There’s nothing quite like a homegrown Palisade peach on a sunny Colorado day, juice gushing out with every bite, dribbling down your face as you make your way to the pitted core.
Summer might be drawing to a close, but with Palisade peaches rolling in from the Western Slope, we still have something to celebrate. And Denver chefs are taking full advantage of the Colorado crop, adding it on top of pizza, brightening up salads and pairing it with foie gras.
“Everyone in the state looks forward to peach season,” said Bistro Vendome’s executive chef Jeremy Wolgamott. “After a long winter, when things warm up, it’s hard not to get excited about the juicy, sweet, citrus and sour flavor combinations. It’s the ultimate summer fruit.”
Look beyond the highway peach stands, and check out these 10 local restaurants dishing up the fuzzy fruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner:
Bistro Vendome
Bistro Vendome is serving peaches three ways at its new Park Hill spot. Chef Wolgamott likes to experiment with the summer fruit, trying a new dish out every season. This year, the French restaurant is serving a Pain Perdu with challah bread, Palisade peaches, candied macadamia nuts and crème anglaise for breakfast; topping its Salade de Pêche with a grilled Palisade peach vinaigrette for lunch; and baking them into the Tarte aux Pêches topped with vanilla ice cream.
2267 Kearney St., Denver; bistrovendome.com
Legacy Pie Co.
As tradition goes, peaches and pies are like peanut butter and jelly. They create something together that is bigger than the sum of their parts. Grab a slice of Legacy Pie’s old-school peach cobbler with a crumbly all-butter crust or a peach and raspberry hand pie for the road.
4000 Tennyson St. Denver; legacypie.co
Potager
Potager stays true to its farm-to-table reputation, plucking its Palisade peaches from Morton’s Organic Orchards, as well as family-owned Ela Family Farms and First Fruits Organic. Get your fill with the lobster and peach salad, featured on the seasonal menu for the month of August, or try one of the many peach-forward daily specials, like the peach, melon and tomato salad. And end the meal with one of their three desserts, all of which include Palisade peaches.
1109 Ogden St., Denver; potagerrestaurant.com
Pizzeria Leopold
Pizzeria Leopold’s got “99 Problems But a Peach Ain’t One” of them. The Lakewood pizzeria’s newest seasonal pie (with the same name) features house-pickled peaches from Morton’s Organic Orchards in Palisade, candied bacon, garlic sauce, provolone piccante, fresh mozzarella, pecorino and gorgonzola and topped with peach and cherry pepper relish and basil.
1990 Wadsworth Blvd., Lakewood; pizzerialeopold.com
Coperta
Brother-and-sister duo Aileen and Paul Reilly have been delighting diners in Denver with farm-to-table fare for more than a decade at restaurants like beast + bottle, Apple Blossom and Coperta, and Colorado peaches are an annual presence on their menus. This year, Coperta’s late-summer menu includes smoked ricotta dumplings (gnudi) made with peaches, pistachio and sage.
400 E. 20th Ave., Denver; copertadenver.com
Il porcellino salumi
This Tennyson Street deli uses Palisade peaches year-round (in-season ones in the summer and dried peaches the rest of the year) to make the peach jam for its smoked turkey sandwich, which also calls for poblano aioli, pickled tomatillos, baby romaine and vinaigrette on sourdough toast. It’s one of their best sellers throughout summer and fall, according to owner Bill Miner.
4324 W. 41st Ave., Denver; ilporcellinodenver.com
Little Arthur’s Hoagies
This East Coast-style hoagie pop-up has lines out the door for its nearly foot-long Philly cheesesteaks, chopped cheeses and Italian hoagies. But don’t miss out on owner AJ Shreffler’s new menu items for walk-up diners, like the Panzanella salad made with rosemary focaccia soaked in Sicilian olive oil, Rocky Mountain fresh tomatoes, basil, 12-year-aged balsamic, sheep’s milk cheese from Sardinia and Palisade peaches that have been soaked in ice water, “the only way to eat a peach,” Shreffler said.
2339 W. 44th Ave., Denver; littlearthurs.com
The Greenwich
When you’re craving peaches first thing in the morning, stop by The Greenwich for its weekend brunch. The ooey-gooey French Toast bread pudding with bourbon caramel peaches and cream cheese mousse is one of the best ways to start your day (or recover from the night before).
3258 Larimer St., Denver; thegreenwichdenver.com
Mercantile Dining & Provisions
Add a little summertime goodness to your next lunch with Mercantile’s two new peachy dishes. Elevate the perfect picnic fruit with the pan-roasted foie gras with Palisade peaches, pistachios and a toasted croissant. Or keep it light with the heirloom tomato salad topped featuring Palisade peaches, seasonal greens, pistachios, marinated feta and champagne vinaigrette.
1701 Wynkoop St., Denver; mercantiledenver.com
Nocturne
This jazz venue and supper club just added grilled Palisade peaches as one of its first-course menu items. The dish comes with Tennessee country ham, Greek yogurt infused with ginger, pickled shallot rings, sorghum syrup, peanut and tahini dukka seed blend, and mint. “Palisade peaches in particular are refreshing and sumptuous culinary treasures that play well with some many different flavors,” the restaurant said. Nocturne also has a croissant bread pudding featuring macerated Palisade peaches, bourbon caramel, roasted pecans and ginger buttermilk whip
1330 27th St., Denver; nocturnejazz.com
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