Food in Fort Collins
Food, wine, restaurants, even home cooking.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Recipe Site Upgrade
I’ve significantly upgraded the recipe site. The recipe search capabilities are much improved as is the user interface. Check it out by clicking on “Our Favorite Recipes” in the links on the right-hand side of the page. Site membership is still required to view recipes.
Rick
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Thursday, June 23, 2005
Monaco Trattoria in Loveland
Tonight we decided to eat out again. (That is twice in as many weeks, unusual for us!) We went to an Italian restaurant in Loveland called Monaco Trattoria. I don’t know how long it has been open, but I heard from a work colleague that it was good.
The atmosphere was good. It is not an intimate place, the seating is all in one room side-by-side, but not inappropriate for an Italian restaurant.
I think a lot of people think of pasta and tomato sauce when they think of Italian food. But, the Monaco serves authentic Southern Italian food. The chef, Guiseppe, is from the Sorrento area, I think. There are painting of the Blue Grotto on the walls and a great mural of what could be Sorrento.
The service was good. I think they are still working out some of the kinks. But, we were taken care of in a professional manner. We never wanted for anything, all the wait staff pitched in together to make the service pleasant. And, we were not put though the pain of personal introductions and trading names…what a relief.
The wine list is enormous, and about 95% of the wines are Italian. At leasat 1/4 of the wines are available by the glass—a good thing if they are getting the volume they need to keep the open bottles fresh.
The menu is very ambitious with many great choices for appetizers, pasta, meat, fish, rissoto, and salads. They have a wood-fired oven which they use for great foccacia and for pizzas at lunchtime.
The food was good. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give them a 7. Not a bad score for Northern Colorado and not bad given the ambitiousness of the menu. We had a wonderful fresh calamari appetizer—just fresh calamari, lightly breaded, quickly fried, and topped with a squeeze of lemon and some salt—too much salt for my taste, but apparently the chef likes it that way. Lynne had a breaded veal scaloppini and the breading was not crisp but a bit mushy. Still the garlic-lemon sauce was great. I had some red snapper, braised in some capers, olives, a little lemon juice and some wine—excellent.
In summary, a very pleasant meal. Good service. Nice atmosphere. And, I’m sure we’ll be back.
Monaco Trattoria
218 E. 4th Street
Loveland, CO 80537
(970) 461-1889
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Saturday, June 18, 2005
The Inglenook Restaurant in Loveland
Last week Lynne and I, along with Lynne’s mother, had an evening meal at the Inglenook restaurant in Loveland. I had eaten there on a business dinner a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it. Ever since, I’d been trying to find a good excuse to take Lynne. We are both skeptical of eating out in the Fort Collins area—we can ususally do better at home.
The night out was not a disappointment. Lynne had Chicken Marengo (although it had orange in the sauce along with tomatoes and vermouth, a bit non-traditional, but great), her mom had a Seafood Newburg Gratin, and I had Elk Tenderloin. All three were great. Each entree is accompanied by soup or salad. We all had a fresh green salad. I had an appetizer of Crab Cakes that was excellent.
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Monday, April 11, 2005
Domenic’s Restaurant
Last week, Lynne and I had a night out. We went out to eat dinner (for the first time in years), and we went to a Rod Stewart concert.
We ate at Domenic’s—a restaurant that is close-by, new, and that we had heard good things about. They have a mostly Italian menu with a small wine list of mostly unknown wines. They are located in a shopping center at the corner of Harmony and Lemay in Fort Collins.
It is a small place with a large bar and about a dozen tables. They do have outside seating for warmer weather. The atmosphere is comfortable.
We each had a small Ceasar salad and we split a main dish that was flank steak rolled up with prosciutto ham and mozzarella cheese inside. It was served in a tomato sauce much like a Bolognese. It was also served with garlic mashed potatoes.
The salads were good. The cheesecake dessert was fantastic.
The main course was very salty and not very hot. It might have been the prosciutto, but I think it was the sauce that was salty. And, we could not detect any proscuitto or cheese in the dish. The potatoes were plain without much garlic flavor. And, the price, for what we got, was very high. Main dish prices ranged from $15 to $20, ours was $18.
Service was average.
Other than a good espresso and a great dessert, the place has little to recommend it. If anyone has had a different experience, please leave comments.
Maybe that is why we don’t eat out very often…
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Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Whole Foods Opens Store in Fort Collins
Whole Foods has opened a store in Fort Collins in the old Montgomery Ward building. It seems to have taken them a long time to remodel and prepare the site, but it is worth the wait. I’ve lobbied Whole Foods for a Fort Collins store for a couple of years…and, I was apparently not the only one!
We visited the store for the first time Wednesday morning, and I am so very happy! The selection of fresh fish, meats, organic produce, cheeses, etc. is just fantastic. The people are helpful and knowledgeable. The store is beautiful and fun to shop. The aromas are mouth watering.
Of course, consistent with their reputation, they are not a cheap place to shop, so we won’t do our everyday shopping there. But, when I need fresh fish, custom cuts of meat, special cheeses, or gourmet items not available elsewhere, I’ll be roaming their aisles!
Welcome to Fort Collins, Whole Foods!
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