“I always pick the second least expensive wine on the menu.”
I went with my friend Mark to Frasca, and he picked the bottle of wine. As you can see, Mark is a very discerning wine drinker. Lest you he’s a total plebe, he picked a lovely Cotes du Rhone that tasted like blackberries, smoke and spice. Nom.
Frasca’s beautiful. Once you get past the slightly confusing black curtain in the entrance, you find yourself in a wood-panelled room full of beautiful people and delirious smells. Aside from that, you might want to eat there because of the restaurant’s, for lack of a better word, pedigree. Among other accolades, co-owner Chef Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson won the 2008 James Beard award for best chef in the southwestern US. Co-owner and wine director Bobby Stuckey is a Master Sommelier. Oh, and they met while working at The French Laundry. Huh.
Anyway, back to food. The market salad was clean and bright, with nice acidity. Garnished with two kinds of cheese and beauitfully salty salami, it was a great start to the meal. I’ll admit, though, that Mark’s braised lamb dish was exceptional.
Mark’s next course was a duck thigh ravioli, which was as delicious as it sounds. I had a lobster pasta alla guitara, thin noodles (think angel hair pasta, but with a fancier name) tossed with lobster and lemon. Rich, redolent and succulent, this dish could have been the end of the night and I would have gone home happy.
Of course, I kept going. We both got the Colorado beef shoulder, which was so. freaking. good. Enrobed in a salty, sweet, rich and acidic jus, the beef was cooked to exactly medium, all seared and crusty on the outside. Served on a ricotta cream with meaty mushrooms that soaked up all the jus, it was tasty. And then some.
For dessert, I had the house special bombolini, otherwise known as warm, deep-friend pillows of delicious. With a passionfruit centre in the middle and dusted with icing sugar, the bombolini looked a bit like doughy eggs. Served with homemade vanilla ice cream, the hot-cold combination was beautiful. Mark’s chocolate peanut butter torta was a peanut butter mousse on luscious chocolate cake, with banana ice cream.
And because that wasn’t enough, I insisted on getting a plate of house chocolates. More on those tomorrow.
Frasca Food & Wine
1738 Pearl St
Boulder, CO
303-442-6966
Wine pleb, rather than plebe, which is a military name, probably suits me quite well. Kevin Zraly, however, is slowly sorting me out. Thank you for the kudos rather than rightfully giving them to Frasca for carrying a pretty fantastic wine second cheapest on the page. They clearly cater to graduate student types.
I read through the desserts and I barely remember them. I don’t think I had fully recovered from the sensory overload that was the beef shoulder.
My quote was okay, but it has lost its context as it was said in a Mitch Hedberg “legs and fire exits” kind of way. You, on the other hand, had the quote of the night by a wide margin, leading to literal rofling on Fulsom St. hill.
Chalk it up to the second least expensive bottle of wine on the menu, but for the life of me I can’t remember what the quote of the night was.
Email it to me? I’m just a little bit afraid of what I said.
I think the first thing to do when you arrive Frasca, drinkin delicious wines.