Willow Creek | Evergreen
WILLOW CREEK
After working in restaurants all over the country, Curtis and Kristopher Lincoln returned to Evergreen (and Curtis’ family ranch), and the couple’s wide range of skills is on full display at Willow Creek.
During a recent lunch hour, people at surrounding tables were going bananas for the food. One nice lady couldn’t stop raving about the Chicken & Quinoa Salad, based on pulled braised poultry and everybody’s favorite hard-to-pronounce protein source—but the kitchen put a big chop on the seasonal vegetables and tossed in apples, pecans and some cranberries and pomegranate seeds for a balance of acid and sweetness. Another patron flipped for the Gold Canyon “Never Ever” Bacon Cheese Burger (as in “never any hormones or antibiotics”), served with Tillamook cheddar on a brioche bun from Denver’s Grateful Bread Company. Dungeness crab elevated the Crab BLT on Brioche, assembled with applewood smoked bacon and chive mayonnaise.
Willow Creek makes its pasta fresh daily on premises, and the Potato Gnocchi was a revelation. Potatoes are pushed through a ricer, cut into little pillows and flash frozen. Upon ordering, they go right from the freezer to a hot sauté pan, where herbed brown butter awaits to impart a melt-in-your-mouth texture, crisp and savory on the outside, velvety on the inside.
On another occasion, dinner was breathtaking. I started with Mussels & Cockles, a bi-bivalve delight that arrived in a beautifully fragrant sauce—house-made chorizo with leeks, garlic, tomatoes, herbs and white wine, sided with grilled ciabatta for sopping. Big wow factor, better preparation than any beachfront restaurant I’ve encountered. The Vegetable Risotto combined wild mushrooms, Parmigiano- Reggiano, seasonable vegetables (broccoli, in this case) and a root vegetable puree—for our visit, turnips had been replaced by beets, imbuing the dish with a vibrant pink color. The Italian Sausage Pasta was simple and marvelous— homemade sausage, San Marzano plum tomatoes and Parmesan on rigatoni. I was sorely tempted by two fish entrees, notably the Grilled Verlasso Salmon, “harmoniously raised” in the Patagonian waters of Chile, but I opted for pan seared Rocky Mountain Trout done amandine with toasted Marcona almonds (from Spain, more tender than California almonds), haricots verts and a deadly brown butter sauce. Crispy skin, fabulous flavor—sheer bliss.
But the hit of the evening was the famous Braised Rabbit Pasta, which has received national recognition— the rich and tasty flesh was swimming in a pinot noir sauce with pappardelle and diced vegetable(vegetale macedonie). I checked my childhood baggage— my mom once tried to serve rabbit, which we pushed around our plates until my younger brother cried, “It’s like eating Hoppy!” (our pet)—but you could ladle this over a Kleenex and I’d eat it.
We paired the dish with a glass of 2008 Firesteed Pinot Noir, an elegant, affordable wine suggested by Nicky, whose friendly, knowledgeable service was exceptional. She told us every shift gets fed family style, which lets waitstaff experience the menu intimately and the chefs-in-training get the chance for a little experimenting. It’s a fantastic vibe, and I recommend Willow Creek without reservation—but make one anyway.
29029 Upper Bear Creek Rd.; 303-674-9463; willowcreekevergreen.com
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