A Golden Celebration

Our friends Janet and Bob just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We are very honored to have been apart of their special celebration. For those of us who are married, we all know it can be full of trials and tribulations, and to make it for 50 years is really quite an accomplishment. Congratulations Janet and Bob!

Janet and Bob chose to celebrate their big day at Root Down, a fun and hip restaurant in Denver. Root Down is one of 6 restaurants in the same “family” that are all known for being “renegades of flavors and masters of remix”. All 6 of these restaurant siblings are also known for serving “responsibly-grown and innovatively simple sourced foods that are veggie-forward” (sic). The other restaurant “siblings” include the first restaurant in the family, Edible Beats, that was started in 2008. From there, it grew to include Linger, Ophelia’s, Vital Root, El Five, and 2 Root Downs, one in Denver (the one we dined at) and the other at Denver International Airport (DIA).

There were 8 of us in the celebration party. We all decided the best way to sample as much as possible was to order small plates and share. We all got to taste and enjoy quite a few different menu items this way.

As we were waiting for our food to arrive, we were all given a small little “palate cleanser” with a dollup of goat cheese, spicy beets and beans. It was zesty and quite refreshing, as well as being a fun way to start the meal.

The menu selections.

And the food arrives.

We all started with either soups or salads. This soup was the sunchoke soup with spinach pesto. The other soup choice at the table was a carrot and red curry soup with an apple-ginger chutney. Both soups were very good.

We also chose two bottles of wine from our very own Bookcliff Vineyards, located in Boulder. We had the 2017 Ensemble Red and the 2018 Viognier. We also just happened to be dining with the owners of Bookcliff Vineyards, John and Ulla, who are dear friends of Janet and Bob. Our waiter was very cute, and was also a bit surprised to be serving the owners of the winery. That is not something that happens everyday, that’s for sure.

We all shared bits and pieces of a wide variety of dishes. These are the lamb sliders with sweet potato fries and a lime cilantro dipping sauce. I will most definitely be making these in the near future. They were delicious!

The flavorful flank steak.

The crab and avocado tacos with the “tortillas” made from very thinly sliced jicama. This was definitely something very new for me. I never would have thought of that.

And the scallops. These were cooked to perfection and served on top of a bean patty with delicate cream sauce. Fabulous!

Once were done eating and our tummies were full, we were all treated to a bit of the bubbly from Inga Veiss, the Asst. General Manager and the staff, in celebration of Janet and Bob’s major lifetime achievement. A toast to the happy couple.

Inga also gave me a cookbook with recipes from all their restaurants, which I gave to Janet as yet another memento for the occasion.

Our entire experience at Root Down was incredible. The food, the staff, the ambiance; everything was orchestrated perfectly to make for a fabulous celebration. A good time was definitely had by all. Thank you. Root Down is located at 1600 West 33rd Avenue, Denver, CO 9-80211. You can contact them by phone at (773) 829-1463 or by finding them online at ROOTDOWNDENVER.COM.

After leaving the restaurant, we all headed back to Janet and Bob’s for another champagne toast and some dessert.

Happy 50th Anniversary Janet and Bob. May your love for each other continue to grow.

Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

I have worked in the restaurant and catering industry for over 35 years. I attended 2 culinary schools in Southern California, and have a degree in culinary arts from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, as well as a few other degrees in other areas. I love to cook and I love to feed people. View all posts by ajeanneinthekitchen