Gaia Bistro is the happening hotspot for Denver’s farm-to-table loving foodies who gather inside the rustic Victorian house to enjoy the unpretentious atmosphere on a busy weekend morning.
Gaia Bistro, located at 1551 S. Pearl St., brings the same indie flare and folksy vibes as its counterpart restaurant down the street, Kaos Pizzeria, but the crowd sways on the more sophisticated and intellectual side with middle-aged women hosting breakfast meetings in the middle foyer.
Its unassuming exterior and neutral color scheme uses earth-friendly tones like whites, browns and light blue to tap into the down-home feel that all granola-loving gurus will appreciate. Instead of putting its effort into the decor (the menu is served on a simple white piece of paper with coffee stains and wrinkles from previous patrons and the walls are barely decorated with any band posters or eclectic artwork), the presentation is on the plate.
Where Gaia goes off the grid is with their starches; rather than serving sub-par pancakes, the bistro takes a break from normal breakfast items and brings the cultural flare with their organic buckwheat flour savory crepes (with gluten-free options for the hypoallergenic foodie) filled with various local ingredients like roasted chicken, bacon and brie with pear butter, or the sweet crepes with roasted butternut squash and Jonathan apple hash with streusel. They snub run-of-the-mill hashbrowns and roasted potatoes and instead get sophisticated with asiago scalloped potatoes that are $3 to add on to any meal and are served right out of the oven. To top it off, the Egg Sandwich replaces toast or an English muffin for seasoned Foccacia bread making jealous onlookers’ mouths water.
Like any loyal foodie knows, the food is always worth the wait, but Gaia’s normal brunch wait is 45 minutes to an hour. To tide themselves over people can either take a gander around Pearl Street at the various boutiques, sit outside on the bench in the garden out front or stay crammed inside anxiously trying to ignore the smells that are wafting through the house.
The female staff are fairly friendly, rocking flannels and floral print tops, but they don’t have any sympathy for the eager customers who want to be seated. It is the only male server with a mustache almost as mod as his aztec-print backwards cap in combination with his light-wash skinny jeans and tattered t-shirt who will catch your attention, as his casual and indie-finesse will aid the anxious patron’s irritation by telling a joke to lighten the mood.
Most patrons will neglect to notice the music playing in the background because they will be busy trying to concentrate on their own conversations (so as not to overhear the other consumers), but the music snob is likely to approve of the background tunes, which includes greatest hits like The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” and other classic jams.
Gaia is open Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast and lunch as well as dinner and is closed on Mondays (most likely to recuperate from the weekend crowd). On warmer days, one could find families pushing their children in strollers along Pearl St. or fixie bikes cruising by while diners enjoy their French press coffees and people watch on the porch.
With an average of $9 – $13 for a breakfast dish, which does not include potatoes or the French press coffee, this breakfast nook is a place to nosh now and then, but the organic and locally sourced ingredients will leave any sustainable citizen feeling good about themselves. And that is what everyone wants these days, right?
