Avelina is one of my favorite restaurants in Denver - it’s a fabulous spot for a date night that offers upscale American fare. Executive Chef Josh Oakley is constantly updating the menu with inspired, seasonal dishes so you can always expect something new and exciting coming out of the kitchen.

We arrived at Avelina and were seated in the main dining room. Avelina’s aesthetic is chichi metropolitan with modern décor & neutral colors throughout the space.

When dining at Avelina, I highly recommend going with the Chef Entrust menu. This leaves your food order in the chefs’ hands and ensures you will get the best seasonal items Avelina has to offer. The Chef Entrust menu is $65/person - get ready to enjoy a spectacular meal.

For Cocktails I had the Orange Chai Tea. The Orange Chai Tea is made with light and dark rum, cointreau, orange chai syrup, angostura bitters, and egg white.

This was a lovely cocktail with a velvety mouthfeel. The orange chai syrup brought out the inherent spice of the rum while the egg white smoothed that spice right on out. The angostura bitters brought out flavor notes of clove & cinnamon.

For our dinner, we elected to do the Chef Entrust menu. Executive Chef Josh Oakley and our server Gina ensured our meal ran smoothly. Josh was sending out ingenious dishes from the kitchen while Gina provided us with the best service. Gina had awesome tableside manner, was engaging and made sure we had everything we needed during our Chef Entrust experience.

For Smaller Plates we had the Shrimp Lettuce Cups, Grilled Bok Choy, Brie & Thyme Biscuit and the Tomato & Strawberry Gazpacho.

The Shrimp Lettuce Cups are made with shrimp, lettuce, spicy aioli, jalapeños, lemon juice and cilantro.

The shrimp lettuce cups were full, bright bites of flavor. The shrimp were fresh and chewy and all the veggies provided nice snap. If I had to pick, this was my favorite dish of the night.

The Grilled Bok Choy is made with cashew cream, kimchi vinaigrette, and garlic chips.

A direct quote from Ross, “I didn’t realize Bok Choy could be THIS good.” The bok choy had a a slightly bitter taste and crunch that was countered brilliantly in taste & texture by the savory and smooth cashew cream. The garlic chips on the bok choy added even more satisfying crunch to the dish.

The Brie & Thyme Biscuit is baked to order and served with a side of strawberry mostarda.

The tender biscuits made from scratch were drool worthy; the rich brie and fresh thyme played excellently off the sweetness of the strawberry mostarda jam. You cannot go to Avelina without ordering the biscuits - trust me.

The Tomato & Strawberry Gazpacho is made with cucumber, watermelon, basil vinaigrette, and crispy cornbread croutons.

The Gazpacho blew us away - it was the perfect cold soup for summertime and brought us back to the Mediterranean. The soup was light, super refreshing, slightly sweet, and spicy.

For Larger Plates we had the Norwegian Salmon and the Duck Breast.

The Norwegian Salmon is made with mango and cucumber salad, green tomato curry, and ramp salt.

The Norwegian Salmon had a lightly browned exterior while the interior was a beautiful flakey pink. The salmon was clean and fresh in taste and the curry complimented the fish with coconut flavor. The mango and cucumber salad was tangy and added good acidity to the salmon overall.

The Duck Breast is made with roasted patty pan squash, coconut pea pure, sumac vinaigrette, hazelnuts, and cherry gastrique.

The Duck Breast was cooked to perfection - it had beautiful red meat flavor and provided a great mix of tender protein and fatty mouthfeel. The sumac gave the duck a flavor boost of tangy lemon and the hazelnuts provided nice crunch.

For Dessert we had the Orange Dreamsicle Cheesecake that is made with orange, gingersnap, pomegranate and molasses.

What a nostalgic dessert! Upon first bite, Ross and I were transported to the summers of our childhoods with this bright orange and creamy vanilla treat. The orange dreamsicle cheesecake had a cold whipped texture with an explosion of tart orange, sweet vanilla flavor.

Huge thanks to Avelina, Executive Chef Josh Oakley, Gina and Avelina staff for hosting us! We will be back very soon.

Check it out babes and let them know that denv.her sent you. xx

Avelina

Address: 1550 17th St, Denver, CO 80202 (Located in Fortis Private Bank)
Menu: avelinadenver.com
Phone: (720) 904-6711
Reservations: resy.com