ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro channels a Southeast Asian market

Categories: The Dish

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Mark Manger
Just 24 hours after I returned from Asia, I was craving the cuisine I'd left behind -- and I was particularly hungry for the food stalls of the markets. So I headed straight for ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro, where Lon Symensma channeled Cholon, the Chinatown market in Saigon, when he and his partner, Jim Deters, designed their Denver restaurant.

ChoLon-tartare.jpg
Mark Manger

ChoLon-charcuterie.jpg
Mark Manger

ChoLon-kaya toast.jpg
Mark Manger
Each dish on Symensma's menu has a story and a Southeast Asian inspiration. As I ate my way through the menu for this week's review, I reflected on what regional street eats he'd started with -- and what he'd changed to make the dishes appropriate for a fine-dining table.

ChoLon-finished sprouts.jpg
Mark Manger

ChoLon-doughnuts.jpg
Mark Manger

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Mark Manger
Symensma's biggest challenge was preserving the character of his source without making the exact same recipes, which might work in a cheaper Vietnamese joint on South Federal Boulevard but not at an elegant LoDo restaurant.

Was he successful? Find out tomorrow when the review is posted here, along with a slide show.

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ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro

1555 Blake St., Denver, CO

Category: Restaurant

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