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Cats, Chex Mix and Pixy Sticks: Road Trippin, Leena-style!

During my massive road trip from Chicago to San Francisco, I ate a lot. Like, more than any one person driving across country should, but then again, that’s how I roll. And I may have glandular issues, so leave a bitch alone. When I wasn’t eating my way through major cities across the country, I was eating homemade Chex Mix (7 cups barely made it past Nebraska…) and pixy sticks. Always with the pixy sticks. I also had time to pose for super awesome pictures with inanimate objects.

This is a HUGE reason why we married: we both love taking realistic photos with inanimate objects.

See, it’s funny cuz it’s IRONIC. Cuz I’m brown, see, and brown cowboys didn’t exist. And he is white, see, and white Indians didn’t exist. Unless you count all the white people who like to wear saris and dots on their heads and pretend they are Hindu. But that’s a different kind of Indian. Dot, not feather.

Proper eating after the jump…I promise! While passing through Denver, Colorado, we met up with a good set of friends that were mere days away from popping out baby #1, who we’ll call guapo #2. They wanted to show us the city they call home, so we went out to dinner at Rioja, a contemporary Mediterranean restaurant in the Lodo neighborhood of Denver. It was right before Thanksgivings when we were there, but the street the restaurant was on was lit up with tons of holiday lights. Adorable.

The lights of Lodo!

The “we heart organic-sustainable-local” part of the menu at Rioja. Yay!

The goat cheese-rosemary biscuits at Rioja.

For appetizers, we started off with the fresh bacon, or cardamom spiced Kurobuta pork belly, Madras curry scented fresh garbanzo bean pur?e. This was like fresh bacon. So yeah. We freaking LOVED it.

Rioja’s fresh bacon: cardamom spiced Kurobuta pork belly, Madras curry scented fresh garbanzo bean purée for $9.50 USD.

We also tried their artisan cheese flight and their picnic, or charcuterie plate. Although I can’t quite remember what was on these plates, I remember the entire table heartily enjoyed them both. There were plenty of little garnishes that made eating all the cheese and meats really fun and delicious.

Rioja’s artisanal cheese platter for $12.50 USD.

The picnic platter at Rioja for $12.50 USD.

For the second course, the four of us went for three salads and a soup. I started with the warm Brussels sprout salad with roasted delicata squash, pancetta apple vinaigrette & pistachio pistou. This was good, but I was disappointed that is merely a salad made from brussels sprouts leaves and not from actual chunks of brussels sprouts. The leaves are delicious, but not really substantial enough for a second course, you know? It was almost too light for a salad.

The warm brussels sprout salad at Rioja for $9.50 USD.

Being that this was back in November, there was a late-season caprese salad on the menu that was actual not terrible. And since my csa had tomatoes in November in Chicago, I knew this was okay.

The late-season caprese salad at Rioja.

There was a crispy polenta and yam salad that had a really nice contrast of textures.

The crispy parmesan polenta and red jewel yam salad with watercress, radicchio,black trumpet mushrooms-black truffle vinaigrette for $9.50 USD @ Rioja.

My favorite was probably Adam’s soup, the chestnut soup with foie gras terrine & brioche crostini. It was warm, savory and I’m sucker for any sort of foie gras.

The chestnut soup with foie gras terrine & brioche crostini for $13.50 USD at Rioja.

For mains (and yes, we could barely move by this point but still soldiered on), we started with the Muscovy duck breast, saffron manchego risotto, pistachio pine nut stuffed Medjool dates,saffron almond cracker & spiced citrus jus. This was a great duck breast. The fat was crisp and rendered nicely, and the duck breast was tender and juicy.

Muscovy duck breast with saffron manchego risotto, pistachio pine nut stuffed Medjool dates,saffron almond cracker & spiced citrus jus for $29 USD at Rioja.

I went with a steak, but it was so long ago, I can’t remember for the life of me what went with it!

This was a steak that is no longer on the menu, which is why you can’t know what exactly went with it. It was good, I can tell you that much.

Another guest went with the seared sea scallops with fennel parsley compote, chamomile beurre blanc, and napoleon of: hazelnut phyllo, carrot and parsnip pur?e. This was a delicious scallop dish. I loved the combination of flavors, so familiar and yet slightly new. Who doesn’t love a good napoleon?!

Seared sea scallops with fennel parsley compote, chamomile beurre blanc, and a napoleon of: hazelnut phyllo, carrot and parsnip purée for $24 USD at Rioja.

The last diner went with the brioche crusted skate wing with Jerusalem artichoke-fennel ?hash? and veloute, fennel grapefruit salad and red wine gastrique. The diner loved it, but by this point, I could barely eat, so I didn’t try it.

The brioche crusted skate wing with Jerusalem artichoke-fennel “hash” and veloute, fennel grapefruit salad & red wine gastrique for $24 USD at Rioja.

I had to save room for dessert, after all. I went with the coconut mango risotto ?stack? with Thai sticky rice napoleon, crisp tuiles, fresh mango slices, coconut sorbet. And as you can guess, it was freaking delicius. Nevermind that mangoes aren’t really in season–you put a crap ton of coconut on a plate and I’m a happy camper! We also tried a summer berry pudding of sorts. I believe this was strawberry.

Strawberry summer pudding at Rioja.

In the end, it was a delicious meal with great friends moments before a big moment in their life. Thanks for the great meal, Heather and Sean! I now end this post with awesome photos we took while driving through Colorado.

Look! It’s us! In front of a mountain in Colorado! Standing in the area made for trucks to put chains on their tires!

This one totally looks like I am flying through snowy mountains, right?

~LTG! *********************** Rioja Restaurant 1431 Larimer St Denver, CO 80202 (303) 820-2282 www.riojadenver.com