It’s an unpredictable thing, writing a weekly column for the newspaper.
One week I’ll throw down some words, see them in the paper and never hear another thing about it. It makes me wonder if anyone noticed.
Another week, I’ll throw down some different words, and suddenly my e-mail box is overflowing with reactions.
Last week was one of those weeks. And most of the response was angry.
Backstory: On April 5, I wrote in this column about how surprised I’d been that so many people in Colorado, particularly people active in the food community, answered my question, “What’s the best restaurant in Colorado,” with the same answer: “Frasca.”
I wrote about how I’d finally eaten at Frasca, and how it had delivered beautifully on its promise.
But I also wrote that as splendid as Frasca is, Colorado has ample room for more than one best restaurant. I wrote about how a best restaurant wasn’t a result of magic, but a product of talent, hard work and extreme focus. I wrote about my hope for Colorado: for it to have more than one best restaurant.
I’d hoped to provoke some reaction, but I had no idea: By the time I checked e-mail that morning, my inbox was blowing up.
“Obviously you haven’t been to Luca D’Italia!” wrote one person. (For the record, I have; I reviewed it a couple months back and gave it one of the highest ratings I’d ever given.)
“Mizuna has consistently put out solid and cutting edge food for the past five years,” wrote another. (Mizuna was mentioned over and over in the barrage of protest. Makes sense, given how excellent it is.)
“I kept thinking,” wrote one man, “does he mean The Flagstaff House, not Frasca?”
“You need to get out more!” read one note. “Surely you’ve heard of Barolo Grill,” admonished another. “Have you tried The Little Nell?”
The sharpest swipe came from a frustrated local restaurateur: “You’ve set us all back.”
At first I wasn’t sure what to make of the response. I’d never received so many e-mails before, especially negative ones – even when I’d written controversial reviews.
Did readers just want to run me out of town? Should I watch my back? Would there be a potato in my tailpipe later?
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that these passionate reactions were a good thing. They were exactly what I wanted to hear.
The letters proved that we as Coloradans care deeply about our restaurants. We are protective of and loyal to our favorite cooks. We relate to our eateries and chefs in a personal way.
They matter to us.
We, as customers, are clearly passionate about our dining experiences. It’s this passion – more than any media-darling chef or restaurant-du-jour – that will push Colorado ever forward on its unique culinary path. It’s our collective ticket to reaching even higher ground.
To be sure, our own fine local chefs (our Frank Bonannos, our Teri Ripettos, our Kevin Taylors, Brian Lairds, Mel Masters, Sean Kellys, Don Graggs, Rebecca Weitzmans, John Broenings, and yes, even our Lachlan Mackinnon-
Pattersons) will take us far. I’ve stuffed myself silly with their food over the past half-year. I expect them, and the scores of other talented cooks in these parts, to continue blazing the trail.
But no chef or restaurant can survive, let alone excel, unless diners continue to care, fervently, and to display the energetic ardor for good food and eating that they showed me last week.
We have a shared duty as thoughtful eaters (and thoughtful purveyors of food) to demand quality ingredients, to support local culinary talent, and most important, to commit ourselves to the culturally crucial and irreplacable act of eating out.
This, and only this, will continue to fuel Colorado’s rise from one of the country’s better food states to one of its absolute best. I’m delighted to see that the passion is thriving.
Thanks for all the e-mails, even the mean ones. You’ve reinforced what I’ve figured all along: It’s a good time to eat in Colorado.
Dining critic Tucker Shaw can be reached at 303-820-1958 or at dining@denverpost.com.
