rioja

Earlier this summer in Lyon, France, our social media guy ordered a chilled vegetable soup and the couple beside him said they’d never tried a chilled soup before. “You’re missing out!” he declared a little too loudly. Chilled soup is a perfect refresher, and that’s one reason we recommend trying our cucumber gazpacho, which we serve with a crab and shrimp cannelloni, chili oil, and cherry tomatoes. The cannelloni is a mousse made with snow crab, shrimp, lime, fresno chili, egg, and cream, rolled in feuille de brik, and then fried. We think you’re going to like it. 💛

P.S. A fun fact: a feuille de brik is a thin, delicate pastry sheet originating from North Africa.

The word “dessert” comes from the French word “desservir,” which means “to clear the table.” Humans have been eating something sweet at the end of a meal for centuries. One of our favorite desserts right now at Rioja: our hazelnut tart, with Ela Farms peach jam, hazelnut frangipane, vanilla bavarois, and hazelnut tuile. 💛

On Sunday our crackerjack pastry team participated in the Cooking for Culture bake sale and helped raise thousands of dollars for two vital Colorado nonprofits, . They took Japanese soy milk bread, a petite peach and hazelnut frangipane tart, and strawberry lemon snickerdoodle cookies. Thank you to the cookingforcultureco organizers and team, to Joyride Brewing Company for hosting, and to all our fellow restaurants and bakers who donated their treats and their time. We were happy to be there! 💛

It's Dirty Drinks week, everybody, which means we're offering a special cocktail and donating $1 from each one sold to Zero Foodprint. They're a terrific organization. Funds from this program will go directly to farmers restoring our climate by building healthy soil. Bottoms up, carbon down!

✨ Weekend at Bernie's ✨
watermelon-infused tequila, watermelon, mint, basil, white balsamic shrub, Lychee liquor, lemon juice, celery bitters

Head to zerofoodprint.org/dirty to learn more about how we’re working with ZFP to make drinks more sustainable and more delicious.

Here’s one of our favorite ways to begin a meal right now: melon Caprese, with stracciatella, speck, 12-year aged balsamic, pinenut brittle, and basil oil. Perfect for sharing. The traditional Caprese salad hails from the isle of Capri and dates back to the 1920s. It was thought of as a patriotic dish in Italy because the colors of its main ingredients—red tomatoes, white mozzarella, green basil—match the colors of the Italian flag. Our version isn’t especially Italian or particularly patriotic, but it is quite delicious. 💛

We have introduced a new suite of cocktails and we are excited for you to try them! First up, Moana, with vodka, pomegranate molasses, orgeat, Contratto Bitter, and plum bitters 💛

We love seeing the photos you take of your meals are Rioja, and we love hearing about how much you enjoy our signature dishes, like our artichoke tortelloni. 💛

📸: sruiz_avri10