ChoLon

I am always surprised to meet locals who don’t know about ChoLon, Lon Symensma’s seven-year-old Asian restaurant in LoDo. Even during this time in which the cultural appropriation of food is debated and tweeted and judged (and rightly so), I say this loud and clear: You’ve gotta try this white boy’s food. Symensma’s a perfectionist, and his travels through Southeast Asia translate to vibrant Pan-Asian fare. If you are familiar with ChoLon, you know no meal is complete without at least one order of the French onion soup dumplings. The diminutive pillows of broth and dough—a scrumptious twist on the classic—are as fine as you’ll find in any Chinatown on the coasts. After you place your dumpling order, assembling a meal from the dinner menu (many of the same items are also available at lunch) is an adventure. If I had to design my dream ChoLon lineup, it would include the kaya toast, which marries coconut-jam-slathered-and-brûléed bread batons with an airy, savory custard—luscious is the only word to describe it. Next, I’d ask for the rich pork belly bao. Then lobster crêpes with nuoc cham and fresh herbs (a palate cleanser of sorts)…and every dish from the wok station. Seriously. The “wok hay” (that pitch-perfect flavor that comes from proper stir-fry technique) Symensma and Becca Henry, his chef de cuisine, achieve would make any wok-yielding cook proud. 1555 Blake St., 303-353-5223