Fact 2: They are all very good.
As a food writer, there's a definite futility that comes with having an almost unlimited array of food options. Denver food scene, I love you, but it's an unrequited love, because I'll never be able to try each and everyone of your restaurants.
There's a certain security in small town eateries. If you wanted to spend the time, you could try and retry every dish at every restaurant. You could finally exit the hectic restaurant dating scene, no longer chasing after each new fad and fancy, each hot new piece of sea bass, and settle down with Mr. Right Restaurant.
As it happens, I've found a strong contender for Mr. Right Restaurant. And he's a cowboy.
Cowboy Cafe to be exact.
And also moose droppings.
You'd think that a dish like this would be dripping with oil – my sidekick ordered it because it sounded "fried and fatty" – but the actual dish is lighter than you'd expect, satisfying and chewy. An old West take on mozzarella sticks.
I used to be that person. The one who ordered salad at a steak place. But no longer. Life is short, I'm ordering the meat. And with entrees, like the Wyoming Wild Platter, you should too.
A few things to point out here. This is a dish that any Southerner would heartily approve of (myself and my sidekick included). Why? Corn is a vegetable; bread is a must. And most of all, the meat is the star.
For years, I've been referring to any kind of exotic meat that I order in a restaurant (bison, elk, yak, emu, etc.) as "wild game." We found out today from a protein-savvy butcher at Wind River Meats that any meat you get in a restaurant, exotic or not, is farmed like cattle, inspected and USDA-approved. Come to think of it, the idea of any health inspector being okay with a restaurant serving meat shot in the woods that morning doesn't seem realistic.
Whatever the methods, I still find game meats a welcome change from beef, pork and chicken.
Cowboy Cafe? You've made a cowgirl out of me.
xoxo
Maggie