The Frank Bonanno Restaurant Machine keeps rolling along, and while it hasn’t sent competing chefs fleeing to the hills — Denver is too big a food town for that — it has served as a model for new-venture success that recalls General Motors in its prime.
Of course, this sort of startup churn leaves observers wondering when Bonanno & Co. will overextend themselves.
The answer: Not yet.
Launched during the last week of December in the Highland neighborhood, Lou’s Food Bar brings a mix of French and American roadhouse fare to a spacious, festive room.
Lou’s joins a Bonanno roster that includes Mizuna, Luca d’Italia, Osteria Marco, Bones and Green Russell. It’s a worthy addition, wearing its ambitions lightly.
The service is cheery, with staffers quick to explain what you are eating and what you might want to drink with it. Despite opening at a time when the farm-to-table movement is still cresting, neither the waiters nor the menu beat you over the head with the food’s provenance. They’re mussels, friend. Just dig in.
This menu is made for grazing, with a mix of house-made charcuterie, small plates and salads, including an admirable version of white beans and haricot verts that come with hard-boiled eggs and a sherry vinaigrette, at $10 a powerhouse of flavor.
On one visit we sat at the compact charcuterie bar, watching a young woman with honey-colored hair and a pianist’s hands compose the artful plates. Country pâte was unctious, with a proper coarse grind, contrasting with a silky duck liver mousse.
The star of this part of the menu was the salumi plate. It arrived with a trio of cured meats, shaved to a thinness that recalled onion-skin paper — you know, that stuff from the archaic age of typewriters.
Savory coppa luca nestled against San Danielle prosciutto, but the knockout was the Benton’s Virginia ham, pale pink and a slice of umami heaven, with the obligatory grace notes of salt. The plate came with two mustards, a Dijon and whole ground, plus a cherry compote.
Less successful by a long shot was a Thai pork and duck sausage with green curried potatoes.
The sausage, which was on the dry side despite the coarse grind, was unaccountably bland. It was almost as though the seasonings, including salt, were inadvertently left out. I’m willing to consider that this could have been a one-batch anomaly, because the dish just didn’t taste like something that Bonanno and his chefs would sign off on. At $13, it should have worked.
Far tastier was the merguez, a lamb and mint sausage inspired by the classic North African dish. It arrived with a fluffy mound of couscous.
Fried frog legs sported a panko- crumb crust. They were plump and juicy, delicate enough to almost make you forget the classic Sam Gross cartoon from National Lampoon magazine. (You can track it down at comicartfans.com.)
Fried chicken, at $16, was a Southerner’s dream — and hey, one of the pieces was a thigh, which generates big style points on its own. The meat was moist, the skin golden and so crispy you could crack pieces off and eat them like potato chips.
Other entrees cross the Atlantic, including duck confit a l’orange, at $18 one of the priciest items offered.
The potatoes Lyonnaise were creamy and flavorful, but I prefer the spuds in the dish to be sliced, rather than the shredded version here. It’s a texture thing. French fried and whipped versions are also offered for $6.
Lou’s layout has an admirable, logical flow, with a long, 20-seat cocktail bar, the eight-seat charcuterie bar and an expansive dining room. Thanks to the concrete floor, it’s acoustically lively — which is to say that on weekend nights it rivals the engine room on a destroyer. This is not a place to ask for someone’s hand in marriage, though most of the food will leave you swooning.
The crowd seems discerning and food-savvy. It skews young and hip, though I have admittedly reached that rather chastening age where everyone seems young and hip.
William Porter: 303-954-1877 or wporter@denverpost.com
LOU’S FOOD BAR
French-American 1851 W. 38th Ave. 303-458-0336 lousfoodbar.com
** 1/2 (Very Good/Great)
Atmosphere: Relaxed,
casual
Service: Cheery, knowledgeable
Beverages: Wine, beer, cocktails
Plates: Sturdy, savory fare that mixes French and American standards with some creative twists
Hours: Lunch: Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday 2:30 p.m.-5 p.m. Dinner: Monday-Thursday 5 p.m.-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 5 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday 5 p.m.-10 p.m.
Details: Spacious, lively room serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch
Our star system: ****: Exceptional ***: Great **: Very Good *: Good
