Stock Your Freezer With These 15 Locally Made Products

“It’s not an overstatement to say that ChoLon is locally famous specifically for executive chef Lon Symensma’s French onion soup dumplings, each one a mouthful of brothy joy. Dumpling maven Michelle Xiao, who joined the team in 2019, is now crafting them—as well as potstickers and bao—for at-home cooking. Symensma’s video tutorials are your sous chef, and ChoLon sells steamers ($12) too.”

Stock Your Freezer With These 15 Locally Made Products

 

Where to Get the Best Dumplings in Denver

“Chef/owner Lon Symensma has been serving up his take on Asian cuisine using French techniques at the original Cholon location in downtown Denver for a decade.This Denver culinary favorite now has two locations, and lucky for us, both serve one of the Mile High’s long standing favorites: French onion soup dumplings filled with piping hot sherry-infused broth, sweet caramelized onions, and, of course, melty Gruyère cheese goodness.”

Where to Get the Best Dumplings in Denver

 

New Restaurants and Reopened Classics Doing Takeout Right Now

“ChoLon has reopened both its downtown and Stapleton locations for carryout, meaning all the French onion soup dumplings, stir-fried Malaysian noodles, and chicken potstickers you’ve been longing for are available.”

New Restaurants and Reopened Classics Doing Takeout Right Now

 

The 7 Most Romantic Restaurants In Denver

“Slide into a cosy eatery with your lover at LeRoux on 16th Street Mall. Fantastic service, blues of every hue and a delectable European menu make it ideal for date night. Take your pick from classic foie gras or veal bolognese. Whatever you do, don’t forget to toast to the two of you with one of their world-class wines.”

The 7 Most Romantic Restaurants In Denver

 

The Fifteen Best New Denver Restaurants of 2019

ChoLon Stapleton – “Chef/restaurateur Lon Symensma’s original ChoLon Modern Asian on the 16th Street Mall continues to be one of Denver’s top dining destinations, and now the inventive pan-Asian menu — or the best parts of it — are being served in Stapleton, along with a whole range of family-friendly new dishes built for the neighborhood. So longtime fans will still be able to indulge in the French onion soup dumplings, but a new roster of other dumplings is also available, as well as Singaporean crab cakes, pineapple fried rice and braised beef coconut curry. It’s all enough to make downtown denizens jealous.”

LeRoux – “Lon Symensma’s French/European bistro technically opened on December 28, 2018, too late to make our list of the twelve best new restaurants last year. But we won’t begrudge the chef/restaurateur those few extra days of practice before LeRoux became one of the brightest stars of 2019. Dazzling plates, from the mushroom mille-feuille, which presents a rectangle of mushrooms sliced so thin that they resemble the pages of a book, to the wagyu beef tartare, presented beneath a smoke-filled glass cloche, have become signature items, while duck, lamb and seafood go through seasonal variations. A tribute to the chef’s mentors in his younger days, LeRoux proves that the onetime student of European cuisine has now become the master.”

The Fifteen Best New Denver Restaurants of 2019

Best Restaurants 2019: LeRoux

“With exquisite European bistro fare on the table and twinkling crystal chandeliers hanging above, gorgeously appointed, 10-month-old LeRoux is one of the most romantic restaurants in town. Reserve the curved back booth for the privacy it affords and a great view of the marble-topped bar and front dining area. Created in partnership with Urban Villages, Semple Brown, and Hive Construction, the restaurant exudes a Parisian vibe complete with slate blue paint, leather banquettes, slim white tapers, and muted music. And as delicate as each dish may appear, chef and co-owner Lon Symensma’s techniques are bold. Case in point: Paper-thin slices of wild mushroom transform into a multilayered terrine that is seared for crisp edges and a melty interior. This spring, a pass on the “plancha” (flattop grill) gave tender octopus charred depth, and the accompanying spicy “panisse” (a Provençal chickpea flour cake) was the best I tasted among the spate on local menus. To complete the extravagant vibe at LeRoux, tableside showmanship abounds, from the roving cheese cart to the flames that engulf the seasonal baked Alaska.”

Best Restaurants 2019: LeRoux

The 15 Hottest Restaurants in Denver, August 2019

“Chef Lon Symensma, known for the pan-Asian restaurant ChoLon, gets back to his French culinary training with this jewel box of a restaurant off downtown’s 16th Street. Dishes such as lobster meunière and lamb chops with potatoes Anna are served alongside old-world wines and wintery house cocktails. The bar is a highlight, and lunch is served weekdays.”

5280 Top of the Town Best Dessert (Editor's Choice) - LeRoux

“Most everything about this seven-month-old, European-inspired restaurant in LoDo feels romantic, from the sparkling crystal chandeliers to the deep, dark booths to the exquisite desserts. Led by chef-owner Lon Symensma, there’s a beautiful sensibility to the sweets menu, which transforms classics such as baked Alaska and Paris-Brest into modern marvels by tweaking their elements until the dishes feel altogether new. The Paris-Brest in particular will linger in your thoughts for weeks thanks to its craveable union of a traditional crisp choux pastry ring, a delicate pistachio crème mousseline (a riff on the typical praline cream), and a wholly au courant salty caramel sauce. While you might be tempted to clink forks with your date over one of these luxurious confections, trust us: You’re going to want your own.”

5280 Top of the Town Best Dessert (Editor’s Choice) – LeRoux

This Is the Must-Order Dish at LeRoux

“Chef Lon Symensma has a knack for creating iconic dishes (see: the addictive fusion dumplings filled with French onion soup at his eight-year-old modern Asian restaurant, ChoLon). And just four months after opening his polished, European-inspired bistro, LeRoux, next door to ChoLon on the 16th Street Mall, it looks like Symensma’s wagyu beef tartare is poised to be another signature. It’s impossible to miss the appetizer as it’s whisked to diners in the candle- and chandelier-lit space.”

This Is the Must-Order Dish at LeRoux

A Comprehensive List of the Women Leading the Front Range Culinary Scene

From running restaurant kitchens to brewing Coloradans’ favorite craft beers, women are leading in all facets of the Front Range’s exciting dining scene—and driving its success. In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, we hope this list will make it easy for you to find and support female-owned and -operated establishments from Aurora to Boulder and beyond.

ChoLon Restaurant Concepts (ChoLon, Cho77, LeRoux): Dani Craig, general manager; Becca Henry, ChoLon chef de cuisine; Ashley Adams, ChoLon lead bartender

A Comprehensive List of the Women Leading the Front Range Culinary Scene