Description
The Populist may be named for the common man, but the food is anything but common. Set on a dark stretch of Larimer Street that looks deserted even though it isn’t, the Populist has been nudging diners to venture further into RiNo since it opened in November 2012. Operated by chef Jonathan Power and Noah Price, the team behind the popular Crema coffeehouse a few blocks closer to downtown, the restaurant exudes a similar hipster vibe, albeit one a notch fancier. Although the bright-red dining room has a view of the partially open kitchen, the front area, with its big windows and packed copper bar, is definitely where you want to be, munching on surprisingly sophisticated bar mix while listening to the conversation next to you at the communal table. But soon you’ll want to devote all your attention to your meal, because you never know quite what Power – a philosophy major in college – will add as a flourish to each dish. Free of labels, the menu allows you to choose what you want, without constraints of first course, second course, sides. Plates are meant to be shared, so you can order two courses or seven, traveling from France to Mexico to India and back. Populist’s uncommon-food-for-commoners shtick is all the passport to adventure that you need.
