The Tilted Kilt plans to open their first Colorado location at the Tabor Center next to the Corner Bakery at 16th & Lawrence early in 2010.  This announcement was made public about a month ago in the Post.  I had heard of this as a possibility over a year ago when Katie Mullen’s was also in the planning stages up at the Sheraton.

Billed as a ”Celtic themed restaurant and sports bar”, this location will be 8,300 SF and feature a two level patio right on the Mall.  I have it on good authority that the tenant finishes will be top notch featuring mahogany wainscoting, stained glass doors, and dark iron hardware.  In addition to 35 flat panel HDTV’s they will also have pool tables and dart boards.  The first Tilted Kilt was at the Rio in Vegas which opened in 2003 and closed in 2007 when it was replaced with an outpost of the Manhattan based McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon.  All I can say is that I am glad another long vacant retail space is off the market in Downtown Denver.

Last night I got to eat dinner at Fogo De Chao located in the 1515 Wynkoop project in LoDo.  Fogo opens to the public tomorrow and they have been hosting training dinners in preparation of their soft opening.  I went on a tour last week but could not stay and eat afterwards.  At almost 14,000 square feet it is one of the largest restaurants in all of Downtown - at full capacity it can seat 400 guests.  Fogo De Chao translated means “Fire in the Ground” and I learned that Fogo looked in LoDo for this location for more than a year.

They spent $5 million dollars finishing out the space and the result is a warm, bright and modern dining environment.  Their bar is very nice with warm rich wood paneled walls and features leather furniture surrounding a two sided slate fireplace that is flanked by large square stained glass panels.  Their main dining room has a huge floor to ceiling glass box wine cellar that serves as the separating element from the kitchen.  There are smaller dining rooms and banquet spaces in the back after you step down from there.  Colorful murals and more stained glass are featured throughout the space - their chandeliers really complete the design.

A central visual element to Fogo is their spectacular salad & sides bar on which each item is arranged like a piece of art - it is meticulously refreshed as you eat your meal.  A wide variety of options were presented including fresh cut vegetables, cheese and select Brazilian sides.  Of course the main attraction is the meat (vegetarians can choose just the salad bar as an option) and they offer 15 different choices that are circulated throughout the dining room by Gaucho chefs. 

To start off they served baskets of warm cheese bread called “pao de quejo” - they were amazing.  I tried a number of different meat selections including parmesan crusted pork, filet mignon, leg of lamb and bacon wrapped chicken.  My favorite meat choice was the “Picanha” or top sirloin which is their house speciality.  Included with your meal are endless servings of crispy hot polenta, garlic mashed potatoes and caramelized bananas - the mashed potatoes were really good.  For dessert we shared their Key Lime Pie.

The ratio of servers to diners was at least 3 to 1 and resulted in some of best service I have experienced dining out.  They operate using a team approach which means that a server is always nearby to get you whatever you need.  Fogo will only be open for dinner until August 3rd when they plan to start offering lunch.  A special thanks to Nelson at Fogo who gave us our tour and answered all of our questions.

I found out about a fun photo contest that the Four Seasons Private Residences Denver is doing called a “Room With a View”.  They are looking for photos of what makes Downtown Denver unique and special.  All photos submitted are then voted on and the top twenty most popular photos will be entered to win prizes. 

The prizes are pretty impressive and include a $500 gift card to REI, a pool party for 10 on the Four Seasons pool deck (when it opens), a private cooking lesson from acclaimed chef Kevin Taylor, a press box visit to Coors Field and $100 gift cards to the Wynkoop Brewing Company, Breckenridge Brewery, Flying Dog Brewery and the Falling Rock Tap House.  You can enter your photos here.   Good luck!

Pride Fest 2009 was held on June 27th & 28th in Civic Center Park and just as in years past we attended the festival, watched the parade and had a delightful brunch on Sunday.  This festival continues to grow in size every year.

Despite the huge crowds and the heat it was a lot of fun.  As it has become our tradition on Sunday we brunched at Steuben’s in between the parade and going down to the festival.  New for us this year was attending on Saturday for a concert and then having lunch at Palettes at the Denver Art Museum.  Thanks to all of the rain we had in June the park was the most green and lush it has been since I can remember.

Last Friday night we had dinner at Olivea for the first time.  We attended a birthday happy hour on the patio of Hamburger Mary’s first which was really crowded but fun and then just walked across the street - I really love this part of Uptown.  We asked for and got a seat on their patio.  I last posted about our brunch there at the end of May. 

We started with their Charcuterie and chose to do a tasting of three.  Our choices were the “duck liver mousse, fig compote and pickled onions“, “lamb sausage and minted yogurt” and the “boudin blanc with mustard“.  All of the flavors were very bright and played well together.  We had to ask for extra toast for the mousse and even the lamb sausage was very moist and spiced perfectly.  The real surprise for me was the boudin blanc which I had never had before - they make it in house and it really was off the chart moist and delicious.

We also tried their “potato, onions and rosemary” flat bread which was another first for me and just as delicious as the Charcuterie.  For our entrees we chose “grilled skirt steak with onion mermelada and romesco” and “duck meatballs with creamy polenta and shaved pecorino“.  I ordered the steak medium rare and it was cooked perfectly - it practically melted in my mouth - the pool of romesco really was a great accompaniment in both flavor and color.  The duck meatballs were huge - three on a plate - and nestled in the polenta which made for a great visual presentation.

For dessert we had the “warm honey walnut tart with fromage blanc ice cream“.  I am still thinking about not only how great the fromage blanc ice cream tasted but how the tart was sweet and savory at the same time.  Hands down this is the best meal I have had on 17th so far and the service was excellent as well.