Denver does not lack for restaurants that represent the cuisines and countries of Latin America: Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Salvador and Cuba among them.
But Leña, a big-boned room at 24 Broadway that opened seven months ago, is the rare place that serves a pan-Latin menu that lets diners connect the dots between the various cuisines. These foods, developed over the centuries since Europeans arrived, represent the first fusion cooking in the New World — specifically, the influences of Spain with the cooking of the hemisphere’s original settlers.
That the restaurant is the brainchild of an owner named Jimmy Callahan just shows how far fusion will take you. Callahan, who also operates Prohibition in the shadow of the state Capitol, seems to be having a blast.
And why not? The food arrives with joy and expertise amid a handsome setting.
Leña’s is a spacious room, housed in a former furniture store. There are wood floors, walls of worn bricks and big mirrors. Light pours in from the large windows looking out onto Broadway.
Servers are friendly and the dishes well-paced to the table. Many of the them are cooked in a wood oven, and a large rick of split oak sits under the stairs leading to an upper dining room.
Tacos barbacoa de cabra was the best version of goat I have had in this town outside of Work & Class, where chef and co-owner Dana Rodriguez holds court.
Leña uses local goat. The generous tangle of shredded meat was sheathed in soft corn tortillas that tasted straight off the cob, paired with squash slaw and a crema made of roasted Anaheim chiles.
Leña also delivered my first encounter with llapingachos. The Ecuadoran dish features a trio of cheese-stuffed potato cakes that are griddled until the potatoes bear a tawny crust, then dolloped with tomato sauce and crushed peanuts. Pickled pepper rings top everything, providing a vivid zip to all the richness.
I liked how all the serving plates are non-uniform, a mix of shapes, colors and types. It was a touch of hominess.
Empanadas con calabacitas featured a squash-tomato-corn stew encased in a pastry of green plantain dough and finished with a chimichurri sauce that was a nice blast of garlic.
But the star small plate was the carnitas de bisonte, slow-roasted bison short ribs shucked from the bone, then piled in tacos with jicama slaw, white cheese and a house salsa.
Just to prove that shrimp-and-grits have become officially ubiquitous, the restaurant offers camarones y sémola — Mexican white shrimp served with house-ground grits, chimichurri butter and spinach.
While small and shared plates dominate, Leña serves entrées, too, including a marinated, chimichurri flank steak mercifully proportioned at 6 ounces. Would that actual steakhouses did the same. Not everyone wants to make like Fred Flintstone on a protein bender, paleo fad or not.
There are tasty sides, too. Coconut rice was delicate and fluffy and spud mavens should try the papas, Peruvian fingerling potatoes — sometimes blue, sometimes not — bound with a Huacatay cheese sauce thickened with crushed saltines. Also worthwhile: puffy, springy cheese biscuits made with yucca and tapioca flours.
The kitchen seems nimble. On one evening, the restaurant was unable to score the albacore tuna typically used in its ceviche de pescado. No problem. The albacore was replaced with sashimi-grade bigeye tuna.
Leña also has a good beverage program, with a generous list of wines by the glass. None cost more than $9, and most were in the $7 range. Try the house margarita, shaken with fresh lime and Exotico tequila.
The stretch of Broadway that Leña sits on houses some worthwhile restaurants, and this latest addition ranks with the best of them. If you are seeking pan-Latin fare, this is the place to go.
William Porter: 303-954-1877, wporter@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/williamporterdp
LEÑA
Latin American fusion
24 Broadway, 720-550-7267, lenadenver.com
*** Great
Atmosphere: Spacious room with a brick walls, a pressed-tin ceiling and a long bar.
Service: Friendly, knowledgeable and well-paced.
Beverages: Wine, beer, cocktails
Plates: Shared plates, $7-$14. Grilled entrées, mainly $9-$17.
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m.-midnight. Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; 4 p.m.-midnight. Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; 4 p.m.-11 p.m.
Details: Street parking
Two visits
Our star system:
****: Exceptional
***: Great
**: Very Good
*: Good
Stars reflect the dining reviewer’s overall reaction to the restaurant’s food, service and atmosphere.
