D19: Modern Italian Beneath Aspen Mountain [CLOSED]

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Restaurant Aspen

D19 is a good après-ski and après-hike dining option in downtown Aspen.

D19 is a modern Italian restaurant near the base of Aspen Mountain, across from Wheeler Opera House. Chef-owner Dena Marino also runs the oddly fig-less Wild Fig around the corner and named D19 for its opening date in 2005.

D19 has already garnered high praise over its short run. It’s been featured in Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure. My father and stepmother also beat me there, by a year; they both remembered liking it, though neither of them could remember why. Still, if they like a restaurant, the odds are extremely good that I’ll like it.


Restaurant Patio Aspen

D19’s most interesting design feature was a brick and copper dome. On the sunny summer day we experienced, it was nice to sit on the patio, which provided a cool breeze and interesting people-watching opportunities.

Restaurant Aspen

The airy interior featured plenty of natural light and a well-stocked wine wall.

Even though we arrived early and found plenty of open tables, we were restricted to the bar. Allison and Jane ordered mojitos from the D21 menu, featuring drinks for people 21 and over.

Lemonade Aspen

My strawberry mint lemonade ($6) came topped with what looked like an entire mint plant and co-starred muddled strawberries, creating nice tart-sweet contrast.

We received a complimentary basket of warm focaccia served with olive oil infused with paprika, garlic and basil.

To drink, since it was unusually hot, we ordered a bottle of Pascal Joliuet Sancerre 2005, a dry white wine.

The menu was divided from D1 (appetizers) to D6 (entrees).

Italian Food Aspen

Allison ordered The “Roman” Artichoke ($15) a whole braised artichoke simply prepared with mint, garlic, red pepper flake and Pinot Grigio. Very nice starter, especially the hearts, which absorbed the spice blend.

Pasta Aspen

To start, I got a half-order of ricotta cavatelli with “forever braised pork,” mustard greens and cippolini jus. The pasta fingers were very good, topped with big, tender pork chunks.

Salad Aspen

Jane opted for a light starter, “Teen” Field Greens ($12) topped with roasted peaches, Marcona almonds, Pt. Reyes blue cheese dressing. She seemed pleased.

Italian Food Aspen

My father was the big appetizer winner. Savory Prosciutto di Parma Zeppole ($13) were warm beignet-like rosemary “ham doughnuts” draped with premium prosciutto, drizzled with Urbani truffle oil and blanketed with a blizzard of “snowy” Reggiano. Heavy, but compelling.

Italian Food Aspen

For his entree, my father ordered Corn Fed Chicken On The Bone ($28), half a juicy bird set atop a blend of diced apples, cabbage, pancetta, cipollini onions and roasting jus.

Italian Food Aspen

Allison kept it in-state, ordering very good Colorado lamb sirloin ($31) with toasted farro and ramps. Medium-rare sheep slices were charred outside, locking in the meat’s juices, then drizzled with tangy Meyer lemon mint yogurt.

Italian Food Aspen

Jane bypassed a good-looking whole-roasted barramundi in favor of Pan Seared Halibut ($28) with wild mushroom-spinach salad, fennel and lemon-caper brown butter emulsion. Flaky white fish was fairly mild, but the accompaniments provided a nice boost.

Italian Food Aspen

Not one to pass up pig or fig, I ordered Kurobuta pork loin ($36) with soft polenta, fava beans and Mission figs. The portion was massive, and try as I might, I couldn’t eat every luscious, lean slice. Of course that might have been because I kept sampling everybody else’s food.

We ordered side dishes from the D4 menu section. Allison selected sugar snap peas con burro ($6). I normally prefer my snap peas with mule, but this version was good, crisp peas simply prepared with butter (burro means butter in Italian).

Italian Food Aspen

Our other side was a mix of cippolini, pancetta, apples and cabbage ($6). We were all convinced that my father wouldn’t want to part with the tantalizing side that came with his chicken, and we were right.

We didn’t eat dessert, since we were invited to a dessert and coffee party, but I still snagged Jane’s amaretti – a crunchy Venetian almond cookie that came with her coffee.

Driving from Denver on Friday, my cousin Jimmy was absolutely convinced there would be no good food. Happily, D19 was my family’s culinary salvation. If I had eaten the same meal in Los Angeles, I wouldn’t have been disappointed.

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

Blog Comments

[…] of furthering scholastic, amateur and professional chess across all North American countries.Food GPS D19 – Aspen, CO – June 23, 2007Chef-owner Dena Marino, who also runs the oddly fig-less Wild Fig around the corner, named D19 for […]

Hello, my name is Marcus Wade, I am the Operations Manager at D19 Restaurant & Bar. I really appreciate your review of our restaurant here in Aspen. I not only would like to invite you back to experience the winter dining here at D19, but I would like to inform you that Chef Dena Marino has been seperated from the Wild Fig nearly three years now. Unfortunately Dena and her then business partners could not come to an agreement which allowed her to have complete creative control over the Wild Fig. In turn, D19 Restaurant & Bar became Dena’s alone in June of 2006, completely seperating herself from any further involvement with the Wild Fig at that point. She puts her passion and complete love into her sole restaurant D19.
Please contact me directly if you’d like to make reservations to experience Dena’s winter menu here at D19.

Thank you,

Marcus Wade
D19 LLC
Operations Manager
[email protected]

Marcus,

Thanks for the information and invitation. I don’t plan to be in Aspen anytime soon, but I’d definitely return to D19.

-Joshua

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