Review: Creative food emerges when classic aesthetics meet hip ideas at Shuga’s

Whenever I want to convince out-of-towners that Colorado Springs is cooler than our reputation might suggest, I take them to Shuga's.

Shuga's is a rare restaurant that appeals to every sense. Fresh tulips poke from thick, vintage soda bottles set on a crew of mismatched, secondhand tables. The tables seem to wobble in time on the weathered wood floor to the quiet songs of Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, or the cadre of arcane indie bands on Shuga's iPod. The air is ripe with espresso and good, toasted bread. Origami cranes twist lazily on strings hung from the high ceilings of this century-old groceryturned-typewriter-repair-shopturned-restaurant. Tall front windows bathe the tables and the tulips in natural light. After sunset, an orbit of vintage globes give the whole place a complementary glow.

Servers, often in ratty Converse and $150 jeans, drop slender menus on the table, holding a scattering of tapas, soups, sandwiches and salads as effortlessly stylish as the surroundings.

It is all the invention of Alexius Weston, an Army brat who grew up all over the globe from Germany to Fort Carson, waitressed in Seattle, sipped coffee in Paris cafes, island hopped the Mediterranean and at 28, in 2002, moved back to Colorado Springs and decided the town really needed a cool little cafe. Against all odds and predictions, it worked.

"I wanted to mix old and new to create an eclectic environment, to make a place that was hip but also timeless," she told me recently. "I believe people really respond to the place that surrounds them. The lighting, the smells and the sounds are extremely important."

So at Shuga's, no sense is neglected. But the food is so good, it may make you forget that.

The crusty, rustic Italian bread of the BLT ($8) comes with thick slices of bacon cooked to a perfect, almost leathery, crunch and topped with a nest of light spring greens and a floral, nutty slice of gouda. Most of Shuga's other sandwiches follow its lead, matching unexpected combinations with the acumen of a thrift store diva.

The Phellini ($7.50) is a bohemian's grilled cheese: warm chevre, tomato, greens and resplendent pesto on that crusty bread. Like much of the menu, it's hearty but light.

Sandwiches can all be paired with a shifting cast of soups ($2.75 on the side). Recently a cinnamon-laced Moroccan lentil and a spicy, vegan carrot ginger both proved lovely escorts.

If the menu of salads, salady sandwiches and light soups leans slightly into the realm of chick food, there are also meaty, gooey calorie lifelines such as the Brick Chicken sandwich ($8.25), with hot chunks of meat melded with blue cheese, roasted red pepper and bangles of red onion.

The tiny kitchen saves time and space by using some ingredients in many dishes, but it doesn't cut corners.

The perennial favorite spicy, Brazilian, coconut-shrimp soup ($4), a blushing, creamy broth with hints of peanuts that match with ginger, jalapeño, cilantro and lime, is made from scratch every day. A few plump shrimp are tossed in when you order a bowl so they never arrive overcooked.

The quiche ($7), which changes slightly from day to day, is always a hit.

Somehow, there's also room in the kitchen to bake fabulous cakes ($4.25 a slice) such as the sweet, crumbly Almond Butter Cake or sinfully rich Double Chocolate Diablo - a dense, no-nonsense brownie in a jacket of ganache.

Shuga's probably should have gone out of business a long time ago, considering that it's hidden on a quiet residential street blocks from the downtown restaurant scene, which itself is having trouble these days. Instead, Shuga's has attracted a coalition of rabidly loyal regulars.

At noon, the crowd tends to be welldressed ladies who lunch. The curb is packed with polished Lexus and Acura SUVs. The tables are packed with salads and lemon iced teas. Afternoons belong to wireless, hungry hipsters pecking at laptops over the foamy rims of Shuga's excellent cappuccinos. At night, artsy couples with tattoos and carefully styled bed head nosh on pita points dipped in hummus, tapenade or goat cheese, and servers come around with bottles of shabby-sheik Pabst Blue Ribbon and artisan lavenderlime martinis.

There's a magic hour around dinner when the disparate crowds mingle. In a way, it feels like a secret club or a speakeasy hiding in plain daylight. Here are people united by a shared, timeless aesthetic. To find out that someone else likes Shuga's is to know you have much more in common than Almond Butter Cake.

CONTACT THE WRITER: nathaniel.glen@gazette.com

details
Shuga's
**** out of five (pure coolness)

Address: 702 S. Cascade Ave.
Phone: 328-1412
Hours: 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Mondays-Saturdays
Entrees: $7-$9
Vegetarian: Plenty
Liquor: Full bar
Plastic: Yes

• Take on the dining critic at gazettedine.blogspot.com