Cherry Creek News
& C
entral
D
enver
D
ispatCh
May 22, 2009Page 13
Snuggled within the Park Hill neigh- borhood you will find avery small commercial areathat has long since shrunk from the hub it must have been to a few small busi-nesses of singular interest.Among these, however, is the local jewelThe Cherry Tomato, a quaint Italian eaterythat has existed in that location since 1997.I have been aware of this establish-ment for many years, but never had theopportunity to visit. It is off of the beatenpath, so unless you are in that area, or thenearby vicinity of City Park, the Zoo or theMuseum of Nature and Science, you needto accept The Cherry Tomatoes as a desti-nation location.As soon as I arrived I was taken withthe old neighborhood charm of the early1900s store front. The interior has beenopened up to one tall space, and the kitch-en is part of the dining area, separated bya tall counter rather than being in a sepa-rate back room. Details are a blend of theoriginal structure along with a few mod-ern renovations. My impression was oneof a timeless establishment that buckedthe contemporary-renovation trend andembraced the historical and eccentric fla-vor of the building. Then I sat down.Our table was a two-top againstthe inside wall. When I sat down thechair wobbled dangerously and I liter-ally thought it was collapsing beneath me.Standing quickly to assess the situation Idiscovered that while the chair was sound,the floor was not! Two different floor treat-ments joined along this wall. One wassofter than the other, and as a result yearsof a chair leg sitting in that seam wore oneside down: there was a hole in the floor. Itwasn’t huge, only about 1 ½ inches deep, but I challenge anyone to saw 1 ½ inchesoff one leg of their own chair and see howenjoyable the balancing act might be afterthe first 10 seconds. When I directed thisto the attention of the staff, their responsewas, “Oh. Would you like a piece of card- board to go over that?” Wow. I was thor-oughly expecting them to be horrified andto direct me to another table in the nearlyempty restaurant, but they brushed it off entirely. So I decided that I would too. Let’ssee how fabulous their food would tastewhile I concentrated on my impromptuinner-core workout!OK, so in their defense I have to saythat even with my concentration divided,I really did enjoy the meal. Every table isstarted with a basket of dense bread anda bowl of balsamic vinegar and oil fordipping. Even knowing that we wantedto save room for a fullmeal, it washard to resist reachingfor that second slice.So we didn’t!We started ourmeal by splitting a $10.95 salad for two.Even though it was a very nice Caesar thatwas perhaps a bit light on the dressing, itwas so small I had a hard time feeling thatwe were getting a value for our dollar. Foran entrée I selected one of the house spe-cialties, Pasta Felese ($11.95). This featuresartichokes, peas, chicken, and sun-driedtomatoes served over bow-tie pasta andtossed with a white wine cream sauce.It was pretty awesome. My taste budswere definitely arguing that I should wolf down the entire bowl in one sitting, butthe portion was so large it was really moreappropriate to take half home for lunch thenext day. My only complaint would be thetexture of the chicken, which had clearly been prepared much earlier in the day. Itwas hard and rubbery.My dining companion opted to createher own dish by selecting her own com- bination, penne pasta with a primaveracream sauce ($10.95). Although this waslight as a feather for cream sauce, and justchock full of fresh veggies, it really didn’thold a candle to the Felese. It seemedpretty pedestrian and certainly not worththe effort to drive across town.We finished with a shared order of theItalian classic, tiramisu. We selected thisnot because it was a classic, but becauseit seemed to be the only option that washomemade on site. Everything else seemedto be a pre-fab cake or cheesecake that theyorder in and thaw out just for you. In otherwords, you can do better! The tiramisu,though, was very satisfying.Something that struck me the nextday was the sustainability of the left-overFelese. It clearly loses something in thetranslation and wasn’t nearly as creamythe next day (although the chicken wasextra-rubbery!) Therefore, here is my rec-ommendation: if you do venture to TheCherry Tomato, bring a friend with similartastes and appetite. Then split everything!There is a $3 charge to split an entrée, butthe dishes are very generous so you will both feel happy after the meal, especiallyif you share a tiramisu or factory cheese-cake. A dinner of salad for two, a splitpasta entrée, and a shared dessert would be about $30 per couple. And THAT, Ithink, might just be worth the trip acrosstown.***
Dining Detective:
TheCherry Tomato has ups,downs
The CherryTomato
4645 E. 23rd Ave
SundancePAINTING
Brian Mondt, Color Specialist • 303-380-1526brian_sundance
@
msn.comResidential and CommercialEco-friendly PaintsInsured • References Available
Painting
InteriorExteriorResidentialCommercial
Standards
Trained professionalsPressure washingThorough surface prepDrywall & plaster repair
Extras
Carpentry & restorationColor consultingBrick strippingCustom staining &lacqueringWallpaper removal & texturing
Over a Decade of Quality Craftsmanship
303.322.ISLE (4753)Call for your free estimate
Licensed & insured www.emeraldislepainting.com First-rate references from happy clients
R
epaiR
youR
concRete
this
spRinG!
or Freshen your home withnew Tile!
All Your Concrete Needs
SidewalksPatios StepsDriveways Stamped ConcretePadsBasement Finish All TileWork
Fencing
FreeEstimates
Pachelli'sFlatwork
720-298-2923
Leave a Comment