Denver’s most rewarding lunch now is the Tuna Conserva sandwich at the Squeaky Bean Cafe on West 33rd Avenue and Tejon Street.
The open-faced dish — buttery toasted bread, exquisitely prepared chunks of tuna, soft but meaty against velvet chunks of avocado, a kiss of delicate, herbaceous, parsley-rich aioli, shavings of celery, a toss of crispy-fried capers — is a textbook exercise in the very basics of refined cooking: careful selection, focused preparation and thoughtful presentation.
If you order this sandwich for lunch, it will be the most artistic, pleasurable culinary moment you have all day, and you will think about its components and impact even through dinner, which will disappoint you in comparison.
That this sandwich is on the menu at the Squeaky Bean, open just a few months in that eastern chunk of the Highland neighborhood that insists on calling itself Lohi, is no surprise. With a fresh, optimistic point of view and clear-thinking cooking, this is one of the best of a lavish crop of new restaurants this year.
An easygoing room on an easygoing corner sets the tone. The space, which in its last incarnation was a coffee shop, is light and airy, all high ceilings and windows and streetscapes and patios and pleasant music, and, during the day at least, not annoyingly busy.
The same blithe spirit inspires the food — to a point. While reverence to the essential qualities of ingredients is evident on the plate (tuna tastes like tuna, which can’t be said for many restaurants, which turn it into indiscernible flesh), the textures and presentations betray not just sourcing skills, but cooking skills. Described on the menu as avant-garde (which may be over-stating its flashiness), the Squeaky Bean’s food certainly may be farm-to-table, but the complexity and craftsmanship in the cooking speak to a well-husbanded and extensive detour through the kitchen. In a food world increasingly informed by sourcing over technique, this kitchen’s acuity and attendant restraint with food-manipulation is remarkable.
A carnaroli-rice salad, dotted with corn niblets, diced squash and pine nuts, is laid over a drizzle of a sticky-sweet basil gastrique, surprisingly uncloying. Tender scallops perch aside a soft fondue of melted leeks, their plate accessorized with crispy bits of prosciutto. A jar of pounded duck rilette, if salty at first nibble, reveals a nuanced balance of sweetness and savory.
Missteps happen. One recent melon salad, a plate of melon-balls in every hue punctuated with pickled rind, was over-drenched in dressing, perhaps to help atone for underripe melon. But the next course was the warm, pressed duck confit sandwich with tangy marinated eggplant agro-dolce (sweet and sour), and the salad was forgiven.
Other missteps happen with service — an undelivered fork, a misplaced bill, unfilled water glasses, long waits for food during busy hours. The last is the most frustrating. But the trend is swinging upward as the restaurant matures.
Brilliant thing: The Squeaky Bean is open for breakfast, helping to sate this neighborhood’s desperate need for a quality place to get a slowly coaxed bowl of oatmeal and decent cup of coffee. In a perfect world, every restaurant would do this.
Urban and contemporary and stylish in all the right ways, the Squeaky Bean looks a lot like what Denver’s food future may, and should, be: relaxed, accessible, unsnarky, relatively inexpensive, neighborhood-focused, intellectual and alive. As the Squeaky Bean enjoys its inevitable surge of success, here’s hoping they stay true to their mission.
Agree? Disagree? Speak at
The Squeaky Bean
American. 3301 Tejon St., 303-284-0053,
*** (Great)
Atmosphere: Charming, breezy corner cafe.
Service: Friendly and knowledgeable, not always setting speed records.
Wine: Small, smart list.
Plates: Sandwiches $7-9. Entrees $19-22.
Hours: Brunch/Lunch: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner Tuesday-Thursday 5:30 – 10 p.m., Friday-Saturday 5:30-11 p.m.
Details: Street parking. Wheelchair accessible. Prepare to wait for a table on weekends.
Three visits.
Our star system: ****: Exceptional. ***: Great. **: Very Good. *: Good.
