5280 Magazine – May 2018

54 |^5280 |^ MAY 20^18

TAVERNETTA

1889 16th St.

720-605-1889

tavernetta

denver.com

T H E D R A W :

A focus on

hospitality, wine

wizardry, and

rustic, technical

Italian food

THE DRAWBACK:

A few dishes still

need finessing;

early dinner

service can

be rushed

DON’T MISS:

Snacks at the

bar; gnocchi with

lamb ragu; tuna

with squid and

mushrooms;

sorbets; the

exciting wine list

In Style

Tavernetta was the most anticipated Denver opening in

recent memory—and it lives up to the hype.

M

y chic Danish friend and I walked into Tavernetta on a brisk afternoon a few

months ago, she in fabulous boots that look like they’re covered in tiny disco-ball

mirrors, me in salaryman Rockports. We passed the ireplace lounge that over-

looks the tracks at Union Station and took a sharp left around the massive open

kitchen, where, amid a bustle of cooks, one chef was hand-cutting a four-foot

yolk-yellow banner of pasta. Our host led us into the irst of two compact, but not

cramped, dining rooms; pale stone walls, fabric banquettes, and rich wood accents make the

space feel as if it were a sanctuary. My friend looked around and said, “Good hygge.” For the

next 100 minutes, we had a properly urbane lunch whose timbre, in food and service, echoed

one you might ind in Italy’s Milan or Bologna.

From the get-go, Tavernetta bears the imprint of its Boulder parent, Frasca Food and

Wine. here, partners Bobby Stuckey, Peter Hoglund, and Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson

have perfected a Uniied heory of Hospitality that has much in common with that of

Wolfgang Puck in L.A. or Danny Meyer in New York City: fastidious but relaxed pam-

pering. Stuckey’s master sommelier expertise has also produced one of the most important

Italian wine programs in the country, winning Frasca numerous accolades, including a

James Beard Award

for Outstanding Wine

Service in 2013.

Italian wine fans

were rightly excited

about what Stuckey’s

team could bring to

Denver. he Tav-

ernetta list, curated

and updated weekly

by wine director

Carlin Karr, runs

long from the Alps to

Sardinia, meander-

ing into interesting

tributaries—best-in-

class Verdicchio from

Villa Bucci in Marche,

eight diferent terroir

oferings from the

Mt. Etna vineyards of

Passopisciaro in Sicily.

Yes, the list contains a

lot of deep-pocket ex-

BY SCOTT MOWBRAY

REVIEW

Nisa Sedaghat (2)

From left:

Taver net t a’s

fireplace lounge;

bowls of gnocchi

and ravioli