With two massive garage doors acting as windows, this Mediterranean masterpiece is anything but a place to park your car. When the springtime sweeps the cold winter blues away, Gozo will be there ready to raise up the windows and let the fresh Denver air in. The sleek interior has the power to transport you to the Greco-style houses lining every inch of the Mediterranean sea with its pearly white tile. The decor only intensifies the rustic and earthy flavors they pride themselves on constructing in each dish presented. Regardless if it’s a weekend brunch or a night out with friends, the flavors always shine.
While the homestyle, laid back italian coastline aesthetic is prominent, the food is more contemporary than what you would expect to be cooked by your nonna from Sicily. But, it still captures the sweetness from fresh fruits and vegetables, richness from a home-made pasta and traditional spices that would even make the Italian purists smile. The mix of beef and pork is the expectation for ragu, but Gozo takes it a step further by creating a seriously bubbling cheesy crust that can only be made from the flames of a wood-burning oven. But don’t fear, the chef has accounted for this extra bit of heat at the end, thereby undercooking the pasta ever so slightly to finish off in a hot tub of rose red sauce which results in the perfect al dente bite.
Another staple that lines the tables of Italy overlooking the ocean is the salty, crisp bite of calamari. While chain sit-down restaurants have tried their hand at this common bar food, the mastery comes when the breading is paper thin and stuck tightly to the calamari itself. Gozo created the perfect ratio of breading to squid, while other places will give you deep fried batter with a touch of calamari that ultimately just gets lost. If you’re trying to shy away from the fried food, then the salad they offer counts for the acidic craving you might be looking for instead. While many people assume brussels sprouts require roasting before eating, Gozo presents them in a raw form. With the help of a citrus vinegar dressing, the brussels sprout leaves tenderize just enough and release their nutty flavor which only intensifies with the accompaniment of the almonds and pecorino cheese dusted on top.
But the real draw to Gozo comes between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays when they are dishing out some of Denver’s best brunch dishes. For the trendy brunchers, you can breathe a sigh of relief because the top right corner of the menu has the avocado toast you were anxiously searching for. A piece of house-made sourdough toast is the base of this masterpiece. The thickness allows for the outside layers to brown while leaving the inside to be a nice chewy counterpart. On top comes the glorified avocado, mounted high and claiming its place as the star of the dish. While some restaurants would end it there, Gozo taps into its Italian roots by draping translucent pieces of prosciutto over it all. Step aside eggs and bacon, because the newest partners in crime are avocado and bacon. The creamy avocado gives a fruity note to the salty cured Italian ham, making for the refreshing take on the savory-sweet combination. A finish of olive oil elicits the feeling of the Italian countryside that and much more.
Benedicts and other egg staples have made their way onto the menu, but they have a secret weapon to put the toast fanatics in a coma: brunch pizza. Yes, that is correct. At 10:30 in the morning you can have a piping hot, bubbling, cheesy, crispy thin crust pizza arrive at your table with no questions asked. The air pockets lining the edge of the crust mean you are in for a real treat because that is the work of an 800-degree wood-burning oven that hasn’t taken a break in years. The colors of the Italian flag come across beautifully in their margarita pie, with a blanket of red tomato sauce topped with generous pieces of pearly white mozzarella just waiting to be stretched as one piece pulls away from another. But the aspect that elevates the dish is the tornado of basil swirling the pizza, allowing the taste of the garden to translate to the plate. They don’t mess around with just one leaf per piece but let every bite get those fresh herbaceous notes. In order to satisfy everyone, their breakfast pizza comes with bacon and a fried egg that has a runny yolk that the crust sops up in seconds, making for the perfect sauces for the rest of the ingredients to play off of.
Normally I forget about side dishes because I am too focused on the entree, but at Gozo, you might want to take a closer look. Regardless of whether it’s your first meal of the day or your last, the following two sides are always on the menu. The polenta is rich and an Italian version of our southern grits, but these are a yellow similar to the sun and velvety in texture because of the cream, stock and cheese woven throughout. Polenta can get clumped and dry, but the attention to detail from the Gozo staff ensures that it maintains the right consistency bite after bite. They also rule over carbs here with their homemade english muffins. Accompanied by an apple mostarda (a savory apple jam) that has the warming spices of fall, a kick from the dijon mustard and apples sweet as if they were just plucked from their orchard. The butteriness of the muffin allows for a slight toast, in turn causing the jam to reheat ever so slightly. It makes you crave this as your side rather than the pre-sliced whole wheat toast with gelatinous jelly, still maintaining its shape from the small square pack it came in, at the average breakfast dinner.
The time of day doesn’t really matter here at Gozo because they are always ready to serve you as if you just paid for first class tour of the Mediterranean. Kick back, relax, let the cross breeze do its thing. Enjoy your trip to the coastline on South Broadway as winter turns to spring.
