Frasca Food & Wine   

It was what I considered to be an excellent dining experience. It has the whole package.I have eaten at the Laundry and Frasca is just a miniscule behind their excellence.

Note: For the one who said the kitchen can't keep up on a Saturday night... I disagree. It's probably the most intense kitchen as far as attention to detail, quality, and everything else that goes on in a professional kitchen. You may not have had a great experience but I know people who have had terrible experiences at The French Laundry. People are not perfect...and the idea of striving for perfection is just an idea..there's no such thing as a perfect dining experience, just the idea of it. You may not enjoy the cuisine or the creativity of it but on my experience..the quality is higher than any other restaurant in the state. The Chefs spend countless hours focusing on details that wouldn't even have come to mind in other restaurants.

Mixed reviews at our table.

First thing is the best one. The wine list and the sommelier. Very interesting presentation of the wines on the list and the discussion of the sommelier's finds was really enlightening. His boss came by and after we praised him, he said, "His salary broke the budget." Well, boss, he deserves it. He matched our food with wines I had never heard of and this is after 30 years of studying wines.

The appetizers received mixed reviews. The grilled tuna served on an egg salad base with citrus zest was found by one to be intersting, lively and with complimentary tastes. Me? I found the ingredients did not contribute to the amplitude of the dish in the mouth. The pate (second time we have had this) was insipid. No character, no charm and served with dried out, sawdust-like toast. The roast beef shavings with parmesan cheese and greens received high praise.

Main courses: 2 divided the veal rack. beautiful piece of meat but in need of spicing up. Heavy salt addition brought the perfectly cooked meat to life, but the combination served was all together disappointing. The saddle of lamb was simply marvelous.

The mixed chocolate dessert was...ho-hum...not much of a dessert to serve at a place like this. The hot chocolate dessert "made with the world`s best chocolate" was okay.

At the French Laundry, no dish leaves the kitchen without being perfect. These guys have good wine, great sommelier, wonderful raw ingredients, but like some many Denver restaurants, problems in execution. Saturday night is often said to be an unfair evening to test a restaurant. I disagree. It is the best time. Obviously, these guys cannot handle the rush like they should.