Denver Restaurant Week

Team Delicatessen went to Panzano for Denver Restaurant Week (restaurants across Denver let you get a multicourse dinner for two for $52.80, alcohol and tip not included.) (UPDATE: Come to find out, we could've gotten many of the same dishes for less during Panzano's happy hour. Oh, well. You live and learn. More proof that Denver Restaurant Week is increasingly not all you think it will be)  Here's the four-course menu of small plates that Panzano is offering. You get to choose one item under each course listing.

When the servers recommend that at least one person at your table get the mushroom crepe, they are not kidding! Earthy mushrooms and a delightful sauce. The fried brussel sprouts with pistachio and thin green apple slices is also tasty, and you get a nice serving size. For the second course, most of us tried the spinach salad, with maple dressing, gorgonzola, pear slices, walnuts.

For the main course, two of us got the gnocchi with rabbit, leeks, tomato, mushroom. Getting all those ingredients together in one bite is a really nice, well-rounded, flavorful bite. Mr. P discovered he actually likes rabbit. The other two got Pollo Marsala (chicken breast) on top of mushroom risotto, w/ fried prosciutto and truffle oil on top. I found the chicken on the dry side, but it is a decent-sized plate. The gnocchi comes in a small little pot. Though it looks small, it's the right proportion for a 4-course meal, but it looks so small!

 Also tiny are the desserts, though for your health, it's probably just right. The creme brulee was vanilla-flavored on the night we were there. The lemon tart had a thin crust with meringue on top, and it was laid on top of a plate with raspberry preserve ladled on it. Tiramisu: solid. Service was attentive. It's fun to watch the staff in the open kitchen.