Restaurant: Syrup, Denver, Colorado
So…does everyone remember my favorite meal of the day?
I’ll give you a hint:
It’s usually the first meal you eat.
Yeah. Breakfast. Oh, how I love breakfast. How I crave breakfast. I can eat breakfast for every meal of the day and be a happy, happy girl. It is the most diverse, most delicious, most creative meal that can be baked, cooked, toasted, sauteed, fried, poached, or done however you like it with a variety of different ingredients. And the combinations…are endless.
I always like to treat myself to one good breakfast/brunch out when I’m on vacation. Last year, my roommate and I hit up a restaurant that specialized in crepes (which we revisited this year and I think I had the most perfect gluten-free crepe of my life!) while in Denver. This year, after a little hunting around, I chose a different place to try. And, we happened to visit it on the day we were flying out. One filling breakfast would be really good before boarding a flight from Denver back to Louisville, yes?
That’s what I thought.
So…we took a short little drive to the Cherry Creek area of Denver and hit up this little breakfast/brunch/lunch joint called Syrup.
What really got my attention when I was researching restaurants in the area was that there was a gluten-free menu. Actually, I’ve come to find out that Colorado is like…some gluten-free haven, so pretty much anywhere you go, there is something gluten-free on the menu…or a separate gluten-free menu if you have to avoid gluten. It’s awesome. Is it any wonder I want to move out there?
This is a little unassuming little place located on the bottom floor of a building. This meant walking down some stairs to enter the restaurant. My roommate and I were shown to a table immediately. The waitress was alerted of my gluten sensitivity and she immediately pointed out that they could make waffles, pancakes, and English muffins gluten-free for me, so, whatever I desired…I could have.
Awesome!
After much consideration and back and forth, I finally settled on a waffle. A nice Belgian waffle sounded awesome. So, order in, I went with the Strawberry Fields Gluten-Free Waffle. This is a delicious Belgian waffle that is covered with freshly cut strawberries that have been sauteed in Syrup’s own handcrafted Strawberry Syrup. Yeah…as we all know…if it has strawberries…it wins.
My roommate opted for a traditional Belgian waffle with traditional butter (because, yes…you do get an option on a flavor of butter) and originally went with the Buttermilk Syrup. She was told that it was a cold syrup, so she changed it to the handcrafted Apple Cinnamon Syrup. And we decided to split an order of the hash browns.
With our orders in, we settled in to discuss our trip, some of our favorite things, and drink in the atmosphere. We saw some dishes come out to other diners…fluffy, huge pancakes, and even some lunch-type items as well…sandwiches and the like. It all looked really good.
Before we knew it…our plates were set before us. Let me tell you…not only did my gluten-free waffle look amazing, but it smelled amazing too. The strawberry syrup just sort of brought out everything good and awesome (which is…everything) about strawberries. Especially on waffles. YUMMY!! I love fresh fruit on breakfast goodies like pancakes, french toast, and waffles. This…was heaven for me.
My roommate’s waffle was done to the perfect crispy, soft texture you want in a Belgian waffle. She loved her whipped butter. But, more importantly, she fell in love with the apple cinnamon syrup (which was green, btw!). I tasted it…yeah…it was awesome.
As for my amazing Strawberry Fields Gluten-Free Waffle…all I can say is that I was in a happy, happy place at first bite. I just wanted to savor it. The fresh strawberries were an amazing touch. They were only enhanced by the handcrafted strawberry syrup, which…was a sweet, delightful topping on my waffle. It was swimming in a sea of strawberry flavor and I just wanted to soak all of it up. And I tried to with every bite of my waffle.
The hash browns were lightly cooked. I topped mine with a bit of hot sauce and enjoyed their soft texture with just an outlying crunch on the edges. Very nice and a great compliment with the sweetness of the waffle. I was stuffed by the time I was done eating, but not to the point of feeling too full. It was just the right amount of food. And it was prepared with such care, skill, and done to perfection. Nothing overdone or underdone. The waffle had the right texture, the right crisp, the right amount of sweetness. Yeah…I was in gluten-free waffle heaven.
Whether you wake up for breakfast or just love having a nice breakfast treat, I highly recommend Syrup. Not only does their menu offer pancakes, waffles, and french toast done in a variety of ways, but sandwiches, burgers, eggs, omelets, fruit, oatmeal, salads, etc. are also offered. There is a little something for everyone.
But if you are wise, when you eat at a place called Syrup…order something with one of their specialty handcrafted syrups. I promise, it’s totally worth it. I’m already planning to return next year. I was that impressed.
Denver is lucky. It has a wide variety of fantastic places to eat. But this one…takes the pancake…gluten-free…with a nice topping of…handcrafted maple vanilla syrup.
Oh…yeah!
The Celiathlete 