The Maven Hotel, Taste of Dairy Block - For(a)ged

Once we finished up our wine at Blanchard Family Wines, we made our way to For(a)ged for our five course dinner & signature cocktails.

Reserve The Maven Hotel's - Taste of Dairy Block Package - HERE!

The Maven Hotel’s Taste of Dairy Block package includes:

• Overnight accommodation at The Maven

• Two wine tasting flights and a medium charcuterie board at Blanchard Family Wines

• Five course dinner & signature cocktails at For(a)ged

• Cupcake flight and two craft cocktails at Deviation Distilling

For(a)ged is a dynamic, two-level Japanese restaurant & raw bar. The aesthetic of For(a)ged is sexy and mysterious with the alluring sparkle of their chandelier, rich burgundy seating downstairs & plush green velvet booths upstairs. The restaurant’s focal point resides in it’s astronomical goddess of a chandelier.

SO. BEAUTIFUL. The chandelier is made up of 370,000 handwoven crystals with back lighting that can change colors.

Owner, Meghan Gold and Cooking Overlord (aka Chef De Cuisine), JV Hernandez led us through our five course meal. Meghan was a firecracker with so much passion for For(a)ged and her team - her insight into the food and wine menu was wonderful. JV Hernandez was so talented and we could really feel his sense of adventure in his inspired menu items.

Cooking Overlord (aka Chef De Cuisine), JV Hernandez

For(a)ged’s drink menu features a variety of signature cocktails, beer, wine & a selection of specialty wines produced exclusively for For(a)ged by celebrity winemaker Jesse Katz. Ross started off with a Lychee mocktail.

Lychee mocktail

I had a Highproof Old Fashioned. The Highproof Old Fashioned is made with Journeyman Single Barrel whiskey, demerara, orange bitters, and cherry.

Highproof Old Fashioned

My Old Fashioned was nice - it tasted of sweetened whiskey with the bitter/spices balancing the flavor profile.

Then it was time to eat!

The Soft Shell Crab Steam Buns are topped with pineapple hoisin glaze and citrus salsa.

Soft Shell Crab Steam Buns

The bao bun was warm, soft and had a lovely chewy texture. The fried crab had a light crunch on the exterior and had a buttery, soft meat interior. The citrus salsa brought forth fresh taste and cool snap. There was spicy mayo dressing in the interior of the bao bun which gave this dish a nice kick of spice. SO GOOD. SO SATISFYING. These bao buns were amazing and Ross' and I's favorite!

The Shumai are shrimp & pork dumplings topped with garlic tamari sauce, masago, and scallion.

Shumai

The shumai were juicy & flavorful open-faced dumplings. They were stuffed to the brim with tender shrimp & pork. The garlic tamari sauce had a savory soy taste with strong umami and salt flavor.

The Roasted Beet Salad is made with furikake, yogurt, and lemon vinaigrette.

Roasted Beet Salad

The beet salad was earthy with a nice bitter profile. Since the beets were roasted, there was a sweet taste with more concentrated flavor brought out. The bright lemon vinaigrette coated the tender beets nicely.

While we ate, Meghan treated us to several of For(a)ged’s specialty wines - they all were so good!

For sashimi we had the Fatty Tuna topped with fried shallots and the Blue Tuna topped with St. Agur blue cheese and chives.

Fatty Tuna and Blue Tuna sashimi

So fresh! & just look at that beautiful bright red color of the Blue Tuna.

For nigiri we had Surf Clam and Smoked Mackerel topped with ginger medley and shiso.

Surf Clam and Smoked Mackerel nigiri

The surf clam was firm and had a mild aroma & taste which became more prominent as we chewed. The Smoked Mackerel had a yummy fish flavor with hints of vinegar followed by deep umami notes.

The Trio Of Poke consisted of Yellowtail, Salmon and Tuna.

Trio Of Poke

The Salmon Poke was made with Avocado, seaweed salad, and Thai chili-ginger sauce. The Salmon Poke was my favorite - the salmon was firm and sweet and the Thai chili-ginger sauce added hot ginger flavor. The Yellowtail Poke was made with jalapeño, micro cilantro, avocado. seaweed salad, and salsa verde. The Tuna Poke was made with Avocado, seaweed salad, chives, and garlic-soy reduction.

The For(a)ged sushi roll is made with spicy crab mix, escolar, bluefin tuna, avocado, cucumber, Thai-chili ginger, sake-soy butter, and toasted garlic.

For(a)ged sushi roll

The For(a)ged roll was great - it was creamy, spicy, and slightly sweet. The sake butter was a solid savory addition. The toasted garlic added nice crunch to the roll.

For dessert we had the Ginger Creme Brulee and the Yuzu Panna Cotta. The Ginger Creme Brulee is made with Chantilly cream and candied ginger. The Yuzu Panna Cotta is topped with blueberry compote and yuzu pearls.

The Yuzu Panna Cotta was out of this world! The creamy panna cotta paired with the sweet tartness of Yuzhu was absolutely delicious. The pop of the Yuzhu pearls in our mouths while we ate added a surprising and brilliant touch.

Huge thanks to The Maven, Foraged, Meghan Gold, JV Hernandez, & Julie Dunn at Dunn Communications for hosting us for the Taste of Dairy Block!

Check it out babes and let them know that denv.her. sent you! xx

For(a)ged

• Located in: Dairy Block

• Address: 1825 Blake St, Denver, CO 80202

• Menu: foragedrestaurant.com

• Phone: (720) 826-2147

• Reservations: opentable.com

• Reserve The Maven Hotel's - Taste of Dairy Block Package - HERE