As any carb-crazed diner is happy to tell you, breakfast isn’t just about bacon and eggs (or, for healthy- choice types, fruit and yogurt).
Pancakes and waffles are a time- honored first meal of the day. You know the drill: a plateful of golden, griddled batter practically begging for a slathering of syrup.
Which brings us to Syrup, the restaurant.
Housed in the former Egg Shell in the heart of the Cherry Creek shopping district, Syrup offers a rotating array of its titular product, all house-made infusions dreamed up by owner Tim Doherty.
Doherty calls it “the art of the pour,” and he’s not talking about a 7 a.m. martini.
Pancakes star here, including such creative takes as bananas Foster, cinnamon-apple and Ghirardelli chocolate versions.
The sundry syrups include agave honey, blackberry, buttermilk, strawberry, maple-vanilla and apple-cinnamon. Doherty vows that by Labor Day he will have a rotating list of 30 syrups, some sugar- free.
The restaurant is about more than syrup-soaked cakes, however. There is a fine corned-beef hash, a chorizo-studded breakfast burrito, sundry omelets and a zippy pork green chile.
Syrup also touts the concept of “breakfast appetizers,” lighter fare that includes beignets dusted in powdered sugar (a shout-out to New Orleans) and fruit kebabs drizzled in a vanilla glaze. For a lighter take on its staple starch, you can try a flight of silver-dollar pancakes or mini-waffles.
Doherty’s next task is convincing customers that despite the restaurant’s name and emphasis, lunch is also an option. Burgers are robust, half-pound affairs. Folks craving Thanksgiving in July can nosh on an open-faced turkey sandwich with dressing, mashers and turkey gravy.
Prices hover in the $6-$11 range.
William Porter: 303-954-1877 or wporter@denverpost.com
SYRUP
Breakfast and lunch. 300 Josephine St., 720-945-1111, syrupdenver . Monday-Friday 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
