Best Restaurants 2019: Beckon

High-end tiny-house restaurant Beckon (sibling to temporarily closed cafe Call), gave Denver its first true chef’s counter experience when it opened last year. Led by hospitality pros Duncan Holmes and Allison Anderson, both veterans of Frasca Food and Wine, Beckon fits into our dining scene like an electric Subaru would—it’s at once novel and familiar. Novel: pre-paying $115 for eight mystery courses (add $50 for Anderson’s inventive mocktail pairings or $65 to $95 for sommelier Zach Byers’ brilliant wine pairings); facing Zen-like chef Holmes and his adept culinary team from a perch at an 18-seat counter; and gourmet, Colorado-grown, Scandinavian-inspired creations (like trout-roe-topped hakurei turnips in buttermilk broth). Familiar: a stylish room; warm hospitality (hygge wool blankets draped over chairs by the fire pit; bathrooms thoughtfully stocked with condoms for safe post-supper escapades); and the impeccable sourdough we’ve become accustomed to at Call, though flavored with birch bark and served with house-cultured butter at Beckon. In other words, it’s an unfussy, unpretentious dining experiment elevated just enough for the Mile High City. $$$$, 2843 Larimer St., 303-749-0020

(MORE: Read our 2019 restaurant review of Beckon and its sister restaurant, Call)