Goodbye Colorado, Hello Humidity...

I know I've been home since yesterday but I needed to add some closure to my trip before I start working again, in like 3 hours. After driving back into Denver from the mountains we decided we needed to go out with a bang for our last night. We looked at an assortment of different menus from around the area, all looked promising but were a little on the pricey side. Kelsey finally found a place downtown we could all agree upon called Euclid Hall. 

I was most attracted to this place because of the interesting ingredients to be found in most of their dishes and because of the modern twist they added to some of everyone's favorite classics. Skip to the background info: The restaurant is the third place to be opened by the team of Jennifer Jasinski and Beth Gruitch, owner's of Denver's award winning restaurants Rioja and Bistro Vendome. It is set in a historic building in Larimer Square dated from 1883 that once housed Soapy Smith's bar, the Mason's, The Cootie Club, Maudie's Flea Market, and maybe even was rumored to host a brothel used to cater to government officials and members of the media. Enough about the building right? On to the food. The restaurant's staple would have to be the hand-cranked sausage, the schnitzel, and poutines. For those of you unfamiliar with poutine, and pay attention, it's a dish made of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. Gaaahhhh. I'm skipping ahead to the duck poutine we ordered as an appetizer with duck, duck gravy, cheddar curds. Pictured above, it was gone 2 minutes after I took this. 

Part of the reason we chose this restaurant was because it served bone marrow. I have always wanted to try this and knew I had to at $6 dollars a bone! Worried that it wouldn't be enough to fill me up, and due to the fact that I had to try more things on the menu I also decided to try my taste buds at pad Thai pig ears. Both came out at the same time but my spoon rushed to the bone marrow first as it glistened in the sunlight. The marrow was sugared and browned on the top and served with bread and a delicious sweet dipping sauce. The texture was buttery and the flavor was rich and fatty, kind of like a fancy, thick, gravy (drooling right now). 




Now for the pig ears...alright I guess I didn't know what I was getting into. My mouth was on fire the first bite and my vision started to blur. Red pepper flakes overpowered this dish for me, which was disappointing because otherwise I think I would have liked it. The pig ears were crispy and the greens and peanuts added a fresh crunch to the dish but I just couldn't finish it. It looked beautiful though. I was downing my water because of it along with my pint of delicious Avery White Rascal I paired along with my meal. 











Some of the other interesting dishes on the menu included their version of surf n'turf, made of pork belly and octopus, which Kelsey tried, and their hops infused home made pickles which were spicy and delicious. The one dish that no one ordered that sounded amazing was their version of chicken and waffles with crispy chicken mousseline, sourdough waffle, black pepper Bechamel and maple gastrique. I have no idea what that means but it sounds awesome! For dessert we were lucky enough to be treated with a free dish because Kelsey knew the hostess. We were like vultures when they brought out the s'mores pot de creme and 8 spoons. 



After dinner we went down the street to Lodo's Bar and Grill to drink on their amazing patio. We snatched a table that had its own fireplace attached to it with a roaring fire. Many drinks later, eventually the whole patio turned into a crowded dance party. Overall, a great last night and a very unforgettable trip! And here I am, back in Iowa, and it is humid as hell...gross, but oh well!