Fire Smolders, Blackbelly Market Gets a Thumbs Up

Fire, the restaurant inside the Art Hotel, got mixed reviews by Gretchen Kurtz in the weekly Westword review. The restaurant was described as bold - from the decor (museum-worthy sculptures included), to the food presentation (like the butternut squash soup poured tableside over a Szechuan-spiced marshmallow), and all the way to the price (hello $18 burger!). Despite the restaurant's daring edge, Kurtz was not impressed by the unevenness which was apparent in not just the food (a falafel slider was described as "a wet glob."; green-peppercorn sauce "tasted strongly of the barnyard") but the slow - at times impolite - service as well.

Blackbelly Market, which was reviewed this month's 5280 Magazine, made a pleasant impression on Scott Mowbray. The critic praised the simplicity of both the menu and the execution. The menu, highlighting several items "from the butcher," included cuts of lamb, beef, pork, and bison, mostly grilled and served with a side of vegetables. Though Mowbray noted that the vegetables could use more attention, he enjoyed his 16 ounce Denver steak, which he described as "rare, as ordered, and full of juice and beefy flavor, which is not always easy to achieve with free-range meat." Overall, Blackbelly Market got 3 stars out of 4.