If ever there were a dish that a weary dining critic could rest his head on and slumber away the cares of this world, it would be the luxurious, soothing oxtail and grits appetizer at Shazz restaurant in the Berkeley neighborhood of north Denver.
At first glance it appears to be just what it says it is: grits (laced with asiago cheese) and braised oxtail. But as fearlessly simple as this dish is, it is also deceivingly complex, designed not to be devoured (as one might be tempted to do) but to be enveloped, absorbed, welcomed — as slowly as it was no doubt prepared.
In it, you can taste not just the sage that colors the braised meat, but the sage that surrounds the Yampa Valley ranch where the beef was grown. Small and soft but powerful and moving, this plate is a confident, eloquent Colorado expression of what oeno-scholars call “terroir,” that untranslatable concept that says wine, or in this case food, resembles the place it comes from — in flavor, character, spirit.
As an example of the kind of cooking Shazz is capable of producing, the oxtail dish is only that: one example. One of many at Shazz, including an artfully herbed lentil soup with pork-belly brunoise, a sparely dressed frisee salad with poached egg, a robust countrified heirloom chicken roulade around arugula, sunchoke and Roquefort. Each dish speaks not just to the technique exhibited in its meticulous execution, but of the research and stubbornness that went into its sourcing.
Almost everything is made on-site. The bread is from a sourdough starter that chef Benny Kaplan has been nursing for years. The pasta is hand-fashioned using flour from Rocky Mountain Milling.
Even the bar is in on the handmade action: the grenadine, the bitters, the orgeat — all are excellently made in-house. And the French Leave cocktail is among Denver’s cleverest, most refreshing quaffs.
Rare points of clumsiness: a too-salty tapenade aside seared ahi tuna, and undercooked apples in an ill-conceived apple clafouti.
Exceptions notwithstanding, Shazz has the food down pat. And it’s the food that matters most. If this were a food review rather than a dining review, Shazz would earn an unqualified endorsement.
But when entrees range from $26 to $35, we’re led to expect more than great food, no matter how well-bred the ingredients.
We expect exquisite service from a focused, precise, detail-stickler staff. But at Shazz, while servers were polite and well-meaning over four visits, the pacing and choreography on the floor were haphazard.
We expect consideration of details: Noise control. Good lighting. Tasteful table appointments. But at Shazz, too many details are either unconsidered or unsolved. The room is awkwardly laid out, noisy, poorly lighted.
And I had to struggle to find the beauty of the lentil soup — not just because its retro-moderne Eva Zeisel knockoff bowl was unattractive, but because it had a weight and profile incapable of holding heat. This was a bowl for gazpacho at a museum restaurant in Boca, not a bowl for the rich, soulful, earthy slow-soup of lentils and pork belly. The otherwise errorless soup deserved better.
Minor detail? Perhaps. But this is where the devil resides, and unchecked details distract from the potentially beautiful and profound song Shazz’s food is trying to sing.
(One detail that worked: lovely crystal glasses to go with the well-considered wine list.)
Chef Kaplan is unquestionably a cook with a prodigious talent and an uncommon commitment, and the food at Shazz is some of the most thoughtful, well-resourced and precisely executed in the city. Every poached egg is perfect, every piece of meat done exactly, every seasoning correct. Kaplan & Co.’s food deserves to be tasted, and celebrated, over and over again.
Once Shazz gets the front of its house buttoned up and the details smoothed out, perhaps it will be.
Tucker Shaw: dining@denverpost.com
Shazz
Contemporary 4262 Lowell Blvd., 303-477-1407,
** 1/2 Rating | Very Good, Great
Atmosphere: Small, sparely designed room with mixed-and- matched tables. Can be noisy.
Service: Competent and friendly, but not always seamless.
Wine: Smart, small list, most bottles in the $30s and $40s.
Plates: Appetizers $7-$11; mains $24-$35.
Hours: Dinner: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m., Sunday 5 to 9 p.m. Closed Tuesday.
Details: Parking lot. Wheelchair accessible. Good for groups. Bar seating. Great cocktails.
Four visits
Our star system:
****: Exceptional
***: Great
**: Very Good
*: Good
