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This time of year, my fruit bowl is filled with fresh, sweet apples, especially the juicy Honeycrisp variety. While I’ve been working slices into salads and chutneys, I’ve been wanting to branch out and incorporate the fruit into more savory dishes. Looking for inspiration, I checked with local restaurants to see who is taking advantage of fall’s apple harvest.
At Il Posto, chef de cuisine Lucas Chandler blends cubed Honeycrisps with chewy ricotta gnocchi, brown butter, Brussels sprouts, and grated Grana cheese. At Panzano, executive chef Elise Wiggins has created a popular dish (pictured) in which fried Brussels sprouts are tossed with pistachios, rosemary salt, apple cider reduction, and sliced green apple. Sheila Lucero, the executive chef of Jax Fish House, offers seared New England sea scallops with a side hash made from new potatoes, Masonville Orchard apples, pancetta, and roasted Anaheim buerre blanc. Tables in Park Hill serves pan-seared trout with apples, a lovage-mushroom sauté, celery-root mash, and horseradish cream. The Coral Room has developed a seasonal short rib dish in which roasted apples are used to create a tart-sweet demi-glace for the meat. Finally, Coohills cooks a classic German fall dish in which venison sausage is served with braised red cabbage and apples.
Il Posto: 2011 E. 17th Ave., 303-394-0100
Panzano: 909 17th St., 303-296-3525
Jax Fish House: 1539 17th St., 303-292-5767 and 928 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-444-1811
Tables: 2267 Kearney St., 303-388-0299
Coral Room: 3489 W. 32nd Ave., 303-433-2535
Coohills: 1400 Wewatta St., 303-623-5700
—Photo courtesy of Jennifer Koskinen