Critics’ choice:
Denver “Frisky, risky fusion,” said Scott Mowbray in Denver’s 5280 magazine. That’s what owner Jeff Osaka and chef de cuisine Ashley McBrady are bringing to the table at Osaka’s convivial new establishment in Congress Park. A glance at the menu might cause travel fatigue, because the choices hopscotch from rabbit rillettes to hamachi sashimi to English pea soup. But the globetrotting isn’t capricious: “The best dishes perch playful exploration atop solid technique, and almost every dish feels figured out.” Israel, Italy, and Japan meet in the brilliant but “brazenly inelegant” bowl of couscous, calamari, smoky guanciale bacon, and parsley-garlic sauce. Sit at the counter to soak up the restaurant’s genial warmth while enjoying a bowl of quinoa congee, whose curried-carrot puree and roasted cauliflower “seemed to be exchanging flavor messages between Mumbai and Jerusalem or Beirut.” You’ll struggle to explain why such dishes work, but “that’s one of the many appeals of 12@Madison.” It’s “not just a fine restaurant; it points the way forward.” 1160 Madison St., (720) 216-0190
Chicago The latest venture from the team who created Sepia “ping-pongs between regions and nations with unrestrained enthusiasm,” said Phil Vettel in the Chicago Tribune. Following a map different from its sibling’s, Proxi offers a bazaar of international street food, and chef Andrew Zimmerman seems to be having the time of his life cooking here. Mussels are roasted on an open hearth and served in a cider-spiked ’nduja butter sauce. Lamb ribs get a garam masala rub and simmer in coconut milk before being painted with mango-pickle barbecue sauce and showered with cashews. Not every dish is Instagram-worthy. Zimmerman’s elotes appetizer—corn on the cob dipped in Parmesan and mayonnaise and then tempura-fried—“couldn’t look worse if you ran it over with a truck.” But the elotes sure taste good. Still hungry? The pork porterhouse chop is “worthy of a high-end steakhouse” and great for sharing. Put your trust