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After reading the Denver Post article about High Lonesome Ranch, I was eager to get my hands on some of Chef Ayres' food
FOOD
Compared to other meals we've had of this caliber, the 12-course tasting dinner at Cloverdale is a downright steal! Not a single course was a disappointment. The bass with succotash in bass broth was cooked to perfection. The egg in an bird's nest was perhaps the best presentation I've ever seen. Was it a crab cake ball with summer squashes served on a bed of rocks? That was my favorite. We saw some VIPs being presented with a beautiful duck that had been aged for two days. Apparently that's the meat on this week's menu. I love marrow and tartare, and while neither was the best I'd ever had, it was nice to be informed that both were sourced from the same cow. In fact, I found myself grinning with every mention of "from the farm". They are staying true to their farm-to-table aims. The Palisade peach dessert was another favorite. Oh, and the Cloverdale goat's milk caramels were perfect. We left full, but not painfully stuffed to the seams.
WINE
This was the only area that I felt could use improvement. My husband did the tasting flight, and said he wouldn't do it again. I believe he was served 6 different beverages. The Cava, a far too off dry Riesling (in our non-professional opinions) and the Sherry were full pours, but the others were much smaller, as you'd expect with typical wine pairings. However, those short pours are usually because you receive more wines, in our experience. That Riesling we didn't care much for was actually supposed to last for 3 courses, but he wasn't informed of that until his glass was empty. (I actually loved the Riesling, but felt it overshadowed the dishes it was paired with, especially the light radish dish). One of the pairings was a sweet mocktail. The single glass of Boudreaux blend I chose was absolutely delicious. I found the wine selection to be adequate and thorough for most tastes.
We were told we would not be presented with the menu until we completed all 12 courses (we actually never saw a menu, unfortunately--I would have liked to have been better able to describe some of the dishes), which we thought would make selecting a single bottle difficult. There was the option of a sommelier tasting flight, so perhaps there was a sommelier or wine saavy server in house who could help direct you to an appropriate bottle without ruining the surprise of the menu to come.
SERVICE
Slightly less than perfect in some areas. A dry Spanish white was mistakenly poured into a dirty Riesling glass left on the table; a plate was cleared before I was finished eating; a dish was served before the silverware arrived, causing the backwaiter to scramble, and one of our courses I assume was inadvertently delivered to the table besides us who was seated 15 minutes after us, causing a ~10 minute period where we had no food and no drinks. None of these were night-ruiners for us by any means, and the latter two were apologized for. There's really not another comparable restaurant in the area (Ayers clearly did his due diligence in selecting this location), so if they hired the staff locally, I'm sure these minor infractions will improve with experience. Also, I wouldn't have traded any of our staff regardless. Part of what I love about even fancy places in Colorado is that we still don't take things too seriously here, to the point that service is flawless but impersonal. Our servers laughed with us on more than one occasion; a gentleman who appeared to be in the GM role gave us a cocktail bar recommendation for after; and our server even noticed when I slipped my jacket on mid-dinner, and apologized that I was seated directly over a vent, and I think turned down the air ever so slightly afterwards, allowing me to remove my jacket, but also not causing anyone else in the dining room appear to be too warm. I felt like it was a very personal and real dining experience. The building is charming and parking was easy. I think they're doing everything right!
