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| Wednesday, November 01, 2006 |
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Fork It: Aqua
By Image Mag Staff @ 12:00 AM :: 504 Views ::
0 Comments :: Food
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wordplay by Ben Simkins
images by Sean Hartgrove
As Coloradans, we expect the best in all things. Clean air, good food, good wine and good beer. Colorado has one of the best microbrewery cultures in the U.S., making up for Coors’ lack luster approach. But sometimes expecting the best is not enough. We love French (wait I mean freedom) cheese and wine, yet our supply sorely disappoints on most occasions. There is another delicacy that dwells far from our glistening snow covered peaks, one that we sometimes have trouble finding the quality we demand, nay deserve!
Here in Colorado the closest things we have to the sea are Cherry Creek Reservoir and Ocean Journey. If you’re prepared to go a-late-night poaching in the shark tanks, or brave chewing on what the Cherry Creek Reservoir has to offer…more power to you. However, the rest of us now have a focal point to turn our seafood craving appetites to.
Located on the 9th and Lincoln corner of the Beauvallon, Aqua sits nearly directly opposite its sister restaurant Opal, an award-winning sushi place. “So why put two seafood restaurants a block apart?” I hear you ask. “They’re not Starbucks.” Easy. While Opal in its own right serves a solid and taste bud defying menu, Aqua is an experience I have, up till now, not been able to find in our fair city. From the moment you walk in, you know that they are in the business of seafood, and they take it very seriously. From the towering 600 gallon fish tank located in the middle of the restaurant, to the bar surrounding it that depicts beach meets sea, you immediately get the message that you ain’t getting a steak on this menu.
Once seated by their super attentive and uber-knowledgeable staff, take a look at the menu.
Now, if you’re like me and find that sometimes you’re a little out of your depth in a sea of menu items that all sound so good you don’t know where to head, Aqua feels your pain and they conveniently have the answer. At the very end of the menu you will find the pearl of knowledge that you seek. The Chef’s Muse! Head Chef Jose Guerrero gave us the low down on this, the holy grail of seafood. The Chef’s Muse is designed for two people wanting to come in, relax, and leave not only the cooking, but also the selection up to the chef. It entails six to eight courses of inspired mastery that may or may not be found on the menu. And the whole selection is derived from a few simple questions asked by your server. You may be thinking this is modern day potluck, but oh you would be wrong. It’s more like finding yourself as a judge on Food Network’s Iron Chef. Each sublimely presented dish is set in front of you with an explanation from the servers. This then allows you to play the part of judge as you move through the dishes talking about how “the truffles accentuate the tarragon in the crab.”
Just to give a sample of the host of insane treasures we were presented with, here are my top three for the night. We started our tour with the menu item New Style Sashimi, which consisted of Yellowtail with Serrano sauce, sizzling soy salmon and black pepper Goma Tuna. Balance was the order of the day here. With the heat of the Serrano chili only accenting the sweetness of the Yellowtail and the soy punching up the salmon, yet surprisingly keeping the salt down to a minimum. Next up was another three-part dish that our server suggested be eaten in this order. A raw Kumamoto oyster served with citrus soy. A Wellfleet oyster presented “Rockafella” (their spelling). And to finish it up, a Chesapeake oyster found in a lemongrass, Bloody Mary shot with just a trace of vodka. To top the trio, Guerrero whipped up a raw Wellfleet oyster, wrapped in a strip of bacon smoked salmon, topped with crème fresh and American caviar. Although these made my top three, the rest of the night’s offerings were nothing short of inspired.
Once we had signaled to Guerrero that we could take no more we received the dessert, always a chef special item. Today, Guerrero was serving Mochi ice cream, rice dough surrounding strawberry and vanilla ice cream in a little mouth-sized parcel. And so ended our evening, but come October 31st it won’t have to be, as Aqua also boasts the opening of a lounge located at the back of the restaurant where you can work off the served bounty.
If you find that three’s never a crowd and you prefer the more the merrier, then Aqua’s there for you again. Guerrero promised us that he is flexible on the number of people for the chef’s muse. He will adapt the amount of courses, but he will always ensure that you leave mentally and physically satisfied.
925 Lincoln
(303) 839.0034
www.AquaDenver.com
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