Press

"The downfall of Á Côté's happy hour is that, unless you have extreme discipline, your bank account won't be thrilled once you get the tab. However, the experience is so enthralling that it's entirely worth the extra pennies -- and I wouldn't hesitate for a second to return. The love that goes into preparing the food at Á Côté is so evident that it's literally palatable, and you'll soon realize that, for an event that's traditionally centered around a cheap buzz, the five dollar glass of wine you're chugging for happy hour has become little more than a second thought. The happy hour plate is a lovely charcuterie dish brimming with artisan cheeses, housemade confitures and country paté. The combination, which changes frequently, is accompanied by an utterly sinful chocolate pot de crème lightly sprinkled with cayenne powder. The tartine a la Parisienne -- a flawlessly fried egg topping an open-faced sandwich on grilled batard, whose rich béchamel is hard to distinguish from the Emmanthaler that melts perfectly onto the Colorado farm-raised ham -- was most appropriately described by another diner as an "Egg McMuffin on crack." Enough said. The staff possesses the same passion that's evoked in the food, which is apparent not only in their knowledge of the menu, but in their vast repertoire of wine and their ability to excite even the weariest of customers." Overall Grade: A

We love a place informal enough to list its bottles on a chalkboard — even if we're cowed by the fact that we can't correctly pronounce most of them. But at Z Cuisine and its sibling wine bar, À Côté, we have no doubt that anything we drink will be delicious. Z Cuisine has stayed true to its concept as a neighborhood bistro by offering some fantastic (primarily French) wines at reasonable prices. By the glass, they generally run between five and ten bucks, with a couple (like the new, Denver-born Infinite Monkey Theorem sauvignon) cracking twelve. And the bottles usually stay in the thirty-dollar range. A Domaine la Garrigue 2006 Côtes du Rhône for $33? That's not a bad deal on any list, and at Z Cuisine, it's just the start.

It begins with the assiette de charcuterie maison — the house meat plate, a delirious mix of pâté and rillette and cheeses and sausage and cornichons and chutney and more. From there — from that best of all possible beginnings — Z Cuisine's menu blooms outward into a board that might include foie gras marinated in sauternes, pork belly brined in white wine and served with caramelized skin, oxtail crepes, cassoulet and lamb Niçoise. Chef Patrick Dupays sources as close to home as he can, scouring farmers' markets for the best product he can lay his hands on. Every one of his plates is a benchmark preparation. And amazingly, when the menu changes — as it does weekly, sometimes daily, sometimes even in the middle of service — every one of the new plates will be just as good.

Best French restaurant: "There's nobody in Denver like Patrick Dupays at Z Cuisine (2239 W. 30th Ave.) and Z Cuisine A Cote. Rather than some focus-group-tested idea of what a Denver restaurant should be, his restaurants and menus reflect his unique vision, his generosity and hospitality. A quintessentially French dish - and my favorite dish in Denver - is his salade gourmande with gizzards, prosciutto, blood sausage and veal tongue with sauteed apples served over super fresh greens with a vibrant mustard dressing. It's heaven, especially with a big, acidic red wine."

"And they will do so gladly, happily — with the kind of ardor and lust that makes friends of strangers and one small, cramped, busy and overflowing room into one of the most welcoming houses in town."

"Patrick Dupays already operated one of the city's best French restaurants, Z Cuisine, so when he announced that he'd picked up a second spot just two doors down from his original restaurant and was planning on turning it into a wine bar, Denver's francophiles were (literally) beside themselves with joy. And with good reason, too, because Z Cuisine À Côté stands as its own destination — a warm, beautiful tribute to the Parisian wine-bar culture of the 1900s, offering plenty of wines by the glass, cheeses, charcuterie and a selection of small plates (like frisée aux lardons, petit chèvre and asparagus quiche, and onion soup gratinée) made to the same high standards of rustic Frenchiness exemplified by Dupays's original restaurant. From A to Z, this is one class act."