At the Junction of Nature and Fine Dining

I have been lucky enough to take part in many wonderful meals in my adult lifetime, but there are only a handful times I can recall in which I leaned back at the end of the meal and said “that was a beautiful meal.”  As is usually the case when this has occurred, it is utterly unexpected.  26 on Rood in Grand Junction, Colorado, is one such place worthy of that praise.

En route to Aspen, my first time visiting Grand Junction was in the middle of July, and I was stunned by how hot and dry it was.  I was like “hello, I thought it is supposed to be cool weather in the mountains?”  That was when my husband explained to me Grand Junction is a major city intersecting the Colorado River and Gunnison River and encapsulated by the Grand Mesa.  It is protected from normal arctic air masses, so temperatures in Grand Junction stay a few degrees warmer than most of the rest of Colorado.

The foodie that resides deep in my soul immediately began looking for interesting places to eat, and all I saw was miles of chain restaurants.  I thought that was going to be it as far as dining options were concerned.  However, when we returned to Grand Junction the following summer (it is a major hub one goes through almost always when traveling through Colorado), I dug deeper and soon learned I was in Colorado wine country with beautiful scenery, and there were definitely some delectable dining options at our disposal.  That is when I stumbled upon 626 on Rood.

This little oasis is a wine bar and offers seasonal dining menus, so it is never the same menu when we return but is always, always, always, top notch.  The wine menu is diverse and voluminous.  One of the owners takes such care and attention to the wine selection that she takes frequent trips to Europe to learn and stock up the restaurant’s wine cellar.  Personally, I am partial to their wine flights.

As for the food, prepare to have your palate dazzled.  The proprietors grow their own herbs in the garden connected to the establishment, and everything tastes fresh.  Most recent favorites have included a Caesar salad with tofu croutons, Black Angus beef tenderloin with pomme puree and mushroom ragout, the 626 almond financier cake (a true original!), and the best salmon I have ever tasted – miso and couscous crusted to perfection.  In short, 626 on Rood would be considered sensational no matter what city into which it would be dropped.

I learned from those first few trips to Grand Junction that in my fervor to get to some of those more well-known and fancier towns, I was missing out on what was right in front of me – a very cool, bustling town just waiting to feed me.  Lesson learned.