for Rioja. The glimpse of good service honed in on what I thought was a promise of things to come. We began with the promise of a very nice amuse bouche–goat cheese, watercress and polenta. The watercress was a very good addition and did not overpower the other flavors presented.

We were told of two special of the evening; we were immediately romanced into the beautiful breadbasket; lavender and salt, cheese bread and olive bread were presented. I did think the bread, which were generously offered were a bit too heavy.

The first plates we had the pork belly, which they call “Fresh Bacon”, had a dollop of a curry seasoned great paste. I was hoping a profound curry flavor profile; but it was a bit dull and I would have cooked the pork belly a little longer. The presentation was lackluster. We then had the black mission fig and cheese tart. The dish was served warm and it was a testament to the wondrous figs; the goat cheese was mild and paired well with the tart and the figs and this was the better of the first dishes.

The second plates were terribly disappointing. I had the Halibut which when my dinner mates tried this said they did not think it was fresh; I agree it was a bit fishy instead of the delicious clean flavor profile that fresh Halibut enjoys. The presentation was lackluster as were the flavors; there was a massive collection of asparagus; asparagus, which many people enjoy, was not the correct green vegetable to serve. My dinner mate had a chicken confit pasta dish, which too had a liberal amount of asparagus as well. The, for me, was disappointing. Then I recall seeing two fig dishes as first plate options. The menu was not as democratic as I would like; it was a very narrow offering.

The dessert was a Peach Lavender tart; which was not remarkable; lots of flavor opportunity could have been there but it was lacking as well and equal opportunity to dress this up as well.

I was disappointing that the menu was not coherent and no pleasant surprises; a rollercoaster of what’s next and a un-passionate fare. The wine list was small but had a few good selections of wines by the glass. I felt the evening was way too expensive for both the quality of ingredient and it’s extremely bland flavor offering. And the environs hark back to a late 80s – early 90s design; carpet? I would prefer an up-to-date hard wood flooring. I do not mind spending good money on great food; I felt I had spent more than I should have. My experience here would not allow me to go back; and secondly it seems the restaurant is trying to be a big city restaurant when it is far and away from my New York and San Francisco experiences.