The creators/masterminds of the Spanish tapas hotspot Barcelona ventured further along the Mediterranean coast for culinary inspiration to create the menu for Corsica. Tapping into the traditional cuisines of southern France and Italy, the menu serves up tastes of field, pasture, and sea.
Housed in a rambling RiNo warehouse, Corsica’s weathered brick walls are reminiscent of a rustic village cafe on the Italian Riviera – a perfect backdrop for the menu of Mediterranean small plates. Corsica unfolds in a series of unique spaces, from a boisterous village piazza up front to the back, where a sloping ceiling calms the energy and creates an intimate retreat. (Think “after work drinks with friends” up front, “date night with someone special” in the back room.) A side room serves as overflow and event space, made homey with a kitchen-setting with a robin’s-egg-blue sink, stacked glasses and wire basket full of cloth napkins behind the big “family” table.
Much as a good host would greet you with a drink as you arrive for dinner, Corsica offers a Spruzzo – a 3 oz tasting of the day’s selected wine ($5). On our visit, a crisp sparkling Cava was promptly poured that prepped our palate and whet our appetite. Of the various unique cocktails, we chose The Transporter – a creative blend of Mezcal, tequila, celery, lime, chili bitters and Fever Tree ginger beer offered an interesting and refreshing pairing of smoke and green. It was one of the best-tasting cocktails we’ve had in a long while. Other items on their beverage menu include spritzes, shareable punch bowls, wine and spirits.
The menu of Aperos (appetizers) and a long list of Small Plates, is daunting but in a fortunate way. Everything sounds delicious. Guided by our server, we chose a variety and soon a parade of charming, mismatched porcelain plates and silver bowls cradling carefully-plated bites, arrived at our table.
Highlights from our meal at Corsica:
Bread Service brings slices of hearty levain bread and creamy butter, sprinkled with sea salt.
Mussels L’Aziminu is plump with morsels of whitefish lounging in a saffron-crab broth so flavorful I wished it came by the gallon! Served with garlic croutons, you’re still going to want to save some crusty bread to clean your bowl!
Grilled Branzino filet over pistachio pesto risotto was perfection – flaky moist, crispy skin.
Corsican Frites were crispy and delicious hand-cut russets served with fried herbs, aioli and calabrian ketchup (although we didn’t pick up on any calabrian chile flavor or heat if that’s what they were after).
Asparagus Caesar salad, draped in an almost overwhelming, gauzy web of Pecorino Romano (a visual trend these days), was crispy and delicious with just enough anchovy. The amount of cheese was perfectly complementary, as it turned out.
Of everything we tried, two dishes missed the mark. Turns out our instincts were right because both are currently not on the menu anymore. One was a pickley farm egg (if it returns, we hope it will be served “jammy” and not hard-boiled). The other dish, which was the shrimp toasts, served as three sesame-coated half-domes, which weren’t as shrimpy as would have been expected. This is the beauty of a tapas menu – if one thing displeases you, at least it wasn’t a full entree, you haven’t spent much on it, and you still have other options to choose from!
How much should you order at Corsica? For a hearty appetite, allow 3-4 plates per person; prices range from $5 for bread and butter to $17 for Branzino – most are in the $12-$15 range.
Housemade desserts ($8-$10) are worth saving room for and are perfectly-portioned for sharing: we enjoyed the Fiadone (traditional Corsican cheesecake with candied fennel) and Almond Cake (with citrus, rosemary and crème fraiche frosting). Tiramisu, Blood Orange Granita, and Crispy Fontina Ravioli with honey were also in the running but must await our return visit. And return we will to Corsica for an imaginary escape to the land of kisses under olive trees and lazy sunny days on a pebbly beach.
Late night menu offerings and happy hour specials make Corsica a worthy RiNo destination for an elevated, not pretentious, after-concert or -theater nibble and sip. The large outdoor patio promises to be an ideal perch for summertime RiNo people peeping.
Corsica is located at 2901 Walnut Street in downtown Denver. Note the mural outside and the artwork within. Learn more about both, here.
-Article by Jimmy McDonough. Photos by Courtney Drake-McDonough for In Good Taste Denver.
Please note: As is common practice in our industry, we were hosted for this visit but that never influences our opinions which remain our own, honest and true.
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