Two Tasty Fine Dinings in Denver

Palettes Contemporary Cuisine

Some things just go well together; like peanut butter and jelly or socks with sneakers. And even better: a great restaurant located inside an art museum. Ron and I had the opportunity to drive down to Denver to review the Palettes fine dining restaurant located in the North Building of the Denver Art Museum complex.

Our first glance was of a big room with numerous tables covered in crisp white linens. The flatware has a hammered nickel surface lying astride large folded white napkins. Oversize pieces of framed artworks hang on the white walls producing a a colorful contrast. We were seated at a table next to a large picture window. People-watching on this sunny, cloudless day kept us entertained during our meal.

Anthony, our server, explained the menu and shared with us his personal favorite entrees. The current museum exhibit, Samuri, was showing at this time. A complete menu from appetizers to entrees was created by their Executive Chef, Austin Cueto, to complement the exhibit. Pastas are made in-house. Palettes's pastry chef also "steps up to the plate" and creates unique desserts to follow the theme. 

I started with a salad of organic baby lettuce, gold beets, Humboldt fog cheese, candied walnuts and berry vinaigrette dressing. My entree consisted of corned beef brisket nestled on top of a root vegetable hash, topped with pouched eggs and a romesco sauce. Both dishes were as colorful and artistically presented as the paintings on the walls.

Anthony continued to fill my coffee cup with a rich robust Italian coffee,that happened to pair well with the carrot cake french toast for my dessert course. Yes, good old carrot cake taken one step further.  Along with lovely garnishes, a little jug of warm maple syrup accompanied this unique sweet.

Afterwards, Ron and I strolled over to the elevator and pushed the 7th floor button.Our plan was to view all the floors of the museum one by one.

Cafe Marmotte

At the corner of Downing and Alameda in the Washington Park area of Denver is a lovely little surprise: the Cafe Marmotte. This is a traditional French bistro with an American twist.
When Ron and I walked in, the first thing I said was, "What a charming and quaint restaurant. It's going to be fun to enjoy a meal here." With only 13 linen covered tables, personal service was a guarantee. 

I tend to notice firstly, the decor on restaurant walls. A traditional French interior ornament was covering one of the walls; a large mirror set in a elaborate gold frame. Colorful paintings adorn the rest of the cozy room.

Rachael McQueeney, the general manager, was so bubbly and helpful in answering all our culinary questions. She shared with us that Cafe Marmotte's staff's goals was to be approachable, warm and welcoming. From the kitchen to the front of "the house", everyone takes pride in what they do. A lot of returning regulars can attest to that.  

I just sat contently, anticipating the dishes set before me. I appreciated that a small loaf of warm baguette bread along with a rich butter was placed on the table to keep us delightfully busy while our orders were prepared. 

I am most content when a lovely bowl of soup is served. The Butternut Squash soup was flavorful and creamy; a simple soup that was cooked just like I would attempt at home. Ron and I shared the entree of Coq au Vin which was not overpowered with wine (like I disappointingly get in France). The burgundy braised chicken was served over bacon mashed potatoes, along with melted red cabbage and pearl onions.

I melted into the Warm Molten Chocolate Cake sided with in-house made grand marnier chocolate ice cream.  See, didn't I tell you; some things just go so perfectly well together!

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Mix a handful of Americans, a couple of Brits, and a pinch of an Australian. Put them aboard a canal cruise boat flowing down the canals of Holland for several days. Add some interesting field-day trips along the way, feed them glorious food; morning, noon, and night. And what do you have? A fabulous cultural vacation in an European country with laughter and good food.

My travel writer husband, Ron, and I experienced such a trip last week. With six smiling crew members to take care of 11 guests, we felt quite pampered and well taken care of on the barge "Le Panache" courtesy of European Waterways. I wrote more about the daily routine on a barge canal cruise  in my forthcoming book The Travel Writer's Wife.

Visitors from other countries desire to see authentic windmills that will reassure them that they are truly in the Netherlands. We visited Alkmaar where several of these beauties were majestically  standing. Some were converted into souvenir shops where Dutch chocolates, cheeses, and trinkets are sold.

My favorite shop was the one selling wooden Dutch shoes. The walls displayed hundreds of these wooden clogs from ceiling to floors. I stopped for a moment peering over the crowds of people watching a young man demonstrate carving a clog ,using primitive tools and vintage machinery. Along with the traditional style I spotted a couple of clogs with a bit of a fashionista touch.

The main reason we for chose this particular itinerary was the fact that it is the tulip season in this country for several weeks. At the Keukenhof Gardens, over 30 acres of hundreds of varieties of tulips were gloriously on display. Everyone had their smart-phones out clicking way. It was nearly impossible to take a bad photo of these colorful flowers. Tulip cultivation has been on-going for nearly 400 years in Holland. Along with the new varieties, some bulbs date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

We were fortunate enough to be in Holland on the annual national holiday of King's Day ( April 27th). The birthday of King
Willem-Alexander, from the House of Orange, is celebrated throughout the nation. The Panache hostesses got us into a celebration mood by decorating the interior of our barge with orange balloons, crepe paper streamers, and party hats. Orange 
t-shirts were provided for us to "fit" in with the crowds of the orange-dressed town's people.

Our adorable chef, Franke Schaart, served us typical picnic-style Dutch finger foods. We took a stroll through the town of Haarlem where music bands, food vendors, and a giant Ferris wheel added the the festivities, It was a happy, orangey day. 

My personal highlight of the week was a visit to the Aalsmeer Holland Flower Auction Market. It is located in the 4th largest building in the world. This gigantic warehouse is where more than 20 million flowers are shipped out to all points in the world-- daily! A long walkway for visitors is set up high with an overall view below. It looks like a busy beehive with people driving towed carts of crated flowers from one spot to another. Even painted dotted lanes and intersections are used to direct an orderly traffic.. A lovely fragrance from the gazillion flowers permeated throughout. An amazing sight; nothing like it in the U.S.A.

Along with the attentive Panache crew and a mixture of nationalities, we all temporarily forgot about the outside world, laughed a lot about silly things, and ate delicious food, wines and cheeses. In my travel journal I wrote: I will miss them; we made a good "traveling team". 

So here's to you all, my Panache boat-mates: Ronnie and Sue, Barbara, Nancy, Leslie and Tom, Marianna, Naomi and Kevin!

FTC Disclosure: This was a sponsored trip. All opinions herein are the authors. 

Take a Left at Iceland

Puffins, whales, 130 volcanoes, and chocolate covered licorice. Where am I? Well, Iceland, of course! We recently traveled to a part of the world that I didn't even have on my "travel-bucket" list. It seemed so far away and such an exotic place to visit, I never even considered going there.

IcelandAir  offers a great deal which is being termed "a stopover" for those flying east to Europe   (like we did) or  the western direction from Europe. You can stay for a seven-day layover without any extra charges.

Most tourists start their visit in Iceland's largest populated city of Reykjavik (about 200,000). The population of the entire country is 330,000. There are more than 700,000 Icelandic horses, so that makes the horses outnumber the people!

From the Keflavik Airport , we rode a coach bus of 50 minutes into the capital city of Reykjavik and checked into the Apotek Hotel. The hotel's decor is a modern style of soft grays and whites with accented black furniture. From the widows of our 4th floor corner suite we could see three main streets filled with interesting looking shops and restaurants.

A full itinerary for our three-day visit kept us busy exploring. Our guide, Heidi, definitely fit the description of the Icelandic people: fun, sweet, and speaking flawless English ( the second language on the island). She even laughed at all of my husband's silly American jokes!

We visited the outdoor open-air museum Arbaejarsafn, where a historical collection of authentic Icelandic houses from the 19th Century are on display. In the warmer months, festivals and activities are held there with people dressed in period costumes. I especially found the Turf houses interesting. Trees providing wood has always been scare on this island, so the inhabitants were resourceful in building the walls of their homes with stones and mud. The exteriors got a layer of grass turf for added warmth. People lived in Turf houses up to 1945, so something must have been working with this style of architecture!

We ate at two restaurants, the Matur & Drykuur and the Aatlo Bistro. These chefs are keeping up with the popular world trend of farm-to-table menu concept. Local fresh foods such as catch-of-the-day seafood, greenhouse mushrooms,and vegetables are used in their kitchens. The dishes were beautifully presented. Chef Kjartansson of Aatlo Bistro happens to be one of the sweetest chefs we've come across and was so gracious in personally serving us his delectable food creations.

Definitely taking one of the many bus tours offered will cover more outside areas than you could on your own. We rode with Sterna Tours on the all-day "Golden Circle" tour. I like tour guides that help inform you of what you're viewing along with historical facts. Our guide, Halldor, a native Reykjavik, even threw in some interesting folklore stories about  elves and trolls. Icelanders are quite proud of their mystic folklore stories.

We passed craters and volcanoes and acres of lava rocks covered with green moss. The terrain kept changing and at one point we were only yards away from a huge ice glacier. As out tour continued we saw fog, blue sunny skies, rainbows, snow, and low-hanging white fluffy clouds. Our warm winter garments kept having to come off and back on again.

Here listed are some of the interesting and oddity facts that I collected about Iceland.

• In the winter there is only about two hours of sunlight. In the summer, 24 hours of sun shine.
• Tourism is their biggest industry.
• The new Whale Museum has 23 full scale size of whales displayed.
• To keep golfers happy, there are 14 golf courses in Reykjavik and a total of 66 in the country with more being built.
• Bobby Fischer, the 1972 World Chess Championship Player, won his title in Reykjavik and is buried in Selfoss, Iceland. 
• Green houses produce a variety of vegetables year round along with a variety of roses and tulips. 
• The air is the cleanest in the world.
• The water is so pure, you can safely drink directly from the tap. (I drank lots!)
• The hearty bred Icelandic horses sleep sitting on the ground instead of standing.
• Lamb and seafood are the main foods. There are lots of sheep farmers and fishermen.
• The wildlife consists of rats, field mice, minks, reindeer, and arctic foxes. A word about the arctic fox. They are in abundance and create a great danger to sheep and other livestock. If you kill one, you take the fox's tail to the government office and get paid a fee!
• Iceland is warmer than New York in the winter.
• Rotten shark fish is a popular dish.
• Tipping (contrary to rumors) is allowed. It is not mandatory but definitely appreciated.
• Icelanders are the biggest Coca Cola drinkers in the world!

 The Icelanders are a jovial and friendly people who warmly welcome tourists. So, on your way east to Europe, take a sharp left to Iceland and experience a land of unspoiled treasures.