Denver Daily Bliss
How Amusing
By Kat
08/17/2007
Fine dining and happy hour, together? That’s a laughable concept.
Or is it?
Next time you’re in the mood for happy hour munchies, skip the fried jalapeno poppers and grease-laden potato skins, and opt for a much more refined option: Amuse by Michel, a new restaurant that opened this summer as part of 5 Degrees. The lounge is best known as one of the go-to spots in the Larimer Square area for spying beautiful people and sipping colorful cocktails, but chef Michel Wahaltere has created a menu of “amuse bouche” to literally entertain your mouth, as well as your other senses.
The Amuse menu features mix-and-match nibbles such as cheese-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon, savory marinated olives, and gnocchi in pesto cream sauce. Amuse items are priced at $4 per item, $7 for two or $10 for three, and are sized as small appetizer plates that are ideal for sharing. The rest of the menu offers true happy-hour specials, like $4 wine cocktails and martinis and $3 beers from 4 to 8 p.m., and a full menu of larger plates including mushroom ravioli and almond-crusted calamari and lamb loin.
So next time you’re in the mood for elegant food in a trendy downtown atmosphere, grab a friend and pick three amusing delicacies, wash them down with a $4 glass of vino, and giggle with delight over your steal of a deal.
You’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.
Amuse by Michel, 1475 Lawrence St., 303-260-7505.
A menu to amuse 5 Degrees fans
By Kat Valentine
Article Last Updated: 08/09/2007 05:59:19 PM MDT
Five Degrees (1475 Lawrence St.) has been a downtown destination lounge for years, known for its steady stream of dressed-up, 20- and 30-something cocktailers looking to mix and meet over vodka martinis.
But despite the success of its late-night lounge, owner Francois Safieddine has long hoped to draw an earlier crowd by offering a full restaurant menu. He teamed up with chef Michel Wahaltere to revamp the menu earlier this summer. Now Amuse by Michel, the new restaurant side of 5 Degrees, is slowly gaining fans with . . . . ::Read More::
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Amuse by Michel
Chef Michel Wahaltere
This urban restaurant-lounge draws inspiration from the eclectic neighborhood restaurants, cafes, wine and tapas bars found throughout Europe. Here, the traditions of European cuisine meet the flavors of the American market, with a menu reflecting dishes from acclaimed Chef Michel Wahaltere that focus on the simplicity of fine ingredients. Creating a perfect harmony of bold flavors, sophisticated textures, and artful presentation, AMUSE by Michel offers an array of mouthwatering samplings beside wine and cocktails, allowing patrons the leisure of enjoying both food and drink in moderation.
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By Bill Husted
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Article Last Updated: 06/12/2007 01:43:56 AM MDT
Sightems
Former Denver restaurant guy Lou Bucci back in town visiting with Rodney Utz at Rodney's Saturday night - along with KHOW yakker Peter Boyles and former Aurora Mayor Dennis Champine
Post editor Greg Moore with wife Nina Henderson Moore at Amuse on Saturday night with Bob and Gabrielle Rafelson of Aspen. They're all pals, and Bob's a big cheese in Hollywood - behind everything from "Five Easy Pieces" to the Monkees
Tommy Chong in Aspen for the NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) gathering Saturday and Sunday
Sting staying at Hotel Teatro for the Police concerts Saturday and Sunday, hanging at the bar in Prima and chatting it up with newlywed party of Jennifer Smith and Josh Haggard.
CulinaryColorado
Small Plate Delights at Denver's New Amuse
ClaireWalter. Sunday, June 10, 2007
I recently wrote about the coming of Amuse by Michel at 5 Degrees in Denver. Now it's here, and on Tuesday, I attended a preview for media and other guests. The 5 Degrees part is a big bar/lounge in front, geared for the LoDo evening social crowd, while the Amuse part is the eatery that occupies the back. The restaurant is small and very cool-looking. It reminded me of a house of mirrors, with mirrors set in white frames against black walls, antique-white chandeliers with robin's egg blue shades (right) that could have come from Cinderella's castle, birchwood table tops, black armchairs and wood floors. An expansive patio in back looks inviting for a summer evening but was not open for the preview for media and guests on Tuesday evening. |
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| The wine list was imposing, but I selected a sparkling Micheltini to start, and it was so good that I had another during the progression of a dozen small plates, each one attractively presented. IMHO, the best were: | |
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One of Michel's marketing minions came around and asked what we thought of different dishes, so if I was not alone in my opinions, the following dishes might change in the future, but as of last Tuesday, the least successful were:
Too full for dessert, I lumbered back to the Market Street station and rolled back to Boulder on the bus.
Amuse at 5 Degrees is at 1475 Lawrence Street, Denver. It is open from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. except Sunday. For reservations, call 303-260-7505.
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COMING SOON: 5 DEGREES TRIES AGAIN
When the downtown lounge 5 Degrees first opened two years ago, owner Francois Safieddine and then chef-owner of Bistro Vendôme Eric Roeder teamed up to bring the martini-sipping crowd a small-plate menu. But the dining component quickly tanked and 5 Degrees became primarily a bar with a few nibbles. Now Safieddine is at it again—but this time he's brought in Belgian-born chef Michel Wahaltere (formerly of Campo de Fiori in Aspen, MODA, 9th Door, and Seven Eurobar) to consult.
On May 25, 5 Degrees will debut Amuse, an in-house restaurant serving small plates (priced $4 to $12) and wine from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Look for dishes such as grilled asparagus and smoked salmon, almond-crusted calamari, rigatoni duck pasta, and potato gnocchi and rock shrimp. Parties of 10 or more will receive a complimentary small plates sampler platter and Amuse plans on hosting theme nights: "Monday Market" (where one ingredient will inspire a three-course prix-fixe meal) and Tuesday's "Pasta, Pasta, Pasta" (four selections of unusual pastas). Can 5 Degrees become a dining destination? Only time will tell, but having Wahaltere at the helm is a good start.
1475 Lawrence St., 303-260-7505
Denver Post Entertainment by Bill Husted
Eats!
Michel Wahaltere has joined with nightclub owner Francois Safieddine to open Amuse by Michel in the back room of 5 Degrees, 1475 Lawrence St.
Wahaltere is most recently from 7 Eurobar in Boulder but has toqued it up over the years at Campo, Moda, Euro, 9th Door.
He makes good food; Sefieddine makes good club.
Plans are to open the joint May 25.
Article 05/03/2007
Something to look forward to is the imminent return of chef Michel Wahaltere to Denver. Amuse by Michel is set to open on May 25 in a private back room and patio of 5 Degrees, a trendy lounge at 1475 Lawrence Street in LoDo. Wahaltere is teaming up with Francois Safieddine, owner of 5 Degrees, to create an uban restaurant-lounge with an international culinary flair in the club.
According to the pre-opening announcement, "the inspiration is from the eclectic neighborhood restaurants, cafes, wine and tapas bars found throughout Europe. Amuse by Michel offers an array of appetizer-sized samplings aside wine and cocktails to allow patrons the leisure of enjoying both food and drink in moderation -- there, smaller is better. Here, the traditions of European cuisine meet the flavors of the American market with a menu reflecting dishes from Chef Michel Wahaltere that focus on the simplicity of fine ingredients. Creating a perfect harmony of bold flavors, sophisticated textures and artful presentation, it's not really dinner, yet it's more than a snack." In addition to seasonal dishes, Wahaltere promises such signatures as "grilled asparagus and smoked salmon; almond crusted calamari; potato gnocchi and rock shrimp; mushroom ravioli, ahi tuna tartare; and rigatoni duck pasta."
As a chef, Belgian-born Wahaltare has a glittering resume, including (in Colorado alone) Campo di Fiore and Mirabella in Aspen, MODA in Denver and Seven Eurobar in Boulder. He is also a restaurant consultant with similarly impressive credentials in that specialty. Plans additionally include the Amuse by Michel Wine Club (no cost to join). Members can join such evenings as Sip Wine on Mondays (25 percent off all bottles under $70), Wine & Cheese on Tuesdays and a monthly tastings called Class in a Glass. For reservations, call 303-260-7505.
Wahaltare was in Boulder too briefly as the culinary force at Seven EuroBar, but his new venture's name is giving me flashbacks. Amuse was the ambitious but ulimtiately short-lived restaurant that occupied the space 1430 Pearl Street between the long-running Little Russian Cafe and Cafe Girasole (and now the Trattoria on Pearl). James Mazzio was the executive chef at 5 Degrees, also in Boulder, when he was named one of the 10 Food & Wine's Best New Chefs of the Year in in 1999. Like Amuse, 5 Degrees is no more, and neither is Triana, which Mazzio opened after that. Wahaltare is a fine, creative chef. I hope he is not superstitious about names.
Posted by ClaireWalter
Third Turn By Jason Sheehan
Published: May 10, 2007
Chef Michel Wahaltere (ex of Moda, Campo di Fiore, Euro, 9th Door and Seven Eurobar) has a new place to hang his toque: 5 Degrees, at 1475 Lawrence Street, where owner Francois Safieddine will open Amuse by Michel in a remodeled private back room and patio at the nightclub. No surprise here: The menu will be small plates, internationally inspired, meant to be paired with offerings from the house's wine and cocktail lists.
Over the past few years, a lot of guys have tried to make the nightclub/lounge/ restaurant thing work. Remember Flow? How about Aqua? Luxe? Milagro Taco Bar (which, I notice, is now advertising a ladies' night...)? None have been smashing successes, and with good reason: No one wants to eat a ham sandwich in a nightclub. Or a plate of tuna tartare, for that matter. People want to eat here, then shake their groove things over there. Because really, there's nothing sexy about a man with half a cheeseburger in his mouth trying to do the cabbage patch. Don't believe me? Ask my wife.
But maybe Wahaltere and Safieddine have some secret formula for making it work at 5 Degrees. I certainly hope so -- and we'll all find out in June, when Amuse by Michel unveils itself to the public.
By John Lehndorff, May 18, 2007.
Stuffed-pizza fans are mourning the closing of Beniamino's Chicago Pizzeria at 1 Broadway. However, Rosati's Pizza is open at 9960 Wadsworth Parkway, Westminster, serving authentic Chicago-style pizza. Another good Windy City-inspired choice: Baked in Boulder, 1729 15th St. (near Liquor Mart). . . . After opening Campo, Moda, Euro, 9th Door and, most recently, Boulder's 7 Eurobar, tapas virtuoso Michel Wahaltere has teamed up with Denver nightclub impresario Francois Safieddine. Amuse by Michel opens in late May in the back room of 5 Degrees, 1475 Lawrence St. . . . Shiraz, the fine Persian restaurant, has reopened at 9625 E. Arapahoe Road . . . Limon, the hot Peruvian bistro, has expanded from 40 to more than 100 seats and is now taking reservations. . . . The downtown location of Earl's Restaurant is open at 1600 Glenarm Place. . . . A Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery is scheduled to open at Denver International Airport. DIA's regional jet facility includes such locals as Heidi's Brooklyn Deli and New Belgium Brewery. . . . Boulder's Radda Trattoria, 1265 Alpine Ave., is named one of 10 hot new restaurants across the country in Bon Appétit's June issue. . . . Bang!, 3472 W. 32nd Ave., is again serving lunch.
Eating my words
"Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to good will and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale." - Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli