If there was a no-brainer concept for the Ballpark neighborhood, it would be Hi-Rise, a new (ish) bakery and cafe at 22nd and Larimer streets.
Look around the area: It swells — more every day — with smart, ambitious, hungry young apartment dwellers. Of course there needed to be a grab-and-go sandwich and breakfast shop here on this corner.
Of course it needed to sell bread baked on site. Of course the menu needed to be simple and straightforward, but entirely contemporary, with nods to current tastes for quality ingredients, global flavor combinations and regional foods.
Which is why the menu at Hi-Rise includes a muffuletta sandwich (worthwhile, mostly because the semolina boule is so perfectly textured, soft and dense and a little bit chewy, and partly because the baker, Jacqueline Blanchard, is Cajun); a “Jalisco” strata with brioche, chorizo and cilantro (pleasantly piquant); a sesame pork salad of pulled pork and romaine tossed with a zippy lime vinaigrette; and “The King,” a breakfast sandwich of bacon, banana and peanut butter.
Best thing on the list: the egg and gruyere-cheese breakfast sandwich with ham, on a brioche with hot coffee. Take your meal away or eat in-house and use the free Wi-Fi. On the way out, grab a cookie or pastry for your midmorning snack, and a loaf of bread for dinner later.
One frustration on the bread side: How come the brioche loaf has to cost $7.99? Can’t it be 5 bucks?
It’s a wonder that Hi-Rise has been in business only since March, because it’s belonged here for years. Expect this startup to stick around.
HI-RISE
Bakery/deli. Breakfast and lunch. 2162 Larimer St., 303-296-3656, hirisedenver.com
