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| - The short: Clean, comfortable, casual environment; efficient service; and ample servings of really good food!
The long: I chose Renegade Canteen for our first Restaurant Week dinner because I'd always wanted to try Robert McGrath's food at Roaring Fork, but never got the chance. I was not disappointed! Located in the Shops at 94 Hundred Shea, on the south side of Shea and just east of the busy shopping center at the very corner, Renegade Canteen is a bit tucked away in the shopping center that looks and feels more like a business park.
We showed up 30 minutes early for our 7:30 reservation on Monday, but the restaurant wasn't full, so we were seated right away at a big table with cushy seats. The decor was a little flat, but honestly, I was relieved that it wasn't heavy on the Southwestern decor. I was also grateful for the ample lighting, tall ceilings, and all the natural material within the decor that acted as buffers to suck up the ambient sound of nearby diners' conversations. Everyone around us, from business suits to couples, seemed to linger and just enjoy the ability to talk over and after dinner. I guess that's my way of saying it was nice to be in a place that didn't try to give me a concussion with way-loud music.
Our waitress, Helene, was on point all night, keeping our glasses, bread basket (tasty, crisp-crusted jalapeno cheddar bread and brown bread), and butter plate full, and the food rolling at the perfect pace, including asking us if we needed a breather before dessert (we did!). The assisting staff clearing the plates and helping to serve dishes were also quick, efficient, and unobtrusive.
The food was all almost perfect. Because it was Restaurant Week, these menu items aren't on the restaurant's permanent menu, but in my opinion, it's a mark of skill to make supplemental menu items so well. The spinach salad with a coddled egg, bacon, pine nuts, and cider vinaigrette was beautiful--a classic combo, perfectly done. Most coddled eggs I've had were overcooked, but this was just right, so beware if runny egg scares you. The mushroom crepe with veal sweetbreads and wood-roasted Portobello, with a buckwheat crepe and some very thinly shaved fennel, was earthy and savory. Maybe a little too earthy, though, as there was a teeny bit of grit in one bite of mushroom.
The grilled duck breast, wilted cabbage, and creamed corn was good. I ordered the duck rare, and the ample portion came perfectly cooked and beautifully sliced with a thin drizzle of unidentifiable and what I thought was mostly inconsequential sauce that delivered only a lick of sweetness. Weird. I do wish the dish had come on a bigger plate, since the duck slices weren't bite-sized (unless you're really ambitious), and I had to maneuver some food to make a slicing area. The veggies were all right--I liked the corn slightly punchy, vinegary sauce, which was a nice foil to the duck, but the wilted kale was too much of a bitter finish to every bite. The Dr. Pepper short rib served with succotash with local olives and bok choy was a much better entree thanks to the perfectly cooked short rib--moist and flavorful, I could cut it with a spoon and it melted in my mouth. It was also another good chunk of meat, very thick and on the bone. I could barely taste the Dr. Pepper on the rib itself, though a swipe with a slice of bread through the sauce made it really obvious. The veggies on this plate were better, with brilliant pops provided by the beans although everything tasted like green olives, save for the legumes--not Lima, but they looked like and had the sweet taste of gigantic, in-season peas.
Dessert was a beautiful finish. I ordered the chocolate malt, chocolate mousse, and flourless chocolate cake--so much chocolaty goodness on a single plate. The malt came in a tiny tumbler with a straw and demitasse spoon to scoop out the chocolate chunks floating at the top. The warm, white chocolate mousse flowed into the sunken cake when I forked into it. It was just sweet, delicious, and kill-me decadent, and honestly, I'm glad I started with it and only had to eat half before trading with my boyfriend for the lemon ricotta cheesecake with house-made limoncello he'd ordered. This was a great sweet finish to a big meal--light, sweet-tart, and summery. But don't try to eat the "candied" lemon slice--it was still bitter by the time it came to our plate, so while it was pretty, it was a shame that we couldn't eat it.
Overall, I'm glad we finally got to check this place out, and during Restaurant Week when prices aren't as brutal. Not everything was a total hit, but there were a lot of great things going on, and there were no total misses. This is on my list for special occasion dining, especially to try one of their $25 daily specials--I have my eye on the weekend paella!
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