LIFE IS GRAND! 

Rhapsody’s At Clear Creek

1027 Washington St, Golden – 303/279-6671 

   WHEN YOU DINE AT THE SAME RESTAURANT time and time again, the food is consistently spectacular and the service is consistently superior, why would you dine anywhere else? The answer is, because you have to. 

 

As a “paid belly”, a term used to describe food critics/reviewers; I have to eat all over town. G, as the spouse, has to go with me. Quite often I drag along some or all of the kids and the grandkids. Of course part of the fun in this job is discovering new places, bad-mouthing bad places, and yanking the cord of servers and chefs to see their reactions in a real world setting. Sometimes even ticking off an owner or manager.  

 

But if I had muh druthers, I’d eat at the same two-dozen or so great restaurants all the time. Rhapsody’s would be one of them. Don’t ask me for the list. 

 

Several columns back I hinted about the fine dining you would enjoy here and at two other restaurants that I include in the same category; all three G and I discovered within a few weeks of each other. These three fine dining eateries had one common thread. The menu on the surface is not particularly new and exciting. It ‘s what the chef does with the food: the creative spices, herbs, sauces, and accompaniments that make them exciting. That makes them special. Of course value, ambience and service are an integral part of the experience to get on my “List of Fav’s”. 

 

G and I have dined at Rhapsody’s about a dozen times including brunch and dinner during the six months it has been in existence. I have dined there once for lunch with someone other than G. And I have never been forgiven for that “misstep”. But DA Dave made me take him there. 

 

Every meal at Rhapsody’s has been spectacular.  ‘Ceptin for the bugger I had on that lunch visit. But someone wanting to dine does not come here for a bugger; I’m just sort of freakish cuz I have to try the bugger if it’s on the menu, just as I have to try apple pie if it’s house made. And y’all know that I’ve eaten more bad apple pie than anyone else in America. I’ve probably also had more bad buggers than most anyone else in America. Come Memorial Day 2005 I am going to eat a lot more bad buggers cuz I’m going to the First National Hamburger Festival in Akron, Ohio. Gee, I can’t wait. But I gotta go, right? 

 

Rhapsody’s is a beautiful restaurant with a charming atmosphere; big windows looking out over the creek on the north side, and more windows on the Washington Street side soes you can watch the world go by. Other writers might spend paragraphs describing the rooms and the decorations but I’m gonna get right into the food and service.  

 

I would be remiss if I failed to mention that the owners, Petra and Kurt Schramm, also own and operate the café bakery, Café Touché, located next door. Both eateries share the same kitchen. Mornings at the café are a must. 

 

All the menus change monthly, but the favorites remain. Perhaps Executive Chef Chris Miracolo might change a sauce or an accompaniment, but each menu is a new adventure.  

 

Our first experience was Sunday brunch. G dined on Crab cake Benedict with poached eggs, fresh herbed cheddar biscuits smothered in a citrus chili hollandaise. I “suffered” thru Eggs on Fire, with a four-ounce tenderloin, spiced scrambled eggs (instead of the usual “sunnyside” eggs) and spiced fried potatoes. Yo! I also had apple strudel from the bakery café next door.  While I prefer my desserts to be sweeter than those found in a German style bakery, this strudel was stupendous in spite of the lack of sweetness.  

 

Other items on the brunch menu include Belgian French Toast ($7), a pool of wild berry, infused Maple syrup sweet ginger butter; buttermilk pancakes ($7) crowned with brown butter banana compote, pecans, apple wood bacon, sausage & sizzled chile-onion hash browns; grilled chicken Caesar salad  ($10) with apple wood bacon, sliced almond & avocado; and rare seared Ahi salad with torn greens, mango, green beans, red pepper in a lemongrass vinaigrette; and grilled flatiron steak)$13) with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, house vegetables, horseradish drizzle & tobacco onion. This is just a sampling of the brunch menu; there are a dozen entrees in all. Not a large menu, but you won’t look hard to find something to go nuts about. 

 

Lunch is less complicated but certainly not average. The menu consists of three or four munchies, eight entrees, and four desserts, Start with something like crisp fried calamari ($8), rock shrimp & onions with a lemon-caper remoulade, or perhaps a chicken Caesar salad (see above). A main plate might be something as simple as pan-fried Rainbow trout with lemon oregano dressed Greek salad; fettuccini ($13) with Gulf shrimp, Tasso ham, blistered tomato & spinach in a garlic wine sauce sprinkled with grated provolone; or perhaps barbecued pork ($11) en Pasilla Relleno over mascarpone corn sauce with crisp plantain. Are you chomping at the bit yet? Heeeerrrrreeeeee comes dinner!  

 

Dim the lights abit, turn on some soft music, polish up the wine glasses, have super Maitre ‘d Nicholas Champion, who is always nattily attired, make one last check of the dining rooms to see that all is perfect, and let them in the door. Cuz they is gonna come. 

 

Master Server Michael (that’s our personal perfect server) is instantly there at Table 55 with the menu of the night. I told you that the menu changes monthly, but Kurt’s month isn’t always the same as everyone else’s month. So the menu might change on the 7th, or perhaps the 15th, it’s good to be surprised. A glass of G’s favorite chardonnay, La Crema, is served. I’m either on water or, if Dr. Stan isn’t watching, a French martini. 

 

“Small plates”, munchies to most of us, are usually between five and seven items; “main plates” number seven or eight; desserts will range from three to five depending on how worn out the staff is by then.  

 

Start with a maaavelous soup. It might be roasted garlic with Brie soufflé, or something equally divine. Perhaps you might select a small plate of blue lump crab cake ($11) with charred tomato, avocado cream & crispy tortilla salad dressed with cilantro & chilies, or you might choose seared diver scallops ($12) butternut squash ravioli, sage & pecans fried in brown butter. Howsabout Maine lobster spring rolls ($13) with Chayote-mango slaw & peanut-hoison dipping sauce. 2-die-4. 

 

Then a house-made complementary palate-cleanser is served, perhaps a lemon champagne sorbet, or a wild alligator vanilla and purple candied hoosiedinket. 

 

Entrees might include seared halibut ($27) & grilled lime marinated prawns with smashed boniato, haricot verts & calabaza sauce; G’s fav, roasted pork tenderloin ($21) with bacon-butternut ragout, roasted garlic mash & pan sauce; Pan-roasted Muscovy duck breast ($25), sherried lentils, sautéed wild mushrooms & pan sauce; grilled rack of lamb ($29) cassoulet with grainy mustard jus & green beans; or perhaps mahogany glazed scallops ($26) with pineapple-scented cous cous & tempura carrots. Do I have your attention? 

 

The Shramms have special dinners for many occasions. Valentine’s Day had a special price fixe menu. We started with a house salad of asparagus, crumbled blue cheese, hazelnuts & warm greens in fresh orange vinaigrette - the best salad G and I have ever had. Then jumbo lump crab cake with pommery-cayenne butter, tomato-fennel confit & petit herb salad in tarragon oil. Now comes your choice of pan roasted Florida grouper with saffron potato, wilted spinach, tomato filet, lemon basil nage and cracked Picholine olives, OR cumin dusted beef tenderloin with griddled asparagus, roasted new potatoes in garlic cream with smoked gouda & tasso. The meal included two desserts, a dark chocolate soufflé for two with vanilla sauce, and a lavender tuile and Cupid’s strawberry compote.  Price? Fifty bucks per, plus, tax, tip and booze. Yeah. Not a bad place. All this and hardly any carbs or calories. 

 

Rhapsody’s is open Saturday and Sunday for brunch from 9 am to 3 pm, lunch Tuesday thru Friday from 11 am to 2 pm, and dinner Tuesday thru Saturday from 5:30 pm to 10 pm.  Reservs are always suggested. 

   Cya.