frasca

[mongo_jones]

my birthday dinner will be at frasca (in boulder). i invite those who've eaten there recently to post at great length about favored dishes, and also the correct way in which to order the cheapest bottle of wine.

[omnivorette]

As far as the wine goes - if you want the cheapest bottle on the list, order the cheapest bottle on the list - not sure what you mean besides that. There's a $22 bottle of a 2001 French cab - at quick glance looks to be the cheapest of the reds.

 

Here's where you can find the wine list list:

 

http://www.frascafoodandwine.com/wine.html

[omnivorette]

FYI, they now have a $29 3 course prix fixe menu on Mondays, which changes every week. All the menus for Mondays in January are on the website.

[mongo_jones]

omni, as a true member of the upper-lower middle class my generally insouciant manner disintegrates in upper class settings and around upper class paraphernalia. i blame colonialism. it seems like the right thing to do.

[omnivorette]

edit: not worth it

[mongo_jones]

edit: this is not an edit

[mongo_jones]

does anyone know if the december menu listed on the site is still in effect?

 

if so, this is what i will be ordering (pliss to inform if any of this would be a mistake):

 

app: the long family farm lamb relish

entree: long family farm pork belly

dessert: the panna cotta or the dark chocolate gelato

 

should i be mixing my meats? i am also tempted by the "21 orders" angolotti, but we eat late and they will probably already have served 21 orders of it by then.

 

you know, that's <$40 before tax for 3 courses for one person. that is pretty ridiculous.

[omnivorette]

does anyone know if the december menu listed on the site is still in effect?

 

Probably the restaurant knows.

[rlm]

I ate a meal at the salumi bar solo shortly before Christmas. Had a gratis sample of Speck wrapped around a thin breadstick and dipped in horseradish sauce (very nice).

 

I would skip the Brodo as an app. if it's still on offer (nothing exciting about it).

 

I had a lamb dish, but the menu I ordered from in December was tweaked a little from the 12/11 one posted online.

 

The friendly guy at the salumi bar that evening announced he is also a pastry chef and recommended their tasting of chocolates for dessert. The portion was quite large, so I sampled a few and they wrapped the rest up to take home. The selections were different than the ones listed in the menu presently on their website (no mint or lemon poppy seed flavors on my plate).

 

I had the Long Family pulled pork before and it was amazing and melted in my mouth. Had a glass of the suggested Betts & Scholl Grenache that paired perfectly with it. The Long Family pork belly sounds like a good call (mmm...nutritious pork belly), although we've seen people at wine dinners before acting mildly shocked at how fatty it is.

 

Rather than a cheap over-all bottle, you might want to think about ordering glasses or smaller tasting glasses ("tajut" on the wine menu) of different wines so you can have Bobby pair them specifically with the dishes you order. My favorite by-the-glass wine on their list is the Paitin Barbera (so if you or Mrs. Jones end up leaning towards the ribeye, this would be a perfect selection).

[omnivorette]

I think that if you each have 2 glasses of wine that are paired for you, it will end up costing you more than the cheapest bottle of wine on the list - just an FYI.

[Lippy]

I love doing that, not for the money-savings, although that is sometimes welcome, but because I don't drink that much, yet like the variety.

[omnivorette]

The variety can be nice, but it doesn't necessarily save money, if that's the goal.

[rlm]

Probably would cost a little more, but there are some tasting portions (and we've had rather generous pourings of these in the past) for $3-$5, which would enable you to try out different pairings. Just adds to the over-all experience of the place, in my opinion.

[TheMatt]

It's been a while since I've been there, but I can tell you what I liked.

 

My entree was the poisson du jour, Tasmanian sea trout. It was very good and, if it's there, highly recommend it.

 

I had the Onion soup on the menu they still have posted and it was...unique. For an onion lover like me, I wanted more onions, but it was definitely something I'm glad I had. I also had some frico, parmesan crackers, to start with. They are quite good and satisfy any salt cravings you might be having.

 

For dessert, well I recommend the hot chocolate or whatever they call it now. It was gooood. Of course, they didn't have the matled dessert when I was there, and I do love malted milk.

[bolderite]

Happy Birthday Mongo!!

I know this is going to sound twisted but one of the H's probably eats at Frasca at least every other week. The lamb relish is not that exciting and not always on the menu, I would skip it. My favorite apps are the sea scallops -- these are incredible, carmelized/crisp with salsify. Delicious. salumi plate, the salad with quail egg or any other egg/salad combo, fois or pate if it is on the menu. For the mains, pork belly or the prok shoulder is great and something you porbably don't make at home. Mr. H went last week and shared a veal chop with another person at the table and said it was out of this world. The agnolotti may not be sold out and it is melt in your mouth good, any gnocchi is fabulous. Someone at the table must have gnocchi. Any dessert with home made ice cream featured is very, very good and I like the chocolate soup. So far, I have not been too impressed with any of the pastry selections that I have had -- competent but not knock your socks off. If you want to try more things and turn your evening into a four or five course tasting menu, it is easy to do. Depending on how the menu grabs you, order 2-3 apps and have them split everything and bring it in course, than split a main course or two. The kitchen does not charge extra, they don't mind doing it and the presentation comes out looking great and you are not sitting there trading plates (they have a tendency to the overly large dinnerware so to heft a bowl of risotto across the table is a little unwieldy), and it extends the dining experience, which again they don't mind particulalry if you eat late and there is no other turn of the tabe expected. It's Boulder, after all, if you eat at 9, you will be closing the place down at 11 -- everyone else is in bed. When we ask them to split things and bring them in courses, they split everything (even soup), even though we told them it was not necessary.

On the wines, just be honest with Bobby (the sommelier and the guy in the suit wandering around tirelessly talking to everyone) about your likes and desires -- we are not big wine drinkers, we like bold/dry/sweet/ etc and moderately priced and he will turn you on to something good and reasonable. He does not oversell but wants people to be turned on to the wine experience.