Cliff Young has a bottle — or 200 — waiting for you at his risqué steakhouse.
If women weren’t peeling cocktail dresses down to their G-strings on a runway, CY Steak might be just another pricey Denver steakhouse. Then again, it also has proprietor and consummate host Cliff Young, who keeps his dapper clothes on, sometimes channeling Christopher Walken doing “The Continental” as if for “Masterpiece Theatre.”
That’s somehow fitting, because this space abutting the Diamond Cabaret Gentleman’s Club has been remodeled rather dramatically, and by far it’s the best incarnation yet — perching on the edges of recherche like the pinkie peeking from the edges of an open-toed stiletto, it’s all reds and blacks, with deep-set banquettes, twisted white napkins reaching from wine glasses like shapely women’s legs. The music is porn Muzak, the dancing ladies are chatty and charming, and there’s a walk-in humidor for the puff daddies (and mamas).
Now if the steaks would just blow us away. But the meat is just OK, prime and cooked to our specs of medium-rare but lacking char, seasoning, and thus flavor. They’re expensive at $55 for a dry-aged 16-ounce New York strip (you can split, but add $5). The wet-aged ribeye was $39.
Each steak comes with a quivering, delectable blob of roasted veal marrow and a sauce from a choice of seven. The bearnaise nailed it, as did the ruby port bordelaise and the tangy horseradish cream.
What I’d go back for: the sugary-sweet three-onion soup gratinee a la Bourgogne ($8), made by caramelizing the onions and using white wine for the broth, no beef. The garnish was a pile of golden- crispy onion rings, lightly greasy, salty and thin as yarn.
Snack on warm, crusty rolls while awaiting a Caesar salad ($14 per person, for two or more) calmly prepared tableside by Young, whom many would argue became beloved in Denver because of said salad, which he served at the eponymous eatery he opened in 1984 on East 17th Avenue. This version is almost like the old days, lemon-zingy with plenty of garlic and beautifully emulsified.
The sides are big enough to share, and based on the price, you’ll want to ($8 each). But at least the price is right: potatoes gratinee dauphinois are upscale scalloped; grilled asparagus with shaved grana are so crispy they could replace French fries; and “forbidden” black rice actually is healthy.
Calling it “CY Starters and Sides” might make more sense for now.
Kyle Wagner: 303-954-1599, travel@denverpost.com, twitter.com/kylewagnerworld
– CY STEAK –
Steak and sides. 1222 Glenarm Place, 303-571-4242, cliffyoungs.com. 6 p.m.-midnight daily.
– Kyle Wagner
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