Centennial State Diary (Eateries/Bar Edition) - The Syntax Physic Opera

After some thought, I decided to start a series about travel, food and events in the State of Colorado, my current home. The concept is mix both my love of history and my love of food/travel/entertainment together touching on both the local history of Colorado and blogging about the eateries, bars, entertainment venues, and vacation spots of the region. I think Colorado has so much more to offer than 420 tours and I’d like to showcase that through this series in my blog: The Centennial State Diary

Syntax Physic Opera

554 South Broadway Denver, CO 80209
(720) 456-7041
www.physicopera.com

About The Syntax Physic Opera

The name Physic Opera translates to “The Medicine Show.” The concept is derived from the 19th century medicine shows which drove through the frontier complete with snake oil salesmen, herbal liniments and tonics and vaudevillian fare .

From the website,

“This is a love poem to 1860’s Denver. A living museum.”

From creating a space for “…blue collar creatives. We want the hard working artist and musician to post up, to sit back. Drink off our tap, eat from our pot….”, to paying homage to the snake oil salesmen and their herbal tonics, and capturing a modern twist on the old west saloons and vaudeville show hall, the Syntax Phisic Opera has bottled lightning. It is, without a doubt, a home run.

A Brief History of “Proprietary Medicines”

Medicines, called “proprietary medicines” were elixirs and tonics, which originated in Europe and were manufactured under patents of royal favor. Around the 18th century, these medicines began to be exported from Europe to America and could be found in a variety of places (grocers, chemists, drug stores and goldsmiths). This subsequently led to a boom of the manufacture of patent medicines in 19th Century America when it came of age as a major industry in America.

Largely these medicines were herbal in nature and contained large doses of alcohol (generally between 19%-32%), morphine, opium or cocaine. In America, Dr. John Johnson products (one of the more famous proprietary medicine brands) were often advertised as being, “compounded according to secret, ancient Kickapoo Indian tribe formulae and some did in fact contain herbals such as blood root, feverwort, poke, slippery elm and oak bark…” One particular subset of patent medicines (liniments and ointments) were often sold and promoted as containing snake oil, thought of as a cure-all agent at the time. As tonics and cure-alls were discovered to be anything but, the Professors were seen as charlatans and the term “snake-oil salesman” was born.

The end of the proprietary medicine era began in earnest with the temperance movement of the late 19th century, as those in the movement loudly protested the inclusion of alcohol as part of the proprietary medicines. The original Food and Drugs Act of 1906 prohibited interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated food, drink and drugs. This was followed by The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 which contained some groundbreaking, new provisions requiring new drugs to be shown as safe before marketing and started a new system of drug regulation. One key provision in this act eliminated the requirement of proof of intent to defraud in cases of drug misbranding which had been the cornerstone in the defense of proprietary medicines in the courts. The final nail in the coffin for proprietary medicines came with the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments of 1962 which required drug manufacturers to prove to the Food and Drug Administration the efficacy of their products before marketing them.

Today, there are still some surviving proprietary medicines on the shelf: Listerine, Milk of Magnesia, Vicks VapoRub (originally branded Richardson’s Croup and Pneumonia Cure Salve), Doans Pills, Angoustra Bitters, Coca-Cola and 7-Up to name a few.

The Medicine Show and the American West

The medicine shows themselves came about as a result of the strength of the patent medicine industry. The premise of the medicine show was very straightforward: offer a free show for the crowd, then bring out the pitch man (often named the Doctor or the Professor) to pitch the patent medicine. These shows were vaudeville style entertainment and took on Native American and Wild West themes in the Midwest. Often, the medicine shows were performed in the open street, but some were so large they were booked in halls and hotels and had multiple performances each day.

My Visit to Syntax Physic Opera

Situated on the outskirts of the Denver Creative District on Broadway, the Syntax Physic Opera is positioned in an awesome spot with a good amount of parking. Once stepping into the establishment and grabbing a seat at the bar, you get a sense of the modern twist of the old west saloon and vaudeville show hall.

The antique gun collection complete with authentic tin photos from the era add to the ambiance. The collection is absolutely incredible. When I asked the bar tender if I could photograph them. He smiled and said, "Certainly. I just polished them this afternoon."

The bar itself pays a bit of a homage to the old school medicine shows with all of the herbal infusions, jars of house made pickles and jerky giving it the feel of watching the medicine show crew creating the herbal remedies. The bar does have a mixology menu featuring classic and original cocktails with herbal infusions.

I wound up drinking a Corn Punk which was a take on an Old Fashioned infused with Basil and Pine Sap. Absolutely delicious. The food menu has a unique twist on frontier food one might eat in the Old West. The Navajo Fry Bread and the rabbit croquettes are incredible. This visit I decided to grab a charcuterie board with awesomely unique items such as house smoked duck bacon and peanut butter jalapeno jam.

I finished the evening with a rosemary bread pudding with whipped cream and balsamic vinegar. The flavor combination walking the edge between sweet and savory was intense and excellent.

Without a doubt, the Syntax Physic Opera is hands down my favorite bar/restaurant in the City of Denver. If you should ever find yourself in Denver, this place is, without a doubt, worth the out of the way side trip. You will not be disappointed.