Atelier by Radex — Restaurant in Denver

We had made 6:30 reservations for Restaurant Week, but when we showed up, nobody greeted us, the front door opened directly into the middle of the restaurant between two seated tables, there was no waiting area, and another couple were already standing on a small patch of rug waiting to be seated. After standing awkwardly in the middle of the single small room for about 5 minutes, a harried, rude, and somewhat angry hostess? waitress? manager? asked me what time my reservation was for, and stormed off without a word when I told her. Meanwhile, another party showed up, and real estate on the rug was getting expensive, and we had to shuffle around like a flock of starlings evading a predator whenever a frazzled server came through with plates for the two tables next to us.

Finally, we were seated after about twenty minutes. Nobody showed up to take our orders for another fifteen minutes, while all around us, servers were trying to serve the wrong plates to confused guests. At one point, somebody from the staff came up and asked us what name our reservation was under. (Shouldn't that have happened when we first walked in? Where's the computer and the person keeping track of this? Who is the front manager?)

First off, my bison tartare was served on what looked like a child's platter, with the food arranged in such a way as to coax a small child into eating something they don't want to eat. Okay, that's weird, but not terrible. The curry oil wasn't a bad idea, but it wasn't great. Pickled onions and capers were a nice touch, though. My wine pairing? Bad. If there had been a potted plant nearby, it would be dead right now.

Second course was a mushroom soup and a salad. The salad had a tiny little piece of joy on it in the form of a lovely pat of slightly melted cheese, but that was the only bright spot. The soup was odd. Is soup ever supposed to be served lukewarm? I had big bitter wads of sodden parsley hidden in mine, and my friend picked a couple of hard bitter unidentifiable stems out of her mouth and quietly tucked them into her napkin. The crowning glory was when I discovered a solitary capellini noodle hanging from my spoon like a parasitic worm. The flavor of the soup itself was negligible. Not thick enough to be truly creamy, and no larger pieces of mushroom to give it some interest in the consistency. Wine pairing? Somehow, the wine they paired brought out the bitterness in the already bitter elements in the salad, which made me feel...bitter. I would not finish the wine, which made my beloved French waiter give me an eye full of unforgiveness.

Now for the main courses. I had ordered the poulet with duxelles, and my friend had ordered the Canadian wapiti with the black currant Demi glace, but when our plates arrived, it appeared that we had both gotten the same thing. They had just substituted her plate with the wapiti, and everything else was identical. The same sauce that drenched my chicken drenched her elk. The same little side salad. Same duxelles. Was this a mistake? Where was her demi glace? WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SAUCE?? I also wanted to cry because my chicken was dry and a little on the tough side. All I could taste was this sauce. The mushrooms were cooked quite nicely, but I missed any delicate earthy flavors because of this damn sauce. Wine pairing? While I'm not opposed to the pairing of reds with white meats, this particular choice left me flabbergasted.

Finally, dessert. My friend, usually very enthusiastic when it comes to baked sweet treats, consumed her 1"x1" square of Opera cake quietly and perfunctorily in two sad bites. I, on the other hand, was quite delighted with my cherry croissant pudding, and the wine wasn't terrible.

Although I understand that it's Restaurant Week, with all the factors to consider that may have contributed to why the staff at Atelier by Radex seemed to be floundering the whole evening, unfortunately, there were too many negative notes about this experience, both with front management and the food preparation itself, for me to...

My family & friends enjoy exploring new restaurants regularly, then share experiences/expectations for what one would consider a wonderful place to eat. I have been excited to try this restaurant for months and finally got the opportunity to do so today, it being my birthday in a few weeks, I thought perhaps to have my dinner party here. Let me start out with this, the food was indeed yummy and priced affordably, and this is a huge factor and purely for these details I rated them with two stars…now for the rest of the story. Upon entering I instantly felt as though I had come at an inconvenient time, although their sign was clearly set for “OPEN”. I should have turned around and politely walked out, but I didn’t because I really wanted to check out the place, the tables had nice white tablecloths and the tables were set pretty. There were no other customers, possibly because they had just opened for dining (I later found out). I was handed a menu & my decision to choose which deliciousness to try as my first meal was challenging because of the many options, so I asked the greeter which of the two meals, of which I was contemplating, was his favorite? He suggested, and I went along, however, because of my time constraint I asked if the restaurant offered an option for me to order my lunch “take out” and he said yes. I know some of you may say, I should have opted to dine in. Well, I didn’t. Truthfully, I expected nice all the way around because they are supposedly known to be more in the category of upscale. I was handed my meal in a cardboard like box (no big deal) the greeter smiled and said goodbye. Between the meal ordering, preparation, paying & delivery, took about 20 or so minutes. I stood literally in the middle of the restaurant for the entire 20 minutes or so, and no one offered me a seat or asked if I wanted a glass of water while I waited. I probably would have been better off waiting the time in their bathroom, less awkward surely). To add insult to injury they did not offer me a bag to carry my meal in, nor napkins or utensils offered or included with my “take out” lunch. I felt as though I was bothering them by ordering “take-out”, and so my thought is that perhaps if “take-out” orders are an inconvenience to them, maybe they should not offer it as an option in their restaurant. Good food is extremely important and if “taste” is the only thing that one can rate restaurants, then this restaurant gains multiple stars, however, if other elements such as friendliness, quality of service, ambiance, location, price or whether you had to ask for water or a drink refill, extra napkins, or maybe even bathroom cleanliness and noise level (to name a few) is a deciding factor for you, then I would say I am sadly disappointed with my first visit to this restaurant, based on good old fashion hospitality. Before leaving the restaurant, I did something I have never done before, I scribbled out & removed the 20% tip I originally included with my card payment. I may have been in awe & hyped with the idea of this restaurant in the beginning, but that quickly wore off. I just felt unwelcome as a customer. I have indeed learned that people will forget what you said to them, maybe even what you did to them, but never forget how you made them feel.” I believe that there is only one opportunity for a first impression and so with this, it is likely I will not visit again. I am disheartened because I so wanted to like this...

I hate to do this.

Atelier by Radex used to be my birthday dinner of choice for several years but I doubt I will go back.

I'm a gild the lily sort of woman - extra sauce, extra everything for me, however...

We went this year, and everyone ordered something different for their entrees. Elk, Lamb, Steak, Duck were nearly identical. Nearly identical sauce, and much too much of it - you couldn't taste the protein for all the overly salty sauce. Each had a dollop of scalloped potatoes, a few spears of asparagus, and an unidentifiable root vegetable. The mystery veg was undercooked so that it was nearly rock hard and you couldn't taste it for the salt and pepper. No one knew what it was. The duck was overcooked, as well, at medium. Why smoother fine cuts of meat with so much heavy salty sauce when a drizzle will do? The plate was swimming with it.

The apps were lackluster, other than the smoked salmon, which was the only light and delicate item of the evening. The fois was again smothered in sickly sweet berry sauce. Between the overly rich brioche and the sauce, the foie gras was lost. I cleaned up my bit and ate it separately.

The waiter was very... French... enough said, other than his alternate wine suggestion. While I appreciate a lower-priced bottle (get two!), when I ask if it's comparable, I hope that it is. This was a flat, single-note, barely serviceable bottle of wine when I was looking for something more robust and complex.

The menu hasn't changed much in years. Even the specials seem to be on regular rotation. Everything is heavy, salty, and tired. With so many amazing restaurants with fresh menus, friendly service, and a more balanced menu of light and heavy meals, for this price point, you can go pretty much anywhere else.

Pros: Traditional French cookery Extensive wine list (but come prepared or do homework) Cute little place with a charming patio Decent portions - you won't leave hungry

Cons: SALT - my feet started swelling at the table! Repetitious sides - for the money, I'd prefer some creativity Atrocious plating, not helped by the amount of sauce Too much sauce and the sauces are too similar and heavy Low returnability - it never changes Some waitstaff is chilly if not downright...