Dining near the ART in Denver

When Les Flâneurs have only 36 hours in a town, the best we can usually manage is lunch and dinner.  Or in the case of this visit, dinner and lunch.  Breakfast can be a memorable experience, such as a brunch on New Orleans or any breakfast of coffee and croissants in Paris, but we usually favor a coffee and yogurt in the room.  This way we can "bank our calories" for the rest of the day!

We arrived in Denver, after a 4 hour drive from Crested Butte, just in time for dinner.  Feeling a bit constrained due to the heavy snowfall that greeted us, we wanted to stay close to the ART.  While Yelp provides many nearby alternatives in our two $$ four **** sweetspot, we were united in "feeling Italian"  and nearby Lo Stella Ristorante filled the bill.

Italian cuisine is one that meshes perfectly with our "two meals are better than one philosophy" because of the great array of Insalate, Antipasti and Secondi typically available.  When you take the opportunity to know your server, by consulting on favorite dishes, they are usually only too happy to deliver the dishes in sequence either with a second plate or already divvied up!  And Barbara managed this for us in splendid fashion!  We began with the insalate medditeranea, moved on to a tagliatelli della "Nonna Laura" (bolognese from chef's grandmother's recipe) and capped off with Agnello "Lo Stella" (providing our chance to sample Colorado lamb on the trip.)

For lunch the next day, following our visit to The Denver Art Museum, we chose Zeps Epiq Sandwiches, where we shared the Red Rocks Hot Chicken (an adaptation of Nashville hot chicken) and a Colorado Cubano.  To this Flâneur, there is nothing better than a finely crafted local sammich.  Local food at its finest.