Epicurean Encounters: Restaurant Week: Barolo

The last time I dined at Barolo in Denver was over 10 years ago. The fact that the restaurant has thrived for so long speaks volumes. I have wanted to revisit Barolo, thus Restaurant Week provided the perfect opportunity. Even though our reservation was for a Thursday night, the place was packed to the gills. Instead of a three course dinner like other Restaurant Week participants, for $30 per person,Barolo offered a four course dinner of antipasti, primi piatti (first course), secondi piatti, and a dolce (dessert).
Additionally, for $23, they offered an Italian wine pairing with each of the four courses. Don wisely chose the wine pairing, and I asked the knowledgeable server to select a glass of white wine that would pair well with most of my meal. She brought me an Italian chardonnay, which unlike Californian chardonnays, was not oaky. It was crisp and dry with a medium finish and was excellent throughout the meal.
Our first courses were a salad of prosciutto with Rocky Ford cantaloupe and a field green salad with summer vegetables. The melons were artfully cubed and their sweetness balanced the saltiness of the prosciutto. The green salad was beautifully plated with a generous dollop of creamy Haystack Mountain goat cheese and a toast point.
The primi piatti was a hearty house made fetuccini with a piemontese meat sauce which tasted like it had been simmering all day. The pasta was perfectly al dente. The risotto was aromatic, rich, and creamy, and topped with earthy foraged mushrooms and Olathe sweet corn. Umami heaven in every bite.
We thought perhaps the main course would be a small portion as everything else had been pretty substantial up to this point. The secondi piatti proved us wrong. The branzino arrived with a perfectly pan crisped skin that tasted as good as it looked. The plating of this dish was particularly lovely. The eggplant puree, free of superfluous seasonings, allowed the sweetness of the vegetable to shine. I don't usually like fish entrees because they are so hard to prepare well, but this one blew me away! Don's slow cooked pork shoulder was equally enjoyable. The meat was tender and full of flavor, the polenta provided a creamy mouth feel, and the pickled summer vegetables delivered the acid needed to balance the richness of the dish.
The dessert proved to be as exceptional as the last three dishes we savored. The vanilla panna cotta was the perfect ending to a delightful evening of eating and drinking. The Tahitian vanilla bean dust added visual interest as well as flavor. The Palisade peach compote was a lovely use of seasonal and local produce.
The restaurant's annual educational hiatus to Barolo, Italy really shows in the knowledge of the waitstaff. The service was on par with the food. I believe I have a new favorite Denver restaurant.