Restaurant Review. Next Time You're in Denver...

try TOAST!

Dave, who is not a foodie, loves the way Westword food critic Jason Sheehan writes (he happens to be up for this year's James Beard award). When Dave pointed out this article, I knew I had to someday try Toast.

I LOVE pancakes. I consider myself a connoisseur. I know what they should be. But what they could be--after this morning, I intend to seek out many more pancake experiences.

First of all--a shout-out to Carrie and the McDowells who directed us to Lulu's in Brooklyn for the most fabulous pancakes in that city. Those were definitely eye-opening.

We had driven by yesterday when I yelled (so he said) to Dave that we still need to try Toast. We read the review in January, for Pete's sake!

This morning, my wonderful husband surprised me when I stuck my face in his and begged for something to get me out of bed at 10am. He said, "We could go to Toast..." I was pretty much dressed and ready to go in even LESS than my usual 5 minutes.

It's a ways away, but so worth it. After scanning the menu, Dave spotted before I did my obvious choice: the Pancake Flight.

The platter features "four stacks of pancakes, sampling each of our three signature flavors and the pancake of the month!" Which might sound daunting (esp. when the waitress assured me NO ONE ever finishes it), but it came out on a 4 x 10 rectangle plate and the "stacks of pancakes" were only 2 dollar-sized pancakes for each type.

I need to interject I am not a big fan of flavored pancakes. Pancakes plain are good enough for me. If given a stack of 3, I will eat the first two plain (okay, with butter) and finally add a touch of syrup to the third.

The varieties of pancakes this morning were:

Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes. "Gingersnap cookie crusted pancakes with lemon zest, blueberries, and topped with blueberries and fresh whipped cream." If "lemon zest" and "fresh whipped cream" didn't give it away, these were DELIGHTFUL.

Bananas Foster Pancakes. "Banana and pecan pancakes topped with fosters sauce, bananas and pecans. Served with fresh whipped cream." Now that I read it, that doesn't come CLOSE to doing these pancakes justice. It tasted like a cloud of homemade banana pudding with just a hint of toffee crunch and caramel sauce on top.

Strawberry Banana Cheesecake Pancakes. Are you getting a stomach ache reading this? They really were not overwhelming. They were pancakes first, flavors second. Which I appreciated. I also declared to our waitress seven different times I was definitely going to finish all of them. And asked if I would get a free t shirt if I did. (Answer: No.) "Graham cracker crusted strawberry banana flapjacks (there's my synonym!) topped with warm cream cheese sauce, strawberries, and finished with strawberry coulis and fresh whipped cream." Again: I'd describe them as pancakes first, strawberry-banana cheesecake second.

And finally: (are you ready??) Oreo Cookie Pancakes. "Oreo cookie crusted flapjacks, with vanilla marshmallow fluff and hot fudge (say it with me: ) topped with fresh whipped cream."

Unfortunately, after the first two bites, I knew I had to be done. Otherwise I knew I'd feel stretch marks breaking out on my internal organs. Not enough to take home (and I hate soggy Oreos--kudos to Toast for keeping the ones on my pancakes fresh and crisp!), so I had to sneak out with my tail between my legs. Dave said he was still proud of me. (He had the Big Breakfast and said it was "perfect". And raved about the bacon. Which I kept having to have a bite of to "cut the sweetness". And he let me. Even though it was his favorite. Sometimes, he really is amazing.)

So. If that wasn't enough to tempt you to fly to Denver JUST to eat at Toast, they also had "Crab Cake Benedict" on the menu. (And a bunch of sandwiches on the other side, but REALLY...)