Ute City Romper Room ("UCRR") A Gathering Place... for Children.
We had a reservation for three and upon arrival, we were immediately seated. The good news ended there. We were taken into the dining room which brought me back to my nana's living room in western Pennsylvania. From the white stone on the walls to the grand piano jammed into the tiny room (complete with random old man playing the piano) the sterile decor was missing only burnt red shag carpet and an Atari 2600. But what really brought me back to my roots was the "kids" table we were sat next to. Yes, that is right, in this "posh" establishment, a table of ten kids 6-12yrs old right in the middle of the dinner crowd. Lest you wonder where their parents were, the children were sat near the "grown up table"-from which they were often scolded for random hijinx and horse play.
If you are wondering why we did not simply leave at this point, you are not alone. I have spent the past few nights agonizing over our decision to stay this poor man's Spago. I am trying to come to terms with the loss of those few hours of my life.
On to the meal. Our server was a female, who did not offer her name. Let's call her "Ice Queen" she may have said ten words to us the entire evening. The three of us ordered drinks: one cocktail and two glasses of wine. She brought one glass of wine and the cocktail and walked away. When I was able to get her attention, I told her we had ordered two glasses of wine; she gave me an ice cold stare, scoffed, and went to the bar without a single word. She returned with the wine, put it on the table and then said abruptly, "are you ready to order?" (Here is where a polite "I am sorry about that" would have been a nice touch.) Not terribly impressed by the menu, I asked if there were any specials- to which Ice Queen responded: "NO. Are you ready?" We ordered - and I believe that was the last we saw of our princess non-charming. While we all laughed at how mean she was, her behavior really was ridiculous and unacceptable. Honestly, we get it Ice Queen, your parents lost all their money in the burst and you got stuck in Aspen having to wait tables. Get over yourself Ice Queen. Leaving a tip was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.
The host or manager came by the table to ask if we had chosen a bottle of wine, he was pleasant... that is, until I told him that we decided to order by the glass. He said nothing, took the wine list and walked away. A note on the wine list: it is totally understandable, given distribution in Colorado and Aspen, many wine lists are going to be very similar. However, a few local restaurants have been able to include a few cult or interesting wines on their lists, UCRR wholly failed here, simply, we had no interest in its run of the mill wine list. Given its clientele, I half expected to see Welch's Grape Juice on the list.
The food was fine, but did not make up for the rest of UCRR's shortcomings. Realistically, in keeping with the motif, I believe dry fish sticks and Cherikee Red Cherry pop should be added to the menu.
Finally, I am simply disappointed that Syzygy wasted this opportunity to bring something special to Aspen. What a waste of the great name "Ute City" the last thing Aspen needed was this Ute City Grille. What a total shame.