Blog posts from the DAM staff

Palettes Offering Becoming Van Gogh-Inspired Menu

November 14, 2012 by Katie Bukowski

The story of Vincent van Gogh’s artistic journey has inspired everyone on the Denver Art Museum campus, including Palettes, the on-site restaurant. Chef Kevin Taylor developed a unique French tasting menu to celebrate the museum’s special exhibition Becoming Van Gogh.

Featuring more than 70 paintings and drawings by Van Gogh, along with works by artists he responded to, Becoming Van Gogh explores Van Gogh’s unconventional path to becoming one of the world’s most recognizable artists. Taking inspiration from traditional French cuisine, namely from the Provence region, the restaurant is relating food to Van Gogh’s influence of impressionism during his time in France, during the late 1800s. Palettes is offering a three-course prix-fixe Van Gogh-French Tasting menu for $27.

“The prix-fixe menu for Becoming Van Gogh is inspired by France during the 1890s—just as Van Gogh once was—and, as a nod to Van Gogh’s unique aesthetic that often featured arbitrary color use, we are incorporating bold, bright colors into the plating and presentation of each dish,” says chef–owner Kevin Taylor.

The menu is available through January 20, when Becoming Van Gogh closes.

Appetizers

  • heirloom potatoes, asparagus, lardons, pommery mustard
  • baked brie and baguette, lavender truffle honey, dried cherries
  • country pork terrine, pain rustique, frisee, cassis sherry gastrique

Entrees

  • striped bass and seafood bouillabaisse, piquillos, almonds, extra virgin olive oil
  • coq su vin, pearl onions, confit mushrooms, fingerling potatoes
  • salmon provencal, plum tomatoes, zucchini, new potatoes, aged balsamic

Dessert

  • classic vanilla crème caramel, candied sunflower seeds, berries
  • frozen valrhona chocolate souffle, berry coulis, cocoa tuile
  • warm apple clafoutis, crème fraiche, cinnamon phyllo haystack

Katie Bukowski was a public relations intern in the communications department at the Denver Art Museum. Katie noted that her favorite artwork on view was Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (It’s our pleasure to disgust you).

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