The Populist

Last night Zach and I cashed in a very thoughtful wedding  gift from one of his college buddies.

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We ventured to what is becoming one of our favorite parts of town for a very trendy dinner date night to celebrate 5 years at The Populist.

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Right as we walked in I knew this was our kind of place.  The bar looked to be a unique collection of book shelves holding a great deal of delicious drink options.

We were quoted a 15 minute wait and escorted straight to a seat at the bar.  I mentioned very casually to the hostess that it was our anniversary (she asked if we wanted to sit in a shared seat, and I asked if it were OK that we wait, because it was our anniversary).  I thought nothing of it and enjoyed a glass of white wine at the bar with the boy.

Right around 15 minutes later, we were escorted to a window seat that was perfect for the two of us.  We quickly put in an order of brussel sprouts and settled in.

The Populist has a limited but spectacular menu of small plates meant to be shared.  Zach and I love meals like this because it allows us to try a bunch of different plates, in stead of just stealing each other’s food (just me?)

 

The sprouts were served with pine nuts and pork belly and were AMAZING.  They were the perfect temperature (weird, I know. . . but I like my food HOT) and were bursting with flavor.

This dish did a great job of wetting our appetite before putting in our main order.  Zach and I shared the kale salad and a pasta plate

 

This is the one dish that I probably ate my fair share of more of.  The kale had the perfect bite and the mix in of pistachios and pine nuts were just perfection.

 

And this little pasta and sausage? COME ON.  The broth that all this was served in tasted like it had been cooking for weeks.  It literally exploded with flavor.   Zach and I both dominated this plate without any problem.

We contemplated ordering another plate. . . but ultimately decided against it due to the size of the three plates we already had (they were large!).   We ordered dessert drinks but were surprised by a nice little sweet treat to celebrate our anniversary.

 

It was a lemon cake of some kind with granola something or another on the side (how do you like that description? I apologize Populist).   Zach does NOT like citrus but totally gobbled up this plate.  You know I was all over the granola and lemon.  YUM.  The perfect way to wrap up the  meal.

When Zach and I got the check, we were surprised to see that both our dessert and first round of drinks had been comped.   We of course made up for it in tip, but how awesome is it when you get little surprises like that?

You better believe Zach and I left happy and planning our next trip to the Populist ASAP.  As we were walking out we noticed what looked like an awesome outdoor patio that we fully plan on taking advantage of this Spring/Summer.

If you are in the Denver area, you’ve gotta check out the Populist.  The service was spectacular, the food is unique and the drinks are dangerous.