What’s most to love about Panzano is the reliability of the food. Chef Elise Wiggins is a master of her craft, a thoughtful chef with a clear, executable vision, and only rarely does one of her dishes disappoint.
The beautiful steak (the cut depends on the day), locally raised, carefully butchered and expertly cooked, is perhaps Denver’s most satisfying supper of beef. The soft, flavorful meat, seared (not scorched) then served atop a mattress of faro, pancetta, winter greens and mushrooms was generous, comforting and elegant. I tried, but failed, to find room for improvement on this plate.
This is not the only worthwhile dish on the menu; far from it. Veal scallopine, tangy with lemon and salty with capers, was nicely rounded off with mashed Yukon Golds. House-made ravioli with ricotta and mascarpone was a savory- sweet luxury, and the pappardelle with cinnamon-inflected Bolognese sauce was vigorous and rich.
Not all pastas worked: Rosemary tagliatelle with cranberries and pine nuts rated one step too sassy; one step too simple was the slapdash carbonara. Each of these dishes featured overcooked noodles.
Panzano is famous for its Caesar salads, available grilled or no. This vote goes for the non-grilled, which was less aggressive, sweeter and eloquently, not overbearingly, dressed.
The top of the menu is heavy with antipasti; wise diners will zero in on the bresaola (house-cured beef) with gorgonzola and walnuts and the Italo-Yankee style duck-liver mousse with its cranberry-maple compote. Less-lucky diners will call for grilled flatbread with prosciutto and crescenza cheese, an otherwise promising dish suffocated by truffle oil. (Woe to those truffle-oil-phobes who sit at the next table.)
Here’s a great side effect of being located in a hotel (the Hotel Monaco): Panzano serves three meals a day, seven days a week, and a breakfast here of steel-cut oats or chicken hash is a marvelous indulgence.
And Panzano’s lunch, a real downtown power lunch, certainly tops another sandwich back at the cubicle. Come early in the week, have a fillet of the day’s catch and glass of wine, then brag about it all afternoon.
Diners looking for gluten-free options will be delighted. There is much to choose from.
No doubt, Wiggins has created, and oversees, an excellent contemporary Italian menu at Panzano.
And yet, Wiggins’ brilliance, and the competence of her team, aren’t always enough to hold the entire experience together. A restaurant is a delicate jigsaw puzzle, a composite illusion of which food is only one piece. At at Panzano, the rest of the pieces don’t always fit.
A space heater sits next to a window-side booth; a staffer suggests we turn it on before we catch a draft, then when we struggle with it, shrugs, “Oh, is it broken?” A waiter reaches across the booth as we raise a toast to the evening, sloppily snaking a bread plates through our still-clinking glasses. A staffer noisily stacks appetizer plates at our table. Another removes an unempty glass of wine. Waiters argue within earshot at lunchtime.
Each of these moments, individually, is perhaps forgivable. But when a typical meal at Panzano nets a handful, the parts threaten the whole.
Stickling? Perhaps. I’m often accused of being a stickler for service. To which I say, my bad. Because when a dinner bill can be $50 a head (or more, plus tip), a customer is entitled to stickle.
Bottom line: Panzano has some of Denver’s most carefully conceived and smartly executed food. And the beautiful steak is among the city’s best suppers. By all means, go there and order it, today. Just don’t expect the front of the house to clear the lofty bar set by the kitchen.
What do you think of Panzano? Chime in at denverpost.com/restaurants.
PANZANO
Italian. 909 17th St. (at Champa), 303-296-3525, panzano- panzano-denver.com
** 1/2 (Very Good/Great)
Atmosphere: Clubby pair of rooms on first floor of Hotel Monaco, windows look out onto 17th.
Service: Friendly if inconsistent. Sometimes better than average, sometimes less than.
Wine: A solid, approchable and mostly affordable wine list, well- tended.
Plates: Main courses $19-$28.
Hours: Three meals, seven days.
Details: Street parking. Wheelchair accessible. Happy hours. Gluten-free options. Reservations suggested. Private dining.
Three visits
Our star system: ****: Exceptional ***: Great **: Very Good *: Good
