So, what else is new?

I met up with a couple of friends last night for dinner and chatting. They're part of the local Stitch and Bitch group. I'm not a member, but I go along to see the two of them once a month or so.

This time we met at The Market at Larimer Square.

Larimer Square is a shopping/dining/see-and-be-seen part of downtown Denver. Just off the 16th Street Mall and close to LoDo (Lower Downtown), it used to have a reputation for being where the Monied went to shop. I hadn't been to the area in years and was surprised by how, well, trendy it seems to have become.

And popular, even on a Wednesday evening. I had to circle the blocks forever to find a parking space (no easy task in an area of pedestrian walking malls and one-way streets. Finally, and in defiance of my Unemployed state, I gave up on finding a meter (two hours for 50 cents) and had to pay a parking lot ($12!) for space.

The Market was like finding a little slice of funky LoDo right in the middle of swanky Larimer Square. The Market turned out to be a little grocery store/coffee bar/pastry shop/restaurant combination with some very good food.

Thanks to the kindness of a stranger, a man who took it upon himself to advise us about the menu as we stood at the counter and agonized over our choices, I ordered the spinach stuffed boneless breast of chicken. Tasty, indeed. The stuffing was thick and flavorful, the chicken moist without being undercooked.

Portions were ample. In fact, some dishes were incredibly generous. Ruth had them package up her leftover pasta dish to take home with her and she had enough left for one or maybe two more meals.

I pretty much finished my dish, but had I not passed on the dinner salad, I don't know if I could have managed it.

I was tempted to try the desserts, which included some amazing-looking cheesecake (served in giant slices, as I saw when two youngsters received their strawberry drenched orders) but I was mindful of one friend's diet and my own extra five pounds, so I passed.

I'm going back to The Market, some day soon, though. I didn't have nearly enough time to browse the pastry cabinet or drool over the candies or look at the strange and wonderful specialty packaged food offerings or sample the cappuccino and/or hot chocolate.

The meatloaf has to be worth a try. The BBQ beef brisket smelled fabulous. They have an extensive sandwich menu and I'd like to sample almost everything on it. The pastries and desserts...if they're half as good as they look, they must be fabulous.

Any restaurant that offers a dessert called "Chocolate Oblivion" is worth a second trip.