Fine Dining in Denver
 

I recently moved to Denver and I would like to take my husband out to dinner for his birthday. I am looking for the following in a restaurant: above-average wine list, nice ambience, excellent food and service. I am not too concerned about the price since it is a special occasion.

After an hour on citysearch.com, my short list includes the following:
Adega Wine Bar
Palace Arms
Restaurant Kevin Taylor
Barolo
Tante Louise
Emma's
Clair de Lune

Any comments on those, or recommendations for other places, would be greatly appreciated!

Are you familiar with Westword? They put out yearly review for the Denver area for everything from dining to entertainment. It's called the "Best of Denver list". Anway, Adega is listed as this year's top wine selection. Clair de Lune won best chef. I've never gone wrong on the "Best of" list. Their web site is westword.com and look for "Best of".

Emmjay,

Here's my take on your list:
1. Adega: Great place for hors d'oeurves and vino; haven't stayed for dinner though
2. Palace Arms: A real dinosaur as far as restaurants go, Napoleonic setting, classic cuisine, used to be the only four-star, four-diamond restaurant in Denver. Don't know if it's still great (haven't been in five years) but hopefully someone will comment. Still, they don't build them like this anymore.
3. Kevin Taylor: Probably the closest to a Paris experience we have in Denver. Multi-course meals exquisitely prepared and presented. At least on my one visit.
4. Barolo: Very good and consistent with an extremely knowledgeble staff (they all go to Italy each year).
5. Tante Louise: Denver institution operating in the same location for over thirty years--with the same owners. Romantic old house setting with good to great (depending on who's in the kitchen) food and service.

I haven't been to the last two, however, there are a couple of others I'd add to the list:
1. Mel's Bar and Grill: Great and very nice "Bistro" in Cherry Creek featuring a top-class chef and innovative French/American cuisine. Go for the foie gras and stay for the duck--no matter how it's prepared. Quite romantic with nice booths and live jazz duo.
2. Gabriel's: Very romantic Northern Italian restaurant located in a Victorian house in Sedalia (30 minutes south of downtown Denver). You pick the entree and they serve a five-course meal around it. Be sure to request the "old" section: it's in the house.

Hope this helps,

AL ((d))

Second vote for checking out Westwords "The Best Of" on their website. They have several years listed on the website, we have tried several places recommended which were excellent.

Never heard anything negative about Tante Louise, very well known in Denver.

I think you've got a good short list going. To add one of our favorites-- the Avenue Grill, at 17th and Washington. It always has good service and food, very nice atmosphere, unpretentious, not over-priced.
On the other hand, we were at Mel's in August and I thought it was a bit over-rated and over-priced. For instance, my son's simple steak was $29, plus an $8 house salad-- too high for what he got.
Tante Louise is a venerable, well-respected place but, depending on your age, it may be a bit stodgy.
Strings, also on 17th Ave., is always good for a more contemporary place.
Too many choices!

P.S. Almost forgot the Fourth Story, literally on the fourth floor of The Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek. A romantic view, plus all your requirements.