It’s raining outside as you and your loved one pull up to the corner of 27th and Larimer. Trying to stay dry, you both make a cinematically hurried trot from the yellow taxi to the front doors of Nocturne, hoisting your jackets skyward to protect yourselves from the weather. From inside, the emotional improvisations of live drums, keys, and a crooning saxophone pulsate onto the wet street. An intoxicating petrichor sweetness fills the air. Entering through the doors, and with the aid of the host, you meander your way through Denver’s celebrated jazz club – which also boasts unexpectedly hard-hitting food and beverage menus – and through a cheeky sliding door stage-left of the bar.
There, you enter the newly opened La Vie En Rose for an escape from the city, and a submersion into a velveteen taste of Paris. Even if it’s not raining, if you’re not on a date, if taxis aren’t yellow anymore, or if you’re less daydreamingly romantic about the larger experience, La Vie En Rose remains an absolute must for Denverites searching for a uniquely elevated experience.
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The space is bustling, even on a weeknight, populated by guests sitting side-by-side at their bistro-style banquette tables, or side-by-side on the understated black bar chairs. Hanging high from the ceiling, heavy burgundy draping envelops the entire interior in a warm, intimate hug. The place is small, and many elements – the drapes, the light fixtures, the softness of the seating – dance subtly as air sneaking in from adjacent Nocturne, or coming in from the outdoors as parties depart, moves through the room.
In juxtaposition, the snaky bar is solid granite with a double bullnose cut along its edge. It houses a deeply inlaid bathtub filled with ice for the open champagne bottles served by the glass, and sits atop a dark brown, broken mosaic floor. High on the backbar, allocated bottles of Chartreuse – not just your standard green and yellow, though there’s plenty of that, too – capture some of the warm, low-lit candlelight, refracting it back at the room in cooler tones.
Champagne comes first at La Vie En Rose. There are many options by the glass ranging from the expectedly brioche Louis Nicaise – folding in subtle citrus and minerality – to the grower-producer funkiness of Tellier Rosé – dry with a bite of something unexpected. By the bottle, flag down the sommelier on staff, because – unsurprisingly for the space that used to be a celebrated curation of all wines unique, Noble Riot – it’s a daunting collection, many pages long, the likes of which you’re unlikely to find elsewhere in Denver.
Cocktails abound too, the sound of bartenders’ shakers joining the music to fill the space sans echo thanks to the heavily draped walls. The offerings are near sculptural in their presentation, fitting of the restaurant’s heavily curated décor.
The kitchen menu is not to be overlooked. There is some good French in Denver, but La Vie En Rose taps into something more timelessly classé than the city’s other brasseries. Here, with both hors d’oeuvres and small bites – some of which are not so petite – decadent flavor done classic is the guiding gastronomic principle.
Start with the Kaluga Caviar Pavé, toothsome from the crispy thin layers of potato, sour from the crème fraiche and salty from the caviar bespeckled on top. It’s balanced and almost impossibly subtle for a bite where each triangulated element of its construction employs a particularly intense profile. Then, order the Gruyère Armagnac Onion Tart – a two-biter that’s texture and flavor explode from the sweet onions, the crumbly pastry, the melty cheese and a salty Parmesan crisp. It’s another exhibition of balance somehow found between so many competing yet complementary components.
Moving on to the more quantitatively substantial items, it’s the recommendation to go with the Steak Tartare, its recipe borrowed from the famous Nocturne staple with a crispy dill pickle potato nest and creamy smoked egg yolk. It’s also the recommendation to go full-on for the bistro and order the French Onion Au Poivre Burger with crispy, salty frites.
Beyond those items already listed, there’s popcorn chicken – a well-documented champagne pairing – along with a smattering of other bites, mostly classic, some sweet and some savory.
There is no shortage of bars and bites in Denver, so standing out is a true challenge. But for La Vie En Rose, standing out is built into its design, from the curated bubbles list and the selective kitchen menu to the very design of the space itself. Heading into the cooler months when there are plenty of excuses to celebrate, head down to La Vie En Rose for an intimate, cozy evening immersing yourself in unapologetically French culture. And then head next door after for some live jazz at Nocturne.
La Vie En Rose is located at 1336 27th St,, Denver, through Nocturne.
Its hours are Wednesday and Thursday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m, closed Monday and Tuesday.
All photos by Armando Martinez and courtesy of La Vie En Rose.
