Jay's gourmet lunch raises bar for cafés

Published July 8, 2005 at midnight

Text size

More Dining

First bites seldom reveal truths. I usually need to experience a whole dish or a meal or even two before I'm sure about the quality of a restaurant.

That was not the case at Jay's Patio Café. I had an eyebrow-lifting "aha!" moment as soon as I started eating a Wasabi Roast Beef ($5.75) sandwich.

There was plenty of beef - really good, thinly sliced roast beef - and not the typical chewy deli cut. It was interspersed with quality Swiss cheese. The sourdough bread was spread with mayo infused with wasabi, the intense Japanese horseradish that traditionally accompanies sushi.

It was enough zest to elevate this generously portioned creation above the ordinary without clearing my sinuses.

Thinly sliced ripe tomato, crisp lettuce and field greens added textural interest and a bit of sweet coolness. There was exactly the right amount of everything in every bite, the kind of sandwich that makes you smile afterwards and forget the parade of blah stuff you've been forced to down in the name of lunch.

I had planned on just using Jay's in my Nibbles column as one of the Bread of the Week establishments that are certainly notable but not significant enough to merit a full review. But I was so blown away that I had to come back again . . . and again to this bright, small eatery with a comfy, shaded patio. It's a little off the beaten restaurant track up the hill from LoDo near other recent additions to this revived neighborhood such as Mona's, Proto's Pizza and Forest Room No. 5.

Suitably impressed, I came back doubly suspicious. The first time might have been a fluke. I picked a grilled Gorgonzola Panino ($6.25) that sounded too complicated to succeed. The crisped focaccia held melted, slightly salty cheese mingled with turkey, classic nutty, herby pesto with spinach, bacon, tomato and onion. It was another revelation, as diverse ingredients crafted into a singular taste.

Next, I opted for the ordinary, Jay's Tuna ($5.75) on a thick, soft ciabatta roll. The moist but not over-mayo-ed filling was laced with chopped olives and onions with a balancing note of lemon.

Equally insightful was the red ancho turkey ($5.75), top-notch bird slathered with red chile mayo, topped with chopped yellow peppers and Jack cheese on honey-sweet whole grain bread.

That's the way my lunches at Jay's Patio Cafe went, whether it was the boldly spiced Jerk Chicken Panino ($6.25) or the wallop of flavor in the Jalapeño Veggie ($5.75).

It held true for Jay's remarkable soups ($2.75-$3.50), scratch-made using real broths. Some of the simmered stunners include ratatouille, potato bisque and chipotle clam chowder.

Dining this memorable doesn't happen by accident. The man behind these big lunch ideas is Jay Solomon, a chef with 21 years in the business including a 10-year stint operating Jay's Café, a Caribbean restaurant in Ithaca, N.Y.

Why Caribbean? "At that time it was a cuisine that hadn't been tapped. I thought: 'Let's do something new and refreshing that has not been done yet,' " Solomon told me when I called him last week.

Solomon's insatiable curiosity about food led him to write 14 well-received cookbooks including Vegetarian Rice Cuisine, Great Bowls of Fire and his best-seller, A Taste of the Tropics: Traditional & Innovative Cooking from the Pacific & Caribbean.

Solomon said that he wanted to get all that chef stuff out of his system before he and his wife moved to Denver to start a family. He opened Emily's Gourmet to Go, a busy lunch spot, in 1998 and sold it in 2003.

Now, he's the father of three kids including 3-year-old twins and a 5-year-old.

As with Emily's, Jay's Patio Cafe is never open for dinner, Solomon said.

"I knew I wanted to have kids and I'd seen chefs implode doing dinner. I decided to bring my enthusiasm to the daytime business. Chefs say the glory and honor is in dinner. I wanted to transform the perception of lunch and raise the bar."

Solomon's aim is lofty but his approach is simple. Instead of having 100 items available, "It's just a lineup of all-star sandwiches. It's a menu that reflects my 21-year journey," he said. Solomon's words and sentences run together as he rhapsodizes about culinary ideas.

"Take the Wasabi Roast Beef sandwich. I thought about it for months. It's perfect. The same with the Bella Italia ($6.25)," he said, referring to the hot ham, salami and Provolone panino. He's right: no brag, just fact.

"We use high-quality ingredients, we make all the condiments, and aggressively use distinctive flavors. I don't dumb it down for my customers," he said.

That said, Solomon is a time-wisened businessman, so his menu also features the Patio Daddio ($5.75), a simple turkey, ham or roast beef sandwich with cheese, and fresh chopped-to-order salads ($5.95) with a choice of add-ins that include crumbled bacon or tuna Nicoise.

Heck, I'd visit just to have an affordable coffee drink and one of the eatery's well-made breakfast croissant ($2.75-$3.75) and ciabatta ($3.50-$4) sandwiches filled with butter-cooked eggs and smoky ham, or raspberry- or chocolate-filled croissants.

For the coup de grâce, Jay's simply irresistible cookies ($1.25) range from soft cranberry walnut oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies to double-glazed black and whites.

I didn't go to Jay's Patio Café the first time looking for a revelation. All I wanted was a sandwich. I lucked out and got both.

Jay's Patio Café

• Hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday

• Food: breakfast and lunch

• How much: $2.75-$4 breakfast; $4.75-$7 lunch

• How loud: Moderate

• Reservations: No

• Information: 303-455-9275; www.upper15thstreet.com

John Lehndorff is the dining critic; lehndorffj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5103.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News