Denver Adventurous Eaters' Club at P-17, or I eat ant larvae and silk worms

I got to wear my killer LBD for the first time to P17, the hep little restaurant where the latest DEAC meeting was being held. Not only was the food delicious and utterly wacked out, the presentation was just beautiful. On the menu tonight was:

Salmon Roe Boba. Boba is a pudding/drink that usually has little balls of tapioca on the bottom, but this one had salmon eggs.

Veal Bone Marrow on toasted bread with salt - my favorite course of the night.

Ant larvae salad. You couldn’t even tell it was ants unless you looked close enough to notice the little eyes and antennae; it was a little spicy and very good.

Our first palate cleanser was basil done three ways: a sorbet, a sauce, and basil seed caviar.

A salad with an orange-y dressing and a wedge of anchovy spawn gelee. Honestly, the ant larvae didn’t really bother me, but looking at those little fish eyes and twisty little fish bodies was off-putting. I made sure to eat it with the salad, so I could just pretend the crunch between my teeth was all lettuce, instead of the bodies of many tiny fish. It was really good… just weird.

Yes, I actually ate silk worms! They have a good texture and a nice low-key nutty flavor. Again, more creeped out by anchovy spawn than the worms.

Another palate cleanser: lychee and lavender-infused aloe gelee. I was expecting to hate it, since I hate lavender and aloe, but it tasted like fruit snacks! 

My least favorite course of the night, the snails. I actually liked it the first time I tried it, but I got some really gritty awful piece of something in my second snail and that sealed my appetite on this dish.

Poached quail eggs with pork butt, and a trotter. I really enjoyed the eggs and the pork, but I couldn’t find anything edible on the trotter; it was all fat, and I can’t stand the texture of fat. I took a small bite and forced it down, just so I could say I ate a little of everything.

The “main” course was blood sausage-stuffed quail with potatoes, mushrooms, and chrysanthemum. It was good, but I was so full at this point, I could hardly eat anymore.

Dessert!!! Sea urchin cheesecake, which just tasted like cheesecake to me. A good way to finish the gauntlet.