Rioja -- Better the Second Time

Our first trip to the Larimer Square restaurant Rioja had us trying a disgusting fig appetizer that had the texture of slugs, a second unremarkable appetizer that was a tiny portion, and finally getting overcharged at the end of the evening. After that we stayed away for a while, but when my mom came into town, we decided to give it a second chance as we had heard increasingly good things about it from our friends.

So we returned.

Rioja is in half of the converted location of one of my old favorite lunchtime restaurants, Josephine's.  They use the interesting space to spread diners and drinkers out along a small bar in the front and an exposed plating and chef's bar in the back that extends into two rooms. The owners must have contracted to have some interesting custom sconces made for their hanging lights and they have some additional hand-blown glass on the walls that, to untrained eyes, reminds me of Pismo art glass. My one consistent complaint about the restaurant is that it is too loud, but other than that we had a much better experience on this second visit.

For an appetizer we decided to try the Rioja 'Picnic' a delicious combination of shaved meats, olives, fruit, almonds, and more. The plate offered plenty of tastes and quantities to satisfy the three of us, especially when paired with the fresh breads that are brought around by the serving staff. The shaved duck breast and Speck were delicious, as was the chorizo. The olives were, thankfully, not the boring green olives found in Madrid, but were instead a good variety of Mediterranean black and green olives that I love.

The breads were quite good in themselves. The rosemary and goat cheese biscuits were good, though I didn't taste much rosemary. The lavender country bread really tasted of lavender. My favorites were the fennel buns. Those were well worth the carbs!

For dinner, J tried a plate of goat cheese agnolotti that were small pasta made with figs, onion, and port wine reduction sauce. She loved the flavors and the presentation of the relatively small portion (though enough to satisfy) was quite reminiscent of 'first plates' in Italy.

Mom tried a rib-eye and was happy with it. The steak had a tasty sweet sauce and was paired with a twice-baked (stuffed) potato that didn't go to waste. Mom paired two half-glasses of wine, one Merlot and one Cabernet, with her dishes and liked the combinations.

For my dish, I selected an ahi dish that combined ahi, chorizo, a vinaigrette, and some greens. The flavor was good, but overall the dish was a bit pedestrian. Definitely something that we've made at home. The oddest component was a corn flan that topped the ahi and which tasted exactly like corn on the cob. Congrats on achieving the flavor, but the concept and actuality were a bit strange. I also didn't find that the corn flavor went at all with the rest of the dish except that perhaps the sausage, vinaigrette, and corn were supposed to invoke the tastes of a barbeque.

For dessert we shared a raspberry with white- and dark chocolate torte, decorated with a raspberry coulis. It was colorful but not memorable.

For a wine bar, the bottles are overpriced. We selected individual drinks so as not to get stuck with an expensive bottle of wine that we didn't like. The wines were definitely San Francisco prices (or higher)... and this is Denver. The lack of a chef's choice or house wine selection was also a minus and perhaps poorly considered.

We were pleasantly surprised by the overall tastes and experience of our return trip to Rioja. Far superior in taste and presentation to Frasca, a much more expensive and acclaimed restaurant in Boulder, we'll probably be back, if only to share the picnic and a couple of half-glasses of wine.