3.5 stars (out of 4)
Carrie Baird didn’t want for “elaborate toast” to be her trademark dish. After a final-four finish on 15 of “Top Chef” — along with also 2 Quickfire wins courtesy of her amped-up bread creations — that the plate has become a permanent fixture in the menu in Bar Dough, in which she’s a partner and executive chef.
The dish attracts fans from throughout the nation looking to taste Baird’s creations in person and determine exactly what inventive toppings she’so cooking today.
Thankfully, all the focus hasn’t altered the spirit of the three-year-old LoHi eatery: a casual neighborhood restaurant and bar serving thoughtful, scratch-made Italian meals together , as Baird puts it, even a “Bar Dough twist. ” This can be a venue where regulars’ favourite dishes, like the bucatini ($26) and pollo al limone ($26), will always be available since, well, folks love them.
Bar Dough was opened by the indefatigable restaurant Group of Juan Padro, Katie O’Shea Padro, and also chef Max MacKissock (that the trio supporting Señor Bear, Morin, along with the approaching Maine Shack, amongst others). Baird stepped to the executive chef character this past year following stints at nearby restaurants such as Brazen and Just Be Kitchen, bringing classic practices and an awareness of fun into the bountiful menu of antipasti, house-made pastas, and pastries.
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Yes, it is possible to go to Bar Dough for the elaborate toast. But you’ll wish to stay for its rugged, all-Italian wine set, sharp company, and positive cooking, as amid the insanity of Denver’s seemingly tireless dining arena, Bar Dough stands out among the town ’s finest.
Vibe: Lively. Bar Dough is almost always packed, from the marble-topped bar counter into the communal high-tops into the deep-red banquette seating. The restaurant is present — exposed wood ceilings, spacious kitchen, wood-fired oven without falling into the world of trendiness that makes many new areas identical from one another. Televisions flash sudden films in black and white, like Bill Murray’s & “The Man Who Knew Too Little” & fresh “Top Chef” occurrences, into a broad audience that seats fiftysomething girls celebrating a birthday near a couple of ski bros wearing flannel shirts and beanies.
Hits: One of the most pleasurable dishes in Bar Dough can be seen in the insalata section: The wood-oven roasted carrots ($14) handles to create Peter Rabbit’s preferred bite an all-star. The oven lends the just-softened orange dominates a smoky flavor, along with also the carrot juice and cumin vinaigrette, enhanced with shallots and toasted cumin seeds, also adds a subtle spicy sweetness. Tossed with chewy farro, whole chickpeas, and shaved carrots, each bite is a perfectly composed mix of feel and flavor.
Another successful rookie, or antipasti, since the menu notes, would be that the Italian wedding soup ($15). The caramel-hued dark chicken stock — made over the span of 24 hours and then infused with Parmesan rinds for hours longer — imparts a French onion soup flavor, offering a luscious foundation for miniature pork, pancetta, and beef toss meatballs, just-past-al dente radiator noodles, greens, carrots, and large slivers of Grana Padano cheese. It’s a belly-warmer perfect for chilly ’s arctic temps. (Worth noting: The mushroom risotto, $34, is made using a similar inventory.)
Goats are getting a second on restaurant menus, and Bar Dough’s is no exception. Even tentative diners will locate goat farfalle ($18) a cozy intro into the protein. Baird and her team butcher a whole, Colorado farm-raised goat once weekly, using it to earn a inventory and braising all of the meat until it’s unctuous, not gamey (to use Baird’s spot-on description). The tomato-based sauce and goat Gouda find their way to all of the chubby farfalles’ therefore which makes the dish creamy and rich but not heavy.
Honestly you’ll probably be too stuffed for dessert, however there’s always room to get a scoop of gelato ($3). Bar Dough’s pleasing flavors (vanilla, pistachio, and sweet caramel were available on a current trip ) come from Boulder’s Ice Cream Alchemy.
Oh, did you forget to mention that elaborate toast? As anticipated, that’so great, too. Although the exorbitant price ($19) for its present topping blend of roasted prosciutto, poached pears, grapes, Italian gorgonzola, and cakes (a fun surprise) on crispy-crusted, house-made ciabatta makes it a thing to dictate once, then proceed to other, better — and more fairly evaluated — dishes. (Because pears are almost out of time, expect this dish to change shortly; Baird and team change up menu things rather regularly according to what produce is available.)
Misses: Bar Dough is a fantastic restaurant, but dishes occasionally founder under the weight of two or one bungled ingredients.
One of Baird’s favourite pastas is that the tagliarini ($28), where a squid ink noodle foundation is tangled with meaty squids and out-of-the-shell mussels. However well-cooked the corn was, it had been seriously under-seasoned. The larger issue, though, was a reference of orange zest about the menu which translated to a overpowering citrus flavor that muted everything else in the plate.
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A tender roasted quail ($28), filled with a cranberry-dotted ciabatta stuffingthat was allowed with a bland, lean sage polenta that lacked bite and some other flavoring from the plant, even with the fried leaves on the plate.
The two slots on the menu all benefit from puffy, absolutely charred crusts — made from eight-year-old starter — but the hot clam offering ($18) is mild on clams, or actually, any briny flavor, along with spice, with the house-made chile oil including dirt although not much warmth.
Ask a staffer which dessert to dictate, and they’ll all react with “the zeppole! ”, four doughnuts produced from a ricotta batter that’s garnished with walnuts, fried, then stuffed with vanilla cream cheese ($2 ). The insides are tender and the corresponding caramel lick-your-finger great, but not all of doughnuts were created equal: some had hardly a drop of cream cheese, while others essentially oozed filling, molten cake-style. With every doughnut almost the size of a baseball, then the part was much too large.
Drinks: Bar director Shawn Williams manages a remarkable cocktail app that spans an array of spirits and introduces tipplers to fresh ingredients while not straying too far from the familiar. The present nine-drink lineup will alter when the seasons do, thus while it’s still available, arrange the Home Again ($14). You’ll whiff that the rye and brandy as soon as the server sets the drink down, but the banana and walnut liqueurs give it a smooth finish. Four spritzes (all $9) are also available: classic, lemon-rosemary, grapefruit-basil, along with Giffard passion fruit.
The beer choice ($6 to $14) comes toward draft offerings and can be Colorado focused (you can find some European looks, too) however doesn’t restrict itself into the anticipated. There’s a IPA out of Lafayette’s Odd13 Brewing plus a Belgian ale out of Westbound & Down Brewing Company in Idaho Springs. For the indecisive, downtown Denver’s Tivoli Brewing Company crafts a pairs-well-with-anything Bar Dough lager for the restaurant.
Sommelier Chris Boyne’s all-Italian wine app features something for every taste and every price point. The slightly fruity Schiava from Kellerei Kaltern ($13 for just six oz ) is tender enough to pair with the majority of dishes but contains enough body to stand around some of the offerings that are overburdened.
It’s too commendable to see a good collection of choices for nondrinkers, including a variety of Italian cream sodas (all $5) and 2 mocktails, both soda-based.
Service: It’s a dance interior Bar Dough, where aproned servers in white shirts sidestep and twist between always-full tables. Theyrsquo;re well-versed in each menu item — drinks and eats — and so are quick to produce recommendations when asked. This is friendly, approachable, polished service as it should be.
Bottom Line: Bar Dough is always impressive, showcasing perfect technique and a deep understanding and enjoy meals with no pretentious. Service is exceptional, although not every dish achieves equal success, diners can always expect a fun — and filling — meal.
Cost: Appetizers and salads ($6 to $19); Pizzas ($12 to $18); Pastas and entrées ($18 to $54); Desserts ($3 to $8); Cocktails ($9 to $14)
Fun Fact: Baird obtained a chance at redemption this month on “Last Chance Kitchen,” & & ldquo;Top Chef’s & ” accompanying web series, in which toques vie for the chance to come back to the major competition. She nabbed the top spot in the very first two episodes of season 16 however, in less enjoyable news, was removed in the third installment ’s breakfast conflict.
Bar Dough
2227 W. 32d Ave.; 720-668-8506; bardoughdenver.com
Hours: 5 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 5 to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 2 5 and pm to 10 p.m., Sunday; joyful hour, 3 to 5:30 p.m., daily.
Reservations: Accepted
Parking: Free street parking
Star Rating Guide: Ratings vary from zero to four stars. Zero is bad. 1 star, satisfactory. Two stars, great. Three stars, very great. Four stars, exceptional.
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