Congress Park restaurant ditches ‘date night’ vibes after customer demand

When Briar Patch opened in Denver’s Congress Park neighborhood this summer, its owner wanted the food to be a little more “elevated” than the pub fare he served at his Jefferson Park brewery, Briar Common.

A season later, however, customer input and economics have led Kent Dawson to bring in a new chef and make food similar to what is found at his brewing enterprise, which he opened nine years ago.

“We had some items that were a bit too prep-heavy, a little bit too involved for what people were wanting,” Dawson said. “In several ways, we’ve simplified things.”

Part of the adjustment was to dispel a neighborhood perception that Briar Patch, at 1222 Madison St., was a “date night” spot in comparison to the more casual cafes on the block, he said.

Gone are the “Tots and Lox”, for instance. The dish, consisting of tater tots with salmon belly that was cured in-house, required too much time and too many ingredients.

“It’s just not something that people were buying,” he said. “So now, we have wings with three different sauces and we’re selling the heck out of them.”

The kitchen is now under the direction of chef Amanda Singh. She and the restaurant’s general manager both last worked at Apple Blossom, a restaurant at the Hyatt downtown.

“We’re definitely looking to do the neighborhood thing,” Singh said about the food, adding that the restaurant’s food costs have dropped by 23% with the new menu.

That will be important, since Briar Patch is the fourth concept to give the space a shot over the past few years. The others were Crepes & Crepes, Billy’s Inn and TAG Burger Bar.

In addition to the wings with three different sauces (buffalo, barbecue and garlic parmesan), there are sliders, rotating burgers (currently it’s the jalapeño popper burger), Reubens and chicken pot pie. Brunch will begin next month, with Singh cooking eggs Benedict topped with salmon cakes and her hollandaise sauce.

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