DURANGO — Since my accommodations were next door to a wine bar, I should have known I was doomed from the start.
Sometimes I try to take in an unreasonable amount of the tourist experience, and that was definitely the case on this trip. I was blasting through Durango for only 48 hours, and I had a list of recommended restaurants that a smarter person would have taken a week to go through.
But when I checked into the Leland House after the long drive from the Front Range and noticed the Eno Wine Bar next door, I had to take a peek.
Eno was packed that night. A band called Ace Revel was holding down one corner with a man playing upright bass and a woman with a sweet-but-sly voice that kept everyone rapt and rowdy (by wine-bar standards). I squeezed in at the tiny bar and ordered a garnacha, then fell into conversation with the guys on either side of me. When the band wrapped up (another glass later, plus some tapas — warm brie and strawberries, the daily bruschetta), one of my new pals suggested we head elsewhere for more live music.
At The Office, a lively “spiritorium” in the historic Strater Hotel, we ordered up some beers (I couldn’t have handled a spirit, but a beer from Durango’s Ska Brewing? Yes) and took in the Victorian setting. And a singer in a Hawaiian shirt with a guitar belting out some covers. Somehow, it worked, and I don’t think that’s just the beer talking.
The next evening, after riding the Durango-Silverton narrow-gauge train and wandering through some downtown shops and galleries, I decided I had to get serious about my list of restaurants. I was meeting a friend at El Moro, which had a creative artisan dinner menu and appeared to have a cocktail selection to match.
While I waited for Kate, I tried to choose a cocktail, but each one had ingredients I didn’t recognize. I confessed as much to the bartender (mixologist?), and that I’m normally more of a beer or whiskey drinker, and he brought me the beer and whiskey menus, which were equally impressive. (Dave Woodruff, El Moro’s general manager, told me later that he wanted it to be a one-stop shop: “If you want a great beer or a PBR, we’ve got it. If you want a cocktail, we’ve got it. We have a great wine list as well.”) Kate and I ordered with crossed fingers and were delighted with the results, and later, when we joked about doing tequila shots, the barkeep brought us mezcal that knocked our socks off, too.
Next, I headed to Carver Brewing, which had solid pub grub, according to my source, and ordered the 120 Shilling Scotch Ale and a cup of a hearty, chili-like vegetarian dish with hominy called sagamity. Halfway into my snifter, I realized either the bar was moving or I was. I looked back up at the chalkboard beer menu. The 120 Shilling had double black diamonds next to it. I was drinking a potent imperial ale.
Enough! I thought. I’m going down to Seasons, high on my list, for a solid dinner. The catch of the day, an Arctic char, was wonderful. So was the pinot grigio I had with it.
I walked back to the hotel by ducking down the alley, past my car, which had been parked since I arrived. Stay downtown and you can walk everywhere, thank goodness. Except for Ska Brewing, which I’ll have to hit next time, along with the newer Animas Brewing Co. … I’m going to need a few weeks in this town.
Jenn Fields: 303-954-1599, jfields@denverpost.com or
