Chef Dana Rodriguez Redefines Dim Sum

Dana Rodriguez has already proven that you don’t need white tablecloths, tasting menus, or to take reservations to be recognized as one of the best chefs in town; since opening Work & Class in RiNo in 2014, she’s twice been named a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Southwest award. Rodriguez shook up the Denver dining scene yet again with the May opening of Super Mega Bien, her Pan–Latin American venture (with partners Tony Maciag and Tabatha Knop) connected to the Ramble Hotel. There, Rodriguez serves vibrant small plates via dim-sum-style roaming carts. “Our goal is to create something fun and unique,” she says. And at just $3 to $11 apiece, you can afford to try dishes that may be unfamiliar, like fried squash blossoms stuffed with vanilla-laced goat cheese (inspired by Michoacán-style quesadillas) or the blue corn and bean gordita topped with a quail egg, avocado sauce, and pepitas (a riff on a Yucatán dish called “papadzules”). Leave room for the fruit-studded “jello/jam hybrid” dessert dim sum, a take on Peruvian purple corn pudding (“mazzamora morada”) that’s as innovative and wonderful as Rodriguez herself. The Ramble Hotel, 1260 25th St., 720-269-4695