Chef Caroline Glover has already made her mark on the Colorado dining scene with Annette, the celebrated restaurant inside Stanley Marketplace that earned her the 2022 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mountain. Now, just two flights above, she invites guests into her newest venture, Traveling Mercies.
Unlike the larger, bustling spaces that dominate the marketplace, Traveling Mercies is a pocket-sized sanctuary of just 400 square feet. It feels like the city’s best-kept secret, the sort of spot you’re torn between bragging about and guarding so it never gets too crowded. (In reality, you don’t have to worry about this. Even at capacity, the space keeps its allure, feeling more like a hidden watering hole than a congested bar.) “There’s just something really special about it,” says Caroline. “When this space became available, it was perfect, so tiny, so intimate. You feel like you’re in a completely different world.”
The menu mirrors that intimacy: compact, inventive, and driven by freshness. Oysters, delivered straight from East Coast farms several times a week, arrive perfectly briny and beautifully presented thanks to Cooper (pictured right), the in-house shucker who has perfected the craft. “If you go somewhere and the shells are mangled, it ruins the experience,” Caroline says. “I’d rather it take a few more minutes and it’s done right.” Beyond oysters, the East Coast’s theme of high and low is on full display, like a common man’s Ritz cracker topped with caviar, turning indulgence into something playful. Plates that rotate with what’s in season might include mussels escabeche toast, trout rillettes, or razor clams brightened with herbs and lime. “I wanted there to be a place where you could have the perfect drink and the perfect bite. You can pop in for a snack and a glass of wine, or linger for a few hours and turn it into a really luxurious evening.”
The beverage list is just as considered as the food. Rotating riffs on classics keep things lively, from the Melon Fizz that feels like you’re “on your own private yacht in the Positano Bay of the Amalfi Coast,” a welcomed reprieve from Colorado winters, to the Vesper, a three-part martini served bracingly cold with an oyster sidecar. “If you aren’t taking care of the small details, like making sure someone has a good drink, then you aren’t doing anything right,” Caroline says.
In the end, Traveling Mercies resists easy categorization. It isn’t quite a restaurant, nor just a bar, but something rarer: a place where intimacy and craft collide. But what matters isn’t what you call it, it’s how it makes you feel, and the feeling of Traveling Mercies lingers with you long after you’ve left.
Try Traveling Mercies cocktail recipe:
The Vesper Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 oz. olive oil washed Kyrö Gin (recipe below )
- 1 oz. Nikka Coffey Vodka
- 1 oz. Lo-Fi Aperitifs Dry Vermouth
Olive Oil-Washed Kyrö Gin
- 750 ml Kyrö Gin
- 3 oz. olive oil
Garnish
- lemon oil
- olives
- an oyster
- twist of lemon peel
Directions
Olive Oil-Washed Kyrö Gin
- Combine one 750 ml bottle of Kyrö Gin with 3 oz. of olive oil.
- Rest in freezer overnight, then strain through a paper filter.
The Vesper Cocktail
- Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir well. Dilution is key.
- Strain into a coupe and garnish with lemon oil, olives, an oyster, and a twist of lemon peel.
“If you aren’t taking care of the small details, like making sure someone has a good drink, then you aren’t doing anything right.”– Caroline Glover
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