Eggspertise by the dozens

John Lehndorff, News Dining Critic

Published June 22, 2001 at midnight

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It's easy to appreciate a place like Dozens which takes the food - but not itself - seriously.

Located close to all the downtown attractions and facilities, Dozens is settled in a renovated residence broken up into comfortable dining nooks. During the week, you'll run into tourists heading to the Denver Mint, power-breakfasting lawyers, police officers and other downtown workers. The hardwood floors are jammed on weekends with Denverites doing brunch. The sunny patio is nice if you can handle a little traffic roar.

Dozens does the greatest hits of upscale eggery with genuine style. The Imagine a Great Omelette ($6.95) is a Denver in disguise. The gently pan-cooked eggs wrap a hot mixture of green pepper, onion, smoked ham, mushrooms and Swiss cheese. On the side are English muffins, a melon slice and some consistently great hash browns, freshly boiled spuds griddled until brown and crunchy-crusted. Pass the ketchup and start your day.

The How The West Was Won ($6.45) stacks dense, warm biscuits with a sizzled sausage patty awash in silky white and not too-peppery gravy and a sprinkling of chopped chives. I added two eggs ($2) cooked perfectly over easy. The French Toast Formidable ($6.45) is sauteed brown with an inner layer of strawberry preserves and cream cheese. It comes with the standard table syrup. I would have preferred the choice of paying extra for real maple syrup.

Other breakfast items include the "smoot froothy" ($2.50 / $4 large), a cool, creamy fruit and yogurt smoothie, Belgium waffles with whipped cream and strawberries ($6.95), oatmeal or granola ($5.45), and four scrambled egg combinations such as the Hollandaise sauce-topped Telluride ($6.95) with chicken and mushrooms.

This is not fancy cuisine, but it's hard to do all the little things right. Dozens does a good job of it, starting with top-drawer ingredients like good-tasting sausage, ham and vegetables. The English muffins come with butter and decent strawberry jam that are not in little packets.

The house coffee ($1.50) is acceptable, but order the European-style press pot coffee ($3) for more serious java flavor. It serves two. The eatery also bakes a limited number of goodies including buttery cinnamon scones ($1.95), unremarkable cinnamon rolls ($2.45), and large cranberry or blueberry muffins ($1.95).

On a recent cold, rainy Wednesday, Dozens also proved to be an ideal midday destination. My wife and I cut the chill with a bowl of steamy, creamy pea soup filled with carrot, onion and chewy bits of smoked ham. It was part of the Get Out Cheap special, ($6.45) combining soup, a beverage and a decent spinach salad with croutons, shredded cheeses, tomatoes and a warm bacon-y dressing that was sweet, albeit a bit goopy.

The Sakura Square Salad ($6.95) is a health-inspiring crunch fest with teriyaki-grilled chicken breast spread across a mound of greens, broccoli, pea pods, crisp noodles, carrots and tomatoes with a sweet soy dressing.

I appreciated the made-to-order egg salad sandwich ($6.45), a chunky-not-mushy, mustardy version of the classic with lots of tomato and onion served on a soft croissant. Instead of Philly-style beef shreds, Dozens' steak sandwich ($7.95) is the real thing. A substantial slice of medium-rare sirloin steak - grilled hot, juicy and, yes, beefy - is tucked between pieces of sourdough toast with sauteed onions and mushrooms with Swiss cheese.

For one lunch, I brought along my friend Larry, a self-described club sandwich expert. "I eat a lot of club sandwiches, and this is a good one," he says of Dozens' triple-decker club ($6.95). Thick bacon, thinly sliced smoked turkey, tomato slice, lettuce and mayo make this a quintessential club version. Larry's only objection is that the pasta salad was piled atop part of the quartered sandwich, soaking some of the toast with dressing.

Larry is a purist. He wouldn't consider the Colorado cordon bleu sandwich ($6.95) as a club substitute, but it's a darn good sandwich. The croissant is filled with a large, tender poached chicken breast, topped with bacon and Swiss. With accompanying fusilli pasta salad, dill pickle spear, melon slice and a small oatmeal raisin cookie, these lunches are a full meal and a good deal.

For serious dieters, Dozens' menu provides more good choices than most cafes. The Terribly Healthy ($7.45) portions wine-poached chicken with pristine steamed broccoli, tomatoes and fruit. Lauren's Lunch ($6.95) layers grilled vegetables, avocado and melted Swiss cheese on whole wheat bread. For a clean protein infusion, choose the Hot Tuna ($7.95) with grilled-to-order Albacore tuna steak in a teriyaki glaze set atop greens and vegetables with a light dressing.

Other lunch options include the cold plate with turkey and cheese ($7.45), and more omelettes such as the Italian sausage, tomato and mozzarella-filled Northsider ($6.95), and the Platte River Platter ($7.95) wrapped around crabmeat, Swiss and Hollandaise. For weekend brunchers and leisurely lunchers, there's a full bar including beer, wine, Bloody Marys and screwdrivers made with fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Finally, yet most important in this sort of restaurant, I received consistently quick, attentive service at Dozens, even when the restaurant was full. The servers did not make faces when I asked for milk instead of cream, jam with a scrambler, eggs on the side or extra dressing. The coffee steadily flowed. Once, just as I emptied my coffee mug, the waitress stopped to tell me she would refill it as soon as a fresh pot brewed.

Dozens is the answer to the oft-asked question: Where can I find a reasonably priced, made-from-scratch, non-chain meal in downtown Denver?

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