5280 Magazine July 2021

YOUR KID’S BRAIN ON HIGH-THC CONCENTRATES

BY LINDSEY B. KING

CROSSFIT’S NEW KINDER, GENTLER CEO PAGE 46

WILL YOU EVER FLY FRONTIER AIRLINES AGAIN?

BY KELLY BASTONE

THE DENVER MAGAZINE

22 Ways Mile High City Residents Made The Most Of The (Very Strange) Past Year PAGE 58

JULY 2021 |

5280.com

Thank you, Denver!

This past year has taught us, like many, to appreciate everything and take nothing for granted.

nancy@nancygreager.com 720.938.9001

Ambierre Rediger & Laura Rojas

303.886.6606

PEAK & PRAIRIE

jay.epperson@compass.com

D O N & K E L LY O ’B R I E N

N A N CY G R E AG E R

JAY E P P E RS O N

We are humbled to have helped so many find their home in the Denver Metro Area. In the midst of an unprecedented housing market, we are grateful for our clients who put their trust in us! For us, our place in the world is right here, and there’s nowhere else we’d rather call home.

ambierre@peakprairie.com 720.261.7468

team@obrien-realty.com 303.641.8377

Ranked the #1 brokerage in Denver by sales volume in 2020* All real estate Broker Associates featured in this ad are affiliated with Compass. Compass is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado and abides by Equal Housing opportunity laws. *Data based on MLS data from REColorado Office Ranking Report by Office ID # for closed volume from 1/1/2020–12/31/2020

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CHERRY CREEK NORTH SIDEWALK SALE

T H U R S D AY, J U LY 1 5 T H R O U G H

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E L E G A N T LY E D I B L E The event you crave every year welcomes you back for an even more enticing multi-day celebration. The Cherry Creek North Food & Wine is a collection of elevated and immersive culinary experiences, featuring exciting new tastes to explore with friends, old and new.

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The numbers are in.

Nobody beats the Coldwell Banker brand. ®

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VOLUME EARNED WITH CBU LEARNING CENTER COURSES ®

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Properties using Listing Concierge sell 35% closer to list price2

96,000+ AGENTS ACROSS 40 COUNTRIES3

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$168.4 million IN DAILY LUXURY SALES

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MOST VISITED REAL ESTATE BRAND ONLINE

Listings earned, units closed and sales volume of affiliated agents who have attended CBU Learning Center compared to affiliated agents who have not. 2 Based on Coldwell Banker Realty Listing Concierge usage data reported through May 31, 2020.

As of 12/31/2020. 4 Data based on closed and recorded buyer and/or seller transaction sides of homes sold for $1 million or more as reported by affiliates of the U.S. Coldwell Banker franchise system for the calendar year of 2020. USD$. Total volume calculated by multiplying the number of buyer and/or seller sides by sales price. 5 Reflects total website visits for 2020. Source: Comscore 2020 Media Trends. 6 Coldwell Banker / Quester Real Estate Agent Research, August 2020 - Net Promoter Score by Brand. 7 Source: 2020 Sprout Social and media agency reporting. 8 ACE Metrix scores 2012-2020. 9 Listings earned by affiliated agents who have attended the AMP! Agent Productivity Course compared to those who have not. 10 National Association of REALTORS 2020 Average

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13%

HIGHER SALES PRICE THAN THE NAR AVERAGE10

$265 Billion IN SALES VOLUME

11

Sale Price: $331,600. 11 Year-end Coldwell Banker® numbers based on Coldwell Banker financial data as of 12/31/20. The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Affiliated real estate agents are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2021 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.

FEATURES 58

J U LY 2 0 21



Reasons To Love Denver

Right Cream’s delicious frozen treats

As we dare to peer into a happier, post-pandemic future, we’re taking a moment to celebrate all the ways in which Denver’s denizens have stepped up, done things right, and stayed true to who we are as Coloradans over the past year.

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EDITED BY PHILIP CLAPHAM

A Taste Of Colo-Mex

72

The tacos, burritos, green chile, and other delights that make the Centennial State Mexican food scene so damn delicious.

Shattered Minds

Medical professionals say there’s reason to be concerned about the safety of highTHC cannabis concentrates, particularly as they relate to the mental health of teenagers and young adults. With use on the rise among kids, experts are sending out an SOS, but it may not be reaching the intended audience: Colorado parents.

BY LINDSEY B. KING

86

Frontier’s Turbulent, Meandering, Bold, Problematic Flight Plan Frontier Airlines’ handling of pandemic-related flight cancellations triggered outrage and spurred calls for reform. Yet the Denver-based carrier expects increasing demand for “Low Fares Done Right.” Will passengers who feel swindled return to the ultra-low-cost airline?

BY KELLY BASTONE

BY PATRICIA KAOWTHUMRONG & DENISE MICKELSEN



92

Rapids Descent As the Colorado Rapids prepare to mark the 10th anniversary of their lone MLS title—and their 25th year of existence—myriad questions surround the organization.

The biggest? Why Denver seems to be one of the only cities in America that still doesn’t care about professional soccer.

BY SPENCER CAMPBELL

98

Top Real Estate Producers Need a real estate agent? Of course you do—or you will at some point. When that time comes, we suggest choosing from our list of the 697 most successful home sellers in the Denver metro area.

Matt Nager

BY KALI WILDER

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More Than Ever More experience. More support. More opportunity.

D E NV E R

SliferSmithandFrampton.com

VA I L VA L L EY

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SUMMI T COU N T Y

BACHELOR GULCH | 259 ELKORN 5-bed | 7-bath | 8,131 sqft | $9,150,000 Anna Menz & David Adkins 970.471.3525 | anna&david@slifer.net

R OA R I N G FO R K VA LLE Y

480 GOLDEN AGE DRIVE 4-bed | 5-bath | 4,834 sqft | $3,895,000 Jeff Moore 970.390.2269 | jeffmoore@slifersummit.com

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More than ever, opportunity abounds in this place we call home, and we are more prepared with more experience and more support to help you seize it.

DENVER | VAIL VALLEY | SUMMIT COUNTY | ROARING FORK VALLEY

At home in Colorado.

DEPTS.

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128

COMPASS 21 PROFILE

Pack burro racing’s most dominant donkey begins her quest for a third Triple Crown.

24 POLITICS

July 18 marks Mayor Michael Hancock’s 10th anniversary as Denver’s chief executive.

In that time, he’s helmed the city through unprecedented growth, but it hasn’t always been smooth.

EAT & DRINK

26 CULTURE

34 WHAT’S HOT

After a stint as a pizza joint, Brasserie Brixton is back to serving French fare with flair.

33

28 ENVIRONMENT

On the menu this month: slow-smoked carnitas tacos, seafood gumbo, and nourishing toasts and smoothies.

36 BEST BITES

26

Wildfires threaten the few affordable housing options in Colorado’s mountain towns.

How Dead Veggies’ vegan fermented cabbage gets funky—in a good way.

30 ADVENTURE

38 ESSAY

Avoid summer crowds by seeking out trails that are no longer maintained but are still navigable—if you know where to look.

Three simple lessons on how to be a better cook, learned from living through the pandemic.

BY SCOTT MOWBRAY

92 DINING GUIDE

Our extensive list of area restaurants, including contact information, cuisine categories, and neighborhood designations.

34 ON THE COVER

Photograph by Chayce Lanphear Lettering by Angela Southern From left: Scott Tilson and Rachel Norkin of Denver Urban Skate Troop; Samantha Mack Lopez, co-founder of Team Black Diaspora Roller Derby; and Jade Harrison, cofounder of Denver Roller Skaters, photographed on location in City Park

21

COLUMN 46 BUSINESS

For eight years, Eric Roza dreamed of running CrossFit. Last summer, with the brand reeling from controversy, the former tech executive from Boulder got his chance.

BY MEREDITH SELL

BACKSTORY 128 A SWIG AND A MISS

A Denver-themed drinking game for those watching this month’s All-Star Game at home.

5280 (ISSN 10826815) is published monthly by 5280 Publishing, Inc., 1675 Larimer St., Suite 675, Denver, CO 80202. Subscriptions are $16 for one year (12 issues). Back issues are available for $5.99 plus tax and shipping by visiting shop.5280.com. Periodical postage paid at Denver, CO, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS (see DMM 707.4.12.5). NONPOSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to 5280 Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 37270, Boone, IA 50037-4270. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement No. #40065056 Canadian Return Address: DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3. 5280® is a federally registered trademark owned by 5280 Publishing, Inc. 5280 also owns trademark registrations for TOP OF THE TOWN, DENVER’S TOP DOCTORS, DENVER MAGAZINE, COLORADO PARENT, and COUTURE COLORADO. © 2021 5280 Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Clockwise from top left: Joni Schrantz; Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Sarah Banks; Courtesy of Jay Holland; Sarah Banks

The Alliance Française de Denver’s Zoé Hess shares her favorite Front Range spots for budding Francophiles.

33 SPOTLIGHT

DITCH the COVER-UP.

Voted Top Docs by: 5280 MAGAZINE • CASTLE CONNOLLY MEDICAL • DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL • TOWN & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • US NEWS & WORLD REPORT

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a nnkerr 303.818.8668 akerr@ ke nt wo o d . c o m an nke rr. c o m EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

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ART DIRECTOR

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David McKenna

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18 Foxtail Circle

1518 Cottonwood Lane

cherry hills village $3,995,000

greenwood village $2,375,000

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All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) nor Kentwood Real Estate shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless.

RESEARCH EDITOR

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New Women’s Boutique in Cherry Creek North

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Coveted Brands, Classic Style

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO EDITOR

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The perfect blend of clothing, shoes, jewelry, beauty, and home pieces featuring designers from around the world curated by the Lou Collective Founder and Owner, Taylor Eberhardt.

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR

Sean Parsons ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

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Boy Smells • Demellier • Ducie London • Kavala Collective Leset • Ronny Kobo • Line by K • Staud • Simon Miller

Contact + Info ShopLouCollective.com • 303.322.1037 •  shoploucollective 2445 E. 3rd Avenue, Denver, CO 80206

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We take the health of our customers and our team members seriously. We are following all CDC and State of Colorado guidelines regarding the cleaning of all eyewear, customer social distancing, and exam respirators. We encourage appointments whenever possible. *Sale prices valid on in-stock frames with purchase of prescription lenses only. Some exclusions apply including Oakley, Maui Jim, Jacques Marie Mage, and Chanel. Sale prices may not be combined with any other coupons, discount offers, insurance discounts, or previous purchases. Sale ends 7/17/21.

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REMEMBER HOW FUN PEOPLE WATCHING CAN BE.

It’s time to step out and rediscover the things that made you fall in love with Boulder in the first place. The OMG-worthy shops, chef-crafted bites, top-notch people watching and more are all waiting for you, safer than ever. Come experience the magic of downtown Boulder. With your support, all of these memories will be here to discover and rediscover for a long, long time.

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L I V E F U L LY. L I V E T R U LY. L I V E W E L L .

245 Columbine Street, Denver CO 80206

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PROFILE POLITICS CULTURE ENVIRONMENT ADVENTURE 







CoMPASS Buttercup leads Marvin Sandoval during 2020’s race in Fairplay.

Courtesy of Jay Holland

A League Of Her Own Pack burro racing’s most dominant donkey begins her quest for a third Triple Crown.

You wouldn’t know it by looking at her, but Buttercup the miniature donkey is a fire-breathing dragon. At least that’s how Brad Wann, media relations director for the Western Pack Burro Association, described her in 2019 as she toed the usually crowded starting line at Fairplay’s annual pack burro race, the sport’s first Triple Crown event of the season. At home, she has the easygoing disposition of a therapy animal, but that day, she bounced on her hooves, held back by her owner and racing partner, Marvin Sandoval. The competitive energy was enough that her full-size, four-legged rivals gave her a wide berth.

“Marvin had his own little corner to himself,” Wann says, “and we were all like, ‘Come on!

She’s 250 pounds soaking wet and taking these 900-pound donkeys to task.’ ” It was the duo’s second race of the season—and only their second time competing together J U LY 2 0 2 1

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PROFILE

ANATOMY OF A CHAMPION FAVORITE PLACE TO BE SCRATCHED

in Colorado’s official summer heritage sport, which sees both team members run anywhere TOTAL RACES between 10 and 29 miles through the mountains in homage to 19th-century gold miners. But when she and Sandoval crossed the finish line of the 26.4-mile WINS course four hours, 58 minutes, and seven seconds later, Buttercup became the first miniature donkey to win a Triple Crown race. After winning in Leadville the following PODIUM FINISHES week and again in Buena Vista the week after that, she became the first mini—and only the seventh burro in the sport’s 72-year history—to win the men’s Triple COURSE Crown outright.

RECORDS And it almost didn’t happen. She was, after all, discovered by accident.

While 2019 was Buttercup’s rookie season, Sandoval had comSPECIALTIES peted in a single race in 2018 with CLIMBS, a borrowed burro. Smitten with the sport, the mild-mannered Leadville SPRINT FINISHES local and longtime endurance athlete adopted two full-size standard donkeys (the most common breed PRERACE MEAL of burro) to be his racing partners SWEET FEED for the next season, usually late GRAIN May to September. Then, figuring they’d be easier to handle, he started searching for some miniatures his kids could run with for fun.

After spotting a few on Craigslist in New Mexico, Sandoval drove south to check them out, but they were overweight and half wild. Discouraged, he happened to check the website again before returning home only to see that another listing had popped up for some different minis down the road. When he arrived, Buttercup walked right up and rubbed her head against him.

Their connection was instant.

He adopted her (and two of her pen mates), but racing with her never crossed his mind. Then fate stepped in again. First, there was some concern that his two-year-old, full-size burros might not be fit enough to compete due to their young age, and he decided not to chance it. When his other miniature, bigger than Buttercup, started limping the day before the first race of 2019, Buttercup was his best option. They placed third, and Sandoval knew she was something special.

Local media outlets like Summit Daily and the Leadville Herald, plus some national ultrarunning publications, seized on Buttercup as the ultimate underdog: Buttercup racing At just 32 inches tall (measured from the ground to the base of the neck), she was against standard donkeys so undersized that she could almost walk under the bellies of her competitors. in Buena Vista in 2020.

Then in 2020, Buttercup did something no one expected. She won the Triple Crown again. In fact, at press time, she and Sandoval had never finished off the podium in their 13 races together.

“I think she knows it’s a competition because when we’re headed out on a training run or walking in a parade, she is so mellow,” Sandoval says. “But at the starting line, she’s excited and there’s something different about her.”

No longer the dark horse, Buttercup is now the burro to beat. During 2020’s final Triple Crown race, she and Sandoval were in the lead with

13 9

13 5

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NECK

WEIGHT

245 LBS FAVORITE COLOR

ORANGE

AGE

4½ BUTTERCUP’S HEIGHT

32 IN

STANDARD DONKEY HEIGHT RANGE

36–48 IN another team, the donkey equivalent of a Tour de France breakaway, and the peloton was gaining on them. “Come on,” Sandoval remembers saying to the human half of the other team. “Let’s push together. At least one of us will win.” The other runner turned to him: “I’d rather us both lose than see you win.”

Buttercup and Sandoval won anyway, and when the duo lines up again in Fairplay on July 25 for the first Triple Crown race of 2021, there will be only one question on everyone’s mind: Can she do it again?

­­— NICHOLAS HUNT

From top: Courtesy of Jennifer Mewes; Courtesy of Amy Wanke

NAME: Buttercup BORN: Belen, New Mexico HOMETOWN: Leadville

CONTINUED

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Strain and add crushed ice. Top with coconut soda. Garnish with mixed basil.

5 WHISKEY MANGO FOXTROT » 1 1/2 oz. Breckenridge Spiced Whiskey » 1 oz. mango/pineapple juice » 2 oz. mango sorbet, softened » 1/4 oz. lime juice Shake all ingredients with ice and strain up. Garnish with fresh mango.

6 RUM CASK MINT JULEP » 2 oz. Breckenridge Rum Cask Finish » 1/4 oz. raw simple syrup* » 6 mint leaves Muddle mint and syrup. Add 1/2 cup of crushed ice, then add Rum Cask Finish and stir to incorporate. Top with crushed ice and form into a dome. Garnish with mint and powdered sugar. *Raw Simple Syrup: over medium heat add 1 cup sugar in the raw, 1 cup water. Simmer until dissolved.

7 HIGH COUNTRY HIGHBALL » 2 oz. Breckenridge Bourbon » Fever Tree Orange Spiced Ginger Ale » 2 dashes Angostura Bitters » Lime Add top 2 ingredients with crushed ice.

Add 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters and squeeze of quarter lime.

LAM THE F

INGO

POLITICS

June After placing a close second in a 10-way race, then City Councilman Hancock cruises to a runoff victory against Chris Romer with 58 percent of the vote.

VERY HIGH

July Hancock launches the Peak Performance program on his first day in office to make city government more efficient. The initiative— which uses techniques from the manufacturing industry to eliminate waste and optimize output—will go on to save Denver more than $25 million by 2017.

2015

May After a four-way race with a former punk rocker, a dancer and arts activist, and a retired Black Panther and florist, Hancock avoids a runoff and is re-elected with a whopping 80.2 percent of the vote.

NEUTRAL

2011

2017 November Hancock signs into law a three-step plan to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15.87 by 2022.

2019

April Hancock announces plans to jump-start Denver’s post-pandemic recovery with $400 million in infrastructure improvements. The bond measure awaits voter approval on the November ballot.

2021

2016

2012

EXTREME LOW

June Overcoming allegations of sexual harassment and widespread concerns over the direction and pace of Denver’s development, Hancock wins a third and final term with 56.3 percent of the vote after it’s revealed his strongest challenger doesn’t know what NAACP stands for.

May As President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on immigration, Hancock reforms the city’s sentencing structure so U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will no longer be automatically alerted to minor offenses by immigrants.

May The City Council passes a Hancockbacked ban on unauthorized urban camping, which critics say effectively criminalizes homelessness. In 2019, a county judge will rule it unconstitutional, sparking an ongoing legal battle.

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2020

July Hancock unveils plans for Denver’s first dedicated affordable housing fund to raise $150 million and create more than 6,000 homes for low- to moderateincome families over the next decade. Critics say it’s a fraction of what’s needed.

February It’s revealed Hancock sent sexually suggestive texts to a member of his security detail in 2012. “I made a mistake,” he said. “I’m human. I never purport to be perfect.”

2018

March Hancock’s then 22-year-old son, Jordan, is caught on camera during a traffic stop using anti-gay slurs and threatening to have a police officer fired. “My dad’s the mayor,” he says in the video. “Of Denver?” the officer says. “Well, you’re in Aurora.”

November To slow the spread of COVID-19, Hancock urges Denverites to stay home for Thanksgiving—then boards a plane to Mississippi to spend the holiday with his family.

Helen H. Richardson/the Denver Post/Getty Images (2015 swearing-in); Homeland Security Photo/Alamy Stock Photo (ICE); Getty Images (ballot, tent, house on stack of money, phone, turkey, mask)

MR. MAYOR

July 18 marks Mayor Michael Hancock’s 10th anniversary as Denver’s chief executive. In that time, he’s helmed the city through unprecedented growth, but it hasn’t always been smooth. Here, a timeline of his highs and lows. ­—NH

CULTURE

Vive La France

BON APPÉTIT

French-Senegalese siblings Aminata and Rougui Dia opened Le French Bakery & Cafe in 2019. Aminata is known as the African Queen of Parisian Cuisine, a moniker earned after she became the first Black woman in Paris to be named executive chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant. Now, the sisters serve staples like boeuf bourguignon and duck fat potato confit in southeast Denver.

(Tip: Cheese courses are between the main dish and dessert.) Hess goes for an outdoor brunch of escargot in garlic-parsley butter and croque madame. lefrenchdenver.com

The Alliance Française de Denver, a Paris-based nonprofit that’s been teaching Denverites the French language since 1897, was finally set to resume regular operations at its Baker headquarters when, in early June, disaster struck: The building’s north-facing wall collapsed, delaying the organization’s return to inperson classes. The Alliance is working to find alternative spaces to celebrate the French culture (check in with the group on Facebook for updates and ways to help). In the meantime, executive director Zoé Hess gave us a tour of local French fun to help ease the pain. Cue the accordion music. —PHILIP CLAPHAM

LA NOSTALGIE

The skincare chain L’Occitane en Provence is found in 90 countries, including a shop in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. Hess says it’s beloved by expats not only for its stellar line of products— its shower gels, soaps, hand creams, and cologne are made in southeastern France—but also for the comfort the lavender aroma elicits as you walk through the door. “It’s like McDonald’s for Americans: All the stores smell the same,” Hess says.

“If I’m homesick, I visit to feel like I’m in France or Belgium.” loccitane.com

LA VIE EN ROSE

Sure, jazz and blues are American inventions, but some Francophone musicians in Denver have meshed those gritty and pliable art forms with French traditions.

Nicolas Busquet, whose influences include Georges Brassens—think Bob Dylan, but French—mixes French folk music with a soulful rasp and bluesy guitar. Find him year-round on his YouTube channel. (Plans for an October show at the Alliance Française’s headquarters were up in the air at press time.) Maria Diedrichs Lopez is a Swiss-American-German-Ecuadorian chanteuse appreciated for, among other musical stylings, an Édith Piaf repertoire that often includes the French national favorite “Hymne à l’amour.” Catch her at 100 Nights of Jazz, a virtual concert series at Classic Pianos in Denver. 100nightsofjazz.com

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À VOTRE SANTÉ

The Infinite Monkey Theorem in RiNo pours its wines in a distinctively Denver way— from stainless steel kegs—but its cultivation methods are as French as a Colorado vintner can get. Founded in 2008, the winery grows Cabernet Franc on the Western Slope at a similar latitude as France’s Loire Valley (Cabernet Franc’s place of origin). The terroir produces a wine that’s medium-bodied, herbaceous, and fruit-forward. Hess pairs it with charcuterie from her favorite delicatessen in Boulder, Le Frigo. theinfinitemonkey theorem.com; lefrigoboulder.com

Clockwise from top left: Sean Parsons; Getty Images; Courtesy of Rachel Adams; Studiomode/Alamy Stock Photo; Sarah Banks; Courtesy of Bill Jordan

Zoé Hess explains how to start your own French revolution on the Front Range.

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In The Line Of Fire Faulty power lines ignited the Camp fire on November 8, 2018, but high winds, drought-dried foliage, and an unreliable warning system all caused the inferno to erupt into California’s deadliest wildfire. Eighty-five civilians died, 13,900 houses burned, and nearly all residents of Paradise, a town in California’s Butte County, lost their homes. Between 2018 and 2019, county homelessness increased by 16 percent.

No U.S. wildfire since has reaped such a death toll, but the incineration of entire communities continued this past fall in Oregon, California, and Washington. Given the similarities between those towns and some in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, where homes abut dry forests thick with foliage, experts say the Centennial State could be next. “There’s every reason to believe that in the next five years, a town in Colorado will be wiped off the map,” says Dave Lasky, director of fire management with the nonprofit Forest Stewards Guild. When that fire comes, Lasky fears the most vulnerable will face the steepest road to recovery.

Already, the Colorado mountain communities most susceptible to wildfires face affordable housing challenges. In the Vail Valley, 80 percent of employers told the Vail Daily they struggle to hire workers because few make enough to live in town. If the limited cost-effective housing options there burn, its inhabitants are less likely than wealthy residents to have the funds to relocate nearby, especially if home and rental prices increase like they did in Chico, a town near Paradise. “There was this immediate grab of available housing, and people who had good insurance policies just bought up everything that was nice,” says Jacquelyn Chase, a professor at California State University, Chico, who researches economics and fire risk management in rural communities. “Certain landlords responded to that demand by evicting their tenants and selling those homes to fire survivors.” Nearly four years later, Chase says people still couch surf or live in RVs outside a family member’s or friend’s house as the rebuilding of Paradise slogs along.

The Cameron Colorado doesn’t seem prepared to handle the effects of a devastating blaze any better.

Peak fire burns “I have yet to see a concrete plan for long-term housing after a severe fire,” Lasky says. near Estes Park.

Wildfires threaten the few affordable housing options in Colorado’s mountain towns.

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The aftermath of last year’s East Troublesome fire, which displaced hundreds in Grand County, hints at troubles to come. The county was already facing an affordable housing shortage, and when 366 homes burned (106 of which were primary residences), local officials had to lean on the nonprofit Grand Foundation to fund shelter and fulfill other needs for displaced survivors. “We lost roughly 10 percent of our housing, and it’s been a challenge to find another residence for those who were uninsured or underinsured,” says Megan Ledin, the foundation’s executive director. “I can’t even fathom what would have happened if even more of our housing had burned.”

It’s not easy to plan for a disaster that hasn’t happened yet, and that’s why it’s wise to focus on mitigation efforts, says Dan Schroder, the Colorado State University (CSU) Extension director for Summit County. Teams in the Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests conducted more prescribed burns this spring than last year to take advantage of rare, wetterthan-usual conditions, and in April, U.S. Representative Joe Neguse of Boulder proposed the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps that would, in part, enhance mitigation efforts. The CSU Extension office even offers grants to help homeowners pay for tree removal and educational resources about updates like replacing wooden shingles with less-flammable asphalt.

But Schroder knows there’s still a chance a disaster like the Camp fire could overpower all that preparation.

“If that happens,” he says, “I think there will be a lot of people couch surfing.”

—ANGELA UFHEIL

Reuters/Jim Urquhart/Alamy Stock Photo

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PR EC E RTIFIED

ADVENTURE

On Yesterday’s Path

The best way to avoid crowded trails? Time travel. Seriously: When land managers stop maintaining mining routes or hiking paths, those passageways go “extinct” and often get excluded from modern maps. Luckily, the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) topoView online database (ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview) stores maps from as far back as the 1800s, providing experienced hikers with a time capsule of forgotten adventures—including these four. —RYAN WICHELNS

PREP WORK These hikes can be risky if you lack a high level of backcountry expertise, says Joe Griffith, director of the Colorado Mountain Club’s Wilderness Trekking School. A few things to know before you go:

UPPER PINEY RIVER

From Piney Lake just outside the Eagles Nest Wilderness, the established Upper Piney Trail heads northeast along the Piney River until it makes a sharp bend southeast. Not ready to end your quest north? A

1 DON’T HEAD OFF-TRAIL without knowing how to navigate sans iPhone or cellular network.

“The fundamental navigational tools are a map and compass,” Griffith says, “because they are so reliable.” Many outfitters, like REI, offer classes for beginners.

Griffith also recommends taking the Colorado Mountain Club Intro to Hiking Safety course.

2

single 2013 U.S. Forest Service map shows the trail heading all the way up the valley. A web of bushwhacked trails, including this route, leads to views of the Spider, an impressive 12,692foot peak at the head of the valley. You can hike about half a mile all the way to its base.

Today’s maps show the switchback-laden Weehawken Trail, an out-and-back starting at the Weehawken trailhead near Ouray, petering out after 3.6 miles. According to USGS maps from 1948, though, an unmaintained trail continues for nearly another mile, revealing views into a basin where elk frolic come summer just beneath Teakettle Mountain and Potosi Peak.

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SKAGUAY POWER PLANT

Completed in 1901, the Skaguay hydropower plant was reachable via horse trails and bridges along Beaver Creek. Floods took out most of the bridges, but those willing to wade through the creek can still use the Big Bull Mountain map from 1951 to make the 11.4-mile out-and-back trek to the ruins. Pick up a state wildlife area pass (or a hunting or fishing license) to legally be on the first part of the trail.

ORPHAN BOY CABIN

Likely built in the late 1800s by miners in the Gore Range, the cabin sits in a basin northeast of Keller Mountain and was undisturbed until the 1950s, when ranchers found it. Take a two-mile trail—once used to reach mines and visible on the 1929 Dillon USGS map—that climbs the east ridge of Keller from the Gore Range Trail between the Boulder Lake and Rock Creek trails.

3 PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to the weather conditions typically seen in Colorado’s mountains. “In summer, a climber scaling high peaks should know how to evade lightning,” Griffith says. “In winter, an off-trail hiker must be able to avoid avalanches.” Finally, take special care to respect the land as you explore it by following Leave No Trace principles.

From left: Brian Wolski/Alamy Stock Photo; Jacob Sells; Getty Images

WEEHAWKEN EXTENSION

EXTINCT TRAILS fade away slowly but can still be safe for accomplished explorers. Closed trails, on the other hand, are paths that were shut down for a specific reason, such as protecting wildlife in the area or because conditions are too dangerous for hikers. If you’re not sure which is which, call the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management to check.

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WHAT’S HOT BEST BITES ESSAY 



EAT DRINK &

Rebonjour After a stint as a pizza joint, Brasserie Brixton is back to serving French fare with flair.

Brasserie Brixton is finally operating as the bustling neighborhood hangout it was destined to be—just nearly a year later than expected.

Owners Justin Morse, Amy Keil, and Matt Daniels and chef Nick Dalton debuted the restaurant in July 2020, aiming to bring the charm of an intimate and affordable Parisian bistro to the Cole neighborhood. Then indoor seating limits squashed their visions of patrons packing around the sleek marble-topped bar and gathering around the chef’s counter for steak frites and glasses of wine.

The team pivoted to a takeout-only concept called Le Brix Pizza and Wine for the winter, but as vaccines were administered and the weather warmed, Brasserie Brixton triumphantly relaunched Dalton’s dinner menu of small plates and made-for-sharing dishes, such as crispy-skinned roast chicken accompanied by a tangy potato salad. For the ultimate indulgence, pop in during weekend brunch, when you can sip on refreshing house spritzes and tuck into a duck confit sourdough pancake slathered with velvety foie gras mousse and sweet house jam.

La belle vie, indeed.

—PATRICIA KAOWTHUMRONG

Clockwise from left: The Robot Arms, Pink Drink, Brixton breakfast burger, sourdough pancake with foie gras mousse, Brixton salad, salmon toast, a house spritz, and ricotta doughnuts P H O T O G R A P H BY J O N I S C H R A N T Z

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WHAT’S HOT drizzle of balsamic glaze and toasted cotija cheese crumbles.

CLEAN EATERY The Green Collective Highland

On the menu this month: slow-smoked carnitas tacos, seafood gumbo, and nourishing toasts and smoothies. —PK

SOULFUL FARE Randall’s Cole

The fourth time’s apparently a charm for Randall Borne, the chef-owner behind Randall’s, which reopened off York Street and Bruce Randolph Avenue in January. The Louisiana native launched his eponymous Creole and Cajun restaurant as a food trailer in 1994 and occupied two brick-andmortar locations at different times in Cole and Five Points, respectively, before closing his doors in 2018. Borne revived the spot this year to please fervent fans, who longed for his Southern specialties (think: spice-crusted pork chops and

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seafood-loaded gumbo) and community-centric ambience.

The latter is evidenced by the continuous hum of regulars trading stories in the dining room, a space adorned with a striking floor-to-ceiling mural of Louis Armstrong by local artist Kiana Gatling. This summer, live music also will return to Randall’s, which hopefully is finally here to stay.

LATIN-ASIAN HOT SPOT Adobo RiNo

The four-year-old Adobo food truck found a permanent home inside First Draft Taproom & Kitchen last October, bringing chef-owner Blaine Baggao’s

brand of Latin-Asian cuisine to RiNo. The menu of tacos, burgers, rice bowls, and wings is a tribute to Baggao’s upbringing in Roswell, New Mexico, and experiences cooking with his American mother and Filipina grandmother. That translates to the likes of juicy, 12-hoursmoked carnitas; soy- and garlic-kissed chicken adobo; and Hatch-green-chile-smothered everything, including deviled eggs. Try the lumpia, with tender ground pork shoulder fried in a delicate pastry skin, and don’t pass up dessert.

The ube ice cream is a purple-yamFrom top: infused treat that Randall Borne gains a luscious, and Kiana cheesecakelike Gatling; the Green Collective toasts flavor from a

From top: Sarah Banks; Courtesy of Emily Teater

Where We’re Eating

The Green Collective is helping Denverites nourish their bodies, one serving of superfoodpacked sustenance at a time.

At the three-month-old fastcasual spot, diners fuel up on a kaleidoscopic array of toasts, salads, juices, smoothies, and other good-for-you breakfast and lunch options. You can’t go wrong ordering any of the toasts, but we’re partial to the version that’s crowned with tangy red pepper spread, chicken salad dressed with olive oil and vinegar, and crunchy microgreen tendrils.

Or try the toast layered with a generous smear of dreamy, whipped-tofu-enriched vegan chocolate hazelnut spread, sliced bananas and strawberries, and drizzled honey. The items on the menu, developed by owners Allison and Jamie Rifkin and chef and nutrition expert Lauren Egdahl, are free of refined sugars and enriched with as many whole, organic ingredients as possible. Eating healthier never felt—or tasted— so good.

There are two kinds of people in this world. The ones who think Nebraska is nothing more than a 77,000-square-mile cornfield, and the ones who don’t. We find that second group to be a lot more interesting, and are comforted by the knowledge that there are people willing to look deeper to discover what makes this place so special. We’re not trying to convince everyone. Just you. So go to VisitNebraska.com and be the kind of person who gets a free Travel Guide.

BEST BITES

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

7

Daniel Lee (left) and Matt Jung’s quest to produce the perfect vegan kimchi started at nearly 11,000 feet. When the friends began making the fermented Korean side dish together in 2020 during a stint at (now-closed) Vesta, they would hike to an alpine snowfield carrying up to 150 pounds of seasoned napa cabbage in containers to bury. Why? Because the high country’s thinner air, consistently cool underground temperature, and arid soil mimic the conditions of Korean onggi, the clay pots traditionally used to ferment kimchi. “It’s the perfect environment for healthy microbes and probiotics to thrive while preventing the growth of unwanted bacteria,” Jung says. Weeks later, when the duo would return to unearth their buried treasure, they were greeted with crisp kimchi kissed with the perfect combination of heat and tang. Local chefs loved the results, leading Jung and Lee to establish Dead Veggies in November 2020 and move their operation to a commercial kitchen. Here’s the scoop on how the goods are produced today (no shovels required).

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Cabbage parts wasted during the process; the stems are roasted and simmered to infuse kimchi habanero hot sauce and kimchi pepper jelly, two other Dead Veggies products

Local restaurants and food trucks—including Ace Eat Serve, Turtle Boat, Del Mar by Rooted, Open, and Street Feud inside Number 38—serving Dead Veggies’ kimchi

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0

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Minimum days it takes to prep, brine, dry, store, and preserve Lee and Jung’s kimchi; to replicate the mountain environment, they ferment the cabbage in the cool interior of a refrigerator

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Times per week the artisans measure the pH balance, salinity, and texture of each batch of cabbage to ensure every leaf has ample flavor and crunch

Pounds of kimchi produced weekly

Find Dead Veggies’ goods at Del Mar by Rooted, Rooted Craft Kitchen, Ruby’s Market, and pop-up markets. deadveggies.com

Courtesy of Ashley Youngswick (Dead Veggies product and founders); Getty Images (Napa cabbage); Douglas Sacha/Getty Images (habanero); Thom Lang/Getty Images (thermometer)

How Dead Veggies’ vegan fermented cabbage gets funky (in a good way). —PK

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ESSAY

How To Be A Better Cook Three simple lessons learned from living through the pandemic. BY SCOTT MOWBRAY

Early in the Great Reopening, with all involved having been vaccinated, I cooked a dinner for four friends and my wife, and we sailed through an entire night without talking about the goddamned virus. The mood was giddy. I had decided to make a mix of South Indian and Bengali dishes and planned to finish with a Thai dessert. The curries involved the tempering and grinding of spices and then the further tempering and grinding of more spices for a multiplex of flavors. The strange resin stink of asafoetida (essential to many Indian dishes) and the jungly aroma of curry leaves mingled with the bite of mustard seeds and the mustiness of cumin and coriander that danced and popped in my hot cast-iron skillet. Little fermented rice-and-lentil-flour idli cakes accompanied a thin rasam broth made tart with tamarind and hot with chiles.

I fried fish to a crusty exterior, immersing it in a Bengali “gravy” redolent with cardamom, ginger, and cilantro.

I had been going full steam in the kitchen for more than six hours when it was time to coax the first-course idlis from the concavities of the steamer trays. It had been a meditative afternoon, with no moment of the dreaded Dissociative Kitchen Panic (DKP). DKP is when I lose my shit and suddenly cannot locate the line through the present chaos to dinner, cannot tell where my mind ends and the next task begins. DKP is a condition of great peril: Focus is lost, mistakes

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loom, the food risks becoming, for lack of a better word, blurry. Instead, calm prevailed. I was in the flow.

I suppose that many of us have been deciding what lessons we’ve learned from the pandemic and hope to hold on to. Mine concern a few principles about cooking. I’ve known these for years, even written about them before, but the rhythms of the solitary kitchen labors of quarantine, like that day a few months ago, brought new clarity. A few of those principles for becoming a better I L L U S T R AT I O N BY M I K E E L L I S

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cook—which is a lifelong pursuit— follow here.

The first is to respect the immutable role of time. Cooking is about the transformation of ingredients over time by chemical and biological processes under the application of energy, usually heat but also mechanical actions, such as whisking. The role of thermodynamics and what physicists call “time’s arrow” in cooking requires, no surprise, time to appreciate. (If

Cooking is about the transformation of ingredients over time by chemical and biological processes under the application of energy, usually heat.

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you’re wondering how I got on this theme, I spent a lot of time in 2020 listening to physics podcasts, especially about entropy and the coming heat death of the universe, and how that might affect my ovens.) Abruptly, with the stay-at-home orders, some of us were fortunate to have buckets of the stuff—time, I mean—which I think partly explains the mania for sourdough starter. Slow life woke us to the distracting possibility of slow foods in our midst.

Often, disappointment in the kitchen follows a simple failure to give the chemistry and the energy the temporal room to do their work—six hours, for example, for a pork shoulder to collapse into fatty, sticky succulence during a low-temperature roast. There are recipe hacks, of course, such as adding baking soda to onions to speed their caramelization, but these often yield inferior results. The 45 minutes or more it actually takes to caramelize onions is often suppressed in recipes, as if the truth might be too much for modern cooks to bear. “Why do recipe writers lie and lie” about this, journalist Tom Scocca lamented on Slate back in 2012.

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Which brings us to the second principle of cooking better: Recipes are key to expanding one’s skills, yet, paradoxically, they are often not to be trusted. I bought or was given a bunch of cookbooks during the pandemic, adding to the 250 or so already on my shelves. Even some of the books on top 10 and hot lists were rife with recipes that didn’t, as written, work, if we define “work” as “deliver the dish in the picture and as we know it should be in the time described.”

Many of the problems I encountered were ones I knew how to solve on the fly, but still. There are a lot of reasons for this situation, including cheap publishers who won’t pay for proper testing protocols and the rise of influencers more in love with Instagram than actual technique. But often, I suspect, it’s simply that many authors aren’t schooled in the complexities of notation. Every act of cooking is an uncontrolled experiment with a thousand variables, yet many recipes provide too few warnings (“watch for hot spots in your oven”) or visual cues (“leave the chop in the pan untouched until it’s really formed a dark brown crust”). This is why authors like Julia Child and Jacques Pépin and, more recently, Mark Bittman, have been so successful: pedagogic commitment to the struggles of the everyday cook.

The problem of recipe unreliability is particularly acute now, as we seem to be falling in love with most of the cuisines of the world. There is no way to internalize all the traditions behind the great dishes of Japan, France, Brazil, or Mexico, even as all the ingredients become available to us.

We can get out over our skis quickly.

It’s easy for a first-timer to follow a second-rate recipe off a cliff.

The can-do American solution to the complexity of global food traditions has been to explore the underlying science of cooking with insane detail. This is what I call the School of Nerdish Hedonism. The watershed event took place nearly 40 years ago, when Harold McGee’s book, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, was published. Science, it was clear, could concern itself not with dreary home

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economics but the maximization of pleasure through the comprehension of underlying principles that translate across kitchen cultures. (If you want to see how deep the nerdy rabbit holes now go, check out douglasbaldwin.com for a blog by a fellow who calls himself an “expert in sous vide cooking and nonlinear waves.”)

Today, the person who stands highest on McGee’s shoulders is J. Kenji López-Alt, an MIT grad whose work

LAVENDER FESTIVAL

LAVENDER So: Slow down, approach recipes on a trustbut-verify basis, and embraceFESTIVAL your inner kitchen nerd. After that, there isn’t much else to it, except practicing.

at seriouseats.com and whose superb book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, involve maniacal amounts of testing, with attention to the chemical and mechanical interactions that produce, say, the best smashburger. López-Alt is a combination of garage-tinkering obsessive and connoisseur. He wants every dish to taste fully self-actualized. His labors thus provide immense help as we pursue the third principle of better cooking: taking the time to understand, and even experiment with, the factors that make a dish realize its potential.

So: Slow down, approach recipes on a trust-but-verify basis, and embrace your inner kitchen nerd. After that, there isn’t much else to it, except practicing with an adventurous spirit and acquiring the proper tools and ingredients. In the end, the reward isn’t just better eating; it’s finding one’s place for an hour or two in the calming Find our Dining Guide, flow, waiting for the an extensive mustard seeds to pop list of area in your cast-iron pan as restaurants, on page 92 the noise of the Great and online at Reopening continues to 5280.com/ rage all about. m restaurants.

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BUS I N E S S

BY M E R E D I T H S E L L

Fit For A Change

For eight years, Eric Roza dreamed of running CrossFit. Last summer, with the brand reeling from controversy, the former tech executive from Boulder got his chance.

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Courtesy of CrossFit

E

ric Roza arrived for the flight that would change his life wearing the casual uniform of a former tech CEO: a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. He parked his Tesla at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, greeted his traveling companion, David Woods, and boarded the private jet of embattled CrossFit founder and CEO Greg Glassman.

It was June 2020. Earlier that month, Glassman had become embroiled in controversy after responding to an email from a gym owner concerned about the company’s silence regarding racial injustice.

“I sincerely believe that quarantine has impacted your mental health,” Glassman wrote. Days later, he replied “It’s FLOYD19” to a tweet that called racism a public health crisis.

Almost immediately, gym owners, sponsors, and elite CrossFit athletes began loudly decrying the fitness brand. Companies dropped their sponsorships, and people promised to boycott the CrossFit Games, a global competition that attracts hundreds of thousands of participants each year. Despite the community’s reputation for cultlike loyalty, hundreds of CrossFit gyms threatened to de-affiliate if Glassman didn’t step down as CEO— and many weren’t content with that. They wanted Glassman, the company’s sole owner, to sell the business to someone else.

Roza, the now 53-year-old former CEO of Westminster tech company Datalogix and a longtime CrossFit enthusiast, hoped to be that someone.

On June 13, Woods (a former member of the gym Roza owns in Boulder who had no previous connection to Glassman) sent an email to Glassman: “I think you need to meet Eric Roza.” Minutes later, an email landed in Woods’ inbox, and a

through july 18

JUNE 13–SEPTEMBER 12 IMAGE: Simphiwe Ndzube, The Bloom of the Corpse Flower (detail), 2020. Acrylic paint on canvas and mixed media; 94 1/2 x 79 in. Denver Art Museum: Funds from the Contemporary Collectors’ Circle with additional support from Vicki and Kent Logan, Catherine Dews Edwards and Philip Edwards, Craig Ponzio, Ellen and Morris Susman, and Bryon Adinoff and Trish Holland, 2021.37. © Simphiwe Ndzube. Courtesy of the Artist and Nicodim Gallery. Photo by Marten Elder.

Simphiwe Ndzube: Oracles of the Pink Universe is organized by Simphiwe Ndzube and the Denver Art Museum. It is presented with the generous support of Vicki and Kent Logan and the Birnbaum Social Discourse Project. Additional support is provided by the Hasday Family Trust, the generous donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign, and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Promotional support is provided by 5280 Magazine and CBS4.

BUS I N E S S

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ROZA WAS NO STRANGER TO a company in crisis. In 2008, the Stanford Graduate School of Business alum became CEO of Westminster-based NextAction, which analyzed shopper data for print catalog companies. NextAction was in the early stages of building a digital operation that would track shoppers’ online activity to better target internet ads, but the company’s founder, Karl Friedman, was convinced he needed to kill the project and lay off half the staff.

In one of his first moves as CEO, Roza, who had previously been the company’s chief operating officer, did the opposite.

Instead, he lowered salaries to avoid layoffs and stoked employee morale so NextAction could successfully build the online ad business that, under the new name Datalogix, would eventually serve giants such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

A few months after Roza became CEO, a colleague introduced him to CrossFit, which combines gymnastics, strength training, and body-weight exercises. Roza, who was nursing a running injury and itching for a new physical outlet, attended a class at MBS CrossFit, the gym adjacent to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.

His first WOD (a CrossFit acronym for “workout of the day”) was an adapted version of the Marine Corps physical fitness test: a three-mile run followed by two minutes of situps and a set of as many unbroken pullups as possible. Roza says he found the challenge humbling, “but it felt right to me. I couldn’t wait to get back in there, and I started telling all my friends about it.” Within a month, he hired the owner of MBS to coach CrossFit classes at Datalogix—next to office cubicles, in the parking lot, and eventually in a gym the company built on campus.

By early 2012, Roza’s friend Jon McNeill had heard enough about CrossFit. “All right, Eric, I get this is awesome,” McNeill said, and suggested Roza buy the company.

McNeill connected Roza with the then chief marketing officer at Reebok, the title sponsor of the CrossFit Games. The CMO’s advice: Don’t waste your time. Since Glassman had incorporated the company in 2000,

it had grown into a global empire by 2020 with 14,000 “boxes” (CrossFit-speak for a gym) around the world, all of which were paying annual fees to license the CrossFit name. Along with making Glassman a fortune, the business fed his ego. There was no way he’d sell.

Disappointed, Roza did the next best thing: He opened his own gym, CrossFit Sanitas, with his now ex-wife Melissa (they remain co-owners). Still leading Datalogix full time, Roza spent his early mornings manning the gym’s front desk and his evenings writing newsletters or web content for his CrossFit outpost.

Datalogix employees who participated in the CrossFit classes saw positive changes to their health. Some lost weight; others quit smoking. Incoming engineers cited CrossFit as one of the draws to working there.

In 2013, the New York Times published an article highlighting Datalogix’s CrossFit cul-

Eric Roza was introduced to CrossFit at MBS CrossFit in Broomfield.

ture. Roza brought the fitness methodology to industry conferences, leading workouts on the beach at a creative marketing event in Cannes, France. “I didn’t see myself as a digital advertising executive,” Roza says. “I was like, ‘No, I’m the CrossFit guy.’ ” By 2014, a mere six years after nearing bankruptcy, Datalogix had grown from about 100 employees to about 400, its culture of health and fitness had earned the company a shoutout as one of Outside magazine’s Best Places to Work, and prospective buyers were readying their checkbooks.

(One reportedly expressed concern that Roza would “get distracted by CrossFit— which was so funny, because that was not at all the case,” says Michelle Hulst, a former

Courtesy of MBS CrossFit

Giddy-Up Back to

California number buzzed on his phone.

Glassman would send his jet the next day to fly Roza and Woods to his home in Santa Barbara, California.

Now Roza was aboard the promised plane. At the edge of the airport, inside a converted airplane hangar, was the gym where Roza had completed his first CrossFit class. Today, it sat with its giant garage door open, as if beckoning with opportunity.

“They helped us grow and increase operations to reach more people.”

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BUS I N E S S senior vice president at Datalogix.) In 2015, Oracle bought the business for upwards of $1.2 billion.

Roza stayed on as CEO until significant upheaval struck his personal life. In November 2018, his mom died of an autoimmune disease, leaving Roza to care for his dad, who lived nearby and had Alzheimer’s.

Then Roza’s marriage of 20 years ended, and the father of four found himself navigating life as a single dad with shared custody of

young kids. He decided to leave Datalogix, renamed Oracle Data Cloud, in June 2019.

The changes spurred Roza to examine his life. Making digital ads work better at Datalogix had never really inspired him.

But helping people live healthier, happier lives—he saw that as a calling. Could he spin his tech executive experience into a health-centered gig?

By early the following year, Roza had joined the boards of a few companies that

fit his vision, namely Denver-based SonderMind, a virtual behavioral health provider, and Boulder-based TrueCoach, an app for personal trainers. He also skied nearly 50 days in one season—more than he ever had before.

But he wanted to do more. Roza spoke to a few headhunters about roles in the tech space, but none of the companies excited him.

Then, this past summer, controversy erupted around Glassman, and Roza suddenly had the opportunity he’d dreamed of since 2012.

EVEN BEFORE SUMMER 2020, GLASSMAN

had a reputation for being kind of a jerk.

In January of that year, Outside published a profile that quoted Glassman describing people who hate him as “losers” and “fucking idiots.” Matt Chan, a Denver-area firefighter and a former member of CrossFit’s Seminar Staff, which teaches certification courses for CrossFit coaches, says he kept his professional distance from Glassman. “I was very aware of the loyalty required by the CrossFit brand,” Chan says. “Going against the brand in any way would be considered disloyal and jeopardize your role with CrossFit HQ. And when I say CrossFit HQ, I’m talking about [Glassman] and the leadership.” (Glassman could not be reached for comment.)

The contrast with Roza is stark. Colleagues routinely describe times when, in some sort of professional interaction, Roza shifted the focus to attend to their personal needs: redirecting a financial conversation with a co-worker when she mentioned that her marriage might be ending; taking a moment in a one-on-one meeting to gently nudge colleague Robin Opie to think about his health when he was 320 pounds and gaining. “I don’t think he would say this, but he’s got crazy high [emotional intelligence],” says Opie, 51, who has worked with Roza at multiple companies, including Datalogix and CrossFit, and credits Roza for his physical transformation. (Opie, of course, is now an avid CrossFitter.)

Roza’s interpersonal skills proved crucial after arriving in California to meet with Glassman. During the first of two days in Santa Barbara, Roza and Woods spent about nine hours listening to Glassman talk about metabolic health problems, CrossFit, and the controversy swirling around him. Roza says he didn’t try to ingratiate himself. Instead he challenged Glassman about the “FLOYD19” tweet. But Roza also knew that he would have to tailor his pitch to appeal to Glassman.

The second day, after interrupting Glassman in the middle of another pseudo-lecture in front of a whiteboard, Roza asked if he could talk for a few minutes. Then he asked 50

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BUS I N E S S for the marker Glassman held in his hand and requested he sit down. Glassman complied.

Roza knew Glassman wasn’t interested in talking business. So instead of pointing to his professional success, Roza spontaneously thought up five bullet points and wrote them on the whiteboard. He can’t remember now what they were exactly, but they all focused on how Roza would help CrossFit improve people’s health. After outlining his vision, Roza heard Glassman say quietly, “I think

I like this.” They had a deal. On August 7, with other investors, Roza bought CrossFit for an undisclosed amount.

SINCE HE TOOK OVER, ROZA has been busy.

Externally, CrossFit had a PR mess to clean up, substantive apologies and diversity and inclusion commitments to make to its community, and action to take to support gym owners in the middle of a pandemic that crushed their businesses. Internally, the

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company lacked organizational structure; for example, CrossFit didn’t have a human resources department.

Roza moved the company’s headquarters to Boulder from Scotts Valley, California, and hired his former Datalogix colleague Trish Gerlitz to lead CrossFit’s new human resources department. Gerlitz immediately started interviewing existing staff. “What I heard was: ‘Change CrossFit, don’t change CrossFit,’ ” she says. “And what they meant was, change a culture of favoritism, or a sense of bullying, or of not being seen or heard or valued…but don’t change the methodology.”

Making people feel seen and heard has been Roza’s main mission since taking over.

He’s held virtual town halls for CrossFit gym owners, inviting those who dropped their affiliations. He hosts monthly meetings open to all of CrossFit’s staff. He made his email address public so anyone in the community can contact him directly.

Before the acquisition had even been finalized, Roza convened the first CrossFit community summit, renting out space in Boulder’s St Julien Hotel & Spa and inviting athletes and gym owners to participate in three days of conversations about fitness, competition, and ways to make CrossFit more inclusive. The company now has a 10-person diversity, equity, and inclusion council composed of gym owners, coaches, and athletes. “I didn’t see Glassman do any of that,” says Rayvan Hawkins, an Aurora firefighter who competed in the 2018 CrossFit Games. “For Eric to come in and do that, it shows me as a minority that he’s trying to change things.” Hundreds of gyms have reaffiliated, including many that had dropped out before last summer’s turmoil. No athletes ended up boycotting the CrossFit Games, and corporate sponsors including NoBull and LifeAid have signed back on.

Chad Pinther, the owner of Colfax Strong, a CrossFit affiliate in Denver, believes Roza is chasing the same goal that Glassman pursued: helping more people get fit. “But [he’s] getting people to come together, talk about it, agree on it,” Pinther says, “instead of being confrontational and saying, ‘Screw you.’ ” Roza plans to lead the company for years and has set a goal of transforming 100 million lives with CrossFit during his tenure. He wants to expand its international reach and make CrossFit more accessible to underserved populations. What started in an airplane hangar more than a decade ago now appears to be lifting off. m Meredith Sell is a Denver-based freelance writer.

Email her at letters@5280.com.

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 · July 2021 · Locally owned businesses are part of the fabric that makes Colorado so great. Which is why we encourage you to shop local, now more than ever.

From home furnishings to jewelry and everything in between, our wonderful state is home to a variety of retail gems and service providers with a long standing history of quality craftsmanship and top-notch customer service. Learn more about what makes these local businesses so unique.

ELEMENT 79 element79jewelry.com || 720.484.5195   @element79jewelry 300 Fillmore Street, Denver, CO 80206 Jewelry with soul.

With a 20-year background as a bench jeweler and custom jewelry designer, Carol Ferguson established Element 79 Contemporary Jewelry in Cherry Creek four years ago with the goal of creating a unique atmosphere in which to shop for collectible, contemporary jewelry.

E79 is a fun, relaxed environment where customers can discover jewelry with soul. E79 brings the most current and original designers on the fine contemporary jewelry scene to Denver. In an era where customers are more aware of their choices as consumers, E79 offers quality work and connection to the maker. They are committed to environmental responsibility, representing designers who use only ethically sourced stones and metals.

In addition to showcasing the finest artisan jewelry collections in Denver, E79 has created delightful community events such as their E79 Music Series, which features live musicians in their courtyard every Saturday throughout the summer.

Virtual and in-store trunk shows are commonplace, as well as amazing customer service.

Named the Editors Choice for Jewelry, as well as the Face of Contemporary Jewelry by 5280 magazine three years running, E79’s stylish jewelry lines are for every man and woman, regardless of style and influence.

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HW HOME Founded in 1999, HW Home has been serving the Colorado Front Range for over 20 years.

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Our business model relies heavily on our commitment to inventory and as such, our large Denver warehouse operation allows for 80% of what we show on our retail floor to be delivered in a day’s notice. “Need a complete dining room before summer? We can make that happen with our white glove delivery team,” says co-founder Ron Werner. Our commitment to living in the ‘yes’ allows us to do everything in our power to satisfy our customers.

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When the neighboring tenant moved out in 2019, Joy and Troy Thollot, the local husband and wife duo behind Thollot & Co. jewelry store, took the opportunity to grow their showroom into an experiential shop where locals could peruse fine jewelry in a space without feeling pressure.

The store’s décor hardly plays backup to the sparkling gems. The Thollot’s mined the state for authentic renovation materials, and they struck gold, well, kind of.

The ceilings are adorned with reclaimed wood accents from a Colorado gold mine. And wood saved from rail cars, that delivered Coors brews from the Centennial State to California, make up the bar and high-top tables. These natural elements rid the shop of a sterile feeling replacing it with a neighborhood feel.

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Shop LOCAL · July 2021 · 57

1

Because there’s nothing more American than baseball— except maybe democracy.

On July 13, the Midsummer Classic will, for the second time, be played at Coors Field. Baseball fans who were prepared to catch the game from seats in Atlanta’s Truist Park learned on April 2 that they’d need to change their travel plans when MLB decided it wasn’t down with the restrictive voting laws—which President Joe Biden called “Jim Crow in the 21st century”—the state of Georgia passed in late

e v o L

R E A SONS TO

DENVER

It’s summertime, half the state has at least one dose of vaccine, restaurants are buzzing, and the Rockies are sub-.500—in short, things are starting to feel almost normal. As we dare to peer into a happier future, we’re taking a moment to celebrate all the ways in which Denver’s denizens have stepped up, done things right, stayed true to who we are as Coloradans, and generally made us feel proud of, well, everyone over the past year.

March. Although MLB commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. didn’t go as far as to say Colorado’s record on voting rights had something to do with the decision, we have our suspicions. Senator Michael Bennet certainly believed it should’ve been factored into the equation, tweeting “Colorado votes by mail (thanks @Hickenlooper!) and had the 2nd highest voter turnout in the country in the last election. @MLB, might I suggest Denver?” Yes, Senator, yes, you may. Batter up! —Lindsey B. King

EDITED BY PHILIP CLAPHAM

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Because so long as El Taco de México exists, we’re going to be all right.

This past February, 37-year-old Joe Neguse, who represents Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, delivered two sets of remarks on the U.S. Senate floor as a House impeachment manager. The first was an overture to convince senators that the U.S. Constitution allowed them to try, convict, and disqualify a president, even if he were no longer in office. Neguse explained that, with regard to this question, “the framers didn’t mince words.”

Neither did Neguse. Eschewing theatrics, Neguse—the youngest presidential impeachment manager in U.S. history—laid out the case for why former President Donald Trump should face trial. Neguse’s speech was effective: 56 senators agreed with him.

Although the verdict was not in his favor, Neguse’s closing statement was also mesmerizing. With earnestness and sincerity, the first African American member of Congress from Colorado did what great public speakers do: He made you feel something. “I am the youngest member of our manager team…,” he said, “so perhaps I am a bit naive, but I know what this body is capable of.... I’ve read about it in the history books.... The history of this country has been defined right here on this floor.… We have been a guiding light, a North Star [for other nations] in these moments.… This is one of those moments.”

The Senate may have missed its moment; Neguse did not. His brilliance did the 2nd District proud, and it may have also put him on a fast track toward political stardom. —LBK

Credits Tk

How do I love thee, El Taco de México? Let me count the ways.

I love the excitement I feel approaching your fluorescent pueblo-style walls, the rush that comes over my taste buds when I open the door to the exquisite soundtrack of asada, carnitas, and pastor hissing on the griddle.

Your familiar aromas of lemony fresh cilantro and pungent onions.

I love thee freely, as one loves air and water and tamales. I love thee purely, as what could be so pure as longsimmered chiles or posole?

I love your maize counter, bright like the sun, and the goddesses who work behind it.

Crafting the cabeza tacos I hold so dear, pouring gastronomic mystique into giant bowls of menudo.

How I long to feel your chilaquiles and enchiladas yield to my gentle bite.

I love thy breakfast burritos most of all; layers of rice, beans, and eggs swaddled in warm, chewy tortillas and baptized in the late Maria Luisa Zanabria’s masterful green chile.

You remind me, El Taco, that good things still remain. That so long as I can buy comfort in the form of burritos and rellenos and chilaquiles, all will be OK. I love thee because I know that time and tortas heal all wounds, and that I, El Taco, am ready to be healed.

—Allyson Reedy

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Previous spread: Courtesy of Colorado Rockies. This page, from left: Sarah Banks; Senate Television via AP

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Because Joe Neguse artfully defended our democracy.

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REASONS TO LOVE DENVER

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Courtesy of Captain Colorado Photography

Because Denver and surrounding areas closed their streets to keep businesses open.

When the world was upended in March 2020, civic leaders took quick action. They closed sections of streets in Denver and nearby cities to vehicular traffic, allowing shops to extend services right onto the pavement. What started as a lifeline for local businesses gave us life, too. The makeshift seating transformed ordinary roads into alfresco safe havens, where we could grab beers, shop, and gather with friends. Some of these streets are slated to reopen to motorists, but a few are being considered for semipermanent closures: In March, Arvada’s City Council moved forward on testing closures in Olde Town for a five-year period, and officials in Louisville extended its Outdoor Dining program on Main Street through November 1. We suggest you hit these convivial streets while you still can. —Sarah Banks

Larimer Square LOUISVILLE

Closure: Main Street, from Walnut to Elm streets, with east-west street access open; in effect through November 1 Indulge: Chill out Hawaiianstyle with a frosty delight at Punch Buggy Shave Ice. Caffeinate: Get your jolt with a seasonal latte offering from Moxie Bread Co. Sweat: Breathe deep and stretch out at one of Yoga Junction’s outdoor classes.

Don’t Miss: Peruse the Louisville Farmers Market every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through early October.

ARVADA

Closures: Olde Wadsworth Boulevard between Grant Place and West 57th Avenue, then again between West 57th Avenue and Grandview Avenue, and a one-block stretch of Grandview Avenue in front of

the RTD G Line stop; in effect for the next five years Sip: Quaff one of the 1,400plus whiskeys on the menu at School House Kitchen & Libations, located in Arvada’s original schoolhouse.

Eat: Dig into creative vegan fare at So Radish.

Create: Make a masterpiece at Into the Fire, A Paint Your Own Pottery Studio.

Indulge: Savor German-style coffee cakes and strudels at Rheinländer Bakery.

LARIMER SQUARE

Closure: Larimer Street between 14th and 15th streets; in effect through October 2022 Dine: Try everything on Bao Brewhouse’s inventive Chinese menu and pair it all with a Spice Trade Chai Milk Stout.

Shop: Find fresh, funky kicks inside Scarpaletto Shoes.

Browse: Flip through the fine

selection of vinyl at Larimer Records Cafe.

Indulge: Satisfy your sweet tooth with crispy, light macarons at Drunken Bakery.

BOULDER

Closure: Pearl Street between Ninth and 11th streets and a segment of 10th Street; in effect through October Dine: Slurp a braised beef noodle soup at Zoe Ma Ma. Shop: Buy a one-of-a-kind wood piece—perhaps a solid ash standing desk?—from Dancing Grains Woodworks.

Covet: Find vintage jewelry and other stylish consignments at Classic Facets.

Score: Pull up a rooftop seat at Avanti Food & Beverage Boulder, the town’s iteration of the high-concept food hall, and relish deli noshes from Rye Society.

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Because eating our feelings tastes so good.

We didn’t plan on picking up an addiction in the middle of a global pandemic, but there we were, driving to a Westminster H Mart parking lot on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. (sharp!) to score our next sweet fix. Our dealer, David Right, doesn’t mess around with grams or ounces—no, he loads us up with pints. Our vice of choice is Right Cream ice cream, crammed full of scratch-made mix-ins like butter cake, vanilla marshmallow fluff, and pistachio streusel. Right began whipping up his habit-forming treats out of his home kitchen in June 2020 as pick-me-ups for friends and family. But word spread that his small batches (even at $12 a pint) were the best in town. Soon, Front Range addicts were lining up in grocery store parking lots from Westminster to Greenwood Village to score the coveted creams out of Right’s trunk. In June, Right Cream opened a pint and sundae—sorry, no scoops—shop at 3047 Larimer Street in RiNo, but staying true to his roots, Right will still make parking lot drops (just choose which location in the online checkout) for junkies on the north and south sides. rightcream.com —AR

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Because we know when it’s time to name-drop.

Sarah Banks

Naming is power. And this past year, Denverites used it to reckon with the racist legacies that plague our city, one local symbol at a time. From Sunnyside’s La Raza Park (the moniker bestowed on what was Columbus Park is a nod to the area’s history as a center of Chicano activism) to Denver South High School’s new Raven mascot (formerly the Rebels), we are finally acknowledging that everyday places and symbols can be (not so) hidden harbors for hate.

Although a high school mascot and a beloved park are touchstones in righting past wrongs, the highest-profile shift came when the Stapleton neighborhood—so dubbed for Ku Klux Klan member and former Denver Mayor Benjamin Stapleton—became Central Park. The change was decades in the making.

“It’s really important for us to tell the truth about history,” says Liz Stalnaker, board chair of the nonprofit Rename St*pleton for All committee, who says the change was a necessary first step. “The marketing of a neighborhood under the name of a Klansman was a way of whitewashing [history].” For Stalnaker, these labels are a reminder of how Denver must continue to confront the ways its racist history still impacts residents through redlining and unaffordability. “We have so much more work to do.” —Madi Skahill

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Because we learned how to tame Texans.

Self-love is important. But to be worshipped by others, especially when those others are from the self-righteously smug Lone Star State? That’s simply divine. In 2019, that worship translated into Denver’s best tourism year ever, with $7 billion flooding in mostly from Californians and, yes, Texans. During the pandemic, droves of Texans continued to vacation in Colorado because, well, our state is (still) better than theirs. The only trouble was teaching that pack of wildcatters how to behave in a civilized society. Unsurprisingly, Denver wasn’t the only city that got creative with its etiquette lessons. —Spencer Campbell Will You Accept This Mask?

On March 2, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ended his state’s mask mandate.

Luckily, the Denver-based Colorado Tourism Office was ready to tell Texans that willful disregard for humankind ended at our border.

Their “Do Colorado Right” ad campaign had local celebrities like Bachelor vet Ben Higgins teach tourists how to behave during a pandemic—since they didn’t learn their manners at home.

A Dose Of Perspective In August, members of the invading Texan horde vandalized an Aspen city limit sign by slapping a “Texas” sticker over the municipality’s name. The act of mischief had many fans, including the Aspen Police Department, which addressed the criminal in question via Facebook: “We friggin’ love you. That’s the best thing we’ve seen since the world fell apart. And if it bothers you, call up Amazon and order a sense of humor.”

All Dressed Up Texans poured into Durango for spring break 2021; cell phone data in La Plata County revealed that visitors increased from 15 percent to 40 percent of the population in most of March, and the majority were from Texas and Texas Jr. (aka Oklahoma). So local businesses and the tourism office hired actors wearing Western getups—think: town marshal—to patrol the streets, espousing the virtues of covering up to unmasked bandits.

I L LU S T R AT I O N S BY RYA N J O H N S O N

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Because the STAR program showed us how to actually serve and protect.

Criminal justice reform advocates have had their eyes on Denver’s Support Team Assistance Response (STAR) pilot program, which, for the past 13 months, has diverted 911 calls related to mental health and substance misuse from the Denver Police Department to a team of health care workers trained to handle them. Two-person civilian teams—consisting of a paramedic and a mental health professional—respond to low-level incidents in hopes of connecting people to services like shelters, food aid, and counseling, while rerouting police response to where it’s actually needed: violent crime. Here’s a look at the first 10 months of the STAR program, which will expand its services in the fall to the northeast and southwest parts of town. —Corinne Anderson 0 Arrests 1,181 Emergency calls responded to 10,000 Estimated calls that will be diverted annually after the program expands this year 60 Percentage of calls related to mental health 70 Percentage of STAR clients who were experiencing homelessness $1.4 million Money allocated in the city of Denver’s general fund for the program in 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many public and social health issues, including worsening Denver’s ongoing housing crisis. Even as city officials opened auxiliary shelters at the National Western Complex and the Denver Coliseum, informal campsites sprang up across downtown. Local nonprofit Colorado Village Collaborative (CVC) brought forth an innovative (for Denver) solution: safe-camping sites where people could securely live outside, socially distanced and with access to critical services. “They’re rapidly deployable, cheap to start up, and much more dignified,” says CVC executive director Cole Chandler. “[They’re] a critical resource during this crisis.” The city initially balked at the idea, but Mayor Michael Hancock, who had previously vocalized his skepticism of such programs, finally expressed his support in July 2020.

Things got moving after that. CVC quickly opened two Safe Outdoor Spaces in church parking lots in Capitol Hill in December. Then, in February, Denver’s City Council allocated $900,000 to help fund two outdoor shelter locations. In June, CVC’s original locations combined into one site in South Park Hill; a second venue is in the works. At full capacity, these camps can serve 100 individuals. Residents live in ice fishing tents outfitted with heated blankets and floor pads and have access to mobile showers, electricity, and meals. The venues are staffed 24/7, and every resident is connected to on-site wraparound services, including health care and employment referrals. Couples are able to live together and individuals can keep their pets—both forbidden at area shelters. There have been zero COVID-19 cases among residents and staff. At least seven residents have moved into tiny homes, while numerous others have been added to housing application lists and have found jobs. Hancock believes these sites are a way to “fill a gap” in housing.

“They’re making a big difference,” he said of the spaces. —Daliah Singer

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Because Denverites stepped up to the (dinner) plate.

To help the nearly two in five Coloradans who are food-insecure—an issue worsened by COVID-19—these organizations are keeping bellies full and home pantries stocked in the Mile High City and beyond. —Patricia Kaowthumrong

THE ORGANIZATION

THE MISSION

THE IMPACT

Seven-month-old Denver Community Fridges operates volunteer-stocked refrigerators planted at eight host sites in Denver.

Expand access to premade meals, fresh produce, dairy, and other pantry essentials.

Anyone can take goods from refrigerators set up in Sunnyside, Globeville, Berkeley, RiNo, Baker, East Colfax, and Curtis Park. denvercommunityfridge.com

Nonprofit food truck Kitchen One for One debuted its Taco Night in November 2020. The program serves no-cost and pay-what-you-can tacos with fiery green chile chicken, braised carnitas, and other goodies at rotating locations.

Provide restaurantquality meals to hungry Coloradans on the Front Range.

The outfit delivers between 400 and 1,200 meals weekly, while each Taco Night dishes about 200 plates across the metro area. kitchenoneforone.com

Re:Vision, a nonprofit cultivating food systems in marginalized neighborhoods via backyard gardens, urban farms, and food distribution programs since 2007, launched emergency meal kit and no-cost grocery programs at the onset of the pandemic.

Supply nutritious fare to Denver’s food deserts.

From March 2020 to May 2021, Re:Vision volunteers distributed more than 743,000 pounds of food and served 10,296 people. revision.coop

Project Angel Heart, a 30-year-old nonprofit supplying medically tailored meals to those living with life-threatening illnesses, expanded services to those diagnosed with COVID-19.

Deliver wholesome meals to immunocompromised individuals.

Every week, about 10,000-plus chef-prepared dishes are delivered to 1,416 people living in the Denver and Colorado Springs vicinities. projectangelheart.org

Credits Tk From left: Getty Images; Courtesy of Colorado Village Collaborative

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Because the city (finally) exhibited a little compassion in addressing homelessness.

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REASONS TO LOVE DENVER

Because Denver’s a great place to skate through life.

Roller-skating isn’t new to Denver. Inline and quad skating fun has been spinning around the Mile High City for far longer than the recent TikTok-inspired craze of 2020. Groups like Denver Urban Skate Troop—or DUST—have burned rubber across the Front Range since 2018, bringing together a community of inline and quad skaters of varying skill levels for swift-paced Wednesday night rolls through downtown Denver streets and weekend revolutions on paved trails along the South Platte River. (Follow @denverurbanskate on Instagram to join the next cruising date.) Other eight-wheel aficionados, like Denver’s Samantha Mack Lopez, have contributed to the local skating landscape by creating safe and inclusive spaces for Black and queer skaters. In 2019, Mack Lopez and two friends co-founded an organization for Black skaters to learn about and compete within the international roller derby community. The group’s been sidelined since the spring of 2020 due to the pandemic, but Mack Lopez sees a derby comeback on the horizon. Most of all, she says: “If people tell you that there are no Black skaters in Colorado, that’s a lie. There’s such an amazing BIPOC skating community here; you just have to look for it.” So, grab your skates, follow @blackdiasporaderby on Instagram, and look no more. —Philip Clapham

From left: Scott Tilson and Rachel Norkin of Denver Urban Skate Troop; Samantha Mack Lopez, co-founder of Team Black Diaspora Roller Derby; and Jade Harrison, co-founder of Denver Roller Skaters, show off their skills in City Park.

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Because Front Range artists made us the ultimate mixtape for personal and social uplift.

—Luke Guillory

New Orleans–style brass is thriving in the Mile High City with Brothers of Brass. The group joined this summer’s fight for racial justice using protest recordings in its EP I Can’t Breathe. In March, it released “Freedom,” an infectiously danceable ode to the end of lockdown.

Erin Stereo “Summer Somewhere”

The Grand Alliance “Chakra Khan”

DJ Erin Stereo spent the year playing charity benefit streams and hosting a radio show with KGNU, because, well, house music was on lockdown, too. Stereo mixes sassy, gripping electronic sounds that, when heard with your eyes closed, transport you to the dance floor at Tracks. Tune in (SoundCloud: ErinStereo) at home and vogue like no one’s watching.

The Grand Alliance dropped its self-titled debut album mid-pandemic.

Solo artists before their grand alliance (get it?), the trio’s vibe is decidedly up-tempo, with nods to Earth, Wind & Fire and Kool & the Gang. Their version of funk bumps with a deep-’90s nostalgic touch (think Lucy Pearl and City High) and left us aching for simpler, less virus-y times.

Ramakhandra “Andromeda Soup Dumpling” Didn’t think the harp had soul? Let Ramakhandra blow your mind. The group, which played summer shows in support of racial justice, also debuted a self-titled album. Its second track lays out the group’s singular sound: Funky drums, bass, and futuristic synths deliver a soothing yet challenging listen. It’s unlike anything else—so much so that the band has described it as “Zelda hip-hop shit.”

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Cheap Perfume “It’s Okay (To Punch Nazis)” The feminist punk band saw a massive jump in Spotify listenership after its anti-fascist anthem became a trending sound for TikTok-ers de-platforming hate. This year, the four-member band is planning to record its first album since 2019.

Because our swing has never been better.

Golf has never been a big part of Colorado culture, mostly because it’s seen as stiff and stuffy—in short, too much plaid and not enough flannel. Then COVID-19 shuttered our usual pursuits. Denver-owned golf courses, however, enjoyed only a brief hiatus, reopening for play on April 22, less than a month after stay-at-home orders were imposed. Suddenly, golf became one of our only options. Just as surprisingly, it soon became one of our preferred pastimes. Last year, Denver golf courses recorded more than 391,000 rounds, an increase of 24 percent over the previous year. Those numbers should continue to bloom in 2021 as City Park Golf Course, which reopened in September 2020 after a three-year renovation, has been consistently booked two weeks out.

Of course, no one will confuse Denver’s seven city courses with Augusta National, and bless the golf gods for that. They are cheap (you can play for as little as $20), easy (relaxing the barrier of entry into a frustrating game), and unpretentious (no golf shoes? no collared shirt? no problem!). It’s not the Masters, but these features are attracting Coloradans who just want to enjoy themselves. Imagine that. —SC

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Clockwise from top left: Courtesy of Haley Loria Carnefix; Aaron Foster/Getty Images; Courtesy of Brothers of Brass; Courtesy of Blake Jackson Photography; Courtesy of Kate Rose; Jeff Nelson; Courtesy of Julianna Williams

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Brothers of Brass “Freedom”

REASONS TO LOVE DENVER

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Because there’s been an explosion in home food delivery.

Courtesy of Joni Schrantz

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Because we got to know our neighborhood business owners as they battled the economic hardships of the past year.

Cities are often monolithic in the collective imagination, but what really makes them interesting is that they are collections of neighborhoods, each with its own feeling, vibe, and diversity of residents and experiences. Next month, I will have lived in Washington Park West for 13 years, and over that time I’ve become attuned to how the area feels. I’ve gotten to know the bartenders at my favorite pub; I make small talk with my dry cleaner; and I’ve become friendly with Michael, the owner of my neighborhood liquor store.

I’m there enough that if Michael has a certain, desirable brand of bourbon in stock (a rarity), he’ll ask if I want a bottle he has kept behind the cash register.

These kinds of relationships make living in a particular neighborhood feel special. They comprise, as the old cliché says, the fabric of the community.

Having worked downtown for 14 years now, though, I’d never felt that sense of shared experience, even though I frequent the same sandwich shops over and over. I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise. Bustling city centers are different than quiet residential areas—people don’t ask your name unless they’re writing it on a to-go cup. The pandemic changed that for me.

This past January, I started taking my eldest son, who was in eighth grade, into our empty office so he could better focus on remote learning. We’d both work in the morning and then head out together for sandwiches at lunchtime. The shops, of course, were quiet, and the employees were grateful for customers. Slowly, we got to know one another. There was no pre-pandemic lunch rush forcing us to dispense with chitchat, and having a 14-year-old in tow, usually with his skateboard, was a conversation starter. Sometimes they’d rib him about his orders—an Italian hoagie and chocolate milk?—or inquire about his skating. When he wasn’t with me, they’d ask where he was. In turn, I’d ask about their days and their businesses.

During those early weeks of 2021, I had lots of nice but not necessarily memorable interactions—until President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Almost no one was downtown that day, but after I had popped into the office, I ordered a sandwich at my regular haunt. The cashier said, “Well, you braved downtown today,” somewhat sarcastically. There was nothing, really, to brave, and we both knew it. She asked about my son. And then she said, sincerely and earnestly, “Thank you for coming in.” For the first time in all those years of working downtown, I finally felt like I was part of the neighborhood. —Geoff Van Dyke

The past 17 months have been brutal for the hospitality biz, but both brickand-mortar spots and culinary pros have evolved their businesses to keep hungry Denverites happy—and fed. Here’s a taste of what you can now have delivered to your door that you couldn’t a year ago. Never say that COVID-19 didn’t do anything for you. —Denise Mickelsen ENTRÉES High-End Sandwiches $15 Open, the sandwich shop inside American Bonded in RiNo, delivers stacked beauties created by local chefs, including a Sichuan brisket French dip by Uncle and Hop Alley owner Tommy Lee. opendenco.com Korean Chicken Wings $9 to $14 One-month-old WingWok in Centennial sells its fat, juicy, twice-fried Red Bird Farm chicken wings with rice and Korean sides. Takeout and delivery only. wingwok.com ON THE SIDE Wood-Fired Sourdough $10 to $18 Funky Flame’s loaves and biscuits are baked from whole-grain flours every week in a mobile wood-fueled oven situated in owner Allison Declercq’s backyard. Delivery on Tuesdays and Thursdays. thefunkyflame.com Fresh Produce $15 to $40 The LittleJohn Produce Box Project is a grocery subscription service that keeps you well stocked—and it donates food to Denverites in need. littlejohnproduce.com DESSERT Puerto Rican Doughnuts $2.50 to $23 El Secreto Denver brings its pastelitos, quesitos, and Mallorcas to your door within 24 to 48 hours. elsecretodenver.com

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Because people are still opening really cool businesses.

Because even in a metro area of nearly three million, voting—during a once-in-a-generation pandemic—was a nonissue, unlike how it was in Atlanta and Houston and Columbus….

Remember that day in early November 2020, when you waited in line for hours to cast your vote? Of course you don’t! You live in Denver, where your ballot arrived by mail, courtesy of eight-year-old, state-mandated voting laws. And thanks to the city’s Office of the Clerk and Recorder, you were able to slip your ballot into one of 38 24-hour drop-off boxes, placed in every Denver neighborhood leading up to Election Day. With voter-service information centers and drive-through polling available throughout the city and county as well, our easybutton-style voting led 398,000 Denverites—and more than 1.6 million metro-area voters—to spend their days doing something other than standing in an hourslong queue wishing they’d remembered to bring a water bottle. In fact, the only worry local voters had was where to place that coveted “I Voted” sticker. —CA

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THE BEER SPA BY SNUG

TRAVERSE FITNESS

Location: Overland Opened: November 2020 Despite COVID-19, Traverse Fitness sped up its opening of a permanent location last fall. Its calling card? A 1,100-square-foot studio with adjustable oxygen levels simulating exercise from sea level to 20,000 feet. traversefitness.com

Location: Whittier Opened: February 2021 Redefining what it means to relax over a beer, this spa will soak you in 100-degree water infused with hops, barley, and herbs sourced from local breweries. The nonalcoholic brew isn’t fermented, so you’ll dry off feeling refreshed, not sticky. thebeerspa.com

WELLNESS

FORGET ME NOT

Location: Cherry Creek Opened: March 2021 It took a year to convert this former flower shop into a cocktail lounge. Sip seasonal recipes like Nobody’s Angel—a mix of Earl Grey gin, sweet lemon, sparkling wine, and Italicus, a liqueur made with bergamot peels— on the patio this summer. forgetmenotdenver.com

BOOZE

STYLE

SCOUT DRY GOODS AND TRADE DENVER

Location: Baker Opened: January 2021 Kelly Valentine opened Scout in the former Buffalo Exchange (which shuttered after sexual harassment allegations against its owner). The sustainable clothing store nixes fast fashion, reducing landfill waste, which is good for Mother Earth.

Valentine also hired former Buffalo Exchange employees, giving feminist fashionistas a path to healing and empowerment. ilovescout.com

GARAGE SALE VINTAGE

MOJAVE & TEJON DRY GOODS

Location: Highland Opened: July 2020 After 10 years of planning and a four-month pandemic delay, Lexi Neisler opened this boutique filled with handmade, organic, and sustainably sourced goods.

Expect a selection of jewelry, ceramics, textiles, home goods, and skincare products. mojaveandtejon.com

Location: Larimer Square Opened: September 2020 You’ll find curated collections of clothing, artwork, and vinyl from more than 40 vendors at this vintage shop (pictured) from Josh Sampson, owner of Denver real estate and brand development company Good Baby Management.

You know what else you’ll find? Margaritas, old fashioneds, White Claws, and Jell-O shots being served at the integrated bar. garagesalevintage.com

Credits Tk From left: Marc Piscotty/Getty Images; Sarah Banks

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It’s no secret that small businesses have been hit hard the past year and a half. According to a survey by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, nearly half of those in the Centennial State had to either lay off employees or reduce salaries to survive. Which is why it’s remarkable that plenty of local entrepreneurs took the risk of opening new ventures during the pandemic. We couldn’t help but notice there were some interesting overlaps between a few of our favorites.—Nicholas Hunt

REASONS TO LOVE DENVER

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Getty Images (7)

Because our puppy love ran deep with #milehighpooches.

When we last checked, there were 44,700 Instagram posts with the “milehighpooches” hashtag, all featuring the antics of cute Denver canines. In a city so enamored with its pups that the question “Can I pet your dog?” passes for an appropriate greeting, social distancing rules exacted a serious emotional toll. But in the new hands-toyourself landscape, technology was a safe tether to normalcy.

Enter #milehighpooches. Following a hashtag means Instagram’s algorithm curates popular posts containing the tag and puts them in your feed. No longer leashed to any one account (we had been obsessed with @cheesmanbark, until it went dark), we instead tapped into an endless supply of Fido photos from owners across the city. Like Zoom happy hours, getting our dog fix through a screen was never a long-term solution, but we’re grateful that Denverites shared their furry friends on social media, easing the dogless among us through our isolation. We can’t wait to meet your pup IRL. —Angela Ufheil

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Because our lit scene is still, ahem, totally lit.

What makes a great literary city? If it’s missiondriven indie bookstores, insatiable bibliophiles, and a community of local talent publishing great novels, chapbooks, and long-form journalism, then Denver is a top-shelf written-word city, nourishing the bespectacled set with destinations old and new(ish). —PC

Because comic Adam CaytonHolland opened his wallet.

If All the President’s Men taught us anything, it’s that to get to the truth, you must follow the money. Were one to apply that journalistic maxim to my bank account over this past year, a reporter would learn far more went out than went in. (I kid! Sort of.) While things were indeed dire for most stand-up comics during the pandemic, I was flush enough to donate to some of my favorite struggling Denver businesses—and therein lies the evidence. You want to know what I love about this city? Follow my money.

The Clyfford Still Museum is my favorite art museum in the city; the Nob Hill Inn is my second. So, of course, I had to contribute to its GoFundMe last July. Every time I’m in that tiny dive down the street from the Capitol, I get drunk enough to try to buy the paintings off the walls. That terrifying clown portrait, the cityscape with the cathedral—how does a hole-in-the-wall have such incredible original artwork? No one knows; it’s one of those great Denver mysteries, like the ghosts of Cheesman Park or why we keep drinking Coors.

Last September, I bought a $10 fundraising to-go Popcorn Pack from the Bug Theatre because the place is an eclectic middle finger to the slot-home monstrosities encircling it. It’s also a vital sounding board for oddball artists, like me. In nonpandemic times, my friends and I hosted a monthly comedy show there called The Grawlix. But my first time at the Bug was experiencing David Sedaris’ SantaLand Diaries when I was 19.

When I saw the “Save the World Famous Lion’s Lair” fundraising push in December, the money flew out of my account. In a sea of rooftop Chad depots, the Lair oozes Colfax character—and yes, “oozes” is the exact proper verb. I shouldn’t have to tell you why.

Then there’s Buntport Theater, a Denver institution that’s been cranking out original plays for 18 years. It’s a fount of creativity, which is why it’s no surprise the theater has staged several offbeat pandemic productions, including one my wife and I streamed one evening in January for a donation of $20. Money.

Well. Spent.

Were one to dig deeper, one would unearth even more “donations” in the form of credit card receipts for chile rellenos from La Pasadita Inn and a T-shirt I didn’t need from Wax Trax. Debt be damned. I spent my money the way I like to spend my time: supporting independent businesses that remind me of the Denver I grew up in, before the mixed-use condos and e-scooters, a place where no one knew what John Elway’s politics were yet, where anything seemed possible—except maybe a pandemic. —Adam Cayton-Holland

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Chapter Two: A community space for graphic design and activism led by co-owners Rick Griffith and Debra Johnson since 2007, Shop at Matter (pictured) is still the go-to for books on anti-racism, feminist theory, and political history. Plus, one of the only Black-owned bookstores in Colorado has art prints cool enough for any punk turned artist turned intellectual. Now in its eighth year, Tennyson Street’s BookBar—or what we like to call the coziest spot in Denver— will soon break ground on a new gallery space, repurpose a service station into a community literary giving center (read: a free library), and add a cabaret license so bookworms can enjoy literary-themed cocktails and live music events.

Julie Ciezadlo/Courtesy of Shop at Matter Credits Tk

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Chapter One: Lighthouse Writers Workshop has been a bastion of creativity for 24 years, helping aspiring scribes find their voices through classes like memoir writing and poetry. Its Lit Fest conferences—even during the scourge—have recently drawn big names like Hanif Abdurraqib, Justin Torres, and Garth Greenwell. The newest addition for milehigh erudites is the Word, A Storytelling Sanctuary, whose editor-writer mentorship programming ramped up in 2017 and which held its first conference, called Margins, in 2020. The Word’s mission is to promote diverse voices in publishing, but we dig that it’s all about diverse Denver voices, too.

Look for the second Margins conference in summer 2022.

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REASONS TO LOVE DENVER

Because these local athletes have given us something to cheer for after seeking their own silver—or gold or bronze—linings in the yearlong delay of the Tokyo Summer Olympics. ­—Danielle Atkin

From top: Mike Lee/Courtesy of USA Rugby; Wagner Araujo/Courtesy of World Triathlon; John Cheng/Courtesy of USA Gymnastics; Courtesy of USA Cycling/Casey B. Gibson; Courtesy of Luke Webster; Getty Images (icon)

● Ben Pinkelman, 27

Hometown: Centennial Sport: Rugby Favorite Local Park: Cherry Park, Centennial Pinkelman was prepared to push through a back injury and limp his way into the games in 2020. Instead, as soon as the delay was announced, he flew home for surgery. During recovery he attempted to learn Japanese and juggling but hardly touched a rugby ball.

He considered it a rare chance to miss his sport and believes the mental break prepared him to take on his second Olympics—and the world.

● Summer Rappaport, 29

Hometown: Thornton Sport: Triathlon Favorite Spot To Dine With Friends: Hapa Sushi, Boulder Rappaport was the first triathlete in the country to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Triathlon team headed to Tokyo. This year, her already arduous workout regimen was intensified by the challenge of having to live apart from her husband for more than six months while training in Portugal.

Due to travel restrictions and the ban on foreign spectators, a reunion isn’t expected until after her race on July 27.

● Yul Moldauer, 24

Hometown: Arvada Sport: Gymnastics Favorite Local Meal: Breakfast burrito from Bonfire Burritos, Golden When COVID-19 hit, Moldauer’s neighbors got their first look at this

Olympic hopeful as he practiced on a pommel horse in his garage and a tumble mat on his lawn. Moldauer had been training at the University of Oklahoma, his alma mater, but ultimately decided to make the move home to Colorado, where he reunited with coaches that feel like family at 5280 Gymnastics. ● Maddie Godby, 28

Hometown: Louisville Sport: Track cycling Favorite Colorado Bike Ride: Flagstaff Road, Boulder After the track at the Olympic Training Center shut down in 2020, Godby logged lots of “unglamorous solo workouts” on the stationary trainer. Initially, motivation came and went in waves, but eventually she found strength in the realization that uninterrupted training and an empty race schedule had the potential to lead to tremendous improvements before her first Olympic Games.

● Colin Duffy,17

Hometown: Broomfield Sport: Climbing Favorite Hometown Hangout: Sweet Cow, Louisville In the past year, Colin Duffy, Team USA’s youngest climber, got his driver’s license and grew by a couple of inches.

Duffy’s biggest gains this year, however, came in speed climbing—one-on-one races up 15-meter climbing walls— one of the three disciplines in which he will compete in Tokyo.

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Because Nick Muerdter is a miracle worker.

It didn’t take long for Nick Muerdter’s work to go the good kind of viral. “The first day I posted it, Governor [Jared] Polis blasted it to all his Facebook followers,” Muerdter says of Vaccine Spotter, a database he created to make it easier for Coloradans to find vaccine appointments. “People seemed desperate for this type of tool.”

The 34-year-old software engineer for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden started the project in early February after co-workers told him how challenging it was to navigate pharmacy sites in order to get their parents inoculated. So, he spent his spare time making bots that could scan websites of major pharmacy companies (King Soopers, Walgreens, CVS) for available time slots and put them all in one place. The positive response to his work prompted Muerdter to replicate the process for every state.

Upkeep for the widely used resource became a second full-time job for him, but the feedback he got made it all worth it. “One woman said she found 400 slots for residents in a day,” Muerdter says. At press time, he planned to keep the site running, as long as it was still saving lives. m —Shane Monaghan

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Medical professionals say there’s reason to be concerned about the safety of high-THC cannabis concentrates, particularly as they relate to the mental health of teenagers and young adults. With use on the rise among kids, experts are sending out an SOS, but it may not be reaching the intended audience: Colorado parents.

BY LINDSEY B. KING PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHEW STACEY

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THIS ISN’T REEFER

There’s no shortage of sensational, hide-thechildren, marijuana-is-the-devil’s-lettuce stories on the internet. This is not one of those stories. Colorado is, after all, the cradle of recreational cannabis in this country, and by most accounts, the destruction of civilized society wreaked by commercialized medical and recreational pot was greatly exaggerated. Given the opportunity to comment, most Coloradans—roughly 71 percent, according to a 2020 survey—say legalization has been mostly or completely successful. However, that number leaves plenty of room for dissent, and in that remaining 29 percent lies a contingent that believes Centennial Staters were naive about what kinds of products would be lining dispensary shelves, what their health effects could be, and what might happen when kids got their hands on them.

For those who haven’t ventured inside one of the state’s 1,047 dispensaries—that’s probably most of us, since only about 19 percent of Colorado adults say they’ve used marijuana in the past 30 days—the diversity of merchandise might be surprising. Although shoppers in Colorado still overwhelmingly choose to smoke flower, the fuzzy green bud we’re all familiar with, there are dozens of other versions of cannabis that don’t look or perform anything like the four percent THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) grass you toked in college. There are things with names like shatter, budder, wax, crumble, and live rosin, all of which fall under the umbrella of cannabis concentrates and can contain more than 90 percent THC, pot’s primary psychoactive compound.

Cannabis concentrates are not new; some evidence suggests concentrates have been around in some form since the 1940s. What is relatively new is that commercialization, which started in Colorado in 2009 with medical dispensaries, has allowed the marijuana industry to safely produce concentrates in high-tech labs, perfect old-school iterations and invent new ones, and wrap them all up in slick, convenient, discreet packaging that’s often messaged as medicine. Commercialization did something else, too: It allowed 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds in Colorado to apply for medical marijuana red cards without caregiver supervision. And since 2012, people 21 and older have been able to walk into a recreational dispensary and walk 74

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out with 28 grams of flower or eight grams of concentrates in whatever strengths they desire every day.

So what’s the problem? The truth is that the human brain continues experiencing huge jumps in development up until the age of 25, and while cannabis of any sort can impact neural pathways, high concentrations of THC appear to be particularly damaging.

“We started seeing the changes in 2009,” says Dr. Christian Thurstone, a child and addiction psychiatrist who has worked in Denver Health’s adolescent substance treatment program for 18 years. “We saw the use of edibles and dabs, the more potent products, start to go up. But kids’ perception of the harmfulness of cannabis has gone way down in more recent years. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’re seeing the cases we’re seeing now.”

Denver Health’s substance treatment program sees roughly 500 youths each year for substance abuse, and Thurstone says 95 percent of the referrals he gets are for marijuana, which, despite popular opinion, has been proven to be addictive.

Concentrates, with their higher THC levels, may be even more so. But it’s not just the standard trappings of dependence that are worrisome to health care professionals; it’s also that they’re observing a correlation between cannabis concentrates and mental health issues, such as depression, suicidal ideation, psychosis, and schizophrenia, as well as disturbing physical conditions such as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, characterized by severe vomiting.

It is, of course, illegal in Colorado for anyone under 21 without a red card to purchase or use cannabis. The reality is that according to data from the state’s 2019 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, 20.6 percent of Centennial State high schoolers and 5.2 percent of middle

Blaine Harrington III/Getty Images

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From top: Cappi Thompson/Getty Images; Nino Qasoshvili/Getty Images; Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images; Rgbspace/Getty Images

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schoolers say they have used marijuana in the past 30 days.

Those numbers haven’t changed much over the years, but one critical statistic has: The same survey found that between 2015 and 2019, the percentage of high schoolers who had recently dabbed (translation: inhaled concentrated doses of vaporized cannabis) went from 5.7 percent to 10.2 percent.

“The scary thing about this,” says Dr. Christian Hopfer, an addiction psychiatrist at UCHealth’s Center for Dependency, Addiction, and Rehabilitation (CeDAR), “is that this is a relatively recent phenomenon. We don’t know much about how extremely high doses of THC affect people, children or adults.

We’re seeing greater risks of psychotic disorders and serious effects to cognition in our kids, but we have no real understanding of what these concentrates do to the developing brain.” That is why so many different stakeholders—doctors, researchers, legislators, psychologists, school districts, advocacy groups, and parents—have been throwing up flares. Their question: Are you sure your kids aren’t dabbing?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, potential fixes to the conundrum of underage concentrate consumption often run afoul of the marijuana industry, put politicians in uncomfortable positions in a state where voters legalized cannabis, require effective policies by government agencies, panic patients who use medical pot responsibly, and necessitate a level of nuance that anyone with authority to make change rarely wields. In short, regular Coloradans may have to be the solution. With that in mind, we’ve put together an explainer for those who need to know exactly what’s out there, so they can protect the young people in their lives.

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PARENTS: mark your calendarS INTERNATIONAL DAB DAY

Also known as Oil Day, 710— which, flipped upside down, old-school calculator style, reads like “oil”—is to the dabbing set what 420 (or April 20) is to, well, everyone else. Celebrated since about 2012, the occasion has become more well known as concentrates have become readily available. Before legalization in Colorado and Washington led to commercial labs, creating cannabis oils was dangerous because the process necessitated working with combustible solvents, often in someone’s basement or backyard shed. Today, high-THC concentrates and extracts make up about 30 percent of the inventory on most dispensaries’ shelves.

CODE WORDS CONCENTRATES: Broadly refers to any cannabis product that has been made through a process where extraneous plant matter is mostly removed, leaving behind only aromatic oils called terpenes and cannabinoids, like cannabidiol (CBD) and THC DABBING: The method of flashvaporizing cannabis concentrates—typically extracted oils of varying consistencies—on a hot surface and inhaling them to get high DAB RIG: Also called an oil rig, this is a water pipe—essentially, a sophisticated glass bong—that has attachments specifically designed for dabs of marijuana concentrate

Marijuana might be the most synonymized noun in the world, but dabbing has a language all its own. Trust us, your kids know the lingo; you should, too.

VAPE PENS: Much like e-cigarettes, these are portable, pen-shaped vaporizers that are typically refillable with cartridges of concentrates DABS: A catch-all word for any concentrate or extract that can be flashvaporized and inhaled

sticky glands that is commonly smoked and vaped but can also be dabbed

E-NAIL: A dabbing device that electronically heats the nail

NAIL: The metal, glass, or ceramic spike attached to a water pipe; dabs are applied to the nail once it has been heated up electronically or with a torch

EXTRACTS: A specific type of concentrate made using solvents, like alcohol, butane, propane, or CO2; all extracts are concentrates, but not all concentrates are extracts HASH: A pressed cannabis concentrate— made without using solvents—of the plant’s

DABBER: Sometimes called a wand, this is a small tool used to pick up a dab of concentrate and place it on the heated surface of a dab rig

TORCH: A handheld butane or propane torch often used to heat the nail of a dab rig; a jet lighter also works J U LY 2 0 2 1

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CANNABIS CATALOG

Concentrates and extracts don’t look like bud, get packaged like bud, or smell quite like bud, making them somewhat easier to conceal. Here, a not-at-all-comprehensive inventory of products that could be hiding in your teenager’s nightstand.

CRUMBLE An extract that can be yellow, orange, or light brown and that has a soft, crumbly texture Typically used with: a dab rig or sprinkled over flower in joints, pipes, and bongs

BUDDER A dark yellow extract that has a creamy, butterlike texture Typically used with: a dab rig

SHATTER An amber-colored extract that has a transparent, stiff, glasslike quality and breaks easily Typically used with: a dab rig

LIVE ROSIN A high-quality solventless extract, usually pale yellow to golden in color with a gooey, honeylike consistency Typically used with: a dab rig, a glass bowl, a joint, or a concentrates vape pen

SUGAR An extract that comes in a wide range of colors—very light yellow to almost amber—and has the consistency of wet, sappy sugar Typically used with: a dab rig

SNEAKING SUSPICIONS

Where there is a will, there is a way for your kids to consume concentrates.

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Just because you think your teenagers don’t have the wherewithal to buy concentrates— much less a dab rig—doesn’t mean they can’t improvise ways to do both. If you’ve been finding soda cans or water bottles cut in half; if you’re missing butter knives from your drawers; if you’ve found unwound paperclips; if you can’t find your crème brûlée torch…your 15-year-old might be more resourceful than

you realize. All of these items can be used to fashion a homemade dab rig. “You need to be paying attention to these things,” says Denver Health’s Dr. Christian Thurstone. “It’s reasonable that if you see something funny that you trust your gut and investigate.” What else should you be looking for? Lighters, small glass or silicone jars, and parchment sheets can be clues your kid is using. Money or sellable items that

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A VERY COLORADO RITUAL

Turning 18 in the Centennial State is a momentous occasion— and it’s not because the right to vote kicks in.

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DISTILLATE A potent cannabis oil extract that has been stripped of all materials and compounds except for certain cannabinoids, like THC or CBD Typically used with: a concentrates vape pen (with refillable cartridges; pictured)

go missing are other hints. “A lot of parents struggle with parenting teens, especially when it comes to privacy,” says CeDAR’s Dr. Christian Hopfer.

“If you’re concerned, privacy should not be respected, especially if there are mental health concerns. Parents are often unwilling to play cop—and that can have tragic consequences.”

This spread, clockwise from top left: Matthew Stacey; Hyoung Chang/the Denver Post/Getty Images; Sean Parsons

WAX An extract that has a soft, waxy consistency Typically used with: a dab rig or a concentrates vape pen

here was no escaping it for the 17-yearold. Weed was everywhere at her Pueblo-area high school. It was in the school parking lot. It was there during free periods. It was at every party. It was everywhere she went. “As a parent,” says LaFonna Pacheco, the young woman’s mother, “it was like pushing the ocean back with a broom.

Kids with medical marijuana cards were pushing shatter in her face.”

It’s not just parents who say they’re struggling to keep high-THC concentrates away from their kids: School districts are battling too. Their biggest fight? In what has become a rite of passage in Colorado, high school seniors turn 18, apply for medical marijuana cards under bogus pretenses, purchase two ounces per day, and then sell legally purchased cannabis to other students.

“The systems are so porous,” says Kirk Quitter, principal of New Vista High School in Boulder. “Eighteen-year-olds can get a card easily, and then they can do what’s called looping, or going to dispensary after dispensary in one day to get around the daily limit laws. It doesn’t take long for things to unfold in our schools.”

Of course, public schools aren’t the ones handing out medical cards. To get one, Colorado residents 18 and older must find a licensed physician to certify that they have a qualifying condition and then submit that certification—along with other documentation and fees—to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) Medical Marijuana Registry.

When asked about the ease with which an 18-year-old can get a card, not to mention the significant jump between medical cards for kids up to 17 years of age (270 on the registry as of February) and 18- to 20-yearolds (3,979 as of February), the CDPHE was careful to say it does not determine medical necessity for patients or regulate physicians, and it suggested inquiries be directed to the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) instead.

For its part, DORA initially responded that the CDPHE’s Medical Marijuana Registry and the Marijuana Enforcement Division in the Department of Revenue “may have more substantial information” about these topics.

Pressed for more data about physicians being disciplined for violating the Medical Practice

Act related to medical marijuana, DORA provided data that show there have been only 18 doctors (out of 44 complaints in total) since 2009 who have faced public discipline for failure to comply in some way.

“How do all these young kids have med cards?” says Dr. Libby Stuyt, a former addiction

LaFonna Pacheco

psychiatrist who worked in Pueblo. “The huge jump between zero to 17 and 18 to 20 doesn’t make sense. There’s no way all these kids have debilitating, severe pain starting at 18. I want to know who these doctors are—and there are only 438 who have handed out every last one of the 87,216 cards in Colorado—but the CDPHE won’t release that information, either.”

It seems to many, including Pacheco, that the responsibility for erecting and maintaining guardrails to limit young adults from abusing the system gets passed from one agency to the next. “Medical cards have been poorly regulated,” says Pacheco, but she is optimistic about how recent legislation—see “Pot Politics,” page 82—could close some of the gaps young adults have been able to exploit. The fixes would come too late for Pacheco’s daughter, though, who became so addicted to high-THC cannabis that she ended up in rehab multiple times. Feeling powerless, Pacheco watched her daughter selfisolate, experience psychosis, and ignore her family. “That was hard,” Pacheco says. “We’re Native American, and she used to like sitting with the elders. That just stopped. As a parent, you don’t know how the hell to navigate this. ” J U LY 2 0 2 1

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PRUNING & MYELINATION

THE ECS

What We Do Know: A process called synaptic pruning begins during early childhood and continues into young adulthood. This streamlining of neural circuitry is likely responsible for the expansion of cognitive skills— necessary for adulting—seen in the late teens and early 20s.

Myelination, or the coating of neurons with a protective sheath, helps the connections work better. The brain essentially removes inefficient connections and improves effective ones to create a more powerful system. However, recent studies suggest low blood flow and inactivity in the brain caused by marijuana use can cause abnormal pruning and myelination mishaps.

What We Do Know: The hippocampus, where many CB1 receptors live, plays a major role in learning and memory.

Research has shown that humans are affected by something called state-dependent learning, which means that memory or information recall is most efficient when a person is in the same mental state as she was when the information was learned or a memory was formed. Learning something while intoxicated means a person may not be able to remember what he learned later on when he’s no longer under the influence.

What We Do Know: The body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), a cell-signaling arrangement, is so named because chemicals in our bodies called endocannabinoids are a lot like THC. Anandamide, for example, is responsible for easing pain and depression, controlling appetite and sleep cycles, and manipulating memory. Anandamide binds to CB1 and CB2 receptors throughout the body—high concentrations of CB1 are located in the brain— to signal that the ECS needs to take action to, say, adjust mood.

Because THC is so similar to anandamide, it attaches to the same receptors, tells the body to stop the production of anandamide, and throws the ECS off-balance, affecting things like concentration, ability to learn, impulse control, memory, and mental health.

What We Don’t Know: Although some research suggests that heavy THC use has long-term effects on cognition, even on those who stop using, other studies have shown that the hippocampus can recover after prolonged abstinence.

What We Don’t Know: Although several studies suggest marijuana exposure during development can cause longterm or possibly permanent adverse changes in the brain, research is mixed on whether IQ is affected.

What We Don’t Know: Some scientists theorize that mental health conditions that often emerge in late adolescence—like schizophrenia—may result from atypical pruning, but more research is necessary to determine if aberrant pruning due to marijuana use could be involved and/or if genetics or other factors are at play.

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THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX What We Do Know: The maturation of the human brain begins with the brain stem and works upward and forward toward the prefrontal cortex, which doesn’t finish developing until the mid20s. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is where executive functioning skills that are critical to adulthood are located. It’s important to note the prefrontal cortex has a large array of CB1 receptors, which THC targets.

What We Don’t Know: Studies have suggested that students who use cannabis have poorer educational outcomes, like difficulty graduating from high school or completing a college degree—things that require higher-level executive functioning. How much of an influence cannabis use has on these results is arguable, though, as other factors could predispose people to both marijuana use and unfavorable academic outcomes.

THE HIPPOCAMPUS

Mike Kemp/Getty Images (brain); Selva/Negra/Getty Images (pruning & myelination); Sciepro/Getty Images (hippocampus); Science Photo Library/PASIEKA/GettyImages (ECS)

YOUR (KID’S) BRAIN ON THC

The human brain isn’t fully developed until roughly age 25. When THC is introduced to that still-evolving organ, it impacts how neural connections are made. As one Colorado doctor put it, “the brain only gets one shot at growing up,” and THC can stunt that growth in ways we already know—and likely in many others that we don’t.

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extrastrength drugs

~15%

Concentration of THC that, according to some research, can begin to have an effect on mental health

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Concentration of THC, on average, found in cannabis concentrates in Colorado in 2019 (in 2014, it was 46 percent)

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

From left: Blaine Harrington III/Getty Images; Bortonia/Getty Images

Break out the highlighter—here’s what the available science says about young people and cannabis.

Because the federal government classifies cannabis as a Schedule I drug, studying marijuana in the United States is a difficult—and frustrating—endeavor.

Universities that rely on federal funding are loath to risk losing that cash to research marijuana on campus. Furthermore, any institution that does want to study cannabis must go through the feds to procure product; however, the cannabis grown at federally designated facilities rarely has THC concentrations higher than five or 10 percent. “There is a large body of research about what lower THC concentrations do and don’t impact,” says Dr. Sam Wang, a pediatric emergency medicine doctor at Children’s Hospital Colorado who is also board certified in medical toxicology. “But there is a paucity of literature about the impacts of high-THC doses on health.” Still, many health professionals say the results from the research that does exist with regard to addiction as well as high concentrations of THC are disturbing enough to merit red-flag warnings for youngsters. Local experts pointed us to several studies for a bit of light reading.

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Concentration of THC, on average, found in flower in Colorado in 2019 (in 2014, it was 14 percent)

In March 2021, JAMA Pediatrics published the results of an addiction study executed by National Institute on Drug Abuse scientists. The research examined the proportion of adolescents and young adults who had developed substance use disorders (SUDs) in the previous year at various intervals since they first used certain drugs, including cannabis. The findings? Marijuana users between 12 and 17 had nearly double the prevalence (10.7 percent) of SUDs one year after first using cannabis compared with adolescents who first used alcohol (5.6 percent) or nicotine (6.6 percent). After three years, the addiction rate for cannabis among adolescents was 20.1 percent; it was 10.9 percent for those ages 18 to 25. The data, says the National Institutes of Health, emphasize the vulnerability of young teenagers to developing SUDs. A mostly Europe-based study that aimed to identify patterns of cannabis use with the strongest effect on developing psychotic disorders received a lot of attention when it was published in the Lancet in March 2019. The conclusions were disturbing. Daily cannabis use was associated with higher likelihoods of psychotic disorders compared with people who had never used marijuana, but those numbers rose to nearly five times increased odds for daily use of high-THC types of cannabis. Another disconcerting finding: Those who had started using high-concentration cannabis by age 15 showed a doubling of risk of psychotic disorders compared with those who had never used.

Researchers in the United Kingdom published a study about the impacts of high-THC cannabis in JAMA Psychiatry in May 2020. The question they posed: Does high-THC cannabis increase risks for problems resulting from cannabis use, common mental disorders, and psychotic experiences, after controlling for early-life mental health symptoms and frequency of use? The short answer is yes. Of the 1,087 participants who reported cannabis use in the previous year, use of highTHC cannabis was associated with a significant increase in the frequency of cannabis use, likelihood of cannabis-related problems, and rates of anxiety disorder.

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THIS WASN’T IN THE PARENTING MANUAL HE CAME UNRAVELED

“The first time my son got suspended from school, I remember his coach said to me, ‘Don’t be too hard on him; it’s just pot.’ He said that because my son was an athlete and a good kid. He was just 14. But within two months, my son exited his life. He became a different human being. His joie de vivre was impacted. One day I got in a fight with him about not showing up to school, and I said, ‘I think this is the pot. You have to stop.’ He said, ‘If I have to stop smoking pot, I’m going to kill myself. In fact, I’m going to kill myself right now.’ He went to his room and locked the door.

I called the police for help, and it was a cop who told me I needed to be very concerned about his marijuana use. He said, ‘It’s not like what you smoked when you were younger.’

That’s how I learned about dabbing. My son was a fun, sweet, supersensitive kid. Then he wanted to be in his room all the time. He was buying shatter and wax through a senior with a medical card. They did it over Snapchat. One night after he came home from work—he got a job at 15—he was looking for something in the backyard shed. He was crying. He told me he used to have fun before drugs, but now he only had fun when he was doing drugs. I was like, Oh, my God, this is an after-school fucking special. We sent him to a wilderness program, then to a therapeutic boarding school. When he got home, he immediately started dabbing. But then he developed cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome; he was just vomiting all the time. I took him to the ER 11 times in nine months. Eventually we found a doctor who said, ‘This is the pot.’ He looked at her and said, ‘This is medicine!’ He stopped because of the hyperemesis, but his executive functioning has been impacted and there are cognitive issues. I wonder why an 18-year-old can get a medical card and buy two ounces a day but can’t buy tobacco or a Coors Light.”

Robin Noble, Boulder

REWIRED

“I was a stay-at-home mom. I mean, I made organic baby food. My son had a good childhood.

He was introduced to marijuana at Boy Scouts in middle school. His freshman year of high A mother in Longmont school, we found his stash of flower. We sought out counseling, and the counselor said if the marijuana helped with his social anxiety and wasn’t hurting his school performance, maybe there wasn’t anything terribly wrong with a little pot. We never told him it was OK, but he had a job, he was doing well in school, and during his sophomore and junior years we didn’t see his use. Before his senior year, though, he turned 18 and his anxiety got severe. We didn’t know it, but he got a medical card. It took him 10 minutes online and a 10-minute appointment to get a card for migraines he didn’t have. His usage escalated. In December, a friend introduced him to dabbing. A month later we were in the ER because he had a psychotic break.

He thought he was being followed by the cops. He spent several nights in the behavioral unit. We worked with a psychiatrist to get him balanced enough to go back to school. He graduated, deferred enrollment to college, and decided to work until he could take a Birthright trip to Israel. A year after his first psychotic break, he was overseas and had another one. He hadn’t used marijuana for a year. The drugs had rewired his brain. He was in the hospital in Israel for two months while they tried to get him on the right psychiatric drugs to seal the break. He’s doing well now. He’s going to have a full life, but this may follow him forever.”

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Although it’s impossible to know how many Colorado families have been negatively impacted by the rising rates of youth dabbing, 5280 spoke with a number of parents who shared their experiences—four of which are included below. In some cases, names have been omitted to protect families’ privacies; in all cases, the stories are told in their own words.

OUT OF CONTROL

“I got a call from the high school. It was 7:30 a.m. and my son, a sophomore, reeked of marijuana. As a parent, you wonder what you missed.

We talked with my son’s therapist—he was in therapy for family dynamics and some depression—to try to find out if he was experimenting or using. A few months later we learned what dabbing was. We found wax in a small container, a vape pen, and a butane torch in his closet. He was using. By spring, he was in his room all the time. When he pushed his younger sibling into traffic, that changed things. On his 16th birthday, he started outpatient treatment. After two weeks, the center’s staff told me we needed to have a meeting because my son was overage for them to give me information without his consent. At 16? School was ending, and the center wanted him to do full-day treatment once school was out. I agreed. Two days later, he ran away. He was on the streets for two days, and then I found him with a friend. The friend’s mom said he could stay. But then he violated her rules; I called the police, and they picked him up. We lived on lockdown while desperately researching treatment options, which is when I learned he would have to consent to treatment in Colorado. I found a place in Utah. You essentially sign over custody of your child.

I had to hire a transport company because I knew he wouldn’t go willingly. At 4 a.m., they pulled up, went into my child’s room, and told him he was going to a residential program. We said, ‘We love you,’ and they took him. He wasn’t ready after 90 days, so we sent him to another program in Arizona. He was there for 14 months. He relapsed. He then went to a transitional program and relapsed again. On his 18th birthday, he signed himself out. He’s still using. We don’t financially support him now. We had to move out of the parental role. I think my son was struggling with some things before he started dabbing, but the marijuana activated it and worsened it.”

Lindsay Neil, Denver

TROUBLED PATH

Credits Tk

“My kids are biracial, and my son was in middle school when some bullying started. At that age, in eighth grade, maybe you’re a normal kid exploring or maybe he was seeking some relief from A mother in Boulder County anxiety. I don’t know, but he told me he tried pot. I voted for Amendment 64. I had no idea the stuff out there was anything different than what I was exposed to when I was a kid. To me, it was OK that he tried it. I mean, we talked about drug use and addiction and those things. But very quickly he got access to high-concentration THC at school from those with medical marijuana cards. Within eight or nine months, he was traveling down a troubled path. He started with the flavored products, but then was using dab pens and glass pipes with a blowtorch. He wasn’t going to school. He was high all day. He had been a mostly A student, a sensitive kid. Then he became belligerent and aggressive. We had to do an intervention. We sent him to various Colorado rehabs, then to inpatient treatment. Because the laws in Colorado say teens older than a certain age—15, I think—must give consent for therapy, we sent him to a rehab out of state. He’s experienced cannabis-induced psychosis. He hears voices. He stopped using a year ago, but the voices continue. He knows they’re not real, but still. It’s so heartbreaking. He had so much potential. I think he still does, of course, but he just took such a life-affecting nosedive. I live in fear of a major psychotic break, that I could lose my kid to suicide or a complete mental break like so many other Colorado parents have.”

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POT POLITICS

In May, state Representative Yadira Caraveo introduced a bill she says was meant to protect kids from high-THC cannabis. Not everyone agreed.

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Solution dispensary, are less magnanimous: “These people are looking for any cracks in the system to return to prohibition.”

The people Lopez references include members of groups like Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Smart Colorado, and Blue Rising Together, a grassroots political action committee that focuses on high-THC cannabis.

Blue Rising has actively supported Caraveo’s legislation. Co-founder Dawn Reinfeld believes Colorado owes it to other Americans to let them know that this “freight train” is headed toward them if they don’t enact concentration limits when they legalize.

“The science we have says 15 percent is where things become problematic, especially for young people,” she says.

“We need to follow the science.”

At press time, Colorado lawmakers had approved HB 1317, and the bill was headed to Governor Jared Polis’ desk. He had not yet commented on whether he would sign the bill.

Sarah Banks

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adira Caraveo says she’s seen a thing or two in her pediatrics practice over the years. But until recently, she hadn’t seen what’s often called “scromiting.”

“The medical term is cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome,” the pediatrician-cum-state representative from Adams County says, “but that terminology doesn’t illustrate how bad it is.” Caraveo says the uncontrollable vomiting—which is sometimes paired with screaming, hence scromiting—was disturbing.

The calls she’s received from Colorado parents in her role as a legislator were equally distressing. Until those conversations, Caraveo says she didn’t fully understand what products were out there, much less that THC concentrations in flower in Colorado routinely test higher than 20 percent, technically making most bud high-concentration as well. With that information, Caraveo says she began a discovery process in summer 2020 that resulted in an early draft of the Safe & Healthy Marijuana Use bill in January. Her bill wouldn’t be the first attempt at regulating concentrations in Colorado: Legislative efforts in 2016 failed, as did a ballot initiative in the same year.

Caraveo’s bill called for a 15 percent concentration cap, changes to how medical marijuana is prescribed, the forbiddance of certain products, adjustments that would require coroners to screen for marijuana in some instances, and the creation of a new state database to monitor and enforce limits on daily dispensary purchases, among other things. Then the draft leaked—and everyone panicked.

Dispensary owners said the bill would crater their businesses. Marijuana industry lobbyists complained they weren’t appropriately consulted. Medical marijuana patients—particularly parents of children with intractable seizure disorders and veterans with PTSD—worried the bill would take away life-saving treatments. When Caraveo and three other sponsors actually introduced House Bill 21-1317 on May 14, though, the text was less inflammatory—and did not include a provision to cap THC concentration. “The thing we kept hearing from the industry was there wasn’t enough data to make a science-backed decision on potency,” Caraveo says. Instead, the bill would require the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to do a review of the available research related to the possible health effects of high-THC cannabis and provide a report by July 1, 2022. The bill also would create a review council to analyze that report and make recommendations to the General Assembly.

Other changes that would impact consumers—and specifically target the illegal funneling of medical marijuana to kids—were not insignificant. To get a new medical card, Coloradans ages 18 to 20 would have to meet in person with and get consent from two physicians from different practices; they would also have to check in with a doctor every six months instead of annually.

Furthermore, 18- to 20-year-old patients would only be able to purchase two grams of medical marijuana concentrate per day as opposed to 40 grams.

Christian Sederberg, co-founder of Denver cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg, and board president Chuck Smith of Colorado Leads, a coalition of cannabis business leaders, are both circumspect about HB 1317 but believe there are ways to make changes to ensure safety without upending the industry. Truman Bradley, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group (MIG), agrees. “MIG is very supportive of making it more difficult for teenagers to illegally get marijuana,” he says. “We also are supportive of research as long as it is objective, broad, and doesn’t favor any predetermined outcomes.” Others, like Steve Lopez, CEO of the Green

SHATTERED MINDS MIGHT ACTUALLY KEEP KIDS AWAY FROM CANNABIS

SOLUTIONS ORIENTED

PROVIDE AN EDUCATION There’s evidence that science- and reality-based prevention education—for sex, smoking, violence, and drug use—works. Launched in 2015, Steamboat Springs–based Marijuana Education Initiative (MEI) has a variety of online-only programs for different grade levels that lay out the risks of cannabis use for the developing brain. MEI lessons are being deployed in several Colorado and out-of-state school districts, often using funds schools receive from a marijuana excise tax. “As the research evolves,” says MEI co-founder Molly Lotz, “we update our curriculum to make sure kids understand the brain science so they can feel empowered to make decisions.”

Several countermeasures—some in HB 1317, some not—have been bandied about, but keeping concentrates away from kids is a tricky proposition.

AMEND MEDICAL CARDS Parents with kids who’ve been impacted negatively by cannabis point to a lax system that has encouraged medical cards as a rite of passage for 18-year-olds. If Governor Jared Polis signs House Bill 21-1317, starting on January 1, 2022, it would require new patients between 18 and 20 to consult— in person—with two doctors from different practices instead of just one before obtaining a red card. The language in HB 1317 would also limit the amount 18- to 20-year-olds can buy and change how a physician certifies a medical card. “Medical marijuana should be treated like any other physician-prescribed drug,” state Representative Yadira Caraveo, one of the bill’s sponsors, says. With that in mind, she wants certain information to accompany a medical card: date of issue, effective date, recommending physician’s name and federal Drug Enforcement Administration number, daily authorized quantity, maximum recommended concentration level, recommended product, directions for use, and the physician’s signature. These changes have been met with trepidation from patients, but, according to Caraveo, care was taken and language was tweaked to ensure the alterations do not unduly burden them.

RX

Currently, retail marijuana in Denver is subject to a 26.41 percent tax (including sales, excise, and special taxes), while medical marijuana in Denver is only hit with an 8.81 percent tax (including sales and special taxes).

Several marijuana industry insiders—including the Marijuana Industry Group’s Truman Bradley—say increasing the sales tax on high-THC medical products is a possible avenue for deterring younger buyers or those looking to illegally sell to younger buyers without limiting access for others. “This could impact low-income people,” he says, referencing veterans and the elderly specifically, “but it could accomplish some goals.” The extra tax dollars could fund mental health care or youth education programs.

Sean Parsons (5)

NEUTRAL

A central provision of HB 1317 is a mandate to create a statewide tracking program for medical marijuana purchases. Although Caraveo initially hoped to create a new system similar to Colorado’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, stakeholder meetings determined it was possible to use the existing seed-to-sale system. With some modifications, this database would be used as a powerful tool for reducing a practice called looping, in which red card holders—some of whom are presumably in the 18- to 20-year-old age range— go from dispensary to dispensary accumulating product to sell on the black market. “An 18-year-old can’t go from King Soopers to Walgreens in the same day and keep getting Adderall from each pharmacy,” says cannabis attorney Christian Sederberg.”It should be like that with cannabis.”

ENFORCE LAW & ORDER

INCREASE TAXES

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TRACK POT PURCHASES

According to the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division’s mid-2020 report, dispensaries have a 97 percent compliance rate when it comes to nonqualified sales.

“The thing is that there’s not much a dispensary can do when someone purchases legally and then walks out the door and sells it to a kid,” says Colorado Leads’ Chuck Smith. “Frankly, that’s a felony.” Smith is right; it is a felony punishable by eight to 32 years in prison. However, the Denver Police Department says this type of illicit activity rarely comes to its attention.

“We encourage anyone who has information about these types of illegal transactions,” says Douglas Schepman, interim director of communications for the department, “to contact us immediately.”

UNLIKELY TO STOP TEENS FROM ABUSING THC

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TWO YEARS SOBER

A 22-year-old Colorado native details his long journey to abstention.

Chris Baker* believes THC was a serious problem, but it wasn’t his only problem. At 16, he was struggling with attention deficit and executive function disorders. He was having a hard time with some dysfunction at home and experiencing depression, which runs in his family. He says he would drink alcohol as a salve, but then a friend with a medical marijuana card opened the dispensary door to cannabis. “I got high to escape,” Baker says, “but also to feel like I had arrived. I could be social. I could be me.”

Then he got caught up in it. He couldn’t control his usage. And why would he? “The sheer amount children can get access to in a day is crazy,” he says. “We’d go from one dispensary to the next and get 1,200 milligrams of edibles or a gram of 99 percent isolate and some 30 percent flower. No one needs that dose.”

By the time he was 18 and a senior in high school, he knew he was in trouble. He experienced a borderline psychotic break at school, and it scared him enough to ask his parents for help. They sent him to

Observation Deck If your kid suddenly begins exhibiting some or all of these behaviors or signs, you may have reason to suspect substance abuse: Extreme isolating in the bedroom Atypical performance problems at school or refusal to go to school at all Changes in friends Behavior changes, especially acute irritability, aggression, hyperactivity, or unusual elation Exaggerated efforts to keep family members away from personal belongings Abrupt disinterest in favorite activities or pastimes Sleeplessness followed by long periods of sleep Changes to appearance (disheveled, unwashed, flushed) and physical health (nosebleeds, vomiting, frequent perspiration)

wilderness therapy in Oregon, at a cost of roughly $40,000 out of pocket. “At the end of therapy there, I really thought I’d never smoke again,” he says. “I actually remember saying that out loud to a tree.” It wasn’t to be. Within a month, he was using again.

Things got worse when Baker went off to college. He was smoking all the time and rarely leaving his studio apartment. He says he wouldn’t buy anything that was less than 90 percent THC. The resulting psychosis made him believe there was some grand underpinning to the universe, and he was figuring it all out. He taped pieces of paper with incoherent scribbles to the walls. His mirrors were covered in sayings and what he thought were high-level equations. It was a scene straight out of A Beautiful Mind. He failed his first quarter of college and ended up back home. His family begged him to get help, but he said he had a plan, that he’d go back to school and be OK. About six weeks later, he called his parents to come get him. “I was doing a gram of dabs and feeling nothing,” he says.

“That’s when I knew.” He went to a residential treatment program in California, started Alcoholics Anonymous, and this time it took.

Two years later, Baker is 22 and sober. He ably articulates his journey and knows he’s lucky.

“My primary problem is addiction,” he says. “I didn’t understand addiction. I was not the person I thought of when I thought of an addict. I was a wealthy white kid from Boulder.” Although Baker says he believes cannabis should be legal, he also thinks it’s too accessible for kids, and he ponders whether his pre-existing disorders and depression made him more vulnerable to THC-induced mental health problems or if THC was the sole cause of the psychosis.

“Either way,” he says, “my problems haven’t all gone away, but I’m not fighting with them anymore. I have new solutions for them. Life is much easier now.” *Name has been changed to protect privacy

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WHEN IT’S TIME TO INTERVENE Durango’s Open Sky Wilderness Therapy treats young people who face mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and addiction. Teens receive clinical treatment while living in nature, sometimes for months at a time. 5280 connected with Open Sky clinical therapist Brian Leidal to ask him about the impacts of cannabis he sees in his cohorts.

Courtesy of Open Sky Wilderness Project

5280: Do you often have clients experiencing addiction to marijuana?

Brian Leidal: Yes. Clients I work with fall on a spectrum, ranging from mild to severe use. In order to determine if a client’s use has become an addiction, I ask them about the frequency of their cannabis use, the types and concentrations of the cannabis they use, and the consequences of their use. The difference between dependence and addiction is consequences: For those clients who have become addicted, the consequences really pile up.

Are there fallacies about pot’s addictive qualities?

Marijuana is often downplayed for its addictive qualities when compared to other substances of abuse. I often hear from my clients, “I was just smoking pot.” THC activates the reward circuitry of our brains in ways that may cause this circuitry to be hijacked. While the effects of marijuana may wear off after just a couple of hours, the half-life of THC is quite long. The half-life of THC for mild users is between one and two days, but

?

Getting Help Finding resources when your child is experiencing addiction can be challenging, especially in Colorado where children 15 and older must consent to treatment. Parents also often encounter difficulties getting their insurance carriers to cover therapy for cannabis addiction.

The Colorado Department of Human Services offers crisis services as well as information for finding behavioral health help. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration also provides assistance for finding treatment. The Colorado chapter of Narcotics Anonymous can be a good resource too.

THC can still be traced in the system of a mild user for weeks afterward.

For those who use cannabis frequently or use higher concentrations of THC, the half-life is between one and two weeks and THC lasts within their systems for much, much longer.

This accrual of THC leads to increasing tolerance and the belief that there isn’t much to the withdrawal from cannabis. The higher the THC, the higher the addictive potential.

Once the body becomes acclimated to the presence of THC, withdrawal symptoms kick in.

Withdrawal isn’t the only thing we need to worry about with frequent THC use, right?

Moderate to severe cannabis use is associated with reductions in two measures of intelligence and cognitive ability: working memory and processing speed. More research is needed to definitively state whether these reductions are permanent or temporary in adolescents or young adults. For adolescents who use cannabis, however, there are studies that show that these reductions are permanent and don’t recover in adulthood, even if they stop using.

Have you observed mental health disturbances associated with cannabis use?

Yes, unfortunately. The co-occurrence of a cannabis use disorder and other mental health issues is very prevalent. There is a higher likelihood of developing generalized anxiety disorder and first-episode psychosis in cases where clients have used cannabis at an early age and especially when they are using high-concentration THC products. For young people who are using cannabis, I advise they get to know their family histories of mental health and stop or cut back on cannabis if they have close family members who have a history of psychosis.

How does wilderness therapy help with cannabis addiction?

It creates a controlled environment, where clients can detox from cannabis without the potential of relapse.

The treatment places a strong emphasis on developing genuine human connection. Clients learn skills to expand their emotional toolboxes, so that when they encounter adversity, they have more options than to turn back to the one consistent tool they had: cannabis. m J U LY 2 0 2 1

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FRONTIER’S

TURBULENT

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Frontier Airlines’ handling of pandemic-related flight cancellations triggered outrage and spurred calls for reform. Yet the Denver-based carrier expects increasing demand for “Low Fares Done Right.” Will passengers who feel swindled return to the ultra-low-cost airline? BY K E L LY B AS T O N E PORTR AIT S BY DAVID WILLIAMS

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BY LATE MARCH OF LAST YEAR, DARCY LUNDSTROM

KNEW SHE WOULDN’T BE BOARDING

ANY OF THE FLIGHTS

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HUNDREDS OF TRAVELERS registered complaints like Lund-

strom’s on social media throughout the summer. One Facebook group called Frontier Airlines Petition For Compensation became a forum for livid passengers who claimed they were defrauded. Some, like Lundstrom, didn’t know about their credits’ 90-day expiration until they tried, too late, to use them. Others claimed that the credits allowed for only one redemption—meaning that if travelers didn’t use the entire dollar amount when they booked a trip, they inadvertently forfeited the remainder of their credits. Consumers also swapped strike-back tactics, which included emailing Frontier Airlines executives, petitioning credit card companies for refunds, and registering complaints with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Douglas Conry of Pueblo did all three. He’d accepted a Frontier Airlines travel voucher for his April 2020 itinerary from Denver to Puerto Vallarta, but every time he tried to make future reservations to Mexico, he found that the country’s ban on incoming travelers prevented the system from processing international flights. Once reservations reopened, Conry discovered that his voucher had also passed its 90-day window of validity. Frontier never made clear that the voucher would expire in 90 days, Conry says, although he adds that the stipulation may have been made somewhere in the fine print.

Conry spent weeks petitioning Frontier’s customer service agents for an extension. “One of them, a manager, actually told me that he was given very strict guidelines from corporate that once the credits expired, they were not to be reinstated.” The airline also thwarted Conry’s attempt to remove the charges from his Capital One credit card. Capital One had initially agreed to remove the charges but ultimately denied Conry’s request, he says, after Frontier convinced the bank it had made a good-faith effort to compensate him.

His complaint got more traction in Weiser’s office, which aggregated Conry’s report with similar tales of loss, frustration, and anger from more than 600 other infuriated travelers. “The complaints literally jumped off the page,” Weiser says. Since the beginning of the pandemic, his office has heard more grievances against Frontier Airlines than any other company.

Weiser couldn’t do much about the situation, though.

Federal law gives only the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) enforcement authority over airlines—not states’ attorneys general. On September 1, 2020, Weiser asked then Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to investigate the claims against Frontier. “I urge you to carefully review Frontier’s practices and, if you find such practices to be unfair or deceptive, to use your authority to protect consumers. My office is prepared to work with you to support a thorough examination of Frontier’s practices,” Weiser

Previous spread: Robin Olimb/GettyImages. This page: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy Stock Photo

she’d booked for April and May. The girlfriend getaway to Las Vegas, the vacation with her daughter to Orlando, Florida, and the visit with family in Fargo, North Dakota, all seemed pointless and risky once the COVID-19 pandemic had closed tourist attractions and public health officials preached the gospel of isolation.

So when Frontier Airlines emailed the Loveland resident and offered her $250 in bonus credit for the three itineraries she’d booked, on the condition that she cancel her upcoming trips and accept their $959.98 value in credit, she jumped at the opportunity. As a frequent Frontier customer and annual subscriber to the company’s Discount Den, which offers access to the airline’s lowest fares, she figured she’d have no problem logging some sort of travel within the credit’s two-year time limit.

Indeed, this past summer Lundstrom decided she had to see her family, and, in June 2020, she tried to use her Frontier credit to get a ticket from Denver to Bismarck. The transaction wouldn’t go through. She reached out to customer service and learned—for the first time, she says—that her credit had to be redeemed within 90 days of issue. It had expired shortly before her booking attempt. “That 90-day restriction was not listed in the original email,” says Lundstrom, who did eventually find it in small print in a subsequent email from Frontier. She failed, however, to persuade that customer service agent, or any of the others she called and messaged, to reinstate her credit. Her $1,209.98 was gone.

wrote. The DOT responded to the Colorado attorney general but ultimately proved unhelpful.

Undeterred, Weiser built a bipartisan coalition of 39 other attorneys general that has called on Congress to give them enforcement authority, along with the DOT, over airlines.

“The law says that it’s up to the DOT to protect consumers and enforce safeguards, but if that proves ineffective, Congress can give parallel authority to the state AGs,” Weiser says. He cites antitrust laws as establishing precedent for distributing the enforcement authority between state and federal governments. Says Weiser, “I’d like to enforce some stuff that the DOT is supposed to enforce but doesn’t.”

Dated October 1, 2020, the attorneys general’s letter asked Congress to make federal relief payments contingent on airlines’ willingness to extend full refunds to passengers who canceled their travel because of the pandemic. Through the March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic

This spread, from left: Barry Biffle, the president and CEO of Frontier Airlines; Darcy Lundstrom has fought with Frontier to try to regain the $1,209.98 she lost last year.

Security Act, the airline industry received $60 billion for payroll support, and that act’s extension the following fall provided another $28 billion in emergency funds. “Yet during COVID-19, it was revealed that not all airlines are acting in a manner that is fair to consumers,” the attorneys general wrote to Congress.

The renegade, they claimed, was Frontier Airlines, which accepted $170 million in federal grants and $183 million in loans.

Congress never acted on behalf of the consumers, as the attorneys general had urged, and so some passengers have sought redress through a class-action lawsuit alleging that the airline had breached its contracts with passengers.

“Instead of fulfilling its obligations under federal law and honoring its passengers’ contractual rights, Frontier engaged in various schemes to avoid its obligation to provide refunds, including by issuing vouchers that it knew that customers could not use,” says Shanon Carson of Berger Montague, the Philadelphiabased law firm that’s representing the plaintiffs who, collectively, allege millions of dollars in losses. “This is an unfair business practice and a breach of the contract of carriage.”

Frontier Airlines denies any wrongdoing in its handling of passengers’ credits and refunds. “Throughout the pandemic, we have acted in good faith to care for our passengers compassionately and fairly,” says Jennifer De La Cruz, Frontier Airlines’ director of corporate communications. “At all times we have remained in full compliance with DOT rules and regulations governing flight changes, cancellations, and refunds. We strongly dispute any suggestion to the contrary.”

IT APPEARS AS IF FRONTIER doesn’t expect disgruntled pas-

sengers to dim its post-pandemic future. On the contrary, Frontier is betting that surging demand from leisure travelers, which represent 89 percent of the airline’s customers, will send its financial standing to unprecedented heights.

In March of this year, the company raised $266 million in an initial public offering (IPO) that swelled the company’s value to $4 billion. “We design our route network to capture low-fare demand among leisure travelers and our three largest bases are Denver, Orlando and Las Vegas, which draw a significant proportion of leisure travelers,” Frontier Group Holdings wrote in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “We believe the restrictions and health concerns that have depressed demand during the pandemic are also likely to lead to increased levels of pent-up demand for leisure travel once the effects of the pandemic J U LY 2 0 2 1

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FRONTIER

decrease. As a result, we expect to see a significant recovery in our performance as the U.S. market recovers.”

The pandemic isn’t the first time Frontier has incensed consumers, only to soar on unimpaired. Back in 2016, the airline faced a public relations disaster after December storms hammered the nation but only Frontier passengers waited for hours—and some longer than one day—in Denver to reclaim lost luggage or continue their itineraries beyond the airline’s hub. Then in May 2020, the airline offended passengers, and even members of Congress, when it launched its “More Room” promotion, which gave travelers the option of paying extra to leave the middle seat beside them open.

(Southwest, by contrast, had blocked out middle seats as a matter of course.)

Such faux pas rise above the routine inconveniences that travelers have come to expect when flying Frontier, which promises ultra-low fares, and not much more. Cramped, uncomfortable seats; baggage charges; flight delays and cancellations—they’re all typical of the Frontier experience. Hence the airline routinely ranks at the bottom of customer satisfaction surveys and has even inspired a 1,700-member Facebook group called I Hate Frontier Airlines.

“There are so many wonderful things about Denver and Colorado,” Lundstrom says. “And for Frontier to be home-based here, it’s just embarrassing. I wish they were from anywhere but here.” Yet she continues to consider Frontier’s fares when she shops for flights. Which raises the question: What would motivate Frontier to stop mistreating its passengers?

Perhaps the airline has discovered that ultra-low prices have the power to lure people back even after they’ve sworn to quit Frontier forever. Maybe the airline has learned it can kick sand in passengers’ eyes and they’ll still keep coming back for more.

THERE WAS A TIME when Frontier Airlines epitomized the

glamour of air travel. “Our passengers were treated as guests,” says former Frontier Airlines pilot Billy Walker, who flew Frontier planes from 1967 to 1986. Travelers wore suits, dined on lobster, and sipped Champagne.

Frontier captains were among the best in the industry, many having trained to become military pilots during World War II. Because the Stapleton International Airport–based airline served destinations across the Rockies, its pilots had to be confident navigating blizzards, mountain turbulence, and icy equipment. “Passengers with the original Frontier could feel secure in reaching their destination safely,” says Walker,

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This spread, from left: Douglas Conry says he won’t buy any more flights on Frontier; the airline’s iconic jets at DIA

citing the company’s record of safe takeoffs and landings, one of the best in the business at the time. Today, an array of museums and fan sites attests to the cult popularity of the first incarnation of Frontier Airlines.

That story began in June 1950, when Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines, and Monarch Airlines merged to create Frontier, a regional carrier that focused on Rocky Mountain cities from Billings, Montana, to El Paso, Texas. But its economic strength suffered in the 1980s, prompting People Express Airlines to purchase it in 1985, followed by Continental Airlines just one year later.

Nearly a decade after that, executives from the original Frontier Airlines hatched a plan to reincarnate the company by snapping up the Stapleton gates that Continental had recently abandoned. From 1994 to the early 2000s, Frontier 2.0 enjoyed growth and profitability—and the debut of animal mascots that continue to identify the

“IT DOESN’T PROMISE A REGAL EXPERIENCE.

IT’S VERY UPFRONT ABOUT THE SPARTAN KIND OF

A I R L I N E T H AT I T I S .”

Reuters/Rick Wilking/Alamy Stock Photo

brand today—but its decline during the Great Recession attracted yet another buyer.

In 2009, Republic Airways Holdings began Frontier’s transformation into a low-cost carrier that charged fees for baggage and snacks. The metamorphosis was complete after Indigo Partners, a private equity firm that counted former Spirit Airlines chairman of the board William Franke as managing partner, acquired Frontier in a $145 million deal in 2013. The following year, Franke hired Barry Biffle, Spirit’s former chief marketing officer, to be Frontier’s president.

“Barry is an industry innovator in the ultra-low-cost segment who, importantly, also recognizes the unique opportunity we have to create the first customer-friendly and customer-focused ultra-low-cost airline in the United States,” Frontier Airlines’ CEO, David Siegel, told the Denver Business Journal in 2014. Since then, Frontier customers have apparently received less flattery than Siegel projected; passenger complaints have risen in tandem with Frontier’s profit margins. Between 2015 and 2019, the airline doubled its ridership to more than 22 million passengers and ballooned its net income to $251 million on operating revenue of $2.5 billion. That’s due, in part, to Frontier’s adoption of thinner, ultra-light seats, which save the airline millions of dollars in fuel costs and allow the airline to pack more passengers into its Airbus jets than most other U.S. carriers.

Those passengers, apparently, aren’t delighted with the resulting experience: Frontier ranked last among low-cost airlines in the 2019 North America Airline Satisfaction Study.

that gravitate to IKEA’s “as-is” section of damaged goods offered at super-low prices.

Frontier Airlines has enjoyed a similar appeal. “It doesn’t promise a regal experience,” says Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst. “It’s very upfront about the spartan kind of airline that it is. And the unbundled pricing gives the consumer more choice and control over how they spend their money, because they can purchase only the things that they feel add value to their trip.” Market studies conducted by Harteveldt’s firm, Atmosphere Research Group, have found that nearly 70 percent of leisure travelers actually prefer the unbundled pricing model.

But full disclosure is essential. When customers believe they’re promised one thing (like credit for travel within two years) but receive another (a voucher that expires in 90 days), they feel swindled—and may alter their purchasing and referral habits accordingly, Picoult says. “Passengers who felt victimized by an airline’s COVID-era refund policies,” he adds, “will conceivably steer their business away from the offending carrier where possible.”

That “where possible” caveat is key, because travelers face limited choices among carriers, particularly on international routes and among smaller American cities that are monopolized by just one airline. CONTINUED ON PAGE 106

FR O NTIER’S GROWIN G R I DER S HI P and profitability suggest that passengers care more about low fares than their personal comfort or even reliability: According to Bureau of Transportation Statistics data, Frontier was last among U.S. airlines for on-time performance in 2019. So why would the airline bother with good customer service if price is the main driver for consumers?

Cost is actually an essential component of consumer satisfaction, according to Jon Picoult, a customer experience expert. “The low price offered by a discount retailer can make customers feel good, because they’re proud to have snagged a great deal,” says Picoult, the founder of Watermark Consulting and the author of the forthcoming book From Impressed to Obsessed: 12 Principles for Turning Customers and Employees into Lifelong Fans. People who identify as bargain-lovers often embrace flawed products if they know exactly what they’re getting: Witness the shoppers

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DINING GUIDE $

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NEW

Indicates a restaurant featured in 5280 for the first time (though not necessarily a restaurant that has just opened).

A Adobo at First Draft

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Annette

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Aurora / American Caroline Glover brings a warm dining experience to Stanley Marketplace with Annette. Enjoy a family-style menu featuring seasonal salads, toasts, and wood-grilled fare.

Reservations accepted. Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St., Ste. 108, Aurora, 720-710-9975.

Dinner, Brunch Ash’Kara

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Highland / Middle Eastern Chef Daniel Asher offers a playful take on Israeli and Middle Eastern cuisine at this plant-bedecked eatery. Order the falafel. Also try the new Boulder location.

Reservations accepted. 2005 W. 33rd Ave., 303-537-4407. Dinner, Brunch

B Barolo Grill

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Beckon

$$$$

Cherry Creek / Italian Dedication to authenticity translates to the food and extensive wine menu at this elegant eatery, which is focused on the cuisines of Northern Italy’s Tuscany and Piedmont regions.

Reservations accepted. 3030 E. Sixth Ave., 303-393-1040. Dinner 25 B E S T

$ 26 A N D H I G H E R.

$$

RiNo / Mexican Chef Manny Barella cooks elevated regional Mexican fare inspired by his Monterrey, Mexico, childhood inside the Source.

Reservations accepted. The Source, 3350 Brighton Blvd., 720-542-3721. Lunch, Dinner

RiNo / Contemporary Chef Kodi Simkins brings an elevated, intimate dining experience to Larimer Street. The menu changes frequently, and excellent wine pairings are available. Reservations required.

2843 Larimer St., 303-749-0020. Dinner

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$$$

Highland / Contemporary Linda Hampsten Fox’s eatery, market, and bakery offers worldly fare inspired by her travels. Don’t miss the smoked rabbit relleno. Reservations accepted. 1817 Central St., 303-993-2364. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

25 B E S T

RiNo / Latin-Asian Chef Blaine Baggao draws inspiration from his Filipino heritage and childhood in Roswell, New Mexico, to produce Latin-Asian specialties inside First Draft Taproom & Kitchen.

1309 26th St., 720-520-7869. Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

$$$$

The Bindery

25 B E S T

Indicates inclusion in 5280’s 2019 list of Denver’s best restaurants; we did not release a 2020 list due to COVID19 disruptions and closures. These selections are at the discretion of 5280 editors and are subject to change.

25 B E S T



Bellota

SYMBOL KEY

NEW

$ 16 T O $ 25

Visit our online listings at 5280.com/ restaurants.

Blackbelly

$$$

Boulder / American Chef Hosea Rosenberg’s meaty menu focuses on charcuterie, small plates, and daily butcher specials. Try the crispy pig ears with red pepper jelly. Check out the butcher shop and grab-and-go market, Blackbelly Butcher, located next door. Reservations accepted. 1606 Conestoga St., Boulder, 303-247-1000. Dinner

NEW

Brasserie Brixton

Brutø

$$

West Highland / Pizza Masterfully crafted Detroit-style pizza is the draw at this tiny spot.

Also try the Congress Park location. Reservations not accepted. 3930 W. 32nd Ave., 720-4567666. Lunch, Dinner

Boney’s Smokehouse BBQ

$$$

Downtown / Barbecue Hickory smoke lures diners to this temple of Southern-style slow-cooked meats, including ribs and brisket. Order the generous sampler platter (and share with a friend) so you can taste it all. Reservations accepted. 1543 Champa St., 303-825-9900. Lunch, Dinner

$$$$

Downtown / International At the Wolf’s Tailor’s sister restaurant at the Dairy Block, chef Kelly Whitaker highlights heritage grains and other local ingredients with a tasting menu of fresh-baked breads, wood-fired proteins, and vegetableforward dishes. Also try Bøh, the counter-service mezcal bar and taqueria open for lunch and dinner in the same space. Reservations accepted.

1801 Blake St., 720-325-2195. Dinner

C 25 B E S T

Blue Pan Pizza

$$$

Cole / French Pair a glass of wine with the likes of steak frites, pâté with house-baked sourdough, and other comforting French specialties at this romantic neighborhood bistro. 1591 S. Colorado Blvd., 720-550-7871. Lunch, Dinner

Cattivella

$$$

Central Park / Italian Chef Elise Wiggins offers rustic, wood-fired Italian fare from a sprawling chef’s counter at Cattivella. Go for grilled oysters, seasonal pizzas, and fresh pastas.

Reservations accepted. 10195 E. 29th Dr., Ste. 110, 303-645-3779. Dinner 25 B E S T

Comal Heritage Food Incubator

$$

Globeville / International You’ll find family recipes from Latin America and Syria at this restaurant, which has a rotating menu and provides job training to local women. Reservations not accepted. 3455 Ringsby Ct., Ste. 105, 303-292-0770. Lunch

Baja Fresh Peter Newlin and chef Philippe Failyau, the masterminds behind Park Burger and other concepts, have proven their culinary expertise extends beyond casual fare. In February, the team opened Perdida in Washington Park as an ode to the cuisine of the Baja coast. Complete with a menu of tacos and wood-fired meats and seafood and filled with surf-town-inspired decor, it’s a slice of Mexico in the heart of Denver.

Courtesy of Werk Creative

PRICE KEY

(Average Entrée)

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DINING GUIDE 25 B E S T

Corrida

F

$$$$

Boulder / Spanish Housed on the rooftop level of the Pearl West building, this elegant Spanish steak house offers stunning Flatiron views and fabulous cocktails and wines. Reservations accepted. 1023 Walnut St., Ste. 400, Boulder, 303-444-1333. Dinner

D

NEW

Dio Mio

$$

RiNo / Italian One thing you can count on at Alex Figura and Spencer White’s fast-casual Italian eatery: perfect pasta. Try the cacio e pepe or the squid ink fusilli with blue crab. The house-made sourdough is heavenly. Reservations not accepted.

3264 Larimer St., 303-562-1965. Dinner

E Edgewater Public Market

$$

Edgewater / International Satisfy your cravings for everything from wild game sandwiches to Ethiopian fare at this collective of nearly two dozen food stalls and boutiques. Don’t miss the Thursday afternoon farmers’ market, which runs through September. 5505 W. 20th Ave., Edgewater, 303-797-9119. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

$$$

Westminster / French Located inside the Origin Hotel, this all-day bistro specializes in seasonally inspired French fare prepared with sustainably sourced ingredients. Reservations accepted. 8875 Westminster Blvd., Westminster, 720-647-6041.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch NEW

25 B E S T

Famille

G

Forget Me Not

$$$

Cherry Creek / American Pair exquisite cocktails with light bites by chef Max MacKissock at this chic cocktail destination housed in a refurbished flower shop. Reservations accepted. 227 Clayton St., 720-259-5369. Dinner 25 B E S T

Frasca Food and Wine

$$$$

Boulder / Italian Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson and master sommelier Bobby Stuckey’s fine-dining mecca has racked up scores of accolades over the years (including nods from the James Beard Foundation). The elegant Friulano cuisine always wows.

Reservations accepted. 1738 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-442-6966. Dinner Fruition Restaurant

The Ginger Pig

$$

Golden Europe

$$

Berkeley / Asian Chefs Natascha Hess and Carrie Baird serve Asian-inspired street food with playful twists at this casual spot. Reservations not accepted.

4262 Lowell Blvd., 720-324-8416. Lunch, Dinner Arvada / European Polish, German, and Czech family recipes are served in a dining room decorated with steins. Reservations accepted for parties of six or more. 6620 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada, 303-425-1246. Lunch, Dinner

NEW

The Green Collective Eatery

H

$$$$

Country Club / American James Beard Award– winning chef Alex Seidel’s tiny kitchen focuses on seasonal dishes that are big on flavor. Reservations accepted. 1313 E. Sixth Ave., 303-8311962. Dinner

25 B E S T

Hop Alley

timeless majesty.

The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway is back on track. Enjoy new experiences at a classic American icon. Visit cograilway.com to purchase your e-ticket today.

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RiNo / Chinese From Tommy Lee of Uncle, this neighborhood hangout serves upscale dishes rooted in Chinese tradition. Reservations accepted.

3500 Larimer St., 720-379-8340. Dinner

New traiNs. New track. New depot.

94

$

Highland / Cafe Toasts, salads, juices, smoothies, and other nourishing breakfast and lunch options are on the menu at this cheery fast-casual cafe.

Reservations not accepted. 2158 W. 32nd Ave., Unit 100, 720-708-6865. Breakfast, Lunch

088180_Broadmoor COG • 5280 Magazine • 7.25”x 4.875” • 5/12/21

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DINING GUIDE

I Imperial Chinese

prepares authentic Turkish pastries. Reservations not accepted. 850 S. Monaco Pkwy., Ste. 9, 720-536-5455. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $$$

Baker / Asian This stalwart offers Cantonese, Mandarin, and Sichuan dishes in an elegant setting. Try the Peking duck. Reservations accepted.

431 S. Broadway, 303-698-2800. Lunch, Dinner

Istanbul Bakery & Cafe

$

Washington Virginia Vale / Middle Eastern Inside a shopping center at South Monaco Parkway and Leetsdale Drive, friendly owner Ismet Yilmaz

Jovanina’s Broken Italian

J J’s Noodles Star Thai 2

$$$

Downtown / Italian This gorgeous LoDo eatery expands on traditional Italian fare by incorporating unexpected, seasonal ingredients. Reservations accepted. 1520 Blake St., 720-541-7721. Dinner

K

$

Westwood / Thai This traditional Thai spot has developed a cult following over the years. Reservations not accepted. 945 S. Federal Blvd., 303-922-5495. Lunch, Dinner

The Kitchen

$$$

Downtown / American This community bistro features consciously sourced ingredients and a raw seafood bar. Also try the Boulder location.

Reservations accepted. 1520 16th St., 303-623-3127. Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

L 25 B E S T

ANCIENT MYSTERIES AND MODERN DISCOVERIES

LeRoux

$$$$

Downtown / French Lon Symensma’s upscale, European-inspired eatery features table-side preparations and a roving cheese cart. Don’t miss the Paris-Brest dessert. Reservations accepted. 1555 Blake St., Ste. 102, 720-8451673. Lunch, Dinner, Brunch Little Beast Street Food

$

Congress Park / Korean This casual joint serves Korean street fare. Try the adobo fried chicken sandwich. Reservations not accepted. 2730 E. Colfax Ave., 303-399-4137. Lunch, Dinner

Logan Street

$$$

Lola Coastal Mexican

$$$

Capitol Hill / Mediterranean From the owners behind Carboy Winery, Logan Street serves woodfired fare, fresh pastas, and flatbreads that pair well with the house-made vino. Reservations accepted. 400 E. Seventh Ave., 720-617-9410.

Lunch, Dinner

Highland / Mexican The flavors and beachy vibes of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula shine at Lola.

Order the charred octopus and the queso fundido.

Reservations accepted. 1575 Boulder St., 720570-8686. Dinner, Brunch

M Learn the truth behind the legend at Stonehenge: Ancient Mysteries and Modern Discoveries, open now at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Visit DMNS.org for tickets.

This exhibition is produced by MuseumsPartner in Austria in collaboration with English Heritage.

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Maine Shack

$$

Mango House

$$

Highland / Seafood New Englanders and seafood fans, rejoice: This fast-casual spot is slinging lobster rolls, fried whole-belly clams, chowder, and more. Try the Lobsterado. Reservations not accepted. 1535 Central St., 303-997-2118. Lunch, Dinner

Aurora / International This immigrant- and refugee-led food hall is home to six outstanding culinary concepts, including Urban Burma, Jasmine Syrian Food, and Rocky Mountain Sudanese Restaurant. Reservations not accepted.

10180 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora, 303-900-8639.

Lunch, Dinner

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Represented By:

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DINING GUIDE 25 B E S T

Mercantile Dining & Provision

Misfit Snackbar

$$$

My Brother’s Bar

$

98

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Parisi Italian Market & Deli $$$$

Boulder / Seasonal This bright space offers a diverse, ever-changing menu of seasonal, oakfired eats from chef Steve Redzikowski.

Reservations accepted. 1400 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-444-3622. Lunch, Dinner

Highland / Seafood This Hawaiian-inspired eatery serves top-notch tuna poke, Spam musubi, roasted pork, and more in a casual setting. Reservations not accepted. 2563 15th St., 303-718-6580. Lunch, Dinner

The Original

$$

RiNo / Barbecue The brick-and-mortar joint from pit master Karl Fallenius is serving brisket, ribs, and all of the fixings. Reservations not accepted. 2826 Larimer St., 970-708-3954. Lunch, Dinner

P

O

Ohana Island Kitchen

Highland / Pub Enjoy beers and burgers in one of Denver’s oldest family-owned bars. Pair the fan-favorite jalapeño cream cheese burger with fries and onion rings. Reservations not accepted.

2376 15th St., 303-455-9991. Lunch, Dinner

Owlbear Barbecue $$

Cole / Southern New Orleans native and owner Henry Batiste serves his grandmother’s recipes for gumbo, crawfish étouffée, and more at this Louisiana-inspired spot. Reservations accepted. 3321 Bruce Randolph Ave., 720-389-9544. Dinner

Oak at Fourteenth

RiNo / Latin American This casual Señor Bear spinoff offers a Latin-inspired menu featuring smoked meat tacos, creative ceviches, and salads from chef-owner Blake Edmunds. Don’t miss the taco salad. Reservations accepted.

3163 Larimer St., 720-677-6454. Dinner

1600 20th St., 720-769-1414. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

NOLA Voodoo Tavern and Perks

$$

City Park / Contemporary This walk-up kitchen inside Middleman cocktail bar serves imaginative twists on familiar pub fare from chef Bo Portyko. Try the burger or the kimchi croquettes with sambal aïoli and shaved Spam. Reservations not accepted. 3401 E. Colfax Ave., 303-353-4207. Dinner

Mister Oso

N

$$$

Downtown / American Award-winning chef Alex Seidel offers upscale, contemporary farm-totable fare, including pasta dishes and family-style shared plates for the table. The restaurant also features counter-service dining for lunch, as well as a marketplace of locally sourced foodstuffs. Reservations accepted for dinner. Union Station, 1701 Wynkoop St., Ste. 155, 720-460-3733. Lunch, Dinner

Berkeley / Italian Enjoy delicious, casual Italian fare, including wood-fired pizzas, homemade pasta, gelato, and espresso. Reservations not accepted. 4401 Tennyson St., 303-561-0234.

Lunch, Dinner Perdida

$$$

Phoenician Kabob

$$

NEW

$

$$$

Downtown / American This all-day diner serves classic favorites with an elevated twist in 1950s-inspired digs. Reservations accepted.

$$

Washington Park / Mexican From the team behind Park Burger, Perdida offers cuisine inspired by the Baja coast in an airy space bedecked with surf-town-inspired decor. Reservations accepted. 1066 S. Gaylord St., 303-529-1365. Lunch, Dinner

South Park Hill / Middle Eastern This quiet restaurant serves a solid menu of Middle Eastern and Lebanese fare. Reservations accepted. 5709 E. Colfax Ave., 303-355-7213. Lunch, Dinner

IN-DEPTH REPORTING DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES

DINING GUIDE The Plimoth

$$$$

Skyland / American An emphasis on locally farmed and foraged ingredients results in an ever-changing menu of seasonal dishes. Reservations accepted. 2335 E. 28th Ave., 303-2971215. Dinner

Pupusas Lover

Q Q House

Quality Italian

$$$$

Cherry Creek / Steak House This upscale eatery serves a smart mix of steak house fare and American-Italian favorites. Order the spicy rigatoni alla vodka or the corn gnudi with king crab. Reservations accepted. 241 Columbine St., 303-5328888. Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

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R Randall’s

$$

Cole / Southern This neighborhood restaurant serves up comforting Southern fare with a side of warm hospitality. Reservations not accepted. 3349 York St., 720-400-7648. Lunch, Dinner

Restaurant Olivia $$$

City Park West / Chinese Enjoy a modern take on Chinese cuisine executed by chef Christopher Lin, an alum of Momofuku in New York City. Try the braised pork rice. Reservations accepted. 3421 E. Colfax Ave., 720-729-8887. Dinner

100

$$

Platt Park / Latin American Venezuelan corn flatbreads, or arepas, are on the menu. La Havana, featuring slow-roasted pork loin, ham, and local Muenster with a creamy mayo-mustard-pickle sauce, is our favorite. Reservations not accepted.

1859 S. Pearl St., 720-432-4205. Lunch, Dinner

The Rotary

$$$

Russell’s Smokehouse

$$$

Hilltop / South American The brick-and-mortar outpost of the former Avanti Food & Beverage stall specializes in Churrasco-style rotisserie, flavorful meats slow-cooked over a wood fire. Reservations not accepted. 217 S. Holly St., 303-537-5327.

Lunch, Dinner

$$

University Hills / Salvadoran Pupusas Lover is a family-owned restaurant serving a variety of traditional dishes from El Salvador. Try the banana-leafwrapped pork tamale. Reservations accepted.

2236 S. Colorado Blvd., 720-508-3197. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

Quiero Arepas

S

$$$$

Washington Park / Italian This cozy-yet-modern neighborhood spot from the team behind Bistro Georgette specializes in fresh pastas and Italian classics, like lobster spaghetti and eggplant Parmesan. Reservations accepted. 209 S. Downing St., 303-999-0395. Dinner

Rosenberg’s Bagels & Delicatessen

Downtown / Barbecue Diners flock to this subterranean smokehouse for classic ‘cue. Try the falling-off-the-bone rib combo. Reservations accepted. 1422 Larimer St., 720-524-8050.

Lunch, Dinner

Safta

$$$

Sakura House

$$

25 B E S T

RiNo / Mediterranean Acclaimed chef Alon Shaya brings his modern Israeli fare to Denver.

Start with the creamy hummus and pillowy woodoven pita. Reservations accepted. The Source Hotel & Market Hall, 3330 Brighton Blvd., 720-408-2444. Lunch, Dinner

$$

Five Points / Deli Get your fix of New York–style bagels at this Five Points deli. Don’t miss the Standard, a bagel topped with cream cheese, gravlax, tomato, and onion. Also try the Aurora and Boulder locations. Reservations not accepted. 725 E. 26th Ave., 720-440-9880. Breakfast, Lunch

Downtown / Asian Ramen is king at this Japanese noodle house, which offers seven different varieties, including chasu, seafood, and spicy miso. Reservations accepted. 1255 19th St., Ste. A, 303-2922323. Lunch, Dinner

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DINING GUIDE Sassafras American Eatery

$$

Highland / Cajun-Southern Find a mouthwatering array of Cajun-inspired classics, such as chicken-fried eggs with buffalo hash and po’boy sandwiches. Also try the Golden location. Reservations not accepted. 3927 W. 32nd Ave., 303-433-0080. Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch

Señor Bear

Smōk

$$

RiNo / Barbecue Find delicious modern barbecue at chef Bill Espiricueta’s fast-casual Source Hotel eatery. The brisket and house-made sausages are both great picks. Reservations not accepted. The Source Hotel & Market Hall, 3330 Brighton Blvd., Ste. 202, 720-230-0792.

Lunch, Dinner

$$$

Highland / Latin American This charming LoHi spot draws from the vibrant cuisines of Latin America and has excellent tropical cocktails.

Reservations accepted. 3301 Tejon St., 720572-5997. Dinner, Brunch

Snarfburger

$

Sloan Lake / American This spinoff of Boulder’s legendary sandwich shop is a classic all-American burger joint with made-to-order burgers, hot dogs, fried bologna sandwiches, fries, onion rings,

CENTRAL PARK LOCATION COMING SOON!

frozen custard, and milkshakes. Multiple locations.

Reservations not accepted. 2535 Federal Blvd., 720-535-5184. Lunch, Dinner 25 B E S T

Spuntino

$$$

Highland / Italian Enjoy the locally sourced menu at this Italian-inspired, husband-and-wife-owned spot. Try the seasonal pasta or any dish with Southern Indian influences. Reservations accepted.

2639 W. 32nd Ave., 303-433-0949. Dinner Supermoon

$$$$

Boulder / American Formerly Arcana, this restaurant serves Asian-inspired shareable dishes and larger entrées. Try the spicy rice cakes with coconut golden curry. Reservations accepted. 909 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-444-3885. Dinner

25 B E S T

Super Mega Bien

$$$

RiNo / Latin American Chef Dana Rodriguez of Work & Class offers a combo of large-format items and Pan-Latin small plates. Order the braised lamb with grilled cactus salad. Reservations not accepted. The Ramble Hotel, 1260 25th St., 720-269-4695. Dinner Sushi Den

$$$

Platt Park / Japanese Sushi Den offers exquisite sushi and sashimi prepared with fresh, vibrant seafood flown in twice a week from Japan and a menu of hot and cold dishes.1487 S. Pearl St., 303-777-0826. Lunch, Dinner

T Tables

$$$

Table 6

$$$

South Park Hill / American A glass of wine, flickering candlelight, and mismatched tables set the tone at this cozy neighborhood restaurant. Try the burger of the day and opt for a seat on the charming patio. Reservations accepted. 2267 Kearney St., 303-388-0299. Lunch, Dinner

Speer / American This intimate bistro serves specialties featuring seasonal ingredients and global flavors. Reservations accepted. 609 Corona St., 303-831-8800. Dinner

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25 B E S T

Tavernetta

TeaLee’s Teahouse and Bookstore

★

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Tessa Delicatessen FOLLOW OUR FOOD TRUCK!

Your Neighborhood Restaurant of Choice proudly serving you for 23 years 330 E. 6TH AVE. | 303-871-9777

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Five Points / English Five Points native Risë Jones offers loose-leaf and specialty teas and all-day fare at TeaLee’s. Reservations accepted. 611 22nd St., 303-593-2013. Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch

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$$$$

Downtown / Italian The team behind Boulder’s acclaimed Frasca Food and Wine offers the same attention to hospitality at this more casual Denver restaurant. The space is home to dishes from across Italy and a deep wine list. Order the lamb gnocchi.

Reservations accepted. 1889 16th St., 720-6051889. Dinner

2390 S. DOWNING | 303-298-1939

3496 W. 32ND AVE. | 303-561-2855

Montclair / Deli This modern all-day eatery from Vince Howard, formerly of Del Rey Deli in Los Angeles, has sandwiches, salads, soups, and dinner items like brisket penne. 5724 E. Colfax Ave., 720-746-9138. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

$

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DINING GUIDE Tocabe

$

Berkeley / Native American Indigenous fare goes Chipotle-style at this quick-service restaurant. Try the fry bread taco loaded with beef, buffalo, or chicken. Also try the Greenwood Village location.

Reservations not accepted. 3536 W. 44th Ave., 720-524-8282. Lunch, Dinner

Tofu House

$$

Turtle Boat

$$

Aurora / Korean This neighborhood spot specializes in Korean soups and stews, but also offers a variety of other options. Reservations accepted. 2353 S. Havana St., Unit D1, Aurora, 303-751-2840. Lunch, Dinner

Overland / Seafood This tiny spot offers customizable poke salads elevated with local and sustainably sourced ingredients. The menu features excellent options for both vegetarians and seafood lovers. Reservations not accepted. 2231 S. Broadway. Lunch, Dinner

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Curtis Park / Japanese James Beard Award– winning chef Tyson Cole combines unexpected flavors for his unique take on Japanese food.

Reservations accepted. 2500 Lawrence St., 303-444-1922. Dinner Uncle

$$

Highland / Asian A bustling atmosphere defines this popular, modern noodle house. The selective menu includes dishes such as Chinese-style steamed buns and, of course, noodles. Also try the Speer location. Reservations accepted. 2215 W. 32nd Ave., 303-433-3263. Dinner

The Universal

$

Urban Farmer

$$$

Sunnyside / American This breakfast and lunch joint is a farmhouse-chic spot for an early-day meal.

Reservations not accepted. 2911 W. 38th Ave., 303-955-0815. Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch

W H E N C R AY O N S A N D M A R K E R S

Aren’t Enough

Downtown / Seasonal This steak house features whole-animal butchery and an excellent charcuterie program, and sources its honey from a rooftop beehive. Reservations accepted. The Oxford Hotel, 1659 Wazee St., 303-262-6070. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

W

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WaterCourse Foods

$$

Weathervane Cafe

$

Uptown Area / American This vegetarian icon has been serving wholesome fare since 1998. Reservations accepted. 837 E. 17th Ave., 303-8327313. Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

City Park West / American This cafe serves a small but sumptuous menu of breakfast items, sandwiches, and salads. Reservations not accepted. 1725 E. 17th Ave., 303-355-5863. Breakfast, Lunch

DINING GUIDE Welton Street Cafe Home of Mona’s

$$

Five Points / Southern Enjoy soul food with a dash of Caribbean flair at this family-owned Five Points cafe. Order one of the pates, island-style fried pastries stuffed with various savory fillings.

Reservations not accepted. 2736 Welton St., 303-296-6602. Lunch, Dinner

White Pie

X Xicamiti La Taquería Bistro

$

Whittier / Cafe This espresso bar, which supports social justice–related causes, serves coffee, beer, and wine sourced from African nations and a small menu of pastries, burritos, paninis, and more.

Reservations not accepted. 1710 E. 25th Ave., 720-550-7440. Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch

25 B E S T

The Wolf’s Tailor

$$

Golden / Mexican This long-standing joint serves cooked-to-order burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and alambres (skillet dishes) made with recipes inspired

by Walter Meza’s childhood in Mexico. Reservations not accepted. 715 Washington Ave., Golden, 303-215-3436. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Y

$$$$

Sunnyside / Contemporary Basta chef Kelly Whitaker fuses Asian and Italian techniques and ingredients at this hip Sunnyside eatery. The results, such as 7X brisket braised in dashi and red wine and house-extruded mafaldine pasta with koji tomatoes, are unique and delicious.

Reservations accepted. 4058 Tejon St., 720-456-6507. Dinner

Z

$$$

RiNo / American Chef Dana Rodriguez’s elevated meat-and-three concept offers a delicious hybrid of American and Latin cuisine in raucous, repurposed-shipping-container digs.

Try the Cajun rotisserie chicken or chickpea croquettes. Reservations not accepted. 2500 Larimer St., 303-292-0700. Dinner

$$

City Park West / Pizza This neighborhood joint has an excellent selection of New Haven–style pizzas and house-made pastas. Pair the Porky Porkorino, topped with soppressata, mozzarella, pickled chiles, and spicy honey, with a frozen negroni. Reservations not accepted. 1702 Humboldt St., 303-862-5323. Lunch, Dinner

Whittier Cafe

Work & Class

Yahya’s Mediterranean Grill & Pastries

Zeppelin Station

$$

Zomo

$$

Zorba’s

$$

RiNo / International This industrial-chic food hall is home to globally inspired food and drink vendors, including Nixtamos, La Rola Urban Colombian, Thai-Kun, Graves Good Burger, and Soy Pinoy.

Reservations not accepted. 3501 Wazee St., 720-460-1978. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch Englewood / Asian Owners Alysia Davey and Ryan Anderson serve family recipes inspired by their Vietnamese and Chinese roots. Don’t miss the Kansas State Fair egg rolls. Reservations accepted.

3457 S. Broadway, Englewood, 720-739-8882.

Lunch, Dinner

Congress Park / Greek Zorba’s has served American and Greek fare—burgers, salads, sandwiches, and classic breakfast dishes—in the Congress Park neighborhood since 1979. Go for the gyro sandwich. Reservations not accepted. 2626 E. 12th Ave., 303-321-0091. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

$$

City Park West / Mediterranean This family-run restaurant serves silky hummus, a variety of excellent grilled kebabs, and from-scratch sweets. Try the beef koobideh. Reservations not accepted. 2207 E. Colfax Ave., 720-532-8746.

Lunch, Dinner

 These listings are in no way related to advertising in 5280. If

you find that a restaurant differs significantly from the information in its listing or your favorite restaurant is missing from the Dining Guide, please let us know. Write us at 5280 Publishing, Inc., 1675 Larimer St., Suite 675, Denver, CO 80202 or dining@5280.com.

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Such oligopolies prevent consumers from withholding their business from certain companies, says Anastasiya Zavyalova, a Rice University researcher who studies reputation management. When scandals involve a company’s capability or integrity, consumers often stop buying from those companies.

“But when there are fewer choices, customers often go for convenience and price rather than values, and we see that with the airlines specifically,” she says. “The airlines are pushing the limit [on customer satisfaction] knowing that if customers don’t have any choice, they can get away with it.”

Unlike travelers from other cities, where air service may be dominated by one or two carriers, Coloradans enjoy an unusually wide range of choices. Three major airlines—Frontier, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines—have hubs at Denver International Airport (DIA), and that competition often lowers average fares from this destination, Harteveldt says. Thus, even people who despise Frontier and refuse to fly with the airline end up benefitting from its existence in Denver, if only because it reins in fares on the carriers that they do book out of DIA. Harteveldt predicts an uptick in leisure travelers this summer. Without the business travelers United is accustomed to serving, the airline is fighting to attract the leisure passengers that are starting to resuscitate the industry. This past April, United launched a Denver campaign of attack ads against Southwest Airlines (“United: Cozumel nonstop. Southwest: Cozumel eventually.”)

United could also increase the number of seats it offers through its Basic Economy program, which it launched to compete with Frontier and Southwest by trimming costs and traveler conveniences.

The competition for leisure travelers has become so robust, in fact, that new carriers are entering the sector for the first time since 2007, when Virgin America began operations. In April, Avelo Airlines began operations out of Burbank, California, with fares starting at $19 for one-way flights.

Breeze Airways, the brainchild of JetBlue founder David Neeleman, launched in May. Both newcomers will target leisure travelers who are eager for post-pandemic family visits and vacations. And both plan to exploit smaller, secondary airports (such as Grand

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Whether you’re looking to buy a home or explore Denver’s vast and varied locales, we’ve crunched the numbers to bring you our exclusive list of the 25 best neighborhoods in the Mile High City.

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Junction, now served by Avelo) that the biggest players overlook.

Along with increasing competition, Frontier will face increased scrutiny as a publicly held company. “IPOs sometimes force companies to act more mature than they did when they were privately owned,” Harteveldt says, “because institutional investors like JP Morgan and Deutsch Bank are extremely thorough in their research and will look at DOT complaints and other signs of trouble that go beyond the financials.” Such misdeeds become red flags that typically weaken a company’s financial reputation, Zavyalova says. Indeed, investors’ faultfinding tendencies may explain why Picoult noted a discrepancy in the stock value of airlines with high and low customer satisfaction ratings. According to Watermark Consulting’s Airline Customer Experience ROI Study, carriers with the greatest customer satisfaction saw double the cumulative return on their stocks’ values compared to airlines that passengers rated poorly.

If Frontier doesn’t strategically improve its customer experience, Picoult says, it risks disappointing investors—as Ireland’s Ryanair, another ultra-low-cost carrier, discovered after years of mistreating its passengers.

“Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary once called his customers idiots and floated the idea of charging people to use the lavatory,” Picoult says. By 2013, bookings fell and the airline shocked investors with its first profit warning in a decade. Only then did O’Leary resolve to improve Ryanair’s customer experience, saying, “We should try to eliminate the things that unnecessarily piss people off.”

Ryanair’s example suggests that consumers do, in fact, have the power to force airlines to be nice—but only if they make principled purchases. In the end, Frontier’s cheap fares may prove irresistible even to passengers who believe the airline stole from them.

Douglas Conry won’t be among them. “I am not going to give them any more money,” he says. “All they care about is making a profit. They don’t care about the consumer.

So, no, I will not fly Frontier ever again.”

His boycott will begin immediately after his January 2022 trip to Puerto Vallarta, which he eventually succeeded in rebooking with reinstated Frontier flight credits.

Then he remembers his 55,000 frequentflier miles. “I might use those,” Conry says.

He’s also got a $200 credit for future travel with Frontier, and he doesn’t want to let the company keep that money. Then, finally, he’ll walk away. m Kelly Bastone is a 5280 contributing writer. Email her at letters@5280.com.

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Outdoor Lifestyle

ENTICES NEWCOMERS Featuring

COLORADO HOMES The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Affiliated real estate agents are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2021 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.

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WHY MOVE TO DENVER Outdoor Recreation, Jobs Entice Newcomers

Judging from the 1.5 million people who have moved here during the past two decades, it’s no secret that Colorado is a great place to live, and metro Denver is expected to add another 1.1 million people to its population over the next 20 years.

Although the increase in the state’s population has been driving up housing prices, they’re still relatively low compared with the East and West coasts’, which is one factor that makes Colorado attractive to folks from other locales. For example, while the median price for a single-family home was up 15 percent in March to $560,000 in metro Denver, California’s median home price for the same month was $758,990, according to Norada Real Estate Investments.

“The biggest challenge is in the lack of available inventory and the ever-increasing affordability situation,” said Todd Moir, regional marketing manager for Coldwell Banker Realty in Colorado. “That is pushing people to move to the outlying communities like Franktown, Frederick or Monument and beyond, dotting the Front Range between Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. It’s really all about quality of life and the amenities such smaller pocket communities are offering coupled with the small-town, rural feel you get.”

The desirable quality of life that draws many people to Colorado includes an active outdoor lifestyle and jobs. The state of fers

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everything from from skiing skiing and and snowboarding snowboarding in in the the winter winter to to hiking, hiking, everything biking, fishing fishing and and camping camping during during the the summer. summer. The The state state boasts boasts 300 300 biking, days of of sunshine sunshine aa year year and and aa relatively relatively mild mild climate, climate, which which make make being being days outside even even more more enjoyable. enjoyable. outside “There is is world-class world-class outdoor outdoor recreation recreation at at every every turn, turn, whether whether “There you’re in in Denver Denver or or on on the the Western Western Slope,” Slope,” said said John John Plack, Plack, senior senior you’re communications manager manager for for Vail Vail Resorts’ Resorts’ Vail Vail and and Beaver Beaver Creek Creek communications properties. “There’s “There’s always always something something to to do, do, and and it’s it’s really really accessible accessible properties. for people.” people.” for Vail Resorts Resorts provides provides aa lot lot of of the the outdoor outdoor recreational recreational opportunities opportunities Vail visitors and and residents residents enjoy enjoy at at the the resorts resorts itit operates operates in in Colorado.

Colorado. visitors At Vail Vail Mountain, Mountain, for for example, example, there’s there’s something something for for everyone, everyone, from from At the kids kids tubing tubing down down the the mountain mountain to to the the adults adults strolling strolling through through the the the Vail Village Village shops. shops.

Vail Located 100 100 miles miles west west of of Denver, Denver, Vail Vail Mountain Mountain is is best best known known for for its its Located

“Even though though Denver Denver pre-Covid-19 pre-Covid-19 saw saw aa lot lot of of traffic traffic and and congestion, congestion, “Even

world-class skiing skiing and and snowboarding, snowboarding, but but itit offers offers much much more. more. There There world-class

compared to to aa lot lot of of other other markets markets like like Austin Austin or or LA, LA, the the commute commute compared

are dozens dozens of of miles miles of of free-ride free-ride biking biking and and hiking hiking trails. trails. are

was still still pretty pretty quick. quick. When When we we get get out out of of working working remotely, remotely, itit will will be be was

The resort’s resort’s Epic Epic Discovery Discovery activities activities include include the the Forest Forest Flyer Flyer Mountain Mountain The Coaster, aa 3,400-foot 3,400-foot coaster coaster that that winds winds its its way way down down the the mountain mountain Coaster, through the the forest; forest; Eagle’s Eagle’s Nest Nest tubing, tubing, which which runs runs down down aa 550-foot 550-foot through hill; and and the the Little Little Eagle Eagle Zipline, Zipline, where where kids kids can can soar soar through through the the air air hill; above 11,000 11,000 feet. feet. above

interesting to to see see how how Denver Denver performs.” performs.” interesting MORE COMPANIES COMPANIES EXPAND EXPAND OR OR RELOCATE RELOCATE HERE HERE MORE Numerous companies companies have have relocated relocated their their headquarters headquarters or or opened opened Numerous branch offices offices in in metro metro Denver Denver in in recent recent years years to to take take advantage advantage of of branch the region’s region’s highly highly educated educated workforce. workforce. Among Among those those that that have have or or the

“The ease ease of of access access for for sports sports and and outdoor outdoor activities activities is is really really the the “The

plan to to set set up up shop shop in in Colorado Colorado are are Wix, Wix, an an Israel-based Israel-based website website plan

big draw,” draw,” said said Plack, Plack, who who moved moved to to Vail Vail from from the the East East Coast Coast about about big

platform; Portland, Portland, Oregon-based Oregon-based DAT DAT Solutions, Solutions, which which will will open open aa platform;

year ago. ago. aa year

second headquarters headquarters at at the the Denver Denver Tech Tech Center; Center; Emerson Emerson Electric, Electric, second which plans plans to to invest invest more more than than $100 $100 million million in in Boulder Boulder to to expand expand its its which

EVENTS PROMOTE PROMOTE LIFESTYLE, LIFESTYLE, BENEFIT BENEFIT COMMUNITY COMMUNITY EVENTS Countless organized organized activities activities and and events events promote promote the the outdoor outdoor lifestyle lifestyle Countless this great great state state has has to to offer, offer, while while helping helping aa number number of of beneficiaries beneficiaries this

manufacturing space space and and launch launch an an innovation innovation center; center; and and Sophia Sophia manufacturing Genetics, which which is is opening opening aa research research and and development development center center in in Genetics, Aurora.

Aurora.

and cycling cycling advocacy advocacy groups. groups. One One such such event event is is the the September September 25 25 and Coldwell Banker Banker Denver Denver Century Century Ride, Ride, aa 100-mile 100-mile trek trek that that starts starts and and Coldwell ends at at The The Shops Shops at at Northfield Northfield in in the the Central Central Park Park neighborhood, neighborhood, ends winding its its way way through through and and around around metro metro Denver Denver communities. communities. winding

Industries such such as as legal legal cannabis cannabis and and craft craft brewing brewing also also attract attract Industries enthusiasts for for those those products, products, as as well well as as provide provide jobs jobs to to people people who who enthusiasts are moving moving here. here. are

Visit denvercenturyride.com denvercenturyride.com for for details. details. Coldwell Coldwell Banker Banker Realty Realty also also Visit

“The job job market market in in Colorado Colorado is is very very strong, strong, and and aa vast vast array array of of “The

supports the the American American Heart Heart Association’s Association’s annual annual CycleNation CycleNation supports

industries with with many many large large and and small small companies companies are are moving moving their their industries

outdoor spin spin cycle cycle event, event, as as well well as as the the organization’s organization’s Heart Heart Walk.

Walk. outdoor

headquarters here,” here,” Moir Moir said. said. “We “We have have everything everything going going for for us us as as aa headquarters

“We’re huge huge in in the the local local community community and and advocacy advocacy supporters supporters in in all all “We’re

region, state state and and vibrant vibrant Front Front Range Range metroplex. metroplex. It’s It’s all all good, good, and and for for region,

areas where where we we work, work, live live and and play play along along the the Front Front Range,” Range,” Moir Moir said. said. areas

those of of us us in in the the real real estate estate sector, sector, times times are are truly truly unprecedented unprecedented –– those

Job grow growth th and and relatively relatively shor shortt commute commute times times also also influence influence Job

as they they say.” say.” as

decisions about about where where to to live. live. “When “When people people are are thinking thinking about about decisions

To learn learn more more about about making making aa move move to to Colorado, Colorado, contact contact an an agent agent To

returning to to work, work, the the commute commute is is aa big big factor,” factor,” said said Charley Charley Will, Will, returning

affiliated with with Coldwell Coldwell Banker Banker Realty, Realty, the the #1 #1 real real estate estate brokerage brokerage affiliated

vice president president of of capital capital markets markets for for Coldwell Coldwell Banker Banker Real Real Estate.

Estate. vice

along the the Front Front Range*.

Range*. along

*Coldwell Banker Banker Realty Realty f/k/a f/k/a Coldwell Coldwell Banker Banker Residential Residential Brokerage.

Brokerage. Based Based on on closed closed sales sales volume volume and and total total number number of of units units closed closed information information from from RE# RE# for for Adams, Adams, Arapahoe, Arapahoe, Boulder, Boulder, *Coldwell Broomfield, Clear Clear Creek, Creek, Denver, Denver, Douglas, Douglas, Elbert, Elbert, Gilpin, Gilpin, Jefferson Jefferson and and Park Park counties counties in in all all price price ranges ranges as as reported reported on on Feb. Feb. 5, 5, 2021 2021 for for the the period period of of Jan. Jan. 1-Dec. 1-Dec. 31, 31, 2020.

2020. Sales Sales volume volume calculated calculated Broomfield, by multiplying multiplying the the number number of of buyer buyer and/or and/or seller seller sides sides by by sales sales price. price. One One unit unit equals equals one one side side of of aa transaction transaction (buyer (buyer or or seller). seller). Source Source data data is is deemed deemed reliable reliable but but not not guaranteed. guaranteed. by

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DENVER | $2,650,000 Exquisite, newly built 4br/5ba Duplex in Cherry Creek offers breathtaking views. Courtyard with gas firepit. Floor to ceiling European windows, high-end European appliances, fixtures by Porcelanosa & elevator access to all floors. Finished basement. Attention to detail is around every corner and this Smart Home can be controlled via your cell phone.

Yuliya Strizhenko 303.668.3463 yuliya.strizhenko@coloradohomes.com

PARKER | PRICE UPON REQUEST This is the IDEAL setup for the serious horse entrepreneur. 4br/3ba ranch-style home on approx. 10-acres. All-brick stable with 14 stalls, 3 grooming stalls & sand arena with zoning for 20 horses. Riding distance to Colorado Horse Park. House with finished walkout basement, open floor plan, mountain views & tiered decks.

Bruce McQuiston 303.882.9235 macsbrew@msn.com | Littleton-HighlandsRanch.com

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guiding you home since 1906

EVERGREEN | $885,000 Gorgeous home in the serene foothills setting that is move-in ready. Refinished, dark stained hardwood oak floors throughout the main level w/walnut floors in the office & master. Beautiful kitchen w/slab granite counters, cherry cabinets & beetle kill pine island open to the family room. 3 of 4 BDs on one level.

Main floor office & finished walk-out basement w/rec room. www.3462OverlookTrl.com.

Josette Montgomery 303.901.8027 josette.montgomery@coloradohomes.com | JosetteMontgomery.cbintouch.com

CENTENNIAL | $770,000 This Willow Creek home captures the wonder of Colorado life. Tucked away in a charming cul-de-sac, this property boasts one of the largest lots in the neighborhood complete with garden boxes and storage shed. Upon entry, this home is a welcoming view of open space for dining and relaxing. From the plethora of storage to the screened in back porch, this home is perfect for all seasons in CO. Joanna McKinney 303.505.4523 joanna.mckinney@coloradohomes.com | AspenVerde.com

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GUIDING YOU TO THE PLACE WHERE THE BEST GETAWAYS ARE STAYS RIGHT HERE

Guiding you home since 1906.

ColdwellBankerHomes.com Affiliated real estate agents are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2021 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. 21GHTB_NAT_4/21

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guiding you home since 1906

PARKER | Price Upon Request 5br/6ba home w/amazing Pikes Peak views on 5 acres. Main floor w/bedroom, office w/built-in shelves, flex space & dining area.

Family room w/fireplace & wall-to-wall windows. Kitchen w/high-end appliances & 6-burner stove. Master w/walk-in closet.

DENVER | $1,375,000 Spectacular 6br/4ba home overlooking Eisenhower Park.

Exceptional space for entertaining w/an open floor plan, quartz kitchen, SS appliances, gas cooktop, walk-in pantry, large kitchen island, master walk-in closet, basement & backyard w/patio.

Karyn Walker 303.819.8910 karyn.walker@coloradohomes.com | KMWHomes.com

Chriss Bond 720.771.7369 chriss.bond@coloradohomes.com

EVERGREEN | $1,325,000 Gorgeous 3br/4ba home situated on 5+acres w/expansive mountain views. Open gourmet kitchen includes Viking & Bosch ss appliances, granite counters & butcher block island. Main floor includes a river rock fireplace, hardwood floors & master bedroom.

GOLDEN | $1,200,000 Your wish come true. Spacious open concept home yet also with unique individual spaces. Incredible wrap around deck makes inside to outside living easy. Complete w/lower walk out level, fenced yard and 3-car garage.

Bethany Chamberlain 720.205.4934 bethany.chamberlain@coloradohomes.com

Amy Smoldt 303.949.9683 amy@mountaintimerealestate.com | MountainTimeRealEstate.com

MORRISON | $975,000 Stunning Custom Home on 2.7 pristine acres in beautiful Peaceful Hills. The Stone exterior and complementing hardscape make this a property that will impress you from the minute you arrive. Wonderful Great Room.

4 Fireplaces and Twin Master Suites!

Kevin Freadhoff 303.803.6949 Kevin@GoFHG.com | MountainHomeForYou.com

EVERGREEN | $950,000 Beautiful Mountain Contemporary on 2.25 Pristine and Park-Like Acres in sought after Evergreen Meadows. With cul-de-sac privacy, the Stone and Beam exterior accents are impressive and welcoming from the minute you arrive.

A Must See Home!

Kevin Freadhoff 303.803.6949 Kevin@GoFHG.com | MountainHomeForYou.com

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ERIE | $895,598 Ranch 3br/4ba home features 4,347 finished SQFT, wood floors, family room w/fireplace, kitchen w/white cabinets & granite counters, master bedroom w/5pc master bath & dual master closets & finished basement w/wet bar. Unbelievable mountain views!

LOUISVILLE | $890,000 5br/4ba on a cul-de-sac, abounding with features for functional living. Well maintained & has updated bathrooms, solid hardwood floors & professionally finished basement. Yard is bursting with perennial flowers & fruit trees. This home is turn-key!

Greg Gilbert 303.250.9007 greg.gilbert@coloradohomes.com | GilbyProperties.com

The Sartell Bliss Team 720.771.9345 bethanysartell@gmail.com | SartellBlissTeam.com

HIGHLANDS RANCH | Price Upon Request Backcountry: Updated 4br/4ba home w/granite kitchen, eat-in island, SS appliances, custom pantry, stone fireplace, master walk-in closet, front porch w/swing, large backyard & patio.

FORT COLLINS | $875,000 5br/5ba home w/an open concept and refinished wood floors.

Kitchen w/48-inch stove and an island. Master bedroom has a master bath w/a heated floor. Finished basement w/a storage area and shop.

Complete w/a newly painted fence and a well-lit garage.

Jennifer Hebert 303.929.9044 jennifer.hebert@coloradohomes.com | JenniferHebertProperties.com

Jimmy Stewart 970.290.3755 jimmy@thekeygroupre.com | TheKeyGroupRE.com

CENTENNIAL | $875,000 One-of-a-kind 4br/4ba custom home! 1.27-acre lot is beautifully landscaped. Located in the highly sought-after Cherry Creek School District. Brand new solar system & finished basement.

AURORA | $850,000 Stunning 6br/4.5ba waterfront property w/a patio, open space & pond. Enjoy a formal dining room, great room & family room w/vaulted ceilings & fireplace. Kitchen w/a large island & eat-in area.

Primary bedroom w/water views & an oversized shower.

Carole Newberry 970.443.4047 cnewberry@coloradohomes.com | CNewberry.com

Julie Thelander 303.520.2308 julie.thelander@cbrealty.com | JulieThelander.cbintouch.com

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CENTENNIAL | $825,000 Gorgeous 5br/3ba home in Homestead in the Willows. Kitchen boasts maple cabinets w/new black granite counters & marble backsplash. Formal living room. Family room w/new gas-insert fireplace. Main floor study. Master w/updated en-suite bathroom.

ERIE | $800,000 Gorgeous 5br/4ba home features a spacious kitchen w/granite countertops & ss appliances, living room w/stone fireplace, master suite w/5pc bath & finished basement w/kitchenette & bar.

A.K. Riley 720.289.2929 ak@kadenverhomes.com | KADenverHomes.com

Brie Fowler 303.882.8672 Lindsey Sampier Baker 970.214.9715

THORNTON | $780,000 Small 2br/1ba ranch home on approximately 2.2 Acres of land offers an oversized attached 2-car garage + 4-car detached garage.

Includes a kitchen, formal dining room, den/bedroom, family room w/free-standing stove & master bedroom w/large closet.

LONGMONT | Price Upon Request SOLD 4br/3ba home. Kitchen w/new cabinets, SS appliances and nook for laundry. Primary bedroom and full bath also on the main level. Upstairs w/3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen and full bath.

Complete w/basement including laundry room and 3/4 bath.

Linda Gilbert 720.232.1990 linda.gilbert@coloradohomes.com | LindaGilbertHomes.com

Dave Janis 303.442.5001 dave@davejanis.com | JanisProperties.com

LITTLETON | Price Upon Request This adorable 3br/2ba home is just one block from the historic district of downtown, offering a lifestyle that is second to none! This is your opportunity to own your dream home in your dream location. This is a must see. Welcome home!

AURORA | $750,000 4br/3ba home opens to an expansive great room, dining and kitchen combo area. 3 bedrooms and study complete the main floor. Finished basement w/family room, a bedroom, bonus area and 3/4 bath.

Backyard w/a covered deck and patio backs to open space.

Frannie Held 303.912.5828 frannie.held@coloradohomes.com

Jen Brink 303.653.2738 jen.brink@coloradohomes.com | JenBrink.cbintouch.com

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PARKER | Price Upon Request 4br/3ba home on a corner lot w/fenced-in yard & hardwood floors.

Kitchen w/oversized island, quartz counters & walk-in pantry. Covered deck w/newer hot tub. Great room w/gas fireplace. Owner’s bedroom w/sitting area, 2 walk-in closets & lux bathroom.

BENNETT | $729,500 High Prairie Oasis, 1.43 acres of landscaped property w/painted sky sunrise/sunsets. 5 Bedrooms, 4 Bathrooms, 4,407 Sq Ft. Entertain in the vaulted ceiling main floor, featuring a stone fireplace or outdoor living spaces with large deck and patio.

Shannon Byerly 303.919.2611 YourFreshStartRealtor@gmail.com | YourFreshStartRealtor.com

Theresa Schmader Lane 720.938.2390 theresa.lane@coloradohomes.com | TheresaLane.cbintouch.com

ENGLEWOOD | $725,000 3br/2ba home in the heart of Englewood. Enjoy an eat-in kitchen and formal dining area. Huge addition off the back w/a wood burning stove. Finished basement w/new carpeting, a full bath and another bedroom. Complete w/a 6-car garage and a patio area.

AURORA | Price Upon Request Move in Ready. Less than 3 years old. 4 bedroom + main floor office, 4 baths. Open floor plan. Chef’s kitchen w/SS appliances – quartz counters & Island seating. Extensive upgraded home. Sunroom, extended deck, and finished walk-out basement.

Colleen Teitelbaum 303.668.8186 teitelbaumcolleen@gmail.com | CocoTeitel.com

Alice Downie 303.520.0277 alice.downie@coloradohomes.com | AliceDownie.com

WINDSOR | $600,000 5br/4ba home w/an open floor plan and main level master bedroom.

The large bedrooms provides lots of closet storage. Finished basement w/a theatre room and an extra finished space. Complete w/a 3-car garage and a four season sunroom with great views.

DENVER | Price Upon Request Charming 3br/3ba home in Hampden South. Updated kitchen, ss appliances, hardwood floors, recessed lighting & large skylights. Cozy wood burning fireplace, large rec room, plenty of storage & roomy back yard...this home has it all! Centrally located!

Jimmy Stewart 970.290.3755 jimmy@thekeygroupre.com | TheKeyGroupRE.com

Sean Closset 720.308.7505 sean.closset@cbrealty.com | SeanSellsColorado.com

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AURORA | $575,000 Beautiful 3br/3ba home located on a quiet cul-de-sac w/an open concept floorplan & bsmt. Kitchen w/granite counters, SS appliances & walk-in pantry. Family room w/extra-wide fireplace & tray veiling.

Master bedroom w/walk-in closet & dual vanity.

AURORA | $575,000 5br/3ba home. Kitchen w/island, pantry & all new GE Café designer appliances. Family room w/fireplace, 2 skylights. 700+ sqft master suite w/remodeled en-suite bath, addt'l main level full bath. Lower level w/2 addt'l bedrooms, ¾ bath. Large backyard.

Stephanie Ryan 303.725.8901 stephanie.ryan@coloradohomes.com | StephanieRyanRealEstate.com

John McComas 303.668.5542 john@johnmccomas.com | JohnMcComas.com

THORNTON | Price Upon Request Charming 2br/2ba rancher offers hardwood flooring, open kitchen w/abundance of cabinets, ss appliances & oversized island, great room w/gas fireplace, rear patio & deck w/mountain views & master suite w/large bath w/stall shower & walk-in closet.

LITTLETON | $545,000 Charming 4br/3ba single-story on a spacious corner lot w/mature landscaping, hardwood floors, brick fireplace, SS appliances, basement w/additional living space, covered patio & 3 sheds.

Linda Gilbert 720.232.1990 linda.gilbert@coloradohomes.com | LindaGilbertHomes.com

John McComas 303.668.5542 john@johnmccomas.com | JohnMcComas.com

BRIGHTON | $530,000 5br/4ba home in Wright Farms on an oversized lot with mountain views. Kitchen w/new cabinets and granite countertops. Master suite w/5-piece bath. Finished basement with wet bar and rec room. Great outdoor space w/ large patio area & beautiful lawn.

GREELEY | $525,000 4br/3ba home offers multi-generational living w/separate entrances on both levels. There is a main floor baster bedroom. Basement w/another master bedroom, a full kitchen and 2 additional living spaces. Complete w/a fenced yard and a 2-car garage.

Matt Brinkhoff 303.324.0241 matt.brinkhoff@coloradohomes.com | MattsColoradoHomes.com

Gus Bergs 970.308.4733 gusbergs@hotmail.com | TheKeyGroupRE.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

LOVELAND | Price Upon Request 4br/3ba home w/an open floor plan and wood floors.

Kitchen w/custom cabinets, granite countertops and walk-in pantry. Main floor master w/5-piece master bath. Basement w/family room, 2 bedrooms and 2nd fireplace. Complete w/backyard and patio.

Jimmy Stewart 970.290.3755 Rena Wallingford 970.218.2003

DENVER | $524,900 5br/2ba home. All kitchen appliances included and in newer condition including a gas stove and updated soft-close cabinetry.

Finished basement w/a flex space, laundry area, 2 additional bedrooms, and updated 3/4 bath. Complete w/extended 1-car garage and landscaped backyard.

Abby Lackey 720.254.7648 abby.lackey@cbrealty.com | AbbyLackey.cbintouch.com

AURORA | $520,000 Spacious 5br/4ba home offers an open living space between the family room, breakfast nook & kitchen. Finished basement & three-car garage with a great location near the private community lake, neighborhood park, & the new Central Recreation Center.

STRASBURG | Price Upon Request Beautiful 4br/3ba home w/bonus room! Gourmet kitchen w/beautiful counters. Kitchen nook offers a great dining space & opens to the family room w/fireplace. Large master bedroom w/spacious closet & 5pc bathroom retreat. Partial finished basement.

Matt Brinkhoff 303.324.0241 matt.brinkhoff@coloradohomes.com | MattsColoradoHomes.com

Michael Williams 303.667.7176 michael.williams@coloradohomes.com | ColoradoLuxuryHomes.net

ENGLEWOOD | $500,000 3br/2ba home on a double lot w/mature trees. Maintained yard w/sprinkler system, garden space & shed. Kitchen w/granite counters.

Dining room w/ample windows & views. Finished lower level w/large bedroom, washer/dryer. Heated sunroom & 2-car garage.

AURORA | Price Upon Request Lovely 6br/4ba home situated on -1/4 acre offers Tesla Solar panels, spacious kitchen, 3 living areas & dining room, expansive backyard.

Owner's suite w/office area & large, finished basement. Centrally located in the Cherry Creek School District.

Elizabeth Murphy 303.842.5063 Elizabeth@ElizabethMurphyRE.com | ElizabethMurphyRE.com

Shannon Byerly 303.919.2611 YourFreshStartRealtor@gmail.com | YourFreshStartRealtor.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

guiding you home since 1906

WINDSOR | Price Upon Request 5br/5ba home in Victorian style neighborhood of New Windsor.

Kitchen w/newer quartz countertop, backsplash and rollout drawers.

Master bedroom w/5-piece bath and walk-in closet. Complete w/a finished basement, 3-car garage and concrete stamped patio.

AURORA | $460,000 This open concept, three bedroom, two bath home has tall ceilings, plantation shutters, laminate wood flooring in the main living areas and double sliding doors to the covered patio that makes for great entertaining inside and out.

Jimmy Stewart 970.290.3755 jimmy@thekeygroupre.com | TheKeyGroupRE.com

Stephanie Ryan 303.725.8901 stephanie.ryan@coloradohomes.com | StephanieRyanRealEstate.com

DENVER | $449,000 Spacious 2br/1ba condo w/new designer paint, granite counters, cherry cabinets, ss appliances & oversized patio- 200+ SQFT! The master bedroom has its own entrance to the patio & into the bathroom, which features double sinks, a shower & soaking tub.

ARVADA | Price Upon Request Charming 4br/2ba Arvada rambler. Build some sweat equity & enjoy the opportunities to make this home yours. Charming brick ranch is looking for its new owners. The flat yard with some mature trees is excited to have your creative touch.

Amanda Larson 303.523.9288 amanda.larson@coloradohomes.com | DeverHomesByAmanda.com

Sarah Bowles 720.837.2727 sarah@chdagent.com | CHDAgent.com

BRIGHTON | $400,000 4br/2ba Ranch Style Home in Sunset View. Living room w/a wood-burning fireplace. Spacious detached garage provides plenty of storage and wired electrical as well as tall garage doors. Complete w/a backyard. Great location close to downtown Brighton.

AURORA | $245,000 Bright & Sunny 2br/3ba Townhome includes Living Room w/Wood Burning Fireplace, Spacious Master Suite, 2nd Bedroom w/Full Wall Unit. Gaze out your Kitchen Garden Window at your Fully Fenced Yard. Ideally located in the Cherry Creek School District.

Jimmy Stewart 970.290.3755 jimmy@thekeygroupre.com | TheKeyGroupRE.com

David Blacker 720.727.7613 dblacker.homes@gmail.com | DavidBlacker.cbintouch.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

DENVER | $799,000

DENVER | $775,000

HIGHLANDS RANCH | $685,000

3br/2ba home w/refinished hardwood floors. Updated kitchen w/granite and stainless appliances. Finished basement w/a 3/4 bath. Complete w/a patio as well as a 2-car and a 1-car garage.

2br/2.5ba 2-story penthouse. Great room w/gas fireplace, 2 balconies. Gourmet kitchen with Viking appliances. Master bedroom w/5-piece master bath, walk-in closet. City Views!

Beautiful 3br/3ba townhome in the desirable neighborhood of Tresana. Upstairs loft and laundry room, two main level patios, and a master suite with private balcony and mountain views.

P.J. Farrell 303.884.5368

Janie Stoddard 303.408.0738

Kylie Rupert 303.842.8205

BRIGHTON | $675,000

ERIE | $675,000

WINDSOR | Price Upon Request

3br/3ba home on 2.41 acres. Family room w/gas fireplace. Master 4br/3ba gem includes a living room w/fireplace & built-in Beautiful 5br/3ba ranch offers a kitchen w/Quartz counters, gas bedroom w/west facing balcony. There is a laundry room and shelving, kitchen w/Knotty Alder cabinetry, granite counters & cooktop & island, family room w/fireplace & finished basement finished basement. Complete w/an outbuilding and 3-car garage. GE ss appliances, master w/spa-like retreat & wraparound porch. w/great room. Gas line & pond in back. Upgraded Elevation!

Christy Hepp 303.910.5393

Brie Fowler 303.882.8672 Brandon Rearick 970.691.0122

Ronald Kientz 303.881.4404

FORT COLLINS | $650,000

DENVER | $649,000

PARKER | $625,000

4br/3.5ba home on 1.24 acres. Kitchen w/granite countertops and SS appliances. Basement w/a wet bar and guest suite. Complete w/2-car garage, a large shed and a detached 3-car garage.

4br/2ba bungalow w/front porch, living room w/original wood burning fireplace, dining room and updated kitchen. Updated bathrooms, finished basement & private, fenced backyard w/patio.

4br/3ba property w/5+ acres offers open concept living area.

The property has a barn, fenced backyard a enclosed sunroom.

Bring your horse and enjoy fantastic views and sunsets.

Erich Menzel 970.402.8457

Barbara DeBoer 303.549.0385

Kurtz Krew 720.421.4580

CASTLE ROCK | Price Upon Request

ENGLEWOOD | $573,000

JOHNSTOWN | $565,000

Fantastic 3br/2ba ranch-style home on a corner lot w/hardwoods. 3br/2ba home completed in 2017 w/newer furnace & a kitchen Master suite w/natural light, large walk-in closet & jetted tub. w/newer appliances & granite countertops. Newly painted, Kitchen w/large pantry. Backyard w/lots of space. beautiful ceiling details, original hardwood fl oors & fireplace.

4br/3ba home. Kitchen w/granite counters and stainless appliances.

Great room w/a fireplace. Master suite w/a 5-piece bath. Complete w/unfinished basement, 4-car garage and fenced yard.

Karyn Walker 303.819.8910

The Choice Team 970.658.5909

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

Mena Moran 303.322.1117

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

guiding you home since 1906

AURORA | $560,000

AURORA | $557,500

PARKER | $549,900

4br/3ba home in sought after community w/multiple parks.

Kitchen w/slab granite, an island and all appliances. 2-story living space w/a gas fireplace. Complete w/an oversized garage.

Beautiful three bedroom, three bath home located on a cul-de-sac in the desirable neighborhood of Sorrel Ranch. Upstairs loft, main floor den/study and three-car tandem garage.

Gorgeous 3br/2ba ranch showcases a remodeled kitchen w/high end cabinets, mosaic glass tile back splash & nook, living room w/fireplace, master suite w/new carpet & remodeled basement.

Donna Jarock 303.718.6285

Kylie Rupert 303.842.8205

Joni Jagger 303.437.3046

AURORA | $500,000

HIGHLANDS RANCH | $500,000

BRIGHTON | $489,000

Nicely updated 4br/3ba corner lot home! Stunning 2-story entrance, formal living & dining rm, updated kitchen w/granite countertops & ss appliances, family rm w/fireplace & 3-car garage.

4br/3ba home. Eat-in kitchen opens to the family room w/gas fireplace. Upper level w/master suite, 2 additional bedrooms and 2nd full bath. Complete w/a finished basement and backyard.

Wonderful 5 bed, 4 bath home with finished walkout basement.

Situated on a large lot with covered patio, deck and firepit seating area. Unincorporated area with no HOA dues.

Jennifer Oldham 720.234.3863

Debbie Joseph 303.842.8331

Cathy Schuster 303.478.6364

CENTENNIAL | PRICE UPON REQUEST

AURORA | $475,000

DENVER | $475,000

Fantastic 4 bed/4 bath Smoky Hills home w/open fl oorplan, ample windows, SS appliances, kitchen island, fireplace, finished basement, office space & large yard. Cherry Creek schools.

Beautiful, updated, move-in ready 3br/3ba home. New quartz kitchen counters, backsplash, fl oors, plantation shutters, toilets, garbage disposal, ceiling fans & garage door.

Home w/upgrades. Kitchen w/granite countertops, an island and stainless appliances. Master bedroom w/en suite bath and walk-in closet. Complete w/unfinished basement and 2-car garage.

Dawn Zalfa 720.495.1225

Jennifer Oldham 720.234.3863

Rae Marie Heard 720.234.7918

PARKER | $469,000

LONGMONT | $449,000

DENVER | $445,000

4br/3ba multi-level home w/covered front porch, new carpet/paint, fireplace, deck w/pergola, ceramic counters, SS appliances, dual master closets, basement, 2-car parking & garden boxes.

3br/4ba townhome w/large patio & landscaped yard. Open fl oor plan w/hardwoods, granite kitchen, SS appliances & fireplace.

Main suite w/lovely views, walk-in closet & huge bathroom.

Wonderful 2br/2ba unit w/nearly 1,500 SQFT of updated living space! In the Heart of Capitol Hill! Featuring a newer hot water heater & furnace, wood burning fireplace & expansive views!

David DeElena 720.275.2091

Sonya Peterson 303.587.7969

Jennifer Bub 303.253.4969

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

DENVER | $440,000

WESTMINSTER | $435,000

Move-in ready 2br/2.5ba condo is located across from Bear Valley trail. Open kitchen w/walk-in pantry, dining room, living room w/gas fireplace & office leads out to the balcony.

3br/2ba home offers a living room w/wood-burning fireplace, Charming 3br/2ba home offers a detached 3-car garage, private dining room, kitchen w/ss steel appliances, granite countertops & backyard w/shed, updated eat-in kitchen, spacious living & pantry, finished basement & private backyard w/deck. updated bathrooms. Close to Belmar, Lasley Park & Belmar Park.

LaDawn Sperling 303.710.5817

LaDawn Sperling 303.710.5817

LaDawn Sperling 303.710.5817

LITTLETON | $425,000

LONGMONT | $415,900

COLORADO SPRINGS | Price Upon Request

3br/2ba home. Kitchen w/granite counters, dark cabinetry and stainless appliances. Upper level w/a laundry, full bath and 2 bedrooms. Complete w/a finished basement and outdoor space.

Fabulous 3br/2ba home with updates! Replaced flooring in the kitchen & bathrooms. Hot Water Heater only 2 yrs old. Furnace & A/C - cleaned & serviced. 65" TV, fireplace & desk included!

3 Beds | 3 Baths | 2-Car | 3,331 Sq. Ft. | Open Floor Plan | Spacious Kitchen | Family Room with Walkout | Master Suite with Double Walk-In Closets | Bonus Room | Fully Fenced Backyard.

Donna Jarock 303.718.6285

Janie Larson 720.937.2676

Zane Whitfield 719.332.3930

DENVER | $400,000

LAKEWOOD | $400,000

PUEBLO WEST | Price Upon Request

Charming 2br/2ba ranch home w/refinished hardwood floors, newer windows, basement w/additional living space, huge & flat backyard w/electric fence, 2 patios, 1-car garage & fresh paint.

3br/2ba home including updated baths & kitchen & hardwood 3 Beds | 4 Baths | 2-Car | Gourmet Kitchen | Family Room with floors. Newer windows & roof & new furnace, central air, hot water Walkout | Master Bed with Adjoined Bath | Lower-Level Family heater & updated electrical panel! Perfect location!

Room | Huge Fully Fenced Backyard with Mountain Views.

Lynne Ross 303.520.8800

Staci Stroh 303.570.7039

Zane Whitfield 719.332.3930

THORNTON | $375,000

FREDRICK | $355,000

BOULDER | $349,000

Updated 3br/2ba ranch located on a ¼-acre lot. Updated kitchen w/SS appliances opens to both the patio & living/dining room combination. Detached, oversized 3-car garage w/bonus room.

1,124 SQFT building on a 6,250 SQFT commercial lot. Currently houses a company w/lease until September at $950/mo. Tenant pays all utilities & owner pays taxes & insurance. Shed included.

2br/2ba condo w/an open floor plan and a fireplace. Recently upgraded w/kitchen cabinets and flooring, tiling in the kitchen and newer carpet. Complete w/a patio and in-unit laundry.

Pam Ludwig 720.333.5063

Tom Fowler 303.956.2575 Jillian Fowler 303.884.2032

Mark Holmes 303.332.5351

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

LAKEWOOD | $425,000

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

guiding you home since 1906

LAKEWOOD | $335,000

AURORA | $320,000

HIGHLANDS RANCH | $295,000

2br/1.5ba townhome near Belmar. Open space in front of the unit and Belmar Park nearby. Updated kitchen and bathrooms.

Complete w/a covered patio and 2-car carport.

2br/2.5ba townhouse-like condo. Living room opens to a dining area and into a kitchen .Complete w/a basement, 2-car garage and balcony. SOLD in just days for $340,000!

2br/2ba condo w/lots of upgrades. Kitchen w/LBP flooring, a gas range and breakfast nook. In-unit laundry w/a washer and dryer.

Complete w/a 1-car detached garage and covered patio.

Anastasia Sommer 720.360.7050

Cheryl Lohuis 303.522.6161

Kurtz Krew 720.421.4580

AURORA | $290,000

LAKEWOOD | $279,500

LAKEWOOD | $260,000

2br/3ba condo has an open main floor appeal w/a fireplace.

Upstairs has both bedrooms w/vaulted ceilings. Complete w/attached one-car garage and an extra off-street parking spot.

Beautifully updated garden level 2br/2ba apartment. Kitchen w/new oak cabinets & granite counters, master bedroom w/walk-in closet & ensuite bath, living room w/fireplace & small patio.

Darling 1BR/1BA townhouse located near acres of open space!

Tall windows offer tons of natural light, a cozy fireplace & sunset views from the deck. Spacious lofted master bedroom.

Jen Brink 303.653.2738

Gig Blitz 303.900.5545

Mary Ann O'Toole 720.530.6878

DENVER | $228,000

DENVER | $195,000

AURORA | $188,000

2br/2ba condo. Living room w/a fireplace. Kitchen w/SS refrigerator, dishwasher and stove. Master bedroom w/walk-in closet and access to covered deck. Complete w/reserved parking space.

1br/1ba condo w/open floor plan & private balcony. Updated kitchen w/quartz counters & breakfast bar. Room for office area.

Full-sized washer, dryer, storage locker & parking included

2br/2ba condo. Kitchen w/newer stainless appliances and tile floors. Master bedroom w/an updated en suite bath and walk-in closet. Complete w/a patio and 2 reserved parking spaces.

Jerry Rich 303.668.1635

Nita Kolarsick 303.250.8280

Mary Ann O'Toole 720.530.6878

EVERGREEN | PRICE UPON REQUEST

COLORADO SPRINGS | PRICE UPON REQUEST

LAKEWOOD | $160,000 1br/1ba condo in Nevada Place. Cosmetic updates would make this home fantastic. A surprising amount of storage is available in this unit. Enjoy outdoor space, laundry & a newer furnace.

LaDawn Sperling 303.710.5817

North Evergreen homesite with breathtaking views. Affordable 3 Beds | 3 Baths | 2-Car | 2,089 Sq. Ft. | Claremont Ranch | 1-acre with well and paved road access; utilities nearby. Easy Living Room with Double-Sided Gas Fireplace | Kitchen with access to trails, city and ski resorts. Live where you love! Walkout | Master Suite with Adjoined Bath | Fully Fenced Backyard.

Jamie Bradley 720.560.5430

Zane Whitfield 719.332.3930

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

CYCLE THE CITY

100 MILES • 85 MILES • 50 MILES • 25 MILES REGISTER NOW TO SAVE AT DenverCenturyRide.com Discover Denver by bike on this fully-supported urban ride.

S AT U R D AY SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

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I AM ONE OF 11,418 KIDS REPORTED ABUSED IN DENVER COUNTY EACH YEAR. DCAC STANDS BY MY SIDE-INVESTIGATING MY CASE, FIGHTING FOR ME AND GIVING ME HOPE. DENVERCAC.ORG/SAVEJANE DONATE TODAY Join us on July 30th at City Park, as we spread awareness about this critical issue while highlighting DCAC’s expert response and encouraging our community to join in our work.

BACKSTORY The video of Dinger, the Rockies’ purple triceratops mascot, hatching out of an egg is televised. (If they don’t show it, look it up. You won’t regret it.)

TAKE A SIP EVERY TIME…

Someone talks about voting laws—and maybe throw in an extra gulp if you fear for our democracy.

The Rockies get a compliment for pulling together the All-Star weekend on such short notice.

An announcer calls Coors Field a hitter’s [insert any synonym for “dream” here].

That dramatic BetMGM commercial starring Jamie Foxx is shown.

Someone not from Colorado makes a joke about marijuana. Alternatively, take a 2.5-milligram edible; when in Rome….

A long montage of exciting moments from the All-Star Game in 1998, the last time the Midsummer Classic was hosted in the Mile High City, begins rolling.

FINISH YOUR DRINK EACH TIME…

The Nolan Arenado trade is called one of the worst in baseball history. (Pour some out as a farewell to general manager Jeff Bridich.)

A SWIG AND A MISS

Georgia’s Election Integrity Act of 2021 may be the biggest unforced error of the legislative season. After critics argued the law would limit minority voters’ access to the ballot box, MLB moved July 13’s All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver in protest. The Peach State’s loss is long-suffering Colorado baseball fans’ gain, and we plan to fully celebrate this rare win—by sharing a Denverthemed drinking game for those watching at home.

The camera pans to Jared Polis—a fixture in the annual congressional baseball game that pits Republicans against Democrats before he became Colorado’s governor— cheering in the stands. Make the first one a shot if he’s painted his face. (Please, Jared, we need this.)

—ANGELA UFHEIL

Peyton Manning is onscreen.

DO A SHOT IF… A Rockies batter (the host team gets to send at least one player) either strikes out or gets walked.

You see an aerial shot of McGregor Square, the brand-new, 659,000-squarefoot development spanning the block next to Coors Field. Sure, the Rockies-owned entertainment hub feels like an attempt to buy Denverites’ love in place of fielding a halfway decent team—but hey, at least it has a food hall.

A cat storms the field. Make it a double if it’s the same gray feline that raced across the outfield when the Rockies played the Dodgers on April 2.

A midafternoon summer thunderstorm (or snow) forces a brief delay.

You hear the phrase “cancel culture.”

An angry Rockies fan is interviewed and demands the Monforts sell the team. 

128 5 2 8 0

J U LY 2 0 2 1

Visit 5280.com for our full guide to enjoying All-Star Week 2021.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images (Dinger, lighting over Coors Field); Getty Images (“I voted” sticker, woman drinking beer, batter’s arms, baseball bat, baseball, shot glass, angry fan, beer glass, Coors Light, splashing beer); Courtesy of Major League Baseball/Visit MLB.com (All-Star Game logo); Courtesy of McGregor Square (McGregor Square); Matthew Stockman/Getty Images (Jared Polis); Justin Edmonds/Getty Images (cat on field); Michael Reaves/Getty Images (Nolan Arenado)

SHOTGUN A BEER WHENEVER…

We help kids get back to being kids.

For children with asthma, allergies, respiratory and pulmonary illness, and those suffering from persistent symptoms of COVID-19, hope is right here in Denver.

At National Jewish Health, the nation’s leading respiratory hospital, our pediatric specialists incorporate the latest research and treatments to help kids of any age get back to being kids.

We breathe science, so you can breathe life.

To book an appointment for your child, call 800.621.0505 or visit njhealth.org.