Thursday, September 17, 2009

Venue Bistro

A few weeks ago, before we headed to a Thursday night pre-season Bronco game, Courtney, her Mother-in-law, Erika, and my mom and I stopped at Venue for drinks and dinner.


Well known Denver Chef and Owner, Holly Hartnett, is a former culinary school mate of my mom. So when we were trying to figure out where to go near the stadium, Venue was a fabulous choice!


The Highlands is where everyone wants to be, from living, shopping and dining, it’s where you’ll find some of the best spots in town. Venue is just in from the busy happenin’ corner of 32nd and Lowell. The patio is small and has the feel of a novel set in a New York City neighborhood. We pulled two tables together and enjoyed a bottle of the house wine, Venue White, made especially for Venue! It’s a blend of Viognier, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc that is crisp and a great paring to everything we tried.


Between the four of us, we ordered the happy hour Pork Quesadilla, Arugula Salad and the Shrimp and grits. There were a couple orders of each item, and they were all fabulous. I have to get on a soap box here and scream from a mountain top how absolutely FABULOUS the Shrimp and Grits are!!!!! A few things…first, I don’t like the texture of gritty, sandy, granular foods, and grits are in that category. I inquired about the grits, and she described them as smooth, creamy and buttery. So I thought what the heck, I’m ordering something outside of my box and it sounds like a very interesting combination.


Turns out this is Venue’s signature dish, as it should be! It’s served in a dinner size shallow bowl, but the size is more of a small plate. The creamy grits are in a perfect circle in the center of the dish surrounded by a thin circle of chartreuse sweet thai chile sauce. The shrimp are huge, 3 bites per shrimp and beautifully displayed overlapping one another in the center. I started from the outside in, getting a little of the chile sauce and fork full of grits…amazing, creamy, buttery, and how grits should be! I’ve never had grits like this. They are smooth with almost a mashed potato consistency. The chili sauce adds the perfect amount of sweet to the dish and a little spice. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and a perfect meat to accompany this dish. I don’t know that I’ll ever try anything else on the menu because that is all I want! I guess when I’m there, someone will have to order that, so I can taste a little piece of heaven!


The Pork Quesadilla are moist, delicious and plenty of food to share or as an entrée. The glue holding them together is Swiss cheese which is a unique combo with the BBQ sauce. A great bet for something savory with a hint of tang! The Arugula Salad is something that everyone has, but this one is refreshing, a perfect size to accompany an entrée and the candied walnuts bring the entire salad together.


The menu at Venue changes often with the changing of season and availability of fresh food, which just forces you to go back and try something new! I’m calculating my next visit…here I come Shrimp and Grits, or maybe something new?!


Cheers!!!


http://www.venuebistro.com/


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