Annette

“We strive to treat guests at Annette like they are guests in our home. I want my food to be comforting and tasty, but ideally it will also be thought-provoking. After working on farms for a few years, I realized that many diners are disconnected from their food, from where it comes from, how it’s produced, and the people who grow it for them. When you’re starting with high-quality ingredients produced with the best practices in mind, it doesn’t take much more than a little salt and acidity to turn them into something delicious.”

Butter lettuce salad with tarragon buttermilk dressing; ramp and radish toast; milk-braised pork cheeks.

A wood-fired oven anchors the cozy space at Annette, a hearth around which Chef Caroline Glover gathers her community: diners, farmers, neighbors, and staff.

Glover’s approach to food is deceptively simple: begin with mindfully sourced top-notch, local ingredients some grown by the chef herself and don’t mess them up. But she turns out inventive combinations that make starring produce sing, and lends novelty even to classics like patatas bravas or steak frites.

Intent on being a positive force in its surrounding community, Annette frequently collaborates with local non-profits that support underserved populations like the diverse refugee community in northwest Aurora.

“...it’s Glover’s and her staff’s personal, joyful approach to everything they do that feels like a radical departure from the old, rigid standards of fine dining.” –Zagat