Whole rainbow or cutthroat trout from Colorado high country streams, pan-seared bone-in with brown butter, lemon and toasted almonds, on a bed of wild rice or polenta.
Rainbow trout is Colorado's state fish and the Front Range's defining freshwater plate, harvested from streams above 7,000 feet and from trout farms in the San Luis Valley. The dish entered Denver hotel restaurants in the 1880s through the railroad-era Brown Palace and Oxford Hotel kitchens. Modern Denver versions across Mercantile and Bistro Vendome lean on Colorado farmed trout from the San Luis Valley and the Western Slope. The pan-seared bone-in version with brown butter and almonds has been the canonical preparation since the 1950s.
3 editor picks for Pan-seared Rocky Mountain trout in Denver, ranked by editorial score. All Denver signature dishes · Pan-seared Rocky Mountain trout across every city.
Mercantile Dining and Provision ★ 4.6
lodo · 1701 Wynkoop St, Denver, CO 80202
Mercantile Dining and Provision in Denver is Alex Seidel's farm-to-table dining room and provisions counter in Union Station, sourced from his Fruition Farms in Larkspur.
Rioja ★ 4.6
downtown · 1431 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80202
Rioja in Denver is Jennifer Jasinski's James Beard-winning Mediterranean dining room on Larimer Square since 2004, a flagship of the Crafted Concepts group with Spanish, Italian and North African plates.
Bistro Vendome ★ 4.5
downtown · 1420 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80202
Bistro Vendome in Denver is Jennifer Jasinski's Larimer Square French bistro since 2003, with a courtyard patio and a menu of canonical bistro plates from Paris to Lyon.