Where to eat and drink in downtown Denver

I was in Denver this summer at a fundraising gala for Phamaly Theatre Company, a theatre group giving those with various disabilities opportunities to take the stage. As a writer and graduate of University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program, I am naturally a supporter of the arts and jumped at the chance to support the performing and musical arts for a group of people With special needs.As a person with a disability, I have firsthand experience on what sort of a toll it takes on the self-esteem. Phamaly provides a way for those with disabilities to take center stage, helping raise self-confidence, self-awareness, and self-expression.But enough about my soapbox for the day. Let’s move on to what I ate in Denver!The day after we arrived, the executive director of Phamaly Theatre Co. Took us out to lunch at one of his favorite restaurants. Ocean Prime is a white linens type of place specializing in seafood, as made obvious by its name. Of course, being from the Gulf Coast, I was a little suspicious of Denver’s landlocked ability to garner fresh seafood. But the ahi tuna tartare with avocado and ginger ponzu was pleasantly tasty and fresh. (I love ponzu!) We also tried the goat cheese ravioli with golden oak mushroom. Goat cheese is always rich, and had it not been my first meal of the day, I probably would’ve enjoyed it more. With the added mushrooms, though, there was definitely a lot of umami going on in that dish.For my main, I had a simple house salad to counter the rich appetizers: romaine and spinach, slices of tart Granny Smith apples, walnuts, more goat cheese, dressed in a sherry mustard vinaigrette. It was a clean lunch, if you know what I mean. The hubs tried the Chilean sea bass which we both agreed was under-salted. Regardless, Ocean Prime had stellar service, and I can see how it’s a nice place for a special occasion, bringing fresh seafare to those miles and miles away from an ocean.And then we went to Comic-Con because it just happened to be in town that same weekend.Before and after dinner, we hit up Green Russell, which came recommended to us by a Phamaly staff member. You go down a flight of stairs into an underground joint with a speakeasy kind of feel. On one side is the restaurant, which is where we grabbed a few drinks and appetizers for happy hour. There’s a cocktail for everyone. The chips were good, the ribs were dry.Dinner at Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen came next. The hubs had eaten here during his last snowboarding trip to Colorado and said it was one of the better restaurants he’d tried. (It seems we either don’t know where to go, or the food scene in Denver hasn’t budded yet.) Euclid Hall seems to be a gastropub serving new American. I like how the salad and veg part of the menu is entitled “Because We Have To…” So true. From this section, we ordered the roasted cauliflower salad with goat cheese, shishito pepper marmalade, scallion, and what they call “tempura crunches,” which turned out to be one of my favorites that evening. The “chips and dip” consisted of duck breast smoked with oolong tea, duck confit, chips, baby dill, and a lemon goat cheese dip. (What’s with this city and goat cheese? It’s ubiquitous!)We all shared the sausage tasting which came with one of each of the following made in-house: Bavarian veal weisswurst, boudin noir (with curry and eggplant), beef short rib kielbasa, and the Leberkase (a bavarian classic made with beef and pork). The bone marrow with sherry gastrique was disappointingly bland, but my friend enjoyed her fancy chicken ’n waffles. All in all, it’s a neat little oasis in the Denver dining scene. I respect the chef’s courage to be creatively daring and tongue-in-cheek.We skipped dessert at Euclid and decided to head back to Green Russell to have a nightcap and try their infamous pie. Now, I must admit, I’d never had a key lime pie before in my life, and though I know key lime pie has a cult following, lemon and lime desserts just never enticed me. My friend loves key lime pie, however, and so of course we ordered it. I could see how it’s a refreshing dessert, and I did enjoy it more than the recommended apple pie (meh).After that, we ventured into a nearby hat shop and tried on a bunch of hats. DOn’t ask why.For breakfast/brunch the next morning, the hubs and I ended up at Syrup. (We really wanted to try Snooze, but the wait was too long.) The wait at Syrup was a bearable 15 minutes, and upon asking the server for her recommendations, we ordered pancakes with blueberry syrup (we had to try something part of the namesake) and a gigantic breakfast burrito with a side of hash browns. While it all satiated our morning hunger pangs, nothing was spectacular, and the pancakes and hash browns (which highly came recommended in Yelp) both left something to be desired.That night, after the gala, the hubs and I wanted to grab a late-night bite, so we walked to Osteria Marco where we were promptly seated downstairs next to a couple on their first date and behind a loud, intoxicated birthday party. We shared the chef’s selection of cheese and charcuterie and a pizza—enough to fill both of us to near food coma.My cousin tells me Denver has pho comparable to that of Houston’s caliber. Will have to try that next time after a weekend of snowboarding. Live in Denver? Where would you recommend I eat next time I'm there? Native or not, what do you think of the Denver food scene?