Narrative — Restaurant in Denver

Staff is wonderful. Cocktails were excellently crafted and the presentation was lovely. We had 2 different cocktails the first day during happy hour and two appetizers that were delicious - the tuna poke and the burrata caprese. The next night we went back for dinner since the experience was so wonderful the first day. We had high expectations and couldn't wait to try the entrees. The cocktails were again very good, but unfortunately the dinner was a huge disappointment. We tried the deviled eggs (since this is one of our favorite appetizers living in the south, and we're told they were prepared in the traditional southern style) but unfortunately they were topped with pecorino Romano (or something similar) which made them very salty. Not the creamy eggs we were expecting. Then we had the balsamic steak in a red wine demi and the 48-hour short rib. The presentation was gorgeous. They looked very nice on the plate, and I was hoping tasted the same. Coming from a family that is in the food and wine industry and having a fiancé that has published a cookbook that includes a balsamic short rib recipe, I love bold flavors and have huge respect for creative chefs. I know what these ingredients should taste like. It was a disappointment that this chef was not more bold with the flavors in these dishes. We couldn't taste the balsamic at all in the steak dish. For a 48-hour rib, I expected it to be fall-off-the-bone tender, and I had to cut it with a knife to eat it. The smoked cheddar grits were also a bit off. I couldn't taste the smoke or the cheddar. Both dishes were just bland overall, though the vera cruise sauce over the steak was nice, the dish did not live us to the description on the menu. We will be back for drinks but likely not...

Let me preface this review by saying the food was excellent here. My wife has been a server since she was a teen and we are not ones to complain unless something is seriously wrong. The service is killing this place. When we arrived the restaurant it was not packed, so we did not have a wait to be seated. Once seated we began our journey of the worst service of all time. 15 minutes passed with zero staff coming by to pour water or check in. We asked a staff member if she knew who our server was and she was aghast that nobody had been over in 15 mins. My wife and I thought this would have ensured a better experience moving forward... NOPE! Our server, Todd, gets an F for attentiveness. When you’re waiting 10-15 mins for water there is a problem. I think he came to our table 2x... to take our order and to take our credit card. But wait, the biggest complaint was when my wife’s order of shrimp and grits came and there was a hair on it (which we understand can happen). The server who delivered the plate noticed that my wife had a weird look on her face, so she asked if everything was okay. We told her and she was like is that okay... really? No, we were hoping for more hair, haha. What restaurant wouldn’t take the plate back right away or take the entree off the bill?? This one. And the bad service continued. No apology from our server or a manager. I just don’t think the staff even talked about it, they just seem to not give an F. Zero F’s given. A real shame considering the quality of the food and the decor. I hope they get their service game fixed, otherwise this...

In my version of paradise, brunch is served every day promptly at 11:00. So, as you might imagine, I have pretty high standards.

Narrative met or exceeded all of them. I'm a university professor trained in the humanities, so I already like the name and concept a great deal.

This place is an apparently under-populated gem. We were able to make a reservation for 10:15 Sunday brunch on Saturday night at 20:30. The restaurant is located right in gorgeous Cherry Creek North, and our ~early brunch time made free street parking a breeze. The restaurant itself is stunning. It's done in white tones with beautiful slate banquettes to bring in a modern look. An accent wall with a clever bookshelf wallpaper draws the eye.

The service was consistent throughout. I had plenty of refills on the strong and smooth Lavazza coffee. My companion ordered the smoked salmon avocado toast, and I had the eggs Benedict. Both were excellent. In my dish, the Hollandaise was perfectly intact, the eggs poached to an 8/10, and the accompanying potatoes nicely browned and crisped. We both found the smoked salmon toast surprisingly complex; there were a lot of flavors but they worked well together.

The muffin-sized warm cinnamon roll side is also an interesting take on the classic.

Everything was well-seasoned and generally served at the right temperature (except for the Benedict, which was just a slight bit cooler than ideal IMO).

We left feeling very happy, and definitely plan to come back soon. We chose the restaurant for a celebration, and it made the moment...