Hedge Row Is Your New Staple

Walk into Hedge Row and you can sense the merging of ideas and the launch of something new. The month-old restaurant from the Kitchen Restaurant Group pulls (not surprisingly) design inspiration from the Kitchen and the Kitchen Next Door: There are green dome pendants and white subway tile, Jen Lewin’s iconic light fixtures, concrete, and lots of wood. But there’s a freshness to the space that’s offset by a Scandinavian economy of space and detail. In this way, Hedge Row slides cleanly in between the higher-end Kitchen and the pub-like Kitchen Next Door.

Even if you don’t notice the decor, you’ll see the shift on the menu. The Kitchen and the Kitchen Next Door have always championed local and seasonal fare, and Hedge Row does the same but with a broader selection that flirts with California-style cuisine. There are delicate rock fish tacos, wrapped in Bibb lettuce and gussied up with pickled onions and smoked chile tartar sauce. Sides such as smashed cucumbers with jalapeño honey and coriander yogurt and wood-roasted carrots with ricotta and dill gremolata would be right at home on Gjelina’s menu in Venice, California. Vegetables are the stars here but a wood-fired oven adds another layer of rustic flavor to meat and fish.

With a vegetable-driven menu, confident air, and best-of-all-worlds decor, Hedge Row fits a niche that Cherry Creek North didn’t know it needed. Think of it as a more assured, less frantic True Foods Kitchen.

Tip: No matter which time of day you visit, don’t miss the butterscotch pot de crème with salted cashew brittle. In fact, the decadent treat is worth a visit all on its own.

100 Steele St., 720-642-8292