LRP Redux* installment 13: Westbound & Down Mill

There has been a bit of a lag in my restaurant project reporting because we actually visited Westbound & Down Mill a whole week ago! I’ve been swamped with work and preparing for a rather large trip, so it has been hard for me to keep up. It is in Atlas Valley at the northwest corner of 95th Street and Dagny Way where Endo Brewing used to be. The original Westbound & Down Brewing is in Idaho Springs, and the Lafayette location opened just a few months ago. This location specializes in artisan pizzas (Detroit-style or round) with beer in the sourdough crusts. It also has an assortment of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, and a couple of desserts. And, of course, a wide variety of beers!

We were ordering takeout, so I had to pick from the canned beers, and I decided to try the Chicago Peaks kölsch, which is brewed in partnership with Bierstadt. I liked it a lot, which was lucky since I was committed to a four-pack! For food, we ordered the “95th Street” pizza (Ezzo pepperoni, salsa verde, mozzarella, red sauce, and spicy honey) in the Detroit-style square (um … really a rectangle, but that’s a quibble). All of the pizzas are named after streets in the Atlas Valley area or elsewhere in Colorado. 

I liked this pizza a lot, but G was not sure about it. I didn’t actually tell him the ingredients ahead of time, so I think he expected it to taste more like a traditional pepperoni pizza, and it really didn’t. But I thought the flavor combination was interesting, especially the unexpected sweetness of the honey. The leftovers reheated well in the toaster oven the next day. We also shared a burrata salad (roasted asparagus,snap peas, pesto, romesco, pickled onion, arugula, hefeweizen vinaigrette, and marcona almonds) and were in full agreement that it was spectacular.

I would definitely revisit this place, and next time I would like to try one of the pizzas with white sauce and chicken and try a few of the beers on tap. It has a nice big patio, and G said it was hopping last Friday night when he went to pick up our order. We used the online ordering system and ordered a little on the early side (between 5 and 6), and our food was ready within half an hour.

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

Burrata salad: excellent!

Detroit-style "95th Street" pizza

LRP Redux* installment 12: Viet Kitchen (CLOSED)

Update May 2023: This place is now permanently closed.

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We had heard and read good things about Viet Kitchen, which is located in Atlas Valley where the Super Mini Walnut Café used to be on the southwest corner of 95th and Arapahoe. They have a patio that is probably quite nice on a still evening, but we were there last Wednesday night, when the wind was blasting through as if it really wanted to take us to Oz, so we did not try dining al fresco. Some friends also wanted to try this restaurant, so we got takeout and took it over to their place. The online ordering system worked fine, but as usual with these systems, I would have liked a bit more detail about some of the dishes. The website currently consists only of the online ordering system, so there is nowhere to get more info unless you order by phone or visit in person.

G and I shared an order of Vietnamese egg rolls (wrapped in house), which were crisp and tasty. I almost always get a vermicelli bowl in Vietnamese restaurants (even though I never saw this on a menu when I was actually in Vietnam; maybe it is a regional thing?), so I decided to branch out and order the roti chicken (“pan fried until crisp, slow braised in a sweet soy marinade, and served over a bed of rice”). This was delicious, and my only quibble was that I would have loved a bit more of the marinade/sauce to drizzle on the rice.

G had the combination pho; we don’t know what it combined because the menu didn’t say, but it was at least a couple of kinds of red meat. He was especially impressed by the broth, which the menu says is “bone broth simmered over time with aromatic herbs.” M mentioned that she had seen quite a few online reviews mention the pho broth at this place. Pho is actually a dish that we had quite often in Vietnam, mainly at the street stalls where you have to sit on a little stool about 8 inches off the ground and right at the edge of the street to eat it. It was always delicious, and you can get it any time of day, so we even had it for breakfast a few times. G has been known to make it himself, which is a project that pretty much takes all day, so he hasn’t done it in a long time.

M had an order of the spring rolls, which came wrapped tightly in plastic to keep them from drying out and looked very good. She also had the beef short ribs (marinated and char grilled) and said they were excellent. S, the lone vegetarian among us, had the vermicelli bowl (rice noodles topped with lettuce, bean sprouts, cucumber, and crispy shallots) with tofu and also liked her meal very much. So I’d say this restaurant was four for four that night, and we would definitely revisit to try some more things.

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

G flopped this photo when he sent it to me so it wouldn't be backward, but I flopped it back--because this is actually what the banner looked like from the parking lot.

I snagged this photo from Yelp because I forgot to take one.

Roti chicken with rice; on the side is one of the Vietnamese egg rolls with fish sauce for dipping

M's beef short ribs with rice and a fresh spring roll

G's combination pho 

S's tofu vermicelli bowl

Happy with my plate of food