More often than not you will find me jetting off somewhere to explore and report back on the experience. And while I absolutely love that, I also like to explore my own ‘hood as well! I consider myself lucky to live in a place that is full of awesome sites to see, things to experience, and food to eat. Especially since I grew up in a place (ahem, Wyoming) that wasn’t really great for that. Which brings me to this post…my first restaurant review!
November marks my getting another year older. And it keeps happening year after year, unfortunately. Someone should get on changing that! This year for my birthday dinner, I decided I wanted to try a new restaurant vs. going to a classic favorite. I researched a few different options, and ultimately decided to check out Corinne Restaurant for the occasion.
Corinne is part of the new Le Meridien in downtown Denver, which I have familiarity with because I’m a loyal Starwood platinum guest. This Le Meridien in particular had caught my eye while still under construction due to the fact that they were building what would become the city’s highest open-air rooftop bar, 54Thirty. I was sad to learn the rooftop is closed for the season, and won’t be reopening until spring 2018. So while my dreams of having a birthday libation at 20 floors up were smashed, I forged ahead with my dinner plans at Corinne.
The Starters
We began our gluttonous meal by sharing not one, but two appetizers. Don’t judge me, calories don’t count on your birthday!
First, we sampled the BLT deviled eggs. These babies had all the makings of a traditional deviled egg: a hard-boiled egg white topped with a creamy egg yolk filling. Where tradition was thrown out the window was with the addition of a peppercorn aioli in the filling, and crumbled bacon, chopped lettuce, and tomato on top. Not a combination I would typically think of, but they were delicious nonetheless!
Next we moved on to the buffalo cauliflower. Yes, you read that correctly. Cauliflower running around masquerading as buffalo sauce slathered wings. These little nuggets were particularly tasty. You still got all the flavor and crunch of a breaded buffalo wing, with slightly less guilt. Although, let’s be honest, they’re still fried and dunked in ranch (if you’re like me), so we’re not really fooling anyone in the health department.
The Entrees
The main event is what sold me on giving Corinne a try, and also what I was most looking forward to. I am a pork lover, through and through.
I like to ask people this question: if you could only eat one animal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
And my answer is pork 100%. So naturally I was excited to see they had a pork shank on the menu! The shank itself was slightly charred and caramelized in a slightly sweet ginger soy sauce, which just made it glisten. As if that weren’t good enough, it was nestled on top of a bed of creamy mashed potatoes. And then dotted along the plate were some brussels sprouts, which are making quite the comeback these days. All of these elements combined to make one absolutely delicious meal, and one absolutely satisfied birthday girl.
Beef was what’s for dinner on my boyfriend’s end of the table. He went with the bacon wrapped filet mignon. The steak was cooked perfectly, which is very important. But what really set the steak off was the disk of crusted blue cheese that rested on top. Combining a piece of the steak with a little bit of that blue cheese crust really did make for the perfect bite.
The Finisher
One of the best parts about celebratory birthday dinners? Free dessert. So naturally we had to take advantage of that, despite not having much room left. So we dove right in to the chocolate peanut butter pie a la mode. You honestly can’t go wrong with the chocolate peanut butter combination. Such a classic. This pie was particularly good as they added crushed up pretzels to the crust to give it a distinct texture that I rather enjoyed. We were so stuffed from our meal that we couldn’t finish it all, but enjoyed every bite we could fit in.
Final Thoughts
Overall, my boyfriend and I really enjoyed our dinner at Corinne. The location is beautiful, the ambiance is elegant, and the food was delicious. Would definitely recommend you give it a try if you live or visit Denver!
And now I would love to hear from you all on my question posed above: if you could only eat one animal for the rest of your life, what would it be??
Happy eating 🙂
Sounds fantastic! I am reading a book right now (comes out in February) called Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano. It’s set in the restaurant world of Denver. She changes the names of some restaurants, but tells what their real names are in the back. You should put it on your list to read in Feb.
Oh interesting! I haven’t heard of it. I will definitely keep an eye out for it, thanks!
Oh my goodness that looks and sounds amazing! That filet is calling my name!
Same here, and it’s breakfast time haha
That dessert looks scrumptious! Looks like you had a good dinner! 🙂
The dessert was divine! Wish I had more room by that point lol
I can taste the food through your writing! Sounds like you had one delicious birthday! Happy birthday!
Thanks so much! I appreciate that 🙂
Sounds like a delicious night out! Happy Birthday!
Thank you 🙂
I think I could handle eating beef! I loveeeeeee steak, that filet looks scrumptious!
I love steak too, but I’m more of a ribeye girl myself! But man, that blue cheese crust just made his steak.
I’ve always wanted to do restaurant reviews and may start with my blog. I am a mystery shopper and do get to take advantage of free meals in exchange for giving feedback and critiquing restaurants which is fun too.
Definitely sounds like something you could add to your blog!
First, Happy Birthday!
Second, what a great place to go on your birthday! The food looks absolutely delicious.
And third, beef. Definitely beef. Pass the bacon wrapped filet mignon, please!
Thank you! Was definitely a great bday dinner 🙂
What a delicious dinner! Will have to try that spot if we are ever in Denver!
Absolutely!
The buffalo cauliflower looks so good, and crunchy too?! YUM!
Yesssss, it was SO good!
Wow, that pork looks so good. I am sitting here at work really hungry, and you are not helping! Ha! All of the meal looks so yummy. I will keep place in mind the next time I’m in Denver!
2 appetizers lol. You’re better than me, I’d do 5 on my birthday. looks delicious. the buffalo cauliflower looks like chicken poppers
It was quite the meal! 🙂
That dessert looks amazing.
It definitely was!
Beef for me, sorry! But your dinner looked divine!
No apologies needed…beef is an extremely close second for me! 🙂
Yum!!! This looks so good!
It was…I daydream of that pork shank lol
All of those sound super tasty, especially the dessert! As much as I love a good steak, I think chicken would be my meat of choice.
Interesting choice! Most seem to pick either beef or pork, in my years of gathering data points on this topic 🙂
I want to get on a plane and come to Denver for this!
Do it! 🙂
Oh my gosh… drool… jumping a plane to Denver NOW.
Great place to visit! Especially if you’ve never been 🙂
That pie with the pretzel crust looks to die for
It was SO. GOOD.
That dessert looks delicious! I love your posts about food as I am a food addicted person who just started special food dedicated blog. It is a funny fact but in Greece, in many restaurants, you are getting free deserts normally. What is your favorite restaurant and in which country?
Oh man, I don’t think I could pick a favorite restaurant! I love food way too much 🙂 But that’s good to know about Greece! I’m actually heading there (first time) in the Spring of 2018. Will have to keep that in mind. Any Greece suggestions?? We will mainly be in Athens and Santorini.