Aria

• Cuisine(s): Fine Dining, French, Fusion, Italian, Mediterranean, Spanish
  Hours: Sun-Thu 5pm-10pm, Mon-Sat 11am-3pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-11pm
  Price: $$, $$$
• Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards, cash
  Features: Private Party, Wheelchair Accessible, Vegetarian Friendly
  Serving: Brunch, Dinner, Lunch
• Alcohol: Full bar
  Reservations: Recommended
  Parking: Lot Available

Description

At the end of 2010, Michael Long, the former executive chef of Opus (he's still a partner in that Littleton operation), opened Aria at a Cherry Creek address that's seen a parade of restaurants enter and exit over the years. But Aria could hit just the right note in this neighborhood. Long is a mad genius in the kitchen, cooking up roasted bone marrow speckled with red sea salt, Italian-inspired ramen and a mound of tuna tartare harmonized with coconut jelly and a Thai peanut sauce -- a deconstructed PB&J. But while the plates are compulsively dazzling and presented with Long's unmistakable flourished artistry, the window-wrapped dining room is casual, blissfully devoid of pomp and circumstance.