"Sub-$100 tasting menus in Denver are rarer than a traffic-free drive on I-70, which is why Wildflower is worth braving rush hour for. The seven- to nine-course meal takes familiar ingredients and pushes them way out of their comfort zones, like sweet corn cotton candy over agnolotti. While the prix fixe is the best value here, the a la carte options are solid as well. The Italian- and Mexican-leaning menu reads a little like someone threw some ingredients into a Yahtzee cup and cobbled together dinner with what fell out—like scallops and ricotta with Japanese yam, or huitlacoche, pasta, and mussels. The menu is constantly changing and partially dictated by what’s fresh in the garden (started by the chef’s mom), but if the octopus carpaccio is an option, order it or regret it forever. The space, in LoHi’s Life House hotel, is vaguely Victorian and darkly romantic, with jewel-toned banquettes, floral displays, and frontier-themed art. It’s all so charming that we can overlook our server’s treatise about beehive architecture and sustainable ranching. photo credit: Wildflower" - Allyson Reedy
