7/4/2006
There is more simplicity in the man who eats caviar on impulse than in the man who eats grapenuts on principle.” – G. K. Chesterton
WHEN G TURNED DOWN son Primo’s invitation to join he and I and his child bride, Brittany, to dine at Brook’s Steak House & Cellar (6538 S. Yosemite Circle, 303/770-1177, http://restauranteur.com/Brook’ssteakhouse) in favor of a previously scheduled rendezvous with several of her old time pals, Primo and I were both disappointed. There isn’t anyone that I’d rather have dinner at an upscale restaurant with than G. She thoroughly enjoys the food as well as the experience, and from a critic’s point of value, she offers invaluable insight. Those comments your read about the ambiance, the décor, and even some of the humorous statements, come from my partner of 25 years. She’s a great dining companion.
But then Primo suggested inviting my five-year old granddaughter, ‘Lil Emma, we got over our disappointment in a hurry. LE is named after Big Emma, AKA The Cuda, first name Bara, and we both thought that she would be a most acceptable replacement, of course for someone who is irreplaceable.
You’ve not been told much about LE before now. Some of us refer to her as Nana, Jr. cuz she’s so much like G it’s almost scary. We won’t go into all her attributes, but some of the key “terms” that come to mind are: bossy, girlish, princess – actually I think she’s been elevated to The Queen - high-maintenance, and SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed). LE puts herself in charge of just about everything in the whole world including the rest of the family and everyone she meets. And she does luv to eat. Especially the good stuff.
Since before LE was two, G and I could and did take her anywhere. There is nothing that child won’t try and very little that isn’t her “favorite food in the world”. When I am out of town G takes her to Le Central, the truly affordable and maaavelous French restaurant (112 E. 8th Ave, 303/863-8094; www.lecentral.com). They dine on Caesar Salad (with extra anchovies for LE, if you please), French bread, the largest bowl of mussels in the house, and of course, dessert. G complains that when she shares a salad with LE she winds up on the short end. I don’t know why they don’t order two salads?
Wanna hear more about this precocious and high maintenance little girl? I knew I was in trouble when she was about 20 months and had been visiting G over the lunch hour at the Community College of Denver where G is employed. LE came up to me that night and told me she knew what she wanted for her next birthday present. “Well, that’s nice I sed. What is it you think you want for a present?” I asked. “Diamonds, Pa.” She sed. I’m not sure if she was led down the wrong path by her nana or one of the folks G works with but I have my eye on all of them.
There’s the day her mother, Camille, was shopping for an assortment of appetizers for some houseguests. When Camille came to the prosciutto, LE insisted on buying the imported variety; apparently the “domestic” wasn’t good enuf for her. Later, as Camille was putting the finishing touches to the dining table, LE was found in the kitchen devouring the $24 a pound prosciutto all by her lonesome. That’s just a sample for you.
Might as well comment on dinner, since that’s what I get paid the big bucks to do.
It had been a while since I had been in this fine restaurant located just east of the Tech Center off of Arapahoe Road and I-25. I used to spot it heading south on the Valley Highway (y’all know what that road is? Ask an old-timer), but there’s been so much expansion you can’t see that gorgeous old building anymore without being on the top of a double decker. So I was pleased when I was asked to dinner there.
I’m not the décor guy, but the place is what you would expect when you go to an upscale, fine dining, steakhouse; the place is gorgeous. But onto the food. And if you don’t know, Brook’s serves only the finest prime beef.
When we were seated at the table we were immediately served a warm loaf of thevery good house onion bread and fresh butter. Sorry, no olive oil dipping here, which suits me just fine. We started with some munchies. The jumbo shrimp cocktail ($14.95) I started out with was good, but unlike the cocktail sauce being served separately for dipping, the shrimp came lightly covered with a mediocre sauce. If I’d had more of it I might have liked it. Our W never offered to bring any more sauce altho I did one of my famous sneers: “Is the kitchen out of sauce?” No answer. No more sauce either. Our other munchie, the fried calamari ($8.95) was stupendous, more like strips of calamari steak rather than the traditional ugly globs of tentacles that you usually find. LE, as expected, ate about half the large order, leaving the rest of us to share the other half.
Brook’s is not one of those places you bring kids. Not only is it expensive and few children would appreciate the difference between a prime aged filet mignon and a Big Mac, but this is a fine dining, upscale, steakhouse. Even without lingering over cocktails, dinner is typically a two plus hour event. Kids typically shouldn’t be expected to sit still for that long a period. So it wasn’t surprising that there are no items on the menu for them. Many restaurants that don’t offer children’s menus can prepare something, perhaps a luncheon-size dish, for children that do come. But Brook’s isn’t open for lunch. When asked, the W suggested a pasta dish for her, something that isn’t even offered on the ample menu. Knowing that while LE luvs everything, she would fill up on bread, salad and calamari. We opted to share our dinners with her.
Brittany ordered the large 14-oz filet ($37.95) to share with LE, and Primo (real name Doug) ordered the 22-ounce bone-in rib-eye steak ($36.95) with the idea that if the filet weren’t enuf for the ladies, he would have plenty of extra. Ha! He devoured that sucka with a bare bone left over.
I ordered the ultra fab double rib lamb chops ($39.95) with plans to not share one glorious bite. Yeah, I’d had them before and they’re the best in town. OK, I offered to share but got no takers.
Doug and Brittany ordered their steaks medium, altho I told them that LE prefers her steak medium-rare, forgetting for the moment that the kitchen serves every steak under-cooked anyway. Ceptin’ for my lamb chops that were ordered medium-rare but over-cooked and served medium to medium-well. But no one complained and the steaks and lamb chops were outstanding.
Brook’s serves tasty garlic mashies and boring foo foo broccoli with every dinner. We even were served a complementary giant dish of yummy creamed corn for our table. I don’t recall if they’ve always served the complementary sides or it’s a result from the very heavy competition in the tech center; most every major steakhouse in the country now has a restaurant here. They also offer several sides at a cost of $7.95 and $8.95 but there were no takers at our table.
Dessert is one area that Brook’s really outshines the competition. From the large selection of yummy-looking desserts, we selected three desserts for the four of us. LE and I each had the recommended chocolate pudding, certainly the best I’ve ever had in Colorado. Doug ordered the W’s fav, Brook’s answer to a popular chocolate-covered brownie, but this was chocolate-covered pound cake replete with all the traditional accompaniments including slivers of almonds.
I thought our service for this fine dining emporium, was below par. Our W seemed aloof and unfriendly. Except for dessert, he never made a suggestion. See my comments above about the cocktail sauce.
Brook’s is an independently owned, award-winning restaurant. In 2004 they were awarded the very prestigious DiRoNa (Distinguished Restaurants of North America) award for excellence.
And of course y’all should be aware that they are available for catering and private dining; check out their website or give them a call.
I’m sure the staff at Brook’s was surprised at the presence of the world’s most mature five-year old, but by the end of the rather long evening they were delighted we had brought her, and she was glad she had come. Last seen Uncle Doug was carrying her out the front door and she was carrying her doggie bag, ready for a nap on the way home.
Until I report on our (LE’s and mine) next dining adventure, enjoy the smoke-free dining anywhere and everywhere in Colorado.
Cya.
In his real life Jay Fox is a CPA. He offers all kinds of good tax planning advice, financial calculators and the latest in tax news at his website: www.jayfoxcpa.com. He just writes this column for the money.