A Life, Lived: Fruition Restaurant

I did far less planning for this trip than I might normally do - the end of June grind of work cutting into the pleasures of trip planning. That being said, I did some reading about where to EAT!

Fruition restaurant is at the top of most folks lists of Denver's best restaurants and well reviewed by Zagat, the number 1 restaurant for Denver on tripadvisor, on may top lists at opentable, respected by the local chowhound group, and it received a 16/20 score on gayot (which those in the know know is a very good restaurant score).

If that isn't enough the folks at Food and Wine magazing named the chef, Alex Seidel, as on the the top chefs in the US last year. When the restaurant opened in 2007 it was named as one of the top 10 new restaurants of the year.

This had me convinced that this was a place to go. My colleagues wanted to go to PF Changs last night so we went to Fruition. Don't get me wrong . . . sure, I am a food snob (I won't even try denying that), but I actually like PF Changs (cue hissing). That being said, when I travel I want food I can't get at home. I generally want to eat something that is made by a chef rather than an 16 year old line cook. I want to try something that is unique and different and not served up on plates across the country. I want something that is made fresh to order, with fresh, local ingredients, and not pre-made, frozen, or from a mix. Food is an art. A chef is an artist. A line cook in a chain restaurant is working away at a paint-by-number 'creation'.

We hopped in the car and headed out to Fruition. It is in a small renovated house on 6th street that you would never guess had such an amazing restaurant in it. The restaurant is small and the noise not overwhelming (well, we would have been happy if the old lady behind Paul had shut up once and a while). The interior was understated - unlike the food on the plates.

The service was incredble . . . prompt, efficient, and very attentive. The hostess, bread server, and wait staff all made a point of checking in a number of times to make sure that everything was as it should be. I liked that they weren't overly friendly - it wasn't forced as it can be in some restaurants.

Once seated we ordered some sparkling rose wine. The bread 'server' (who actually served a variety of roles) brought over some housemade bread which was served with their own butter in a wee dish. The butter had a sea salt and fresh herb crust. This is a sign folks - when that level of attention is paid to the butter you're in for a treat!

Now on to the food . . . the menu isn't extensive - about 7 starters and 7 mains. It changes regularly based upon ingredients that are fresh at the time. That being said, there were 5 on each list that I'd be happy to try. Paul ordered the heirloom tomato salad as his starter. Judging by the number of artfully stacked salads that we saw come from the kitchen it was clearly a favourite menu item. It was a stack comprised of heirloom tomatoes, their own ricotta cheese, eggplant 'croutons', baby arugula, romesco vinaigrette.

I was intrigued by the sound of the pasta carbonara but wanted to make sure it wasn't a huge portion - I didn't want to destroy my appetite before the main event! Carbonara is one of my favourite pastas - what isn't to love about pasta, bacon, egg, and cheese? At Fruition the carbonara was made up of house-cured pork belly, hand-made cavatelli, a six minute egg, pulled together with a parmesan broth. A swear that I tasted some truffle in the broth as well.

Thank goodness our server brought a spoon! This was one of the best things I've ever eaten. I could go back and order this again as a starter and then demand a larger portion for my main. LOL

Everything on the menu of mains sounded interesting. I can't remember the last time I was at a restaurant where each item was something I'd have eaten.

Paul ordered the sea scallops which I had read were one of the best things on the menu. The diver scallops were wrapped with proscuitto, seared, and served with laughing bird shrimp toast, a grilled shrimp & roasted pepper salad, and finished off with a summer corn bisque. Once again Paul was grateful for the sp0on the server brought - as the bisque was too delicious to miss a drop!

I went a bit daring with my selection (anyone who reads the ingredients and remembers my experience with 'organ meat' earler in the year will know of what I am referring). Given that Colorado is known for its cattle I wanted to see what local chefs were doing with this prime local ingredient. I ordered the grilled bavette steak au Poivre. This dish was layered - oyster mushroom and confit sweetbread ragu on the bottom, thin slices of perfectly cooked steak on top, a layer of duck fat and cacio perora french fries over the steak. The whole dish was pulled together with a chive-ranch dressing.

Everything had been so wonderful that we had to order dessert. Once again the selection wasn't a long list of choices - a few things with fresh ingredients. We decided to split the ricotta cheesecake - served with pluot-ginger compote, honey ice cream, and pistachio granola. By now we had high expectations and you guessed it - they were well-met!

There you have it, a brilliant meal from start to finish. If you're in Denver and looking for a fine meal made with fresh, local ingredients be sure to make a reservation here.