Go inside Denver's hot new restaurants with the Fancy Supper Club

How it works: Once a month, we pick a high-end restaurant or hot new spot in Denver — often from the Michelin list — to meet for dinner.

• Our three-couple crew includes a former food critic who now works in the industry and two current food and drink writers (myself included). We all have strong opinions and big appetites.

Dig in: So far, we've visited seven acclaimed restaurants, including Pig and Tiger, Margot and Sheep. And I have my favorites.

🤩 My favorite so far — and other club members agreed — is Sheep, a pop-up at the Clayton Hotel & Members Club from the team behind Wolf's Tailor.

• The exquisite service, inventive dishes and whimsical final bite on the prefixe menu — a chocolate-covered popsicle in the middle of cotton candy to look like a sheep — exceeded expectations.

😍 Other must-try spots:

• Pig and Tiger, a laid-back Taiwanese restaurant downtown from chefs and co-owners Darren Chang and Travis Masar that serves riffs on traditional dishes.
• Dear Emilia, the RiNo spin-off from the acclaimed Restaurant Olivia, with artful dishes like the rotolo di lasagna that are a love letter to your taste buds.

🤔 Yes, but: Denver's food scene faces criticisms for its extreme mediocrity and sky-high prices. It's true, but we also have spectacular restaurants worth the splurge.

😕 The misses: The much-heralded Margot didn't meet service expectations for the price point, and at Heretik, the seafood and fried chicken menu left us confused about its identity.

What's next: We're taking our Fancy Supper Club on the road to Grand Junction to try Bin 707 Foodbar from chef and co-founder Josh Niernberg, a James Beard Outstanding Chef semifinalist.