Casa D’Angelo
For my 27th birthday, I decided to treat myself by heading up to Aspen and checking out one of the best Italian restaurants that the Colorado town has to offer.
There are a few different Italian restaurants in Aspen to choose from, but my final decision was the stunning Casa D’Angelo.
First opened in 1998, Casa D’Angelo was first opened by Chef Angelo Elia, who originally grew up in Salerno, Italy. Since Chef Angelo’s first arrival in New York in 1978, he has strived to deliver the best that Italy has to offer, and that lead him to open the original Casa D’Angelo.
Casa D’Angelo prides itself on taking no shortcuts when it comes to delivering the highest quality ingredients and wine and currently has 4 locations in Fort Lauderdale, Aspen, Aventura, & Boca Raton, and at each location, they do their best to put twists on classic Italian food with local and seasonal ingredients.
I had a wonderful time at the Aspen location, and would love to share my experience.
Amuse Bouche: Tomato crostini
Upon sitting down at my table, which appeared to be part of a set of tables in front of a long sofa that could likely fit about 15 people and was likely fun to bring up the revolving stairs that lead from the ground floor to the dining room, I was first treated to a small bite of a tomato crostini.
If you’re going to do something as simple as a crostini, then it should be on point, and luckily this one was. The tomatoes tasted fresh, there was a hint of garlic that didn’t destroy my taste buds, and that crisp bread was the perfect vessel to bring that crostini up to my mouth.
Cocktail: Last Oaxacan
Before I tell you about what I got to drink, here’s a little funny story. My server dropped off what he claimed to be the cocktail menu but turned out to be the dessert menu! I mean, it was my birthday, so no one could really stop me from ordering dessert first.
Anyway, Casa D’Angelo had a fabulous-looking wine selection and cocktail menu, but I decided to go with a simple but tasty cocktail called the Last Oaxacan.
The drink contained mezcal, maraschino liquor, green chartreuse liquor, lime juice, and was garnished with a cocktail cherry.
I found the flavors to be nicely balanced, I got that bit of smokiness from the mezcal plus a slightly briny flavor from the chartreuse liquor, and it was a nice thing to sip on while I was waiting for my food.
Appetizer: Buttermilk Insalate
Casa D’Angelo had a wide variety of appetizers including a raw crudo bar, caviar, grilled octopus, and a small array of salads.
I didn’t want to get something too heavy before my entree, so I decided to stick with a classic and try their buttermilk salad.
For anyone unaware, Buttermilk is the name of one of the 4 ski mountains near Aspen which also include Aspen, Aspen Snowmass, and Aspen Highlands, where the famous Maroon Bells are located.
The salad featured a flower of butter lettuce, bacon, cherry tomatoes, a buttermilk-herb vinaigrette, and house-made croutons.
This salad reminded me of those wedge salads you get in steakhouses in the best way possible. The bacon was crisp, the dressing had a nice Ranch-like flavor, the veggies were fresh, and it was a nice way to excite my palate before the entree.
(Although, to no one else’s fault, one of the tomatoes I stuck my fork through did burst a little bit, and got a few seeds on the tablecloth. Again, nobody else’s fault but my own.)
Entree: Maialino
For my entree, which I had to pick out of at least a dozen pasta dishes, meat entrees, and seafood entrees, I could not resist the sound of a pork and polenta dish that they titled Maialino, after a restaurant in New York.
The dish featured a brick of crispy suckling pig over creamy polenta and rosemary jus, and on top of the pork was a lemon gremolata, strips of lemon peel, and bright tomatoes.
A suckling pig is a young pig that is only fed its mother’s milk, resulting in pork that is very tender and with a slight milky flavor. Also, gremolata is a type of Italian salsa made with chopped herbs, garlic, and lemon.
Not only did this dish look stunning, but it tasted out of this world. Tender pork, soft polenta, flavorful jus, that gremolata on top to cut through the richness, and for me, the hero of the dish was that layer of crispy pork on top that had a similar flavor to chicharrones.
It was a perfect dish for this birthday boy, but not the last.
Dessert: Chocolate-Pistachio Mousse Cake
Given that it was my birthday, there was no way I was going to end the night without some cake, so I was very fortunate that Casa D’Angelo was running a special that evening of a chocolate pistachio mousse cake.
The dish featured a pistachio cake layered with chocolate mousse, pistachio mousse, and a bit of hard-tempered chocolate on top. Served with a coconut sorbet and some more pistachios, and it was a symphony of flavors in my mouth.
You get the deep, dark chocolate, the nutty pistachios woven into the soft cake and mousse, but then that sorbet comes in with a light coconut flavor that makes it the perfect ending to a perfect birthday.
Casa D’Angelo is a wonderful Aspen restaurant for anyone who wishes to splurge a little bit and experience something unique and delicious, and it is somewhere I hope to return to in the future.
