Restaurant Review: Acorn

Kellie and I love trying new eateries and Denver is a pseudo-foodie's heaven. I stumbled across the 5280 Magazine's Top 25 list which initiated the idea of a Top 25 Restaurant Challenge. We decided to start with Acorn simply because it was the closest to our work. Kellie made an online reservation and discovered that we had to wait a week just to get in. After making our reservation, Kellie received numerous, comical follow ups. The day before I received this email:

From: Kellie
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2015 2:01 PM
To: Staci
Subject: Acorn is Anxious

Hey,

Acorn called me this afternoon to confirm the reservation.  We better show up or they may send an assassination squad to find us!

The location was easy to get to and had free parking (a plus in Denver). The parking lot reminded me of a music festival's parking situation - straight up dirt and ropes. Acorn is located in a building called The Source. I am really going to try and limit my use of the word "hipster" throughout this blog so allow me this first transgression: The Source is so HIPSTER!!! Seriously, it is an open air metal building that resembles an old hangar and contains a butcher's shop, a flower shop, and a wine and cheese shop, and a restaurant that started as a food truck but became too popular and required a brick and mortar location.

We were seated at Acorn and noticed that the decor wasn't too pompous. The table in the picture below was later occupied by a couple with a full bottle of wine and a glass of champagne each. I whispered to Kellie, "What do you think they are celebrating?" Kellie responded, "Being rich."

All of the waiters were dressed in dark washed jeans and white button-ups. I genuinely appreciate a well coordinated staff that doesn't include your typical polo and khakis. To start, we each ordered a glass of wine. I got a Pinot Noir  made by Failla. This smooth glass of wine was the exact definition of why I love Pinot Noirs! I had to pace myself so I could enjoy it with the food. 

Acorn's menu is designed for each person to order 2-3 plates and share. Kellie joked that we were probably going to have to stop for pizza afterwards. With each plate ranging from $12-17, we knew that we were about to splurge. Knowing that we wanted dessert, we stuck to two plates each and ordered the following: Key West Royal Red "Shrimp & Grits", House Made Potato Gnocchi, Oak Grilled House Made Boudin Blanc, and Roasted Lakeridge Farm Baby Carrots. Our waiter highly recommended the Wood Fire Wild King Salmon but neither of us were in a fish mood. Once we selected our plates, our waiter chose the order of delivery for the maximum enjoyment (his words, not mine). First up was the plate I was most eager to try. As a Southern girl, I have a special palate for shrimp and grits. I can be real hard to please...Acorn hit the mark!!! If nothing else satisfied, I would return just for another plate of their Shrimp & Grits! (Shoot, now I want another plate!)

Shortly after the arrival of the satiating Shrimp & Grits, we received the order of baby carrots. They were the perfect light edition to the creamy Shrimp & Grits. My only complaint for the baby carrots is the skimpy portion for the price of $13. Carrots are pretty cheap, right? So load me up! 

Round 3 was the highly anticipated Potato Gnocchi! Kellie has very fond memories of her grandmother's handmade gnocchi. Much like me with Shrimp & Grits, her expectations were high and they did not disappoint! I'm pretty inexperienced on the gnocchi front, but I loved these. The only set back to this plate in my eyes were the peas. There are few foods that I truly don't like and peas reign as king of that list. Peas were one of a few vegetables on my mother's dinner rotation. Open a can of peas near me and I'll hurl! Personally, I think zucchini chunks would have been a better addition and they are a summer vegetable. Peas just don't belong in this world. Ok, pea rant over. 

By this time, we were beginning to feel full. No after dinner pizza would be in our future and we still had a plate to go. Our final plate was the boudin blanc. Being from Louisiana, I have a different definition of what boudin is. I secretly hoped that it would be the Louisiana kind, but sadly it was not. The winner of this plate were the caramelized onions and cherries. Overall, the boudin blanc missed the mark for me. Admittedly, I'm a food novice, but I thought the sausage could have used a little more spice and salt. 

Polishing off our dinner plates - that's right, not a morsel was left from any of the four plates - we scanned the dessert menu. There are three items on the dessert menu and it was a hard decision picking only two. We asked the waiter which two he recommended while admitting that we secretly wanted all three. We decided on the Butterscotch Pudding and Honey Lavender Panna Cotta. When our desserts arrived, we hit the foodie jackpot! Our awesome waiter, who I think was simply amused by us, gifted us with the third dessert gratis! Boy am I glad he did because the spring strawberries on an olive oil and almond cake were on point. This dessert hit it out of the park and the other two were not far behind. 

At one point during the meal, I looked over at Kellie and said "This is what pure happiness feels like." During our dinner, a car caught on fire in the parking lot. Being nosy humans, most of the patrons, including us, ran outside to see the commotion. While standing around, we realized that we were right next to Leftover Salmon. Kellie, who during the previous weekend attended their concert, was over the moon! 

Restaurant #1 of the Top 25 Challenge set the bar high. I can't wait to see what our next adventure will bring. 

~Cheers