Dine & Dash: Theater and the big top 🍽
Denver's Olive & Finch should be your pre-show destination; Brockmeyer's in Lakewood surprises with two rare goodies
Olive & Finch Eatery and Bakery
Story and photos by Lauren Hug
A drive to Denver is always a guessing game. Will it take a little over an hour? Or closer to three? Anyone who regularly heads to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts complex knows how unpredictable I-25 can be. That’s why my daughter and I give ourselves the full three hours when heading up for a show. Sometimes even that buffer isn’t enough. There’ve been plenty of times we’ve raced in sweaty and out of breath just as the lights dimmed. Other times, we find ourselves with time to kill and bellies to fill.
Enter Olive & Finch’s Arts Complex location, our new go-to.
We spotted it a few days after its May 6 opening as we speed-walked to the theater moments before curtain (for The Book for Mormon). We had idled in stop-and-go traffic for two and half hours. (Ugh!) I made a mental note that something new was in the space where Curtis Street dead-ends into 14th Street —across the street from The Curtis Hotel — where a lackluster courthouse basement type of café used to be. With our bellies rumbling as the final curtain fell, we headed straight for Olive & Finch.
The set-up was confusing at first. The doors open in to a self-serve pastry section with tongs and trays (reminiscent of Paris Baguette) inviting you to choose among the tempting treats. The pastry cases draw diners toward a display of cakes and desserts, a grab-and-go selection, and the register where full menus await. We later realized menus are also available in a basket at the front of the pasty section, but we didn’t notice them when we walked in. Turns out you don’t have to order at the register, either. QR code menus are at every table, so you can order from there.
Seating options are abundant and varied in this location (there are four others in Denver). Traditional tables; bar seating that runs along the actual bar to a long wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on the foot traffic through the Arts Complex (great for people watching!); and lounge-like patio seating along 14th Street.
I was delighted to discover the 3 to 5 p.m. every day happy hour was still in effect. Note to matinee theatre goers: you’ll be able to snag a $5 glass of wine or cocktail after all but the longest shows. I ordered the Angeline Pinot Noir, which was served in elegant stemware, making it feel fancier than its price tag. My daughter went with a café mocha, which was a solid execution of the familiar beverage.
We ordered the Beef Kofta off the happy hour food menu and the Lyon Tartine from the regular menu (available on both the breakfast/lunch and dinner menus). The kofta was exceedingly tough — I couldn’t cut through it with a fork — but the tomato-based sauce that accompanied it was full of flavor. It reminded me of really good shakshuka.
The Lyon Tartine, on the other hand, was a hit through and through. Thick slabs of smoked salmon atop soft-on-the-inside, crisp-on-the-outside potato cakes reminiscent of the best fried polenta. I’m still drooling over the dill cream cheese (I’m a sucker for dill anything) balanced by picked red onions that deliver a sharp, satisfying flavor pop and crunchy capers for a mini-salt blast. The dish is beautiful too. We will definitely be ordering it again.
On our first visit, we opted to sit at the bar along the windows to the Art Complex where we watched a colorful parade of formalwear and cowboy boots, amusing each other by guessing the theme of the event. A fun experience all around.
We visited again a few weeks ago. This time, our drive to Denver went smoothly, letting us relax and enjoy a leisurely pre-show lunch.
I started with a salted caramel latte. It’s SALTY — boldly so — and I loved it. Unlike too-sweet versions common elsewhere, this one strikes an ideal salty-sweet balance. I may ask the baristas at Story Coffee (my go-to for salted caramel lattes in the Springs) to add a dash or two of salt to my next order.
My daughter wanted to try the Cinnamon Sweet Cream Sparkling Espresso but they were out of brown sugar syrup, so the staff offered to make her an espresso tonic with two shots of espresso, tonic water, and her choice of citrus. She went with lime. It didn’t make it onto her list of favorite coffee drinks, but she’s excited to try the menu version next time.
We ordered two sandwiches which were both substantially sized. The Cubano was too dry for my taste, though the pickles added brightness and, yes, moistness. I suspect the upgraded mojo sauce version would deliver more juiciness and depth of flavor. The Woody Wood — a turkey BLT with avocado and cranberry relish — was a standard, well-executed sandwich, with the relish adding a sweet bit of uniqueness.
The side of kettle chips accompanying both sandwiches deserves mention: a huge portion, lightly salted, not greasy, that feel homemade. Though I didn’t personally confirm if they actually were, the restaurant’s website says everything is made from scratch. I’m not usually a big chip-eater, but I ate every bite of these.
After the show (& Juliet, if you’re wondering), we returned for dessert. (Can you tell we really like this place?) My daughter wanted to try the homemade pop tart and I’d been eyeing the Chocolate Fudge Cake since our first visit. The pop tart — wild berry flavor — wasn’t my preferred style. Too dense for someone who prefers flaky pastry, but it will be a hit with fans of hand-pie style dough. The cake was on the drier side, but paired with their dark roast drip coffee, it was a decadent afternoon treat.
With a menu that spans breakfast to dinner as well as the grab-and-go options, there’s something for everyone here at all hours of entertainment. Given that Olive & Finch is a 100% minority, women-owned business committed to sustainable sourcing, serving scratch-made food right next to live music, theatre and dance, it’s an excellent choice for pre- and post-performance dining.
Brockmeyer’s
Story and photos by Matthew Schniper
The first thing you’ll notice about Brockmeyer’s is its unique circus-tent like shape. Pause just inside the doorway of the Lakewood-located bakery and coffee shop and you’ll see some framed write-ups on the wall. One explains the history of Big Top convenience stores circa the 1950s and early ’60s, and how 11 of the original 15 iconic buildings remain alive and repurposed today around the Denver area.
Another adjacent frame features a Jeffco Transcript article from early 2021, shortly after the business opened, with Owner/Baker Brock Coffman sporting a pandemic mask and holding up a big sheet tray of house pretzels. He’d started baking and hand-rolling them in 2012 as a wholesaler to drink spots under the prior business name Baker St. Pretzels, not unlike how Mark Anthony’s Pretzels became a beloved brand in Colorado Springs (before it closed its doors last year).
Anyway, my good buddy Seth Ford (who I graduated from CC with and who definitely wants credit for introducing me to Brockmeyer’s) lives in the area and frequents the cafe. He takes us by one Saturday afternoon when I’m passing through town, and guides me to a sandwich board of build-your-own pretzel bagel sandwiches, with four bagel options and a pretzel croissant option for the bread, and lists of Boar’s Head meats and cheeses for customization. I get the Wakey Bakey, with eggs, bacon and my choices of horseradish cheddar and an everything bagel, which is a fine breakfast-y bite with all the garnishing seasonings fortified by the sharp horseradish bite. And the bagel’s soft and fluffy with a pleasing chew and certain homemade, fresh feel.
But can we get back to the pretzel croissant I casually glossed over above? Yeah, I get that too, separately on the side, because there’s no way you come into a place like this and pass that up. And I can’t recall seeing a pretzel croissant anywhere else in my years of pastry prowling. Why isn’t this a thing? I haven’t even really thought about the style combo before. (Me with my lack of dough-magination.)
The answer is many places would probably fuck it up and scare people away. But Brockmeyer’s smacks it out of the park both in texture and taste. And for only $3.50! (Say it with me now: “whaaaaaaat”!?) Forget your forgettable $5-plus pastry elsewhere. This eats like a blue-collar, every-person croissant. The nicely browned crust, flecked with coarse salt bits, holds a delightful crunch without flaking excessively. The delicate inner dough stretches apart with glutenous resistance then tears gently. The whole experience of eating it feels like opening a present (that you thankfully get to eat). I bring home two more and blow Lauren and her daughter’s minds. Everyone vows to drive back at some point. (Seth won’t be ready for the uninvited company. His fault for introducing us.)
As if the pretzel croissant isn’t enough of a treat and draw, I also order a unique tres leches latte that’s worth your attention. Again: haven’t seen that elsewhere that I can remember. Why not? Here they make a house tres leches creamer which they add to pulled shots of boutique local craft coffees from roasters like Servant, Pablo’s Coffee and Queen City Collective Coffee. (You can buy bags from each off a retail shelf.) I get mine iced by barista recommendation, and enjoy it at the half-sweet level I’ve ordered it at — still tasting the richer layers of creaminess more akin to a breve by way of mouthfeel.
Things to return for: a plain pretzel, a pretzel brat (probably the jalapeño cheddar), another bagel with homemade cream cheese I didn’t yet try, and of course more coffee because it’s coffee. (There’s also a liquor license so you can get a beer or boozy drink with your pretzel items.)
Final thoughts: Not all things under the big top are a clown show. In fact there’s a lot of artistry to the performance here. Though it’s just breakfast for me, it’s quite a show.
