PRRP Redux 1: Tip Top Savory Pies

My Baseline & 287 Restaurant Project came to an abrupt halt because the last two restaurants that I planned to visit for takeout, Mumtaz and Adesso, both closed (temporarily, I hope). To finish up the circuit of Lafayette for now, I thought we should loop back around to the few new places that have opened on Public Road since we did the PRRP in 2017-2018--that is, if they are open for takeout. The first one that occurred to me was Tip Top. The tiny shop at 105 N. Public Road is closed, and they are doing frozen deliveries only, but they are doing them in an incredibly wide area--86 zip codes! You have to order by midnight on Thursday, and they will deliver your order over the following Saturday, Sunday, or Monday: https://www.tiptopsavorypies.com/delivery.

Not all the pies are currently available frozen--for instance, the breakfast pies are not on the delivery menu--but most of the savory pies are. In addition, you can order sausage rolls; nippers (small pastry pockets stuffed with mac and cheese); and apple, cherry, or peach sweet pies. You can also order the ruff puff pastry by itself and make your own pie! The Tip Top pastry is a beautifully flaky yet sturdy version that is perfect for their handheld, New Zealand-style pies. 

I had had Tip Top pies several times in the pre-pandemic days, but there were quite a few things I hadn't tried before. We set up a video dinner date with our friends Deb and Dave because they had already ordered some Tip Top pies. There's no way to predict precisely when your order will arrive, but we live in Old Town and got ours at about 4:30 p.m. on a Saturday, and Deb and Dave live in Broomfield and got theirs at about 4:30 on a Sunday. We had some overlap in our orders because G and Dave both wanted a steak & ale pie. Deb had a steak & mushroom pie, and I tried the beef ragu pie because it was new to me. Each couple had a mac & cheese nipper with bacon to split. For dessert, G and I shared a cherry pie, and Deb and Dave shared a cherry and a peach (and might even have had leftovers for later).

We all loved our pies! The steak & ale pie has slow-braised Colorado beef, local hand-crafted ale, peas, carrots, and scratch-made gravy (descriptions from the website). The steak & mushroom pie has the same beef and gravy with glazed mushrooms (I have tried the meatless mushroom & ale pie in the past, and it is amazing if you love mushrooms). The beef ragu pie (also known as "mince") has slow-simmered ground beef in a creamy tomato-based gravy. I loved the texture of it and thought the flavors were delicious. The nippers are stuffed with mac & cheese made with a creamy bechamel sauce, and we got the kind with bacon crumbles. The cherry pie is on the tart side, which we all liked. It would have been excellent with a little ice cream, and I was envious that Deb and Dave had some in their freezer! They said the peach pie was also good, but they slightly preferred the cherry.

Overall, this was a great comfort-food dinner. Next time, I'll be adding some sausage rolls to the order!

I'm not putting the map in at the moment because the shop is currently closed.

Screen shot of Deb and Dave showing us their pies

Deb and Dave's pies: coming out of the oven (top), Deb's steak & ale pie and half a nipper (bottom left), and peach and cherry pie quarters (bottom right)

G's steak & ale pie

My beef ragu pie and the mac & cheese nipper with bacon (before I gave G his half of the nipper), plus a side of steamed broccoli (which did not come with the pies)

Our cherry pie

B287RP installment 3: Proto's Pizzeria Napoletana

Just a reminder that we decided that takeout should count even though I can't report on the ambience, décor, or service at the actual restaurant. The food is the most important thing, right? I'm sorry we did not get a look at the kitchen conditions today because Proto's does curbside delivery where they will actually bring the order out to your car. Plus, you can pay over the phone so that you don't have to make any contact while there.

We ordered over the phone at about 6 p.m. on a Sunday night. The order could have been ready in 15 minutes, but I asked for a slight delay because we had a virtual dinner date with some friends at 7. G said they brought the food out as soon as he arrived. 

I believe the Proto's Lafayette location was the second one to open, not long after the original Longmont restaurant. We used to visit quite often, but as with other restaurants out of walking distance, our attendance has decreased in recent years. I ordered the things that were our favorites in the past: a Caesar salad (which comes with anchovies, thin slices of Parmesan, and slices of crisp-baked pizza crust in lieu of croutons) and the Proto Pie (mozzarella, tomato sauce, fresh basil and Italian sausage). I don't recall having dessert there very often in the past, but this time I ordered one serving of tiramisu (the only dessert option tonight), and I also got a can of Avery White Rascal beer because recently, on one of those days when it was actually warm outside, I was yearning for a beer. Everything was great. I like the Italian sausage, which is not spicy but nicely flavored; the Caesar came with not one but TWO anchovies, and the tiramisu was excellent. The Proto's pizzas have a thin, crisp crust with a little charring, which we like (to be honest, we like almost any kind of pizza crust). 

The friends whom we video-dined with were not eating Proto's tonight, but they know it well. They are fans of some of the vegetarian options: the Ruby Pie (pesto, mozzarella, feta cheese, kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts), the Pontiff Pie (olive oil, garlic, fresh spinach, roasted tomatoes, mozzarella and feta cheese), and a third one I now can't remember. They also have fond memories of a dessert that was made of balls of gelato with something in the center and chocolate sauce drizzled on top; I never tried that one myself, so I can't describe it any better than that.

It was nice to revisit this old favorite on a snowy Easter Sunday!

Put

Caesar salad, Proto's Pie, tiramisu, and Avery White Rascal beer

Caesar salad: good dressing plus anchovies and lots of Parmesan.

Good Italian sausage and fresh basil!

The tiramisu was excellent. I dripped chocolate sauce on my computer when I tilted it to show it to our video dining companions, but there was still plenty left. Note to self: Do  not tip the tiramisu.

Me with my half of the tiramisu

B287RP installment 2: Sushi Aji

The restaurant project has been on hold since February, first because we were out of town and then because restaurants had to shut down their dine-in services. However, we decided that takeout should count even though I can't report on the ambience, décor, or service at the actual restaurant. The food is the most important thing, right?

We ordered over the phone shortly before 6 p.m. on a Monday night. The order was ready in 25 minutes, and G drove over for a contact-free pickup (he had to go inside and get the bag off the counter). If we hadn't been so hungry, I might have warmed up the gyoza, but they were good even lukewarm and had a nice dipping sauce, a little thicker than some I've tried in the past. I liked that because there was less spatter! The house salad was basic, just greens and carrots (no cucumbers even though they are in the menu description), but had a very nice ginger dressing.

All of the sushi rolls were delicious. I liked the simple yellow tail roll because the fish was fresh and delicious. The rainbow roll is basically a California roll with salmon, tuna, whitefish, and avocado layered on top. What's not to like? The demon roll has tempura shrimp and avocado inside and is topped with lobster salad, seared Cajun tuna, and spicy mayo sauce. It was just mildly spicy, and the combination was very good.

We'll definitely be returning to try more of the dishes from the extensive menu!

Since I didn't go in person, this is a photo by Adam Beck from usarestaurants.info

House salad, gyoza, and sushi rolls (rainbow roll, demon roll, and yellow tail roll) 

Happy