The Denver Post Eat and Drink Like A Coloradan | 2024
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Cover photo: Abicycle’s basket isfilled with fresh Colorado produce in Denver on Sept 12. Cover photo by: AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
ANDY CROSS THE DENVER POST
Abraham Sanchez (not pictured) roasts fresh chiles from Musso’s Farms at the 24th annual Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival in downtown Pueblo in 2018 The annual festival features street vendors, entertainment stages with music and dance, chile and salsa contests and of course many varieties of fresh chiles and frijoles
Here’s wherea quartet of decorated Denver chefs eat
Rely on the experts at Lucina, Spuntino, Fruition and Annette
to tell you where to get your next meal
By Lily O’Neill
The Denver Post
When Denver chefs lay down their professional knives for the night, the last thing they want to think about is cookinga meal at home. Some will resort to a Cup O’ Noodles, college-style with a plasticfork,fora quick bite of sustenance, but others, like James Beard Award-winning chef Caroline Glover, have kids, so they cherish the rare nights out on the town.
And they use them wisely. So, skip the Yelp reviews and head straight to the source. Here’s wherefour decorated local chefs go out to eat on their nightsoff.
Caroline Glover
With a 1-year-old daughter on their hands, Caroline Glover and her husband, Nelson Harvey, have scaled back their hours at their restaurants, Annette and Traveling Mercies. They help prep the teamsfor upcoming service and head home in time for dinner with Franny. But on the way, they might stop at Urban Burma since it’s just two blocks away from Stanley Marketplace where Annette and Traveling Mercies are located. The Burmesefood stall inside the Mango House internationalfood hall, 10180 E. Colfax Ave. in Aurora, serves what Glover considers “the best samosas in the whole city.” She also likes to order two tea-leaf salads with fermented tea leaves, cabbage, tomatoes, garlic fried peanuts and crunchy yellow lentils. “I get onefor that night, and one for the next day,” Glover said. “To-go salads can be tricky, but it’s perfect because it’s marinated, so the longer it sits, the better it gets.”
On Tuesdays, the couple makes time for date night. More often than not,
they find themselves at Hillstone in Cherry Creek, 303 Josephine St. “It’s a very nostalgic and quick and easy bite for us,” she said. “You know exactly what you’re going to get, andI love people-watching.” Glover likes to geta “girl dinner” with grilled artichoke, French fries anda martini, while Harvey prefers the ribs. They also like to explore new spots. Most recently, they fell in love with Alma Fonda Fina, 2556 15th St. in Denver’s Lower Highland. “It doesn’t feel like anywhere else in Denver, which is hard to find. Looking out those big glass windows,Iforgot whereI wasfora second. The service was incredible, and what the kitchen put out withthat small of a space exceeded my expectations.”
PHOTOS BY HYOUNG CHANG THE DENVER POST
Urban Burma owner Siri Tan makes Burma tea at the restaurant in Denver on Aug. 28. The food stand is a favorite of James Beard Award-winning chef Carolie Glover.
Urban Burma in Denver on Aug. 28.
Alex Seidel
Alex Seidel’s two high schoolers are both active in sports, so the James Beard Award-winning chef doesn’t get out much. But he’ll make an exception for the broccoli salad at Kawa Ni,a Japanese pub that opened last year at 1900 W. 32nd Ave. in Denver “Anyone who can take raw broccoli and turn it into something as special as that salad is doing something right,” Seidel said. “What [owner Bill Taibe] is doing over there is a welcome addition to Denver with food that’s always balanced and properly seasoned.”
Seidel, thefounder of Fruition, Mercantile Dining & Provision and Chook Chicken, lives in the Lakewood suburbs and his family likes to do a rotation between sushi, poke, Chinese and Indian food “I don’t think I’ve ever seen my son or daughter eata hot dog,” he laughed. For sushi, they prefer Hana Matsuri, 150 S. Union Blvd., Unit 103, Lakewood, where they order nigiri, hamachi kama (grilled yellowtail collar), and grilled squid. “Being in the suburbs, it’s hard to find quality fish, butHana Matsuri is always consistent. It’s not cheap, but no sushi is these days.”
When it comes to Chinese, his daughter usually wins the fight for her favorite takeout from New Peking The togo-only restaurant at 12601 W. Alameda Parkway in Lakewood, serves an array of solid classics from chow mein to panfried rice, Seidel said.
Cindhura Reddy
Cindhura Reddy and Elliot Strathmann, owners of Spuntino, adopted a baby daughter last year, so their schedules have changed significantly. “We took a step back from nights, so we’re here during the day more often to be with our kid,” Reddy said.
When they do get a chance to slip out, it’s usually to visit Reddy’s family in Aurora, where her sister recently introduced her to Golden Saigon, 2648 S. Parker Road. Reddy was enamored withthe nearly 30-year-old Vietnamese restaurant’s family recipes,like Mama Le’s pork curry, a classic clay pot curry from founder and Vietnam native Thanh Thi Le Nguyen.
Spuntino combines Indianand Italian dishes, so it’s no surprise that Reddy— a James Beard Award semifinalist is elevating her daughter’s palate with a variety of foods. “She’s such a good eater that she’ll try anything, so we haven’t totally changed our nightsoff,” Reddy said. She’s even tagged along to their favorite Szechuan restaurant, Yummy Hot Pot& Dumplings, 10350 Federal Blvd. in Federal Heights, where they like to “order half of the menu.”
ANDY CROSS THE DENVER POST
Kawa Ni restaurant in Denver on March 28.
HELEN H. RICHARDSON THE DENVER POST
Spuntino chef and co-owner Cindhura Reddy prepares Capesante, a seared Hokkaido scallops dish, at Spuntino Restaurant on June 27, 2019, in Denver Capesante includes Hokkaido scallops, brown butter and parsnip puree, greenlentils and crispy prosciutto.
Erasmo Casiano
Erasmo Casiano, the owner and chef at Lucina Eatery & Bar and the newly opened Xiquita, hasa baby on the way, so he doesn’t come up for air that often. But when he does, the James Beard Award semifinalist heads to Ni Tuyo, 730 S. University Blvd., a Mexican restau-
On a recent, and rare, date night, the couple shared “one of the most memorable meals we had in recent history” at Eastern European-focused Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails, 3333 E. Colfax Ave. She trieda cold borscht with duck dumplings made by chef Bo Portyko, and “there’s nothing else to that caliber in town,” Reddy said “Bo is really making it his own.”
rant from the family behind Adelitas
Although the Cielo Mar y Tierra molcajete with steak, chicken and shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce, is meant to be shared, Casiano can crush the whole thingby himself.
“The molcajetes are very rooted and tasty in the traditional sense, not to mention the bar is stocked with all the mezcal you could possibly want,” Casiano said.
Lucina and Xiquita are both closed on Sundays and Mondays, sosometimes on those nights, Casiano gets a bite at modern Vietnamese eatery Sap Sua, 2550 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver. He appreciates how everyone on the team there “has something on the menu they can call their own.” His favorites are the “trúng và trúng” with soft scrambled egg, brown butter, fish sauce and trout roe over rice, as well as the “cá kho” (hamachi collar). “I could chow on those all day long.”
SARAH COWELL SPECIAL TO THE DENVER POST
Erasmo Casiano of Lucina and Xiquita can crush one of these Ni Tuyo molcajetes by himself. This is Cielo Mar Y Tierra is the classic, made with steak, chicken, shrimp, spicy tomato sauce, cheddar and panela cheese, green onions and nopales.
Mountain destinations for state’s culinary travelers
Head for the hills
to try some of the best cuisine outside of the Front Range
By Brittany Anas brittanyanas@gmail.com
Snow forecasts, fall foliage predictions and bucket-list hiking trails all have considerable influence over where Coloradans venture for vacation within our state’s rectangular boundaries But forfood lovers,a memorable meal better yet, several well-planned reservations is what guides itineraries.
Beyond the Front Range, several of Colorado’s mountain towns have become destination-worthy dining hot spots, buoyed by the culinary world’s top awards from Michelin and the James Beard Foundation And on the Western Slope, culinary travelers will find a wine country that’s spiked with adventure and restaurants that source from neighboring purveyors.
Here are five dining destinations in Colorado worthy of a getaway.
Breckenridge
Snag one of the four seats at Rootstalk’s new chef’s counter to enjoy an extended tasting menu thatfeatures a few more dishes beyond the restaurant’s seven-course rendition. Located in a charming Victorian home, the 60-seat restaurant is helmed by chef-proprietor Matthew Vawter, who grew up in Breck and won Best Chef in the Mountain West this year from the James Beard Foundation.
“We’ve been pushing the envelope as far as sourcing,” says Vawter, who gets deliveries from farmers on the Western Slope as well as garden goodies from Esoterra Culinary Garden in Boulder, a favorite among Colorado’s top chefs.
His other Breckenridge concept, Rad-
icato, is where you’ll find hearty Italian dishes like a whole branzino prepared in white wine butter and pastas with foraged mushrooms or tossed with grilled purple broccoli.
You might also be surprised to find out that a fantastic sushi restaurant is hiding out in these hills. Mountain Flying Fish, where the owners source from Japan’s fish markets, is Vawter’s favorite place to eat in town and he orders whatever sushi rolls are being featured.
The best stay forfoodies is The Carlin, “a restaurant with rooms” on Breck’s Main Street The restaurant’s raw bar
DESTINATIONS » PAGE8
HELEN H. RICHARDSON THE DENVER POST
Bartender Jacob Pereira makesa drink at the bar inside the popular restaurant Rootstalk, which is in an old home along Main Street on Feb. 28, 2023, in Breckenridge.
Matt Vawter accepts the Best Chef Mountain award onstage during the 2024 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards at Lyric Opera Of Chicago on June 10in Chicago.
Destinations
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stacks impressive seafood towers with oysters, crab, shrimp and more, and main dishes span from grouper fish and chips to braised pork shank. Round out the evening with a nightcap at the subterranean tavern then head to bed, an elevator ride away.
Grand Junction and Palisade
Winemakers on the Western Slope are
putting our state on the mapfor unique sparkling wines that range from fizzy and funky pét-nats to vinos produced in Charmat tanks. And, of course, aftera day of wine tasting, you’ve got to have something in your stomach to soak it all up.
Head to Hotel Maverick in Grand Junction, which has a fantastic rooftop restaurant called Devil’s Kitchen that’s partly runby hospitality students The region makesa great learning labfor Colorado Mesa University students because the rich, high-desert soil yields an abundance of ingredients that in-
spire creativity, says Brittnay Stuckenschneider, the restaurant managerat Devil’s Kitchen. The team puts together seasonal menus with microgreens from Grand Valley Micro Farms, fresh bread from Kulina Lani Organic Sourdough and produce from neighboring orchards including nectarines, plums, peaches and apricots.
Hyperseasonal is the name of the game at the Western Slope’s celebrated restaurants like Pêche (French for peach),a cozy restaurant in Palisade Bin 707Foodbar, which is James Beard-nominated Chef Josh Nieren-
berg’s Grand Junction restaurant, also hasa menu that rotates with the seasons, but locals will also point you here to try the craveable Bin Burger with truffle aioli.
Vail
Vail’s dining scene is world-class, presenting unique culinary experiences. Both Sweet Basil, which fuses flavors from around the world, and Osaki’s, a sushi spot, earned Michelin recommendations in 2023.
But there’s much more Upgrade your
Diners can customize their fondue experience at SwissChalet at the Sonnenalp with add-ons like truffles and champagne or, for some heat, jalapeños and chiliflakes On the raclette route, you can order the cheese with potatoes and balsamic mushrooms or opt for meats including beef tenderloin, bacon, chipolata (a spicy sausage) and smoke Polish sausage.
Destinations
fondue with truffles and champagne at the Swiss Chalet, an alpine-themed restaurant inside the Sonnenalp hotel in Vail (the cheese is imported from Switzerland). Or follow the Hollywood-like red carpet to Moon Rabbit for craft cocktails like the Sage Advice,a tequila and muddled strawberry cocktail that comes with a card containing a nugget of wisdom. Or try an omakase experience at Matsuhisa Vail, where Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s stints in places like Peru and Argentina influence his Japanese menu.
Newfor this ski season, Tavernetta is opening up a second location inside Four Seasons Vail Resort and Residences, bringing its fresh-made pastas and Italian wine list to the resort town, where the team will also debut its firstever breakfast menu.
Aspen
Home to Aspen Food & Wine, one of the country’s top culinary gatherings, Aspen is high on the list of many culinary enthusiasts.
Book a five- or nine-course tasting menu at Bosq, which was one of a handful of Colorado restaurants that nabbed a Michelin star in 2023. The tasting menus are influenced by what’s in season, with afocus on foraging and fermenting.
Other Michelin-recommended restaurants worth checking out in Aspen include Element 47, which is inside the Little Nell and is knownfor its wine list, house-made pastas, and wagyu; Mawa’s Kitchen, where executive chef Mawa McQueen serves Afro-Caribbean dishes with a French influence, and Prospect, a handsome restaurant in Hotel Jerome that showcases local and regional purveyors Speaking of the luxury hotel,
PROVIDED BY THE SONNENALP
ALEXIS AHRLING AHRLING PHOTOGRAPHY
Mawa McQueen, the chef and owner of Mawa’s Kitchen in Aspen; McQueen wasa James Beard Award semifinalist in 2022.
Destinations
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sidle up to its on-site J-Bar fora milkshake with a heavy pour of bourbon that’s known as the Aspen Crud and that originated during Prohibition, a boozy shake flying under the radar as
a dessert.
Beaver Creek
Vail and Aspen are well-known foodie destinations, but Beaver Creek also has some fun surprises in store as well, like Beano’s Cabin,a mountaintop spot where you can arrive onhorseback in the summer or viaa horse-drawn sleigh in the winter In the winter months,
Chef Mackenzie Nicholson skis into the restaurant for her shifts.
Nicholson, who grew up hunting and fishing with her dad, designs many of her menus around wild game, from Rocky Mountain elk short loin to rabbit anda bison tartare that’s served with fresh-grated horseradish and a quail egg yolk.
Round out your fine-dining circuit
with an omakase experience at Sakaba, inside The Ritz-Carlton Bachelor’s Gulch where Japanese wagyu sprinkled with green tea salt sizzles on petite stones and sushi rolls like spicy tuna come spiced with green chili. Fora special meal, book a reservation at Michelin-recommended Mirabelle,a restaurant in a cute house, complete with a greenhouse, and ledby Belgian-born Master Chef Daniel Joly.
PROVIDED BY BEAVER CREEK
Beano’s Cabin in Beaver Creek glows at night.
Customers have dinner at Annette at Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, Colorado on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023
Denver’s 30 required restaurants
By Lily O’Neill and Jonathan Shikes
The Denver Post
How does one measure the quality of a restaurant? Is agea factor? What about the style of its cuisine or the number of awards it has won? Does it capture the moment, or is it timeless? And what makes it essential to the people who live nearby?
For this list of Denver’s 30 required restaurants, we considered all of those variables and more This list might have been different if we’d written it a year
ago, and it might different in a year’s time Butfor now, these are the restaurants thatfelt like required eating in the Mile High City.
A5 Steakhouse
A5 Steakhouse is a far cry from the stuffy velvet booth and white tablecloth trend that defined steakhousesfor decades. The funky ’70s-style space serves Japanese A5 wagyu with a side of bacon kimchi rice for the adventurous, while still reservinga classic New York strip with whipped potatoes for the tra-
ditional Restaurateur and owner Juan Padro received a Michelin recommendation in the inaugural Colorado guidefor this take on steak.
160015th St.; a5denver.com
Annette
Annette’s been serving made-fromscratch comfortfood so good that you’ll want to peek into the kitchen to see if your grandmother’s doing the cooking. Inside the Stanley Marketplace, chef Caroline Glover’s laid-back take on fine
dining earned hera 2022 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mountain Region, and guests will reservea spot monthsin advance just for the signature grilled beef tongue with bone marrow toast or the wagyu burger.
2501Dallas St., Aurora; annettescratchtotable. com
Bakery Four
Bakery Four garnered a cult following for its naturally leavened sourdough and
RESTAURANTS» PAGE 12
PHOTO BY HYOUNG CHANG - THE DENVER POST
Restaurants
FROM PAGE 11
laminated croissants when it opened in 2020. But constant demand people sometimes line up at6 a.m. has helped it grow from owner Shawn Bergin’s basement during the pandemic to a sprawling space on Tennyson Street Get there early to secure some monkey bread made from croissant scraps, cinnamon-dusted morning buns and chocolate croissants made with European butter.
4150Tennyson St.; bakeryfour.com
Barolo Grill
Barolo Grill has almost as many regulars as it does bottles of wine, in part because the fine-dining restaurant has kept things consistent since it opened in 1992 Owner Ryan Fletter, who received the 2023 Colorado Sommelier Award from Michelin, considers it to be part of Denver’s old guard. Barolo Grill serves northern Italian cuisine inspired by the staff’s annual trip to Barolo, Italy, and boasts a wine collection of 15,000 bottles, ranging from $40 to $7,000.
3030E. 6th Ave.; barologrilldenver.com
Beckon
When Beckon opened in 2018, it was the first modern, tasting-only restaurant in Denver (meaning each day’s menu is selected by the chef rather than the patron). Now, there are several. The move paidoff when Beckon won one of the first Michelin stars ever awarded in Colorado in 2023. Chef Duncan Holmes runs the intimate, $195 experience, during which 18 diners sample ever-changing seasonal dishes at a U-shaped walnut counter.
2843Larimer St.; beckon-denver.com
Bistro Vendome
They say the classics never go out of style, and it doesn’t get any more classic than Bistro Vendome. This 21-yearold French restaurant,foundedby Denver dining innovators Jennifer Jasinski and Beth Gruitch, serves dishes that would make the critic in Ratatouille weep with joy, from Duck à l’Orange to steak frites to escargot in garlic butter sauce. For most of its life, Bistro Vendome held down a charming space in Larimer Square, but moved to Park Hill in 2023.
2267Kearney St.; bistrovendome.com
Cart-Driver
No one can deny Denver’s love for Cart-Driver. After all, there’s nothing better than a pillowy, slightly blackened Neapolitan-style pizza crust topped with littleneck clams anda side of a dozen
AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST
Director of operations and owner Ryan Fletter poursa glass of wine at BaroloGrill in Denver on April 11.
HELEN H. RICHARDSON THE DENVER POST
during dinner service at Beckon in 2019.
Restaurants
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oysters. Noted also for its tinned sardines, Italian-style spritzes and location inside a shipping container, it was one of the River North Art District’s earliest and hippest hangouts when it opened in 2014, and it remainsa first stop on many people’s lists.
2500Larimer St and 2239W. 30th Ave.; cart-driver.com
The Cherry Cricket
Denver claims to be the birthplace of the cheeseburger, and The Cherry Cricket loves to keep that legacy alive. The beloved institution, once ownedby now-Sen. John Hickenlooper, has been stacking as many ingredients as it can fit on top of a beef patty since 1945 and stacking upawards and contest wins nearly as fast. But the Cricket has expanded, and you can now find its burgers downtown and in Littleton, with another locationon the way north of Denver.
ChoLon Modern Asian
Like many chefs, Lon Symensma fell in love with the cuisine of Southeast Asia aftera trip to Vietnam, and as a result decided to open a restaurant in Denver that re-wrapped the flavors and food he’d eaten with his own experience as a fine-dining chef The move paidoff ChoLon earned immediate attention nationwide in 2010 for his interpretation, and in particular his French onion soup dumplings, which were a novelty in Denver at the time. Today, Cholon, now with two locations, remains an elevated dining experience, both because of itsfood and its service.
The Original Chubby’s Burger Drive-in
Green chile is one of Colorado’s most famous dishes, and its history is rooted in Denver’s north side where the late Stella Cordovafounded The Original Chubby’s Burger Drive-In in 1967. Today, the restaurant, which expanded in 2016 and is a melting pot of communities
and local culture, continues to dish out burgers, fries and Mexican food covered in that oh-so-spicy green stuff.
1231W. 38th Ave.; theoriginalchubbysdenver. com
Denver Biscuit Co.
Denver Biscuit Co makes a lasting impression Founded as food truck in 2009
and now encompassing seven Colorado storefronts, the breakfast spot wows customers with massive buttermilk fried chicken sandwiches like Nashville hot, Korean-style, ham-and-Swiss, and sausage-and-gravy— served on scratchmade biscuits. And although you’ll be very full, don’t skip the head-sized cinnamon buns, either.
Multiplelocations. theatomiccowboy.com/ denbisco
El Taco de Mexico
One part colorful diner, one part oldschool taqueria and 100% the soul of the city, El Taco de Mexico has been serving Mexicanfood classics like its cheese-dripping chile relleno burrito and green chile since 1985. Unfussy and unfetteredby changing times, this Denver pillar became an American classic in 2020 when the James Beard Foundation included El Taco de Mexico in its America’s Classics category.
714Santa Fe Dr.; facebook.com/eltacodemexicodenver
Hop Alley
Set against a soundtrack of old-school hip-hop, thislively, Michelin-recommended hot spot which takes its name for the bigoted term for Denver’s former Chinatown— specializes in cheffed-up and flavor-packed versions of Chinese
RESTAURANTS» PAGE 14
2641E. 2nd Ave., and other locations
LILY O’NEILL THE DENVER POST
Cart-Driver’s Peppers and Daisypizza.
AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST Crispy chicken spring rolls at Cholon.
FROM THE HIP PHOTO, PROVIDED BY DENVER BISCUIT COMPANY A creation from Denver Biscuit Co.
Restaurants
classics, like bone marrow fried rice, Beijing duck roll, la zi ji Sichuan chicken thigh, and the stunning sirloin steak bavette with egg yolk. Ordera cocktail, drink wine from a porron and dig into a unique marriage of Denver history and modern magic.
3500Larimer St.; hopalleydenver.com
La Loma
The Mendoza family built La Loma’s beloved reputation out of a small brick house beginning in 1973. Even though the green chile wonderland hassince changed hands and locations, the recipes from Grandma Savina Mendoza and fluffy homemade tortillas have remained the same La Loma, now in the heart of downtown with a second location in Castle Rock, embodies the true spirit of Denver’s original Mexicanfood scene with an upscale touch.
1801Broadway and other locations; lalomamexican.com
La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal
Chef Jose Avila has created a rollicking, vibrant atmosphere with exquisitely crafted Mexican-style street tacos served on tortillas made with corn that has been nixtamalized anancient way of grinding that preserves flavor and a piece of culture. Avila is part of a wave of chefs who are harkening back to their Mexican heritage in Denver. Take things further with one of a rainbow of posoles or street taco specials. And if you’re lucky, you’ll be there for one of La Diabla’s special nights involving mole, cricket tacos or chocolate-covered scorpions.
2233Larimer St.; ladiabladenver.com
Leven Deli Co.
Knownfor its 12-day cured pastrami, house-baked breads, pastries and weekend lines that snake out the door, Leven Deli is worth the lunch-rush wait. The Reuben is the standard-bearerat this Jewish deli from owner Anthony Lygizos, but you’ll also findofferings like chicken shawarma on flatbread, smoked beets on toasted rye, smoked ham with caramelized onion jam on a baguette Luckilyfor Denver, Leven recently added a dedicated bread-baking facility so that it can begin an expansion plan involving a new store and possibly a new restaurant.
123W. 12th Ave.; eatleven.com
MAKfam
Kenneth Wan and Doris Yuen wrote a “love letter to ABCs (American Born Chinese),” as they termed it, in opening
FROM PAGE 13 RESTAURANTS» PAGE 15
COURTESY OFADAM LARKEY
La Loma’s green chile is a family recipe from the original owners, whofirst opened the Mexican restaurant in 1973.
HYOUNG CHANG THE DENVER POST
A Reuben and potato salad with Greek Mojito at Leven Deli Co.
Restaurants
FROM PAGE 14
MAKfam,a restaurant serving Cantonese-style dishes like dumplings, scallion pancakes, bao buns and spicy Sichuan noodles. Taking their ethos and aesthetic from “neon-lit Hong Kong noodle parlors” and New York City’s Chinatown, their menu is addictive, and not just because it gleefully employs MSG, but because of Wan’s skill in the kitchen. MAKfam added to its renown by winninga Michelin Bib Gourmand award in 2024.
39W. 1st Ave.; makfam.co
Mercantile Dining & Provision
When Alex Seidel opened Mercantile inside Union Station in 2014, he aimed to help people connect. An upscale grab-and-go market and deli during the day, Mercantile turned into a fine-dining restaurant at night, serving meat, pasta and vegetable-based dishes good enough to land hima James Beard Awardfor best chef in the Southwest region. But with his own farm and ranch, he also connected diners to the places where their food comes from in a way that
hadn’t been done before. Today, you’ll find that ethos (and former Mercantile chefs) throughout Colorado, although the restaurant itself is now ownedby Sage Hospitality.
1701Wynkoop St.; mercantiledenver.com
My Brother’s Bar
Everyone’s gota brother in Denver in this 150-year-old building, which has been a bar during all of that time and the past 55 or so as My Brother’s bar. But My Brother’s, which has seen it all from the corner of 15th and Platte streets, is also one of your best bets for burgers in Denver. They come grilled, wrapped in parchment paper, and served with a condiment caddy so that customers can build them the way they like them Dark on the inside, with an English pub feel, but with an oasis of a patio out back, thisis the kind of place we hope will never close.
237615th St.; mybrothersbar.com
Pete’s Kitchen
Pete’s Kitchen is many things to many people. A hangover-breakfast spot,a lunchtime diner, an after-hours, after-show, after-party hangout where
you can soak up the booze with a patty melt, breakfast burrito or a gyro with fries. But it’s also a vestige of Colfax Avenue’s neon-lit past when all-are-welcome Greek restaurants dominated this section of the street. Open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays, Pete’s is a tradition for multiple generations in Denver.
1962E. Colfax Ave.; petesrestaurants.com
Odie B’s
Odie B’s (formerly called Bodega) whips up some of Denver’s tastiest breakfast burritos, sandwiches and cheeseburgers to the tune of Wu-Tang Clan. The Dirty Denver, for instance, is green chile-braised short ribs with cheese curds and crispy onions on a hoagie. The neighborhood hot spot frenzied but friendly also elicits lines of early birds cravinga playful take on anything you can dream of ordering at a corner bodega. Owner Cliff Blauvelt is planning to spread the love with a secondlocation opening in the River North Art District in the fall.
2651W. 38th Ave.; odie-bs.com
Osaka Ramen
Jeff Osaka was already a respected
chef and restaurateur when he opened Osaka Ramen as part of a new wave of sleek, noodle-centric ramen bars in Denver. Mixing tradition with his own take on cooking, Osaka serves classic dishes like tonkotsu and spicy miso along with bowls featuring green chile and chorizo or Thai coconut green curry. There are now dozens of ramen shops in the metro area, but Osaka’s still stands out as a benchmark for comparison.
2611Walnut St.; osakaramendenver.com
Restaurant Olivia
Restaurant Olivia has “one of the city’s hottest tables,” according to Colorado’s inaugural Michelin guide. Chef/ owner Ty Leon’s specialty is his modern take on classic pasta dishes, like the French onion ravioli, which tastes just like a warm bowl of French onion soup Every ingredient is well thought out and sourced, like the burrata shipped two days after it’s made on a farm in Italy, or venison from a conservationorganization in Maui that’s only served at two other U.S. restaurants.
290S. Downing St.; oliviadenver.com
AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST
French onion soup ravioli at Restaurant Olivia in Denver.
Restaurants
Safta
For most Safta diners, it’s love at first bite when it comes to the Israeli restaurant’s wood-fired pita bread. Chef Alon Shaya and his wife, Emily, opened their first restaurant outside of Louisiana in The Source Hotel in 2018 The setting is perfectfor groups or just a couple of empty stomachs looking to dip into a table full of hummus, labneh, baba ganoush or tabbouleh all inspired by Shaya’s grandmother’s recipes.
3330Brighton Blvd., #201; eatwithsafta.com
Sap Sua
Sap Sua is an homage to chef/owner Anthony (Ni) Nguyen’s experience as a first-generation Vietnamese American, and it features family recipes with a twist, such as bap cai luoc,a charred cabbage dish with anchovy breadcrumbs and an egg yolk sauce, inspired by his mom’s humble boiled cabbage and rice recipe. His goal is to give every first-generation kid the chance to see the recipes they also grew up with in a more upscale setting.
2550E. Colfax Ave.; sapsua.com
Steuben’s Uptown
This upscale diner always welcomes you with open arms, leather booths and heaping portion of comfortfood and when Steuben’s opened in 2006, it made wavesby redoing many American classics with a chef-forward spin. But the nostalgia you’ll get when ordering a milkshake (which comes withthe leftover ice cream in a mixing cup) or digging into an ooey-gooey cheese pull aftera bite of a patty melt, comes straight from the collective heart of Americana.
523E. 17th Ave.; steubens.com
Sushi Den
Sushi Den and its sister restaurants are sure to impress even the most well traveled sashimi and nigiri lovers. That’s because the restaurants ship in heaps of fresh tuna, mackerel and scallops from the Nagahama fish market in Japan every day. Brothers Toshi and Yasu Kizaki started “Den Corner,” as their block is sometimes called, in 1984 with the opening of Sushi Den. They added Izakaya Den, a Japanese gastro pub, andfollowed with Ototo, which serves up Japanese robata-style tapas. (And keep an eye outfor their fourth, Denchu, an omakase spot opening next year).
1487S. Pearl St.; sushiden.net
Tamales by La Casita
This mainstay has been serving some of Denver’s favorite tamalesfor nearly 50 years. Every day, Tamalesby La Casita makes 18,000 tamales from scratch with corn husks directly sourced from Mexico. People travel near and far to stock up on green chile and cheese or classic red chile and pork tamales. That’s why it’s one of the first (or last) stops for Den-
ver visitors, who can also get Las Casita’s tamales in Denver International Airport’s Concourse C.
3561Tejon St.; tamalesbylacasita.net
The Wolf’s Tailor
Like many Michelin-starred restau-
rants, Wolf’s Tailor has a multi-course tasting menu curated by its chefs, a cadre of attentive servers, each assigned to a specific dish, and an approachable vibe that is elegant but casual. But Kelly Whitaker’s flagship takes itsfood to another level, not just with creative recipes and gorgeous presentation, but with its commitment to sustainable sourcing, zero-waste practices, and an ethos that prioritizesa connection to the land and the seasons.
4058Tejon St., thewolfstailor.com Yuan Wonton
Penelope Wong has chased her dream over the past five years in full view of everyone in the city. With her heart on her sleeve and her hands buried in dumplings— she’s detailed the hard work and experience on social media that she and co-owner Rob Jenks have handled, building Yuan Wonton from a pop-up to afood truck to a restaurant. And the city has followed her every step of the way, as her dumplings and other dishes became ever more sought after. This year, Wong wasa James Beard Award finalist, but it’s unlikely she will stop there. Stay tuned.
2878Fairfax St.; instagram.com/yuanwonton
ANDY CROSS THE DENVER POST
Owners of SapSua restaurant, chefs Anthony and Anna Nguyen in the kitchen in 2023.
HELEN H. RICHARDSON THE DENVER POST Tamales are made every day by hand at Tamales by La Casita in 2023in Denver.
When autumn chill comes, enjoy apples, barbecue, wine and spirits
TheGreat American Beer Festival returns to Denver in October.
Those are just a few of treats you’ll find at these upcoming food and drink events
By Sarah Kuta Special to The Denver Post
When the temperatures drop, you might be inclined to curl up on the couch and hibernate until next spring. But that’s no fun. Instead, you should be out exploring Colorado’s vibrant culinary sceneby attending thesefood- and drink-focused festivals around the state.
Oct.10-12
Great American Beer Festival. This beloved Colorado festival and competition has been luring beer aficionados to the Mile High City for more than four decades. Organizedby the Boulder-based Brewers Association, this bash is the biggest event of the entire year for the craft beer industry New this
year, the festival will host three individually ticketed sessions (instead of the usualfour) and will allow breweries to serve other beverages besides beer, like ready-to-drink cocktails, hard seltzers and ciders.
Colorado Convention Center, 70014th St., Denver; greatamericanbeerfestival.com
Oct. 11-13
Breckenridge Craft Spirits Festival. Spend the weekend basking in the crisp mountain air and soaking up the last of the fall foliage at the Breckenridge Craft Spirits Festival, also known as “Still on the Hill.” This three-day gathering is a celebration of craft spirits and cocktails,
Festivals
FROM PAGE 17
with seminars, workshops, guided hikes, multi-course tasting dinners and more. The main event is the grand tasting on Saturday night, where guests get to eat, drink and vote for their favorite distillers.
Various locations, Breckenridge; breckenridgecraftspiritsfestival.com
Golden Beer Tasting& Chili Cookoff. As the weather coolsoff, it’s time to break out the Crock-Pot and make a hearty batch of chili. Or, if you’d rather let someone else do all the cooking, head to the Golden Beer Tasting& Chili Cookoff. Here, you can indulge in unlimited beer and chili samples, then cast your vote for the best chili cook in town. This tasty fête helps raise moneyfor the Golden Chamber of Commerce and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Parfet Park, Golden; goldenbeerchilicookoff.org
Applefest. Head to Longmont and spend the day at YaYa Farm & Orchard during Applefest, which takes place over two Sundays in October. Listen to live bluegrass, munch on apple cider donuts and barbecue, and enjoy the beautiful farm scenery. (Heads up, the event does not include apple-picking, but Ya Ya doesoffer you-pick reservations.)
Oct. 20-21
Q BBQ Fest. Talented pitmasters from around the country will be clicking their tongs at Folsom Fieldfor what organizers bill as the nation’s largest barbecue fest. Attendees can “feast on a mouth-watering variety of brisket, chicken, pulled pork and ribs in the shadow of the Flatirons while enjoying live music, BBQ tutorials, demonstrations and activities,” according to Eximius Productions, which hosts similar fests in other stadiums.
Wine in the Pines. Four decades ago, Mike and Margaret Smith created this event in honor of their daughter Kelly, who was born with cerebral palsy. They also wanted to “pay it forward” and help
support other families raising children with severe disabilities Today, 40 years later, Wine in the Pines has become a true Colorado fall tradition,offering two elegant nights of wine,food and entertainment in Keystone fora good cause. Proceeds benefit the Kelly Smith Employment Center at Ability Connection Colorado, which provides statewide employment services for youth and adults with disabilities in Colorado. Keystone Conference Center, Keystone; abilityconnectioncolorado.org/special-events/winein-the-pines/
Oct. 26
Feria del Tamal. Organized by the Latino Chamber of Commerce, this tamale festival will be held at the Boulder County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building. “Come and try a variety of delicious
PROVIDED BY YA YA FARM & ORCHARD
There are more than 1,000fruit trees on eight acres at Ya Ya Farm & Orchard in northwest Longmont.
Festivals
tamales from different regions. In addition, you can enjoy live music, activities for the whole family, lucha libre shows, EV ride and drive, and much more,” organizers said.
Boulder County Fairgrounds, 9595Nelson Road, Longmont; eventbrite.com
Nov.1
Colorado Uncorked.Every year, the governor tasksa group of experts with swirling, sniffing and sipping hundreds of bottles of Colorado wines (tough job, right?). In the end, the panel selects the crème de la crème from all the submissions to create the Colorado Governor’s Cup Collection. You can try all of the award-winning wines and munch on paired small bites prepared by celebrated Colorado chefs at Colorado Uncorked, which shines the spotlight on the state’s thriving wine scene.
History Colorado Center, 1200Broadway; coloradowine.com/colorado-uncorked-event
Nov.3
The Bloody Mary Festival. Calling all fans of this iconic, savory brunch drink. This festival is a chance to commune with fellow Bloody Mary lovers while, of course, slugging down a few of these tasty tomato concoctions. Expect food, drinks, temporary tattoos, people’s choice awards and more. (Rumor has it, there may even be a dancing tomato mascot wandering around.)
The HOSPYS Gala If you love going out to eat, thenyou also love the hard-working chefs, servers, bartenders, dishwashers, managers and other employees who keep restaurants running smoothly. Celebrate thesefood-service and hospitality professionalsby attending the HOSPYS Gala, organizedby the Colorado Restaurant Association. There are tons of different awards up for grabs, from back-of-house employee of the year to restaurant of the year.
Seawall Ballroom, Denver Center for Performing Arts; corestaurant.org
Nov.13
James Beard Foundation’s Taste America: Denver. The James Beard Awards are like the Oscars of the food world. But the foundation behind them also hosts an array of events, including its Taste America culinary series. This year’s iteration brings together chefs and changemakers in 20 cities across the country to highlight and support inde-
Wine in the Pines is anannual event in Keystone.
pendent local restaurants. The Denver event will featurea multi-course menu developedby Linger’s Marissa Caruana and the Culinary Creative Group’s Carrie Baird, with beverage pairings for each course.
Estes Park Holiday Wine Festival. Sure, you could switch to hot toddies once it gets cold but wine is such a classic choice around the holidays Now in its fifth year, the Estes Park Holiday Wine Festival will help you get into the holly, jolly spirit with unlimited tastings from 15 to 20 Colorado wineries. Plus, do a littleholiday shopping and take a photo with Santa. Free kids activities are also available, so bring the whole family.
PROVIDED BY ABILITY CONNECTION COLORADO
PROVIDED BY THE BLOODY MARY FESTIVAL
The Bloody Mary Festival takes place in November.
10 breweries and distilleries
to visit in Colorado right now
REBECCA SLEZAK SPECIAL TO
Chris Daniel pours liquor at The Block Distilling Co Aug. 23in Denver The Block Distilling Co makes its own vodka and whiskey
From Denver taprooms to scenic tasting rooms in the mountains, these spots are destination-worthy
By Tiney Ricciardi cricciardi@denverpost.com
The Block Distilling
Sure, The Block Distilling makes vodka and whiskey, but what you really want to try are its brandies, aperitifs and liqueurs, which you won’t find house-made at many other distilleries
With hundreds of breweries and dozens of distilleries, Colorado’s craft beverage scene is overflowing with options. Choosing where to belly up can be tough when you’re oh-so-thirsty. Although we highly recommend checking out the local libations wherever your journey takes you, these 10 makers are destinations in their own right, with drinks and atmosphere that turn a simple pit stop into a memorable experience.
Luckily, The Block’s tasting room in the River North Art District is also one of Denver’s most interesting cocktail bars, where the craftsmanship in both spirits and mixology is on display.
The atmosphere is sophisticated and inviting, so you’ll probably want to try a few.
Although Call to Arms Brewing’s taproom is inviting on a regular day, it’s even more fun to visit when there’s a themed pop-up. For example, the brewery decks the halls with an overwhelming amount of garland and lights around Christmas and explodes with rainbows of color during Pride Month in June
FROM PAGE 20
This fall, the brewery will bringa piece of Munich to Denver with an Oktoberfest pop-up featuring draping hop bines, German-inspired ribbon and wood decor, anda festival tent with communal tables perfectfor hoisting a stein.
When Cohesion Brewing opened in 2021, itfilled a heady niche Denver drinkers had been craving. The brewery specializes in Czech-style lagers poured from Lukr faucets to achieve the European country’s signaturefoamy head. Each beer comes one of three ways: hladinka,a traditional pour with a thick head; šnyt, whichfeatures more than half foam-to-beer ratio; or mlíko, which is mostly foam with a sliver of beer.
3851Steele St., Unit 1388, Denver 303-9977016 cohesionbeer.com.
The Colorado Farm Brewery
What makesa truly local beer? Just ask thefolks at The Colorado Farm Brewery in Alamosa, wherea selection of so-called “estate” beers feature ingredients from the family-owned farm there. That includes the barley, grown and malted by sister company Colorado
ANDY CROSS DENVER POST FILE
Cohesion Brewing co-owner Eric Larkin, right, poursa Cohesion 12Czech lager pale ale drawn hladinka-style with a side-pull tap at Cohesion Brewing in 2021.
SPIRITS» PAGE 22
FROM PAGE 21
Malting Co., hops also cultivated on site, water drawn from a private well and a strain of yeast procured naturally from the environment.
The most popular beer is, fittingly, a farmhouse ale called Batch #1.
2070Alamosa County Road 12S., Alamosa. 719-580-0051 cofarmbeer.com.
Marble Distilling
Sustainability is thefoundation of this operation in Carbondale, which saves an estimated5 million gallons of water each year during distillation, thanks to a unique water reclamation system it designed before opening in 2015. The system also heats and cools Marble Distilling’s venue, including its restaurant, bar and attached boutique hotel with five
dog-friendly rooms. Does sustainability taste better? Decide after trying the Moonlight Expresso liqueur, billed as an espresso martini in a bottle.
In the past year, two different whiskey magazines have praised Fort Collins’ Old Elk Distillery for its products and its people First, experts at Whisky Advocate deemed its port cask-finished bourbon one of the “most exciting whiskies” of 2023 Then Greg Metze earned the title Master Distiller of the Year at the Whisky Magazine Awards. See what the fuss is about at The Reserveby Old Elk Distillery, its tasting room serving elevated tavern fare and cocktails.
253Linden St., Fort Collins. 970-682-3330. oldelk.com.
JOE AMON DENVER POST FILE
Carey Shanks, owner of The Marble Distilling Co and The Distillery Inn with his wife, Connie Baker, hydrates the barrels of whiskey and bourbon as they age in the naturally heated storage area on the Nieslanik Ranch in 2017in Carbondale.
Distillery in Fort Collins.
Spirits
FROM PAGE 22
Outer Range Brewing
Colorado’s beer scene is overflowing with IPAs, but few makers do them better and more consistently than Outer Range Brewing Those who visit the taproom, conveniently locatedoff I-70 in Frisco, may find a dozen-plus IPAs on the menu at any given time; we recommend goingfor something hazy, the brewery’s specialty. Pair your drink with a bite from the Bird Craft restaurant on site and enjoy the scenery from Outer Range’s roof deck.
Arvada’s only distillery specializes in making pot still whiskey and claims to be the first to do so stateside. Commonlyaffiliated with Irish tradition, what makes this style of spirit unique
PROVIDED BY OUTER RANGE BREWING
Outer Range Brewing in Frisco has some nice views of the Rocky Mountains.
PROVIDED BY TALNUA DISTILLERY KYLE KENNEDY Copper pot stills
at Talnua Distillery in Arvada.
is the method of usinga copper pot still and the mash bill, which is half malted barley and unmalted. The unmalted barley plays prominently in the flavor profile of Talnua Distillery’s various whiskeys, as well as its house-made gins Try them on their own or in a cocktail at the on-site lounge.
5405W. 56th Ave., Unit C, Arvada 303-4314949 talnua.com.
Westbound& Down Brewing
Founded in Idaho Springs in 2015, Westbound& Down Brewing has become a local powerhouse with award-winning beers now served at five locations, each with its own personality. The brewery’s original homeoffers rustic, mining-town charm, while its spiffy production facility in Lafayette boasts a modern aesthetic. Its Denver taproom puts drinkers at the center of the action near
Union Station, and its newest locations in Basalt and Aspen seek to feed thirsty outdoors people after their adventures in the mountains. The Aspen location, called Westy’s Tap & Tavern, is billed as a 1980s-inspired pop-up that shares the taps with itsformer owner, Aspen Brewing Co.
William H. Macy isn’t just theofficial “spokesdude” for Woody Creek Distillers near Aspen. He’s also a regular in the tasting room. Visitors often will find the “Shameless” actor bellied up fora tipple of his signature reserve whiskey, released last December, or entertaining guests on the ukulele. Macy even helps grow potatoes locally for Woody Creek’s vodka and gin, which are well wortha try.
In 2018, actor William H. Macy joined WoodyCreek Distillers as the company’s official “spokesdude,”a title that includes promoting the brand and occasionally playing ukulele in the Basalt taproom.
PROVIDED BY JOHN S. MILLER— WOODY CREEK DISTILLERS
10 iconic places in Colorado to have a drink
From the Minturn
Saloon to the Cruise Room, this state is full of legendary watering holes
By Jonathan Shikes jshikes@denverpost.com
From the rowdy saloons of the 1850s to the roaring post-Prohibition days in the 1930s and ’40s to the craft brews and $25 cocktails of the moment, Colorado history has paired up with drinking culture in the same way that gin goes with tonic or beer goes with a burger.
But not all watering holes are created equal. While there are plenty of amazing place to tip back a bevvie, we rounded up a few of the most legendary spots in Colorado have a drink.
Columbine Cafe
GOLDEN
A lot has changed in Golden over the past century. For starters, Prohibition ended in 1933, meaning that Coors Brewing got back into the business of making beer But there’s also now a highway where the Arapaho tribe used to camp and fish, and there are houses andoffices and restaurants and gyms where there used to be nothing but open space and elk.
Things have changed at the Columbine Cafe as well, but notby much. Founded as a restaurant by Mike Hatzis, who emigrated from Greece to the U.S., it became a bar in 1934, and a hangout for Coors employees, who would come down after work to trade rumors, tell stories and drink the beer they made becausefor most of its existence, the Columbine only served Coors. And since some of those employees worked the third shift, typically 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., the bar opened at 7 a.m. to make sure that everyone could get a pint at the end of the “day.” In 1976,Hatzis gave the bar over to his nephew,Harry Artemis, who’d worked at where else?
Coors since 1962.Harry continued the run the place past his retirement from the brewery in 1992 and into the 2000s. It’s now owned by Harry’s kids, Chris, Steve and Tina. Today, the Columbine serves a few beers that aren’t Coors
Longmont’s Left Hand Brewing was on tap recently and it showcases bluegrass music on Thursday nights in a park-like patio out back; Chris even runs a ski tuning shop in the basement And it hasn’t opened at 7 a.m. fora decade or so. But the Columbine is still the place to come to trade rumors and tell stories about Coors Brewing, among other things, and it’s still the place to find someone to talk to at the bar, or behind it.
15630S. Golden Road, Golden; facebook.com/ ColumbineCafe
The Cruise Room DENVER
With an aura that jumps straightoff of the silver screen, the Cruise Room looks like the kind of place where you might run into Humphrey Bogart drinkinga gin martini or Bette Davis swilling an Old Fashioned. Opened the day after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the Art Deco bar is in the historic Oxford Hotel and it features a long and narrow layout like a train or a ship with slick booths onone side and a gleaming, neon-lit bar on the other. While the dress code here should be elegant if possible, you’ll likely find all kinds drinking at the bar.
The Columbine Cafe, 15630S. Golden Road, in Golden, has been serving Coors beer since 1934. Today, it is runby Chris Artemis, the third generation of the family-owned watering hole.
JONATHAN SHIKES THE DENVER POST Chris Artemis owns the Columbine Cafe with two siblings They’ve been serving Coors since the end of Prohibition.
Flagstaff House BOULDER
There are plenty of rooftop patios in Colorado. And they’re all fantastic. But in Boulder, there’s a patio that feels as if it’s on the roof of the world. Perched on Flagstaff Mountain, just to the west of Boulder, Flagstaff House owned and runby the Monette familysince 1971 is a fine-dining destination known for elevated food, an award-winning wine list and breathtaking views. While dinner reservations book up far in advance, you can also visit the newly renovated bar and lounge area fora cocktail,a canape, or a dessert. It is seated on a first-comefirst-served basis. There’s even a cozy fireplace on colder days where you can watch the sun set with, say, a glass of Caviar Dreams, made with prosecco, lemon, grapefruit, bitters, caper liquor anda bump of caviar.
1138Flagstaff Road, Boulder;flagstaffhouse.com
Gray’s Coors Tavern PUEBLO
Sit at the bar on in one of the booths at Gray’s Coors Tavernfor just afew minutes, and you’ll feel as though you’ve lived your entire life in Colorado. Not only does this timeless Pueblo bar and restaurant mostly serve Coors beer (history tells us that the brewery worked with bar owners after Prohibition ended to put the family name above the doorsatafew saloons), but the walls are covered in Denver Broncos memorabilia from at least seven different decades and photos of Gray’s beginnings in 1934 But back to the menu, where you’ll find the perfect pairing for your Coors beer: an open-faced, double cheeseburger smothered in green chile (Pueblo-grown, of course, rather than Hatch), knownaffectionately as a Slopper.
Flagstaff House, foundedby Don Monette, is famed for many things, including its sweeping views of Boulder Valley
JONATHAN SHIKES THE DENVER POST
Minturn Saloon
MINTURN
Holed up alongside the Eagle River, the Minturn Saloon and its predecessor bars at the same address— have been serving drinks in the Vail Valley since 1901 The beautiful backbar itself was built in the 1830s and spent time in Leadville before being hauled down the mountain. But the saloon is perhaps best known as being the end destination for the Minturn Mile, an experts-only backcountry route down Vail Mountain. Recently renovated, the saloon has upgraded its menu and become quite the tourist draw. But it will always welcome locals with a discount.
146Main St., Minturn; minturnsaloon.com
My Brother’s Bar
DENVER
If you’ve been around for 150 years, you don’t need a sign to announce your presence. Such is the case on 15th and Platte streets in Denver.A watering hole since the 1870s, the building at 2375 15th St. has been home to My Brother’s Bar since 1970, when the Karagas brothers moved totown and took it over It’s now ownedby local preservationist Danny Newman, who has kept the legacy alive. Laid out like a darkened English pub but with an unexpected oasis of a patio out back, My Brother’s is known for burgers and beer. And you can get that burger however you want it because it comes with a tray full of possible condiments. (We recommend the Jalapeño Cream Cheese Burger.) The bar is also one of several where Beat Generation writer Neal Cassady spent time while he lived in Denver Visit, and you might feel enlightened as well.
237515th St., Denver; mybrothersbar.com
CHRIS DILLMANN— VAIL DAILY
One of the most popular drinks ordered at the Minturn Saloon is the margarita.
BARS » PAGE 28
Oskar Blues Grill& Brew
LYONS
Beer has a long history in Colorado and there are plenty of storied places where that heady liquid has been brewed. One of the most unexpected, though, was a raucous Cajun restaurant founded in 1997 in Lyonsbya homebrew-loving Alabaman. But Dale Katechis was also bold, and in 2002, he did something no one could believe: he started canning craft beer Sure, the big guys Coors, Bud, Miller all canned their beer, but microbreweries were supposed to be better and more refined. Katechis was laughed at, but it didn’t stop him from building his business into one of the 10 largest craft breweries in the country. Katechis eventually sold the brewery, but he kept the restaurants, including the original in Lyons, which has hosted renowned blues musicians and jam bands going back in time to a more innocent era in
this little town.
303Main St., Lyons; oskarbluesfooderies.com
Silver Dollar Saloon
LEADVILLE
In case youforget that the town of Leadville is 10,120 feet above sea level, a short and breathy walk down Harrison Avenue, to the front door of the Silver Dollar Saloon, will remind you. Once inside, though, it’s hard to forget the building’s 150-year history (it has been a bar for nearly that long), its antique fixtures and its many guests, like the 10th Mountain Division soldiers (who trained just down the road at Camp Hale), gunslinger Doc Holliday, and the miners, prospectors and Prohibition-era lawbreakers who enjoyeda drink here Join them by choosing from an extensive list of Colorado-made whiskey, beer and wine, and revel in the fact that this is one of the highest-elevation bars in the United States.
The original Oskar BluesGrill& Brew was founded in Lyons in 1997as a Cajun restaurant Owner Dale Katechis and crew began brewing in the basement at the restaurant in 1999with the inception of Dale’s Pale Ale.
PROVIDED BY THE SILVER DOLLAR SALOON
Woody Creek Tavern
ASPEN
For nearly as long as college students have been absorbing the satirical chaos of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” it has been a Colorado rite of passage to visit the bar and restaurant in Woody Creek, just outside of Aspen, where the book’s author, Hunter S. Thompson, hung out— until his deathby suicide in 2005. The rabble-rousing journalist would likely laugh at the Woody Creek Tavern’s legendary status today, not to mention the ritzy feel of Aspen. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop in to peruse the celebrity photos and memorabilia on the walls, drinka bloody Mary andoffer up a toast to Raoul Duke and Dr Gonzo.
2858Upper River Road, Woody Creek; woodycreektavern.com
Wynkoop Brewing
DENVER
When Wynkoop Brewing opened in 1988 serving 25-cent beers that day to draw people to the then-desolate neighborhood— it was the first time a beer had been commercially brewed in Denversince Tivoli Brewing closed nearly 20 years earlier. Since then, the brewpub’s booths and bars have been many things: a gathering placefor civic leaders, journalists and pot-stirrers; the launchpad for the career of former co-owner John Hickenlooper (now a U.S. Senator), the site of live pig races and pool tournaments and the catalyst for a neighborhood that would go on to become one of the hottest party spots in town. Across from Union Station and down the street from Coors Field, the Wynkoop is now a courtly grandfather among rowdy teenagers, but it’s also the only place you can finda beer made from Rocky Mountain oysters.
163418th St, Denver; wynkoop.com
PROVIDED BY WOODY CREEK TAVERN
The new owners of the Woody Creek Tavern focused primarily on behind-thescenes updates, installing a new kitchen, plumbing and electrical systems, back bar, banquettes and woodfloors.
Roadside roasters in state a cultural and culinary gift
Stands selling bundles of hot, roasted chiles pop up in late summer and linger into fall
By Elizabeth Hernandez ehernandez@denverpost.com
In a dirt parking lotoff Sheridan Boulevard, bundles of chiles hang from a roadside tent stand like spires adorninga capsaicin castle.
Ron Morales’ chile stand kingdom wasn’t built overnight. His family-run business, Morales Family Chile Store at 52nd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in Arvada, has been roasting and selling bushels of chiles for more than 30 years.
The humble green chile is a Colorado cuisine staple. Whether stewed in pork, blended into salsa, drenched over burritos or piled atop hot dogs, hamburgers or whatever you’ve got on the menu, green chile is a reliable addition to add oomph to your dish.
Roadside stands selling bundles of the hot, roasted produce pop up throughout the Denver metro and beyond come summer and linger into fall, beckoning passersby to partake in their fiery, flavorful goods.
“Green chile is a poor man’sfood,” said Morales, whofondly remembers the scent of roasting chiles leading him home from the school bus stop as a kid. “It’s made with love in the heart.”
Morales grew up with a belly full of green chile, but he learned the business of it from his father.
To appease the long-standing rivalry between New Mexico and Colorado, Morales trucks in chiles from both Hatch, N.M., and Pueblo, and classifies different varieties into varying degrees of heat He keeps two refrigerated semi-trailers on the property to keep the chiles fresh for longer, and with help from his nephews, Morales keeps his stand stocked. When a customer comes through, the bushels, staked in plastic laundry baskets, are roasted on the spot for all to see— and smell.
The Morales operation started out
Chile roaster Dar Gonzales loads chiles into the roaster at the Morales Family Chile Store in Arvada on Aug. 31.
with one roaster that a worker would hand-crank, but over the decades, he’s leveled up Now, there are four roasters charring the chiles with a motorized crank so multiple loads can be handled at once. When that’s done, Morales bags the bushels to let them finish cooking, and the customer is instructed to peel the charoffand freeze them for future use.
“It’s all about real customer service and good, quality chiles,” Morales said “That’s how we’ve stuck around this
long.”
Annette Hokanson pulled up to the Morales stand on their first day of the season in mid-August in search of peppers that would send the smoke shooting from her ears.
“You can hardly find any hot chiles anymore,” Hokanson said.
Morales obliged, selecting a variety he said was sure to set her taste buds ablaze. He gave Hokanson a sample.
Aftera red-faced cough, Hokanson broke out into a smile.
“It’s hot,” she said,offering a nod of approval She went home with a roasted bushel.
Denver’s Northside and Westside are, historically, home to a high percentage of the city’s Latino population, said Councilwoman Jamie Torres whose district covers west Denver neighborhoods like Barnum, LaAlma/Lincoln Park, MarLee, Sun Valley, Villa Park, Valverde and Westwood. The roadside stands that pop up during harvest time
ANDY CROSS THE DENVER POST
Green chili
along Federal Boulevard, Alameda Avenue and other streets, are as much a cultural experience as they are culinary, serving their community thefoods that have been cherished and passed on from generation to generation.
“This is where the population is who wants green chile,” Torres said “It becomes its own season, justlike peach season.”
Going in on a big bag of roasted chiles with family peeling them, bagging them, freezing them together conjures a sweet nostalgiafor Torres.
“There’s a whole tradition around it,” Torres said.
Renee Abeyta wasn’t about to let the tradition wither. She has been running the stand at 1600 Federal Boulevardfor the past six years, taking it over from a friend who died.
Abeyta, 70, swears she puts green chile on everything she eats She puts the roasted chiles in the blender with garlic and tomatoes and cans it, and the
mixture goes on her eggs, spaghetti, Ramen noodles everything.
“I even put it in my sandwiches,” Abeyta said. “I’ll make a sandwich and spread it on like butter.”
Abeyta delights in converting green chile newbies into fanatics.
“If they’ve never had it before and they try it for the first time, they’re going to come back every year,” Abeyta said. “It’s addicting. The flavor is unreal.”
Abeyta is retired, but during chile season, you can find her seated out at the stand roasting in the Denver heat along with her chiles The work can be hard, she said, but talking to customers who come back year after year while engulfed by the aroma of blackening chiles makes it worth it.
She already has a successor picked out— her grandson to take her place when her time peddling peppers is up.
“It’sa family business,” Abeyta said.
Abeyta’s stand is loyal to the Hatch chile, and she prides herself on the way the chiles are roasted.
“We roast it slow,” Abeyta said “When you roast it slow and if the chile is really fresh… the peel just comes rightoff. It’s oh so good.”
PHOTOS BY ANDY CROSS THE DENVER POST
Bushels of mild Hatch chiles wait to be roasted and sold at the Morales Family Chile Store in Arvada.
Kathy Rendon, center, talks to customers at the Morales Family Chile Store in Arvada.
A guide to Colorado-grown fall produce
Huong Dang, helps customers with fruits including apples and peaches from Ela Family Farms out of Hotchkiss, at the City Park Farmers Market at the City Park Esplanade on Sept 21in Denver
Farmers continue to harvest leeks, apples, cabbage, squash and other crops well into autumn
By Sarah Kuta
Special to The Denver Post
Just because the summer season is long gone doesn’t mean you have to stop eating local. On the contrary, Colorado’s many hard-working growers and farmers continue to tend to their fields while the leaves turn and even after that, into October and November.
You can find Colorado-grown fruits and veggies at farmers markets, farm stands and grocery stores well into autumn (and, in some cases, winter). And Colorado growers could use your sup-
port: From 2017 to 2022, Colorado lost 2,837 or approximately 7% of its farms, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
“Like farmers across the country, Colorado farmers are struggling to survive,” said Marilyn Bay, executive director of the Colorado Fruit& VegetableGrowers Association. “There are many pressures urban development, skyrocketing labor costs, increased regulations causing farmers to call it quits.”
Here’s a snapshot of some Colorado-grown fruits and veggies you can enjoy this autumn.
Cabbage
Typically available through the end of November, cabbage is a versatile, nutrient-rich vegetable to add to your fall arsenal. It might seem like just another type of lettuce, but it’s actually in the same family as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and radishes.
Stock up now, then store it for months in a cool dry place, Bay said. Or, invest in a fermentation crock and turn it into sauerkraut. Cabbage also provides a satisfying crunch when thinly sliced and turned into coleslaw, or mixed with
other veggies in a green salad.
“While it doesn’t freeze well by itself, when used in a recipe such as kraut burgers, goulash or soup it does well,” Bay said.
Onions
Onions are the workhorses of the home kitchen, providing hidden layers of umami and sweetness to all kinds of dishes. But they also can play a starring role, especially when cooked low and slow to soft, golden-brown perfection. “If you haven’t caramelized onions, it
PHOTO BY KATHRYN SCOTT- SPECIAL TO THE DENVER POST
Produce
FROM PAGE 32
is worth doing just for the aroma,” Bay said.“Caramelized onions are the base for French onion soup and are also great with pork and cheese in a quesadilla or a perfect toppingfor white-sauce pizza.”
You can find Colorado-grown onions through Marchat grocery stores Or, stock up now at farmers markets and farm stands.
Winter squash
Zucchini season is over (thank goodness), but don’t sleep on its heartier, thicker-skinned cousins, the winter squashes. Loaded with vitamins and
high in fiber, these decadent cucurbits will keep whole in storagefor months Or, you can halve them, roast them in the oven, scrape out the flesh and freeze in zipper bags.
“I have served my fall crop of squash thefollowing spring for Easter dinner,” Bay said.
Buttercup and delicata are two of Bay’s favorites. But there are so many kinds you could practically eata different squash every week of winter Acorn, kabocha, red kuri, butternut, Hubbard, turban, spaghetti— the list goes on.
Pro tip: Any time a recipe callsfor pumpkin, don’t be afraid to substitute winter squash, Bay explained. “Use winter squash flesh to make pumpkin gnocchi— which is fantastic served with sage
HELEN H. RICHARDSON THE DENVER POST
Butternut squash from Moon Farm in Lakewood.
KATHRYN SCOTT OSLER DENVER POST FILE
of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower and direct-seed vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and onions.
PRODUCE» PAGE 34
butter pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bread and so much more.”
Beets
You’ll probably notice beets popping up on Colorado restaurant menus as temperatures start to drop But TimLu,
the co-owner and executive chef of Noisette, says these sweet, earthy orbs are also easy to prepare at home They’re usually available through the end of November, and come in several different varieties— from red to golden to striped.
“Beets are extremely versatile in that they can be shaved raw as a salad garnish, roasted whole and eaten warm with vadouvan spice or roasted whole and served cold, dressed with a vinaigrette as a salad,” said Lu, who owns
the 2-year-old French restaurant, at 3254 Navajo St in Denver with his wife, Lillian “The sweetness of the beets pair well with bitter greens anda soft fresh cheese like fromage blanc.”
Pears
Although apples tend to hog the spotlight, don’t forget to add Colorado-grown pears to your shopping list. Pears are an early fall fruit, so you’ll mostlikely find them in October.
Slice them up and eat them raw, or poach them in French cider with cinnamon, cloves, anise and nutmeg, as Noisette’sLu does.
“I had (poached pears) on the menu a couple years ago, andI had at least two diners who were brought to tears from the dessert because it reminded them of fond childhood memories,” she said. “You can serve the poached pear with creme anglaise or vanilla ice cream.”
AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST
Executive chef TimLu plates a dish alongside pastry chef Lillian Lu— both owners at Noisette Restaurant & Bakery.
Produce
Leeks
Nope, they’re not just a spring treat leeks make another appearance come autumn.
Use these mild, delicate alliums anywhere you’d normally use onions for a subtle flavor twist, or build a dish around them
Peter Wanberg, co-owner of City Park Farmers Market, likes to use them in leek and potato soup or to make a quick, simplehomemade pasta sauce.
Apples
Is there anything better than biting into a crisp, juicy, tart apple in the fall? Well, maybe only noshing on apple pie, apple crisp and apple donuts. Fortunately, Colorado still has many ded-
icated apple growers— and several orchards around the state will let you pick your own, which is a fun, kid-friendly activity.
Each Colorado-grown variety has a unique appeal but, “Honeycrisp is hard to beat,” Wanberg said.
“Other than just eating them raw, we make a lot of apple crisp at our house,” he said. “Use the coresfor apple cider vinegar.”
For even more fall produce
The Colorado Fruit& Vegetable Growers Association has an online harvest calendar that shows approximately when fruits, veggies and herbs are typically available in Colorado: https://coloradoproduce.org/nutrition-health/
Use the CFVGA’s online “Find Colorado Produce” tool to search by food, regionor shopping method: https://cfvga. memberclicks.net/colorado-produce-directory#/
HELEN H. RICHARDSON DENVER POST FILE
Pears are sold at a kiosk at Union Station during fall 2017.
HELEN H. RICHARDSON THE DENVER POST
Apples, like these at Adam’s Apple Orchard and Country Store in Ault, area classic fall crop.
Keeping tomatoes, peaches, berries and more all year long
Plus, recipes for peach pie, corn pudding and dill pickles
ByBetty Cahill and Barbara Ellis
The Denver Post
One of my favorite childhood memories is the attentionI got from my mom when I wasn’t feeling well She would keep me home from school and feed me comfort food. This included her chicken soup and buttered toast, followed by preserved peaches. That fruit went down so smoothly that any ache was immediately soothed, and it all but guaranteed a speedy recovery.
Memories of her canningefforts are etched on the front burner of my brain: her stern scooting of me and my older sister out of the kitchen so we weren’t harmed by hot jars and sticky stuff She stored the canned goods on a long, rough-hewn shelf in the basement next to assorted garden tools and seed-starting containers.I still dream about the perfectly aligned, incandescent jars of canned peaches, tomatoes, pickles and, in some years, sweet cherries from the Flathead Valleyin northwest Montana.
Betty Cahill
A preserving primer
Preserving home-grown food never goes out of style. There’s “renewed interest in preserving because so many people took up gardening in 2020,” according to LauraGriffin, county extension specialist for Colorado State University-Pueblo. Plus, withthe closeness of grocery stores, farmers markets and seasonal farm stands, you don’t have to travel far to find home-grown produce to preserve without theeffort of growing it yourself The hardest decision to make is what vegetable and fruit you wish to preserve and the best method within your time and budget to preserve them. Griffin’s advice is to “follow tested recipes explicitly for the highest quality and safe outcome, and if you have any questions to reach out to a Colorado State University ExtensionOffice to speak with afood science and human nutrition extension agentfor answers.” (Check out CSU’s website Preserve Smartfor meth-
ods to preserve many kinds of food.)
Another great resource is Ball Corp., a longtime go-toforfood preservation information. Staffers there recommend using Ball’s canning books published in 2016 and beyond for the newest and latest safety and home-preservation methods and recipes, or go online for up-todate information.
The best results in preserving come when fruits, herbs and vegetables are harvested at their peak. Toss or compost any that are damaged, bruised or over- or under-ripe. If the fruit or vegetable doesn’t taste good after harvest, the flavor won’t improve after the preservation process.
Jars of Palisade peaches, fresh out of the canner.
PHOTOS BY BETTY CAHILL SPECIAL TO THE DENVER POST
Home-grown tomatoes blanched and ready to freeze in bags.
Preserves
Preservation methods
Besides canning (water bath and pressure), common ways to preserve food include freezing,fermenting, drying, pickling and making them into jam or jelly.
Freezing vegetables is an easy preservation method The general rule is to blanch them first, which means to immerse washed vegetables briefly in boiling water. Blanching helps prevent loss of color, texture and flavor. Times vary per vegetable. Once blanched, plunge them into cold water to immediately stop the blanching process, drain and place in labeled freezer bags.
Vegetables that can be blanched and frozen include beans (green, snap, wax, lima, butter, pinto), cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, peas, carrots, kohlrabi, rhubarb, summer squash, sweet corn, tomatoes and peppers. Be sure to fully cook beets, pumpkins, winter squash and sweet potatoes before freezing.
When I don’t have time to use the water bath canning method for my homegrown tomatoes,I blanch and freeze them in heavy-duty, gallon-sized plastic bags.
For fresh fruits: Wash, stem, dry and freeze on cookie sheets first, then store in freezer bags Try blueberries, blackberries, huckleberries, elderberries, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, currants and rhubarb.
Dryingor dehydrating removes moisture from food so bacteria, yeast and mold won’t grow. Food dehydration equipment and ovens are most often used. The short list of foods that dry well include apples, peaches, pears, tomatoes, grapes, plums and herbs.
Fermentation is where fruits or vegetables are cured in salt or brinefor a week or longer to help thefood produce lactic acid, which preserves the food and serves as a probiotic.
Canning. Water bath canners are made of either aluminum or porcelain-covered steel and are used directly on stove-top burners. The newest canners on the market are free-standing, electric stainless steel with built-in heat sensors. Either works well, so choose which canner suits you.
The preserving process of water-bath canning is to force air out of the jar and create an environment to keep out microorganisms that causefood spoilage It is recommendedfor high-acid foods including tomatoes, pickles, sauerkraut, peaches,pears, apricots, plums, lemons, gooseberries and blackberries.
New canning research indicates some foods are less acidic so additional acidic ingredients should be added (lemon juice or white vinegar; see individual recipes) LauraGriffin points out that “white-flesh peaches, because of their
lower acid level compared to yellow-flesh peaches, should be frozen for safe preservation instead of water bath canned.”
Pressure canning uses a heavy metal kettle with a lockable lid. The canners are used to process low-acid foods to destroy harmful bacterial spores that are present. Low-acid foods include okra, carrots, beets, turnips, green beans, asparagus, lima beans, peas, corn, meat and fish. Weighted gauge and dial gauge pressure canners are the only pressure canning equipment recommendedby the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dial gauge pressure canners need to be tested for accuracy every year. (Contact your local Colorado county extensionoffice for this service.)
Pickling. Home canning to make pickledfoods has been a traditional way to preserve food for thousands of years. Pickling is a broad term for many types of fruits, vegetables and meat that are preserved by immersing them in a solution made of water, vinegar, salt and spices This pickling brine solution creates an acidic environment that prevents the growth of bacteria, which makes thefood stay fresh and tastyfora longer time. Commonly pickled foods include cucumbers, peppers, green beans, onions, eggs, okra and radishes. Watermelon, peaches, nectarines, chutneys and relishes also can be pickled.
Pickling cucumbers using a hot-water canner is good to try when preserving for the first time My nephew Joe, who lives in Montana, was interested in pickling his own cucumbers after trying his grandmother’s pickles. “Nothing compares to home-grown flavor, and it is not too complicated,” he said. Recipes for the brine can vary, but he always adds fresh dill, cloves, white onion and peppercorns. (See one recipe from Ball below.)
Grow your own pickling cucumbers, which have a thin skin so the brine is better absorbed Or find a farm stand or farmer’s market with pickling cukes, which should be refrigerated when purchased to keep them fresh until processed. Popular pickler varieties are Excelsior, Bush, Calypso and H-19 Little Leaf.
Resources
• Colorado State University Food Science and Human Nutrition Extension Agents: chhs.colostate.edu
• Colorado State University Preserve Smart: https://apps.chhs.colostate.edu/ preservesmart
• Donate extra produce in Colorado: foodpantries.org/st/colorado
• National Center for Home Food Preservation: https://nchfp.uga.edu/
PHOTOS BY BETTY CAHILL SPECIAL TO THE DENVER POST
An electric water bath for canning.
Preserves
RECIPES
Savory Corn Pudding
In the past, as I planned my Thanksgiving menu, I’ve often lamented not freezing any of that Olathe sweet corn from the summer for my favorite corn pudding recipe.
But this year, I’m ready. Using the guidelines from “Keeping theHarvest,” by Nancy Chioffi andGretchen Mead (Storey Books),I shucked and blanched fresh Olathe corn ears for 11 minutes in boiling water, then cooled them immediately in cold water. After draining well, I cut the kernels from the ears, packed them into plastic bags then labeled and froze them Come on, November Barbara Ellis
Serves 12 Source: Southern Living magazine.
INGREDIENTS
3tablespoons all-purposeflour
2tablespoons granulated sugar
2teaspoons baking powder
2teaspoons kosher salt
6large eggs
2cups heavy cream
1/2 cup salted butter, melted and cooled 2tablespoons canola oil
6cups fresh corn kernels (from8ears, see note)
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
2tablespoons (orless) fresh thyme, divided
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350degrees. Stir togetherflour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl until blended. Whisk together eggs, cream and melted butter in a medium bowl until blended.
2. Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat Add corn and onion, and cook, stirringoften, until onion is softened, about5minutes. Stirin1tablespoon thyme.
3. Remove from heat andlet cool slightly, about5minutes. Stirflour mixture and corn mixture into egg mixture. Spoon into a 13-by-9(3-quart) baking dish, and bake in preheated oven until set and golden brown, about 40minutes or more.
4. Let stand5minutes before serving. Sprinkle with remaining1tablespoon (or less) thyme.
5. Note: You can use kernels that you froze from fresh ears during the summer, frozen shoepeg corn from the freezer aisle, or petite white canned corn (but use higher quality if that’s the only option). This can be made ahead. Bake as directed,let cool, and then cover and chill up to two days. Reheat covered with foil.
BILL
restaurant in CouncilGrove, Kan.
peaches from Colorado’s Western Slope are typically in season from late July through September.
Preserves
PAGE 38
Hays House Peach Pie
This is my go-to summer pie, one that my book-club pals and friends clamor for each August, when peaches start to come in from Palisade. I’ve also made it in the winter, using peaches that I’ve canned The color isn’t as vibrant, but
it’s still amazing. (We’ve run this recipe before, but it’s worth telling you about it again. It’s that good.) Serve with fresh whipped cream or Cool Whip Barbara Ellis
INGREDIENTS
For the crust:
1cupflour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
For thefilling:
1cup sugar
1/2 cup dry peach gelatin
1/4 cup cornstarch
1cup liquid (peach juice plus water)
1or2drops almondflavoring, if desired
7or8peaches
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix dry ingredients together Add melted butter.
2. Press into 9-inch pie plate and up sides, but not onto rim.
3. Bake crust 15-17minutes at 350until toasty brown. Removeand cool.
4. Peel and slice the peaches.
5. In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, gelatin and cornstarch. Add the liquid (peach juice and water) Boil 3-5minutes.
6. Mix the liquid with sliced peaches and put into pie shell. Chill.
7. Top with whipped cream.
AMY BROTHERS DENVER POST FILE
Hays House Peach Pie from Hays House
Palisade
Preserves
Kosher Dill Pickle Spears
When canning pickles, the whole process of sterilizing the jars, cleaning the two-piece caps, cutting the cucumbers, heating the pickle mix and water bath canner took less than two hours. Loading the cucumbers and the liquid into the jars took afew minutes more Be sure to usea clean, damp paper towel to wipeoff any liquid from the jar rim and threads before capping. Check the lids the next dayfora good seal (the center of the lid won’t flexat all). If they are not properly sealed, eat the pickles right away, and refrigerate spears not eaten and use within a few days. There are many brining spice mix recipes out
there; my nephew Joe always uses fresh dill, cloves, white onion and peppercorns. Betty Cahill
This recipe is for “a classic pickle with big flavor and plenty of crunch,” according to Ball. Source: Ball Mason Jars. Yield: about4 pint jars.
INGREDIENTS
2½ pounds 3- to 4-inch pickling cucumbers
2½ cups water
2cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cuppickling salt
Ball PickleCrisp (available at most supermarkets and Walmart)
4cloves garlic
4small bayleaves
12dill sprigs
2teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
4small hot peppers (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare boiling water canner Heat jars in simmering water until ready to use, but do not boil Wash lids in warm soapy water and set aside with bands.
2. Wash cucumbers and hot peppers in cold water. Slice 1/16 of an inchoff the blossom end of each cucumber; trim stem ends so cucumbers measure about 3inches Cut cucumbers into quarters lengthwise.
3. Combine water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a small stainless saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat to simmer.
4. Place1garlic clove,3dill sprigs,½ teaspoon mustard seed,1bayleaf,1red pepper, and Ball PickleCrisp(if desired) into a hot jar. Pack cucumber spears into jar, leavinga ½-inch headspace. Trim any
cucumbers that are too tall.
5. Ladle hot brine into a hot jar leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on jar and apply band, adjust tofingertip tight. Place jar in boiling-water canner Repeat until all jars arefilled.
6. Water must cover jars by1inch Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner, and bring water to a rolling boil Processpint jars 15minutes, adjusting for altitude Turnoff heat and remove cover. Let jars cool5minutes. Remove jars from canner; do not retighten bands if loose. Cool 12to 24hours. Check lids for seal, they should notflex when center is pressed.
7. Tips: Pickling cucumbers are small, crisp, unwaxed and needn’t bepeeled Wide-mouth jars aren’t essential for pickles, but they do make for easier packing.
Home-grown blackberries can be frozen and used in pies or made into jam.
Preserves
Blackberry Pie
I’ve been growing blackberries for years. Even though the yield isn’t what it used to be,I still manage to freeze a couple of quart bags of berries each summer to use in this pie (orfor blackberry jam; see recipe at kraftheinz.com). I got this pie recipe from neighbor Joyce, who
loved it so much that it became part of the cookbook compiled by her large Iowa family You can use your own crust recipe, but this one from Betty Crocker is the bomb Barbara Ellis
INGREDIENTS
For the crust:
22/3 cupsflour
1teaspoon salt
1stick butter-flavored Crisco shortening
7-8tablespoons cold water
For thefilling:
4cups blackberries (frozen OK)
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3tablespoons cornstarch (or more if thawed berries are too watery)
3pats butter
Vanilla or berry ice cream for serving (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Defrost4cups frozen berries in the microwave, 50% power for4-6minutes
(adjust for your microwave).
3. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch Add berries, partially frozen Set aside.
4. Make the crust: Mixflour and salt, then cut in Crisco. Add cold water2tablespoons at a time Roll out bottom crust into 9-inch pie plate. Add berries and top with pats of butter Roll out top crust, cover and seal edges. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 30 minutes. Cover crust with foil to prevent burning and bake for 10more minutes.
Preserves
Grape Jelly
Concord grape vines meander along the south side of my Congress Park home. LOTS of grape vines. Even after the squirrels have had their way with them, there are still enough berries left to make several batches of grape jelly. I usea stove-top juice steamer to get the liquid out of those sweet little gems Many grape jelly recipes call for adding water when using store-bought grape juice, but with fresh grapes it’s not necessary. We’re using traditional water bath canning procedure. (Be careful not to burn yourself withthat scalding jelly.) After it sets, store the jars in a cool place. Best if used within a year. Or fancy up a few of the little darlin’s and put ’em in a cute basket Voila! Christmas gifts for the neighbors. Barbara Ellis Makes about eight half-pint jars Source: Sure-Jell andfood.com (Find lots of recipesfor fruit jams and jellies using Sure-Jell at kraftheinz.com.)
INGREDIENTS
5cups grape juice (from about31/2 pounds of ripe Concord grapes) 1(13/4 ounce) box of Sure-Jell pectin 1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine
7cups sugar, measured and set aside
DIRECTIONS
1. Make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (pick outleaves and stems before juicing) If not usinga juice steamer, slip skins from31/2 pounds of grapes Mix grape pulp and1cup water in saucepan Bring to boil Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer5minutes. Press through sieve to remove seeds.
2, In large pan, bring5cups of grape juice, fruit pectin and butter or margarine (to reduce foaming) to a full rolling boil for1minute, stirring constantly.
3. Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil for1minute, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat Skimoff foam with metal spoon.
5. Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within1/4inch of tops Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner.Lower rack into canner (Water must cover jars by1to2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10minutes or longer Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely.
6.After jars cool, check sealsby pressing middles of lids withfinger (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)
7. Label and store in a cool place for up to 18months.
Sausage sandwiches and sloppers reign supreme
The open-faced sandwich smothered in Pueblo green chile is a local standard
By Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton mboyanton@denverpost.com
Lisa Musso-Marinobuzzed around her family’s restaurant in cowboy boots and denim. The Pueblo native dashed to the ringing phone to jot down takeout orders, chatted up regulars she has knownfor years and hand-delivered the house specialty to tables: the Sicilian sausage sandwich, nicknamed the “fuggedaboudit.”
The creationby Musso’s Restaurant, 35250 E. U.S. 50, starsa secret sausage recipe developedby Musso-Marino’s great-grandfather, an immigrant from Sicily. He passed it down to her grandfather, Henry George Musso, who passed it down to her father, Henry Carl Musso.
The latter Henry and his Italian-American wife, Barbara Lee, decided to open the restaurant in 1991. Musso-Marino was next in line to learn the recipe.
So you could say that generations of Musso hands shaped the sausage patty nowfound tucked into a homemade bun and served with a slathering of Pueblo green chile, lettuce, tomato and the customer’s choice of Provolone, American or Swiss cheese.
The Musso family counts as a living example of Pueblo’s longstanding Italian heritage. The city’s cuisine is largely coloredby the influence of immigrants from Italy and the islandoff its coast, Sicily. They started moving to Colorado in the 1850s, heading to Pueblo for jobs in the farming, smelting and steel industries, with The Colorado Fuel and Iron Co employing many.
However, Italians weren’t the only ones making the journey.
“Immigrants and domestic migrants flocked to Pueblo to work in the mill, making it one of Colorado’s most diverse cities,” Colorado Encyclopedia reports.
“Irish, Italians, Germans,Slovenians, Serbs, Croats,Greeks and Mexicans all worked and made homes there.”
an order in for
dish commonlyconsisting of green-chile-smothered
PHOTOS BY AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST
Jennifer Geyer puts
Juan Rodriguez to prepare at Musso’s in Pueblo on Aug. 28. Pueblo is home of the slopper, a
foods such as sausage, burger, pork or french fries.
PAGE 43
Today’sfood scene pays respect to the city’s history. For example, Fuel & Iron Food Hall operates out of the former Holmes Hardware Building at 400 S. Union Ave.
But one ingredient has remained at the heart of Pueblo’s fare: green chile, which has grown in the area since the 19th century, according to History Colorado. Decades of cultivation resulted in a local strain. The Pueblo Chile Growers Association describes it as a “thicker and spicier” pepper, and it’s in constant competition with New Mexico’s more-famous Hatch chiles.
Pueblo’s peppers typically grow from July through October. They’re harvested in the late summer, and then bushelfuls are shipped to metro Denver to be sold at chile stands, groceries and farmers markets Most are roasted before being used, and the final product adds a zingto savory meals like pasta and quesadillas. Henry Carl Musso has been describedby The Pueblo Chieftain as “one of the pioneers of the iconic roasted Pueblo chile.”
Culinary traditions that use chiles, including the sausage sandwich and the “slopper” (another Pueblo creation), are gradually catching on outside of the city, but they haven’t been wholeheartedly embraced by the state— yet. An attemptat servinga Pueblo-inspired menu at Fuel & Iron Bar in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood flopped after its opening in 2022.
Whether their delicacies are widely received by the publicornot, Pueblo restaurateurs are busy keeping up with demand at home.
Sicilian sausage sandwich
Outside of Musso’s Restaurant,a sign beckons drivers from the road: “Musso’s homemade Sicilian sausage sandwiches.” Since opening day, the bestseller has hada place on the menu.
Musso-Marino tries to entice customers with daily specials, but they prefer tried-and-true favorites. The sentiment aligns withthe restaurant’s time capsule aesthetic.
In late August, Musso-Marino took a momentary break from her duties to gaze ata photograph hanging on the wall: one of her and her older brother, Carl Musso Jr., in a cornfield With tears in her eyes, her voice caught in her throat as she reminisced on her “farmer’s daughter” upbringing, growing up alongside the sweet corn and strawberries.
She spent mornings picking peppers and green beans at the family farm in Vineland an inheritance passed down alongside the secret recipe. Musso-Marino attended Pueblo County High School, which sits across the street from the restaurant.
She considered careers in nursing and criminal justice. Ultimately, she took over the restaurant from her father
Meanwhile, her brother and nephew handle nearby Musso Farms, which spans approximately 150 acres— and is just a five-minute drive from Musso’s Restaurant.
“My dad was my role model, and he’s the one that taught me a lot,” Musso-Marino said. “After we opened this restaurant,I knew this was my place to be.”
Over the past three decades, Musso-Marino has grappled with rising prices and the impacts of the pandemic, but she and her husband, Rocky Marino, continue pushing forward, honoring their shared Italian heritage.
And her father still makes daily appearances, stopping by each morning.
Other restaurants in Pueblooffer similar sandwiches with sausage and locally grown peppers, but Musso-Marino called the Sicilian sausage sandwich “a
PHOTOS BY AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST
Owner Lisa Marino smiles at Musso’s in Pueblo.
Customers enter Musso’s in Pueblo.
Musso thing.”
Her other best-seller is the slopper: an open-faced sandwich smothered with pork green chile. Musso’s Sicilian slopper features Sicilian sausage as the protein, whereas Musso’s special slopper includes a cheeseburger instead.
However, the lore behind that dish is better told over at Gray’s Coors Tavern and at The Sunset Inn Bar andGrill, Musso-Marino admitted.
Sloppers at Gray’s Coors Tavern
Gray’s Coors Tavern, 515 W. 4th St., was so busy on a recent Wednesday lunch rush that nota single empty space remained in its adjacent parking lot. Inside, the tavern glowed withthe light of neon signs: Bud Light, Coors Light, Michelob Ultra.
At the bar, regulars scarfed down their meals and watchedafootball game on a TV mounted on the wall Next to it sata shelf of helmets each representinga local high school team.
Siblings Gary Zerfas and Carrie Fetty sat across from each other in a booth. Their parents, Gary and CarolynGray, purchased the joint in 1982 with their nephew, Don.
In 2018, Zerfas, Fetty and their brother, Dean Gray, bought Don’s half of the business.
But the tavern existed long before the Grays entered the picture. It first opened in 1934 as a placefor Coors Brewing Co. to sell its beer (and only its beer)— a move orchestrated by brewer Adolf Coors II himself, according to some tellings, both oral and written. Coors may have had his hand in the naming and opening of several other Colorado bars as well.
One of his employees, Adolf Otterstien, traveled to Pueblo from the brewery in Golden to help set up the pub. The pair decided to utilize an existing bar: Schaffer’s, which also operated as a brothel. They partnered with a local, Johnnie Greco, and Johnnie’s Coors Tavern was born.
It was underGreco that the slopper came to be. Local accounts date its creation to the 1950s. According to thefolks at Gray’s Coors Tavern, business owner Herb Casebeer askedGrecofora burger smothered in red chili, and he dubbed it “a slopper.”
After theGrays took up the gauntlet, the business became a familyaffair. While each of their three children pursued their own careers— Zerfas in police work, Fetty andGray in education the trio gravitated back to Gray’s Coors Tavern.
The establishment is now knownfor its green chile sloppers. Served in a bowl, the open-faced cheeseburger is drowned in a smorgasbord of Pueblo green chile, fries and chopped onions.
It’s the top seller “bya long shot,” Zerfas said. For him, it comes down to the green chile, which the cook makes inhouse daily.
“It’s word of mouth, really,” Zerfas said. “People hear about a slopper; they want to come down to Pueblo, and we’re the place to go.”
Greco spread word of the slopper as far as Hawai’i, The Pueblo Chieftain re-
ports, and television fame helped build the dish’s reputation.
In 2010, the Travel Channel’s “Food Wars” series traveled to Pueblo to pit Gray’s Coors Tavern and The Sunset Inn against each other in a battle royale over sloppers.
Sloppers at The Sunset Inn
The spot that took gold: The Sunset
Inn, at 2808 Thatcher Ave. Gerda Chavez has owned the bar and grillfor 44 years. She first moved to the U.S. from Germany after marrying her late husband, Charles, who served in the Army.
In her home country, she was used to eating schnitzel and bratwurst sausage, with dumplings, red cabbage and sauerkraut on the side. Once Chavez resettled in Pueblo, her mother-in-law taught her how to cook Mexican-American food.
Chavez’s spouse used to work for Coors distributing, then he noticed that the Sunset Inn wasfor lease. Charles decided to pursue the business venture as a means of providing his family withfinancial security.
A decade later, the patriarch began servingfood and set up a small kitchen in 1990.
The Sunset Inn serves its famous green chile slopper and red chili slopper, which incorporates red chili beans.
Originally, the bar fit only about 40 people, Chavez said, “but, sometimes, 110 used to come in.” In 2003, the pair bought the property and expanded it. Then came “Food Wars,” which put the city “on the map for the sloppers,” Chavez added.
And as always, in Pueblo, you can’t forget the green chile.
“There’s no other place growing it or being as tasty— as it is here,” Chavez said.
PHOTOS BY AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST
Customers dine at Gray’s Coors Tavern in Pueblo.
Kitchen manager Tony Walker works at Gray’s Coors Tavern in Pueblo on Aug. 28.
14 old- and new-school dining choices in Denver’s northside
By Brittany Anas brittanyanas@gmail.com
Denver native Tony Garcia remembers filling up on enchiladas at Chubby’s when he wasa college student in the early 1970s. “It was fast food but it was good food,” he recalled of the original location of the legendary Mexican restaurant, 1231 W. 38th Ave., which still draws crowds hankeringfor burritos, hamburgers and French fries blanketed in spicy green chile.
Just a few blocks away, Lechuga’s, 3609 Tejon St., has always been the spot for cannolis not the sweet variety, but a more substantive sausage wrapped in puffy dough, Garcia said. Across the street, Garcia buys his tamales at Tamalesby La Casita,a 50-year-old Denver institution.
There’s also the gone-but-not-forgotten restaurants. Patsy’s, for instance, “was unabashedly old school; it was like going to an Italian restaurant from a 1940s movie,” remembered Garcia.
And Rosa Linda’s Mexican Cafe, which Rosa Linda Aguirre opened on West 33rd and Tejon Street in 1985 to feed both her family and her neighbors. The way she puts it: “We were like a bouquet, un florero.” As a thanks to the community— and to fulfill a promise to herself that she would feed the needy if her restaurant became successful Aguirre served well more than 50,000 turkey and green chile Thanksgiving meals before the restaurant eventually closed in 2015. Today, Aguirre and her son Oscar are carrying on the legacy with Tejon Food Co., which sells chorizo and spices.
Like many longtime Denverites, Garcia holdsfond memories of eating at the Mexican and Italian restaurants that defined the restaurant landscapefor decades on the city’s northside— which includes the Sunnyside, Berkeley, Highland and West Highlandneighborhoods and later became a destinationfor people all over the metro area.
“We were proud to have both of those communities represented,” said Garcia, who grew up in west Denver and is now a Chicano studies adjunct professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver and executive director of Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center.
These days, north Denver is defin-
ing the Mile High City’s dining scene in different ways. It’s home to a wildly diverse range of restaurants, from Asian standard bearers like Glo Noodle House, Ginger Pig and Ramen Star to sophisticated sandwich joints like Blackbelly Market, Odie B’s and theGrateful Gnome, as well as neighborhood staples like Pochitos Tortilla Factory, Parisi and Tacos Jalisco, and even the Michelin-starred Wolf’s Tailor.
Hungry for more? Here are 14 restaurants helping shape Denver’s Northside culinary scene.
Old-school restaurants
THE ORIGINAL CHUBBY’S
Stella Cordova bought Chubby’s Burger Drive-Inn in 1967, adding her famous green chile to the burgers and expanding the menu She wasa fixture
at the restaurant until she passed away at age 100 in 2006. Among a small number of Denver restaurants that stay open late, Chubby’s serves hungry night owls until3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. 1231 W. 38th Ave.
LECHUGA’S ITALIAN
Lechuga’s hasn’t changed its recipe for sausage cannolis since it started serving them (invented them, perhaps) in 1961
The Little Devil cannoli is rolled with jalapenos and smothered in cheese and red sauce. The family restaurant does an $8 spaghetti night on Tuesdays, and serves spaghetti in buckets throughout the week. 3609 Tejon St.
GAETANO’S Go for the mob lore, stay for the pasta. Gaetano’s is a neighborhood restaurant
housed in a 1925 building that dishes out pizza, pasta and serves brunch on the weekend, with Italian dishes like buttery, peppery cacio e pepe sharing the menu with chicken and waffles. It has changed ownership several times over the decades, but was at one time run by theSmaldone crime family, who turned it into a hotbed for illegal gambling and bootlegging in the 1940s. 3760 Tejon St.
CARL’S PIZZA
A nostalgic pizzeria that opened in 1953, Carl’s also serves spaghetti and meatballs, calzones and quarts of minestrone soup. The original owner was from Chicago, but these pizzas are made with a medium crust that’s not too thick, but not thin, either. Like Gaetano’s, Carl’s also hada bit of reputation
AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST
Dolores Jaramillo, left, dines with Michelle Wiltgen at Lechuga’s Italian Restaurant in Denver on Sept. 17.
at one point: The cops ate in the front room and the crooks in the backroom, recalled shop owner John Ludwig in an interviewfora collective memory project on the Northside put together by History Colorado 3800 W. 38th Ave.
PATZCUARO’S
While the sign and patio may be newer, Patzcuaro’s is a Denver institution: It opened in 1978 and is considered by some to be Denver’s first taqueria. Menu staples include tacos, like the tender pork ones marinated in adobo sauce, steaks smothered in salsa and enchiladas. Do yourself a favor and take a quart of green chile home. 2616 W 32nd Ave.
TAMALES BY LA CASITA
This 50-year-old family-run mainstay doesn’t sell only tamales, but that’s mainly what people from far and wide come in for, lugging out their favorite, in red or green, a dozen at a time. Around the holidays the traditional time for tamale eating it gets even busier. In fact, the shop produces an average of 18,000 scratch-made tamales every day. 3561 Tejon St.
PARISI
While Parisi doesn’t have as long of tenure as some of the old-school restaurants on this list, it has been around for 26 years, which is considerable taking into account how much Tennyson Street has changed over that time. Inspired by Florence, Parisi opened in 1998 as a small market and deli with imported Italian goods. Today, the counter-serve restaurant is the place to go for pizza, salads, pastas and a scoop of gelato. 4401 Tennyson St.
New-school restaurants
THE WOLF’S TAILOR
Much sets The Wolf’s Tailor, and its tasting menus, apart, from its ambitious zero-waste mission to milling heritage grains, and experimenting with fermentation. The restaurant, which draws inspiration from around the world, opened in 2018, and earned a Michelin star in 2023 and 2024, plus a green star, which recognizes leaders in sustainability.
Diners enter through the backyard garden and see chefs firing dishes in the kitchen before checking in withthe host something “that initially was happening on accident, but that we kept because it gives guests a sense of place,” said Chef Kelly Whittaker, who operates ID Est hospitality group, which owns The Wolf’s Tailor with his wife Erika. 4058 Tejon St.
KIKÉ’S RED TACOS
Kiké’s Red Tacos got its start as afood truck, serving juicy birria tacos just as eaters on TikTok were fueling a lot of interest in cheesy and photogenic griddled tacos dripping in consome. To be able to reach more fans and help ease long lines the family-run business opened up a brick-and-mortar shop where birria ramen is on the menu, too. 1200 W. 38th Ave.
ODIE B’S
Owner Cliff Blauvelt grew up in Sunnyside and chose the neighborhood to open his “rowdy little sandwich shop,” which serves some of tastiest breakfast burritos in town, along with brunch, stellar burgers and lunchtime sandwiches, like the Dirty Denver (green chile-braised short rib, cheese curds, beefy mayo and salt and vinegar crispy onions on a hoagie), which entice fans to wait in line. Pair a breakfast sammy (there’s plenty of plantbased options, too) with a green chile Bloody Mary 2651 W. 38th Ave.
HELEN H. RICHARDSON THE DENVER POST
Rosa Diasfillsa bowl with red chile and pork to make tamales by hand at Tamales by La Casita on Nov. 28, 2023, in Denver.
Northside
BLACKBELLY MARKET
Blackbelly Market made its Denver debut last spring, expanding beyond its Boulder location, which took home a Michelin green star in 2023 and 2024 and earned a spot on the guide’s recommended restaurant list Michelin also named Butcher Kelly Kawachi the 2023 Culinary Professional Award Winner. Pop into the Tennyson Street shop for a Cubano or banh mi. 4324 W. 41st Ave.
TOCABE
Tocabe opened in 2008 as Denver’s only restaurant featuring entirely Native American cuisine, like fry bread tacos and bison ribs Thefounders also launched an online marketplace in 2021 to showcase more indigenous companies. 3536 W. 44th Ave.
ALMA FONDA FINA
At the newly minted Miche-
lin-star restaurant Alma Fonda Fina, owner Johnny Curiel is amonga group of elite chefs who are helping lead Denver’s Mexican fine dining revolution. Curiel’s menu is influencedby the family recipes hebrought with him from Guadalajara, like the frijoles puercos, a menu staple that riffs onone of his mom’s recipes; it includes refried beans, chorizo, salsa and queso that you can mop up with sourdough tortillas The avocado margarita gets our vote as the star of the chef-driven cocktail menu. 2556 15th St.
ASH’KARA
Located in the building that was Rosa Linda’s Mexican Cafe for 30 years, Ash’Kara has quickly becomeits own kind of neighborhood favorite,offering cuisine from Israel, the Mediterranean and North Africa That means anything from falafel and lamb kofte to tagine and carrot kibbeh. The bright space was also recommended in the 2023 and 2024 Michelin guides. 2005 W. 33rd Ave.
LILY O’NEILL THE DENVER POST
The Cuban sandwich from Blackbelly Market in Denver.
A new generation’s approach
Places like Yuan Wonton, MAKfam and Dân Dã receiving national recognition for using parents’ ingredients, their own creativity to elevate menus
By Noelle Phillips nphillips@denverpost.com
Chef Ken Wan grew up behind the counter of a Chinese restaurant in a Boston suburb.
He watched his parents serve General Tso’s chicken and beef and broccoli to the masses who came through the doors of New China Garden in West Roxbury, Mass Wan understands the appeal of those dishes to American eaters. But it is not thefood he ate at home when his mom, who is from Hong Kong, cooked for their family of six.
“When they’re cooking for us at home they’re not cooking that stuff,” Wan said. “They’re not cookingfor the American pallet.”
So when hungry diners walk through the doors of Wan’s MAKfam restaurant, 39 W. First Ave. in Denver’s Baker neighborhood, they shouldn’t expect to order a big plate of General Tso’s chicken or Kung Pao beef. Instead, the menu offers dishes that might seem familiar but which actually blenda taste of the real Hong Kong with American influences and the personality that Wan and Doris Yuen, his wife and MAKfam co-owner, bring to the table.
“One of the things we tell guests is we use tradition-inspired food,” Wan said “I try to take something familiar and try to elevate it or showcase it in a way that they’re familiar with but they taste something different,” Wan said.
Take Wan’s wonton soup. He traded old-school chicken broth with a couple of frozen dumplings floating in it for a creamy broth with scallions and ginger. His house-made wontons have chicken and shrimp inside. “Wonton soup is ubiquitous to anyone who’s ever been to an American Chinese restaurant,” Wan said “We elevated it and made it nicer. It doesn’t have to be that afterthought dish that everyone ordered.”
In Denver,a new generation of Asian Americans arefollowing their parents’ footsteps into the food scene. While they embrace their parents’ work ethic and value traditional ingredients from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and elsewhere, they’re rewriting their menus in ways that showoff their own experiences. The result has been lines at their
doors, rave reviews and national recognition.
In early September, MAKfam joined some of the best restaurants in Denver on the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list —a designation given to restaurants that the guide’s reviewers believe provide deliciousfood at a reasonable price. Penelope Wong, chef at Yuan Wonton in Denver, was honored in January as a James Beard Award finalist for best chef in the mountain region. Banh & Butter Bakery’s owner has competed on the Food Network and scooped up local accolades, while Pho King Rapidos has made a name for itself on the festival circuit.
The foundation of a menu
For Wong,a ginger soy sauce has become the hallmark of her cooking. And she learned it from her dad, who immigrated from Thailand, when she stood shoulder to shoulder with him in her parents’ Denver restaurant, Chinatown,
when she started cooking as a teenager Wong’s mother died in 1991, and her father ran the restaurant for three more years before closing it.
Wong first used the sauce in a dish she created as a young chef at Glenmoor Country Club in Cherry Hills Village. It was so well received that the noodle bowl on which the sauce was featured became one of the most popular meals at the club.
“It was just a sauce that I learned from my dad that wasafoundation to almost every dish on his menu,” she said.
Wong combined her dad’s sauce with her family’s chili wonton recipe when she startedafood truck business in 2019 Before long, people waited in lengthy lines to try them, and those crowds followed her when she opened a restaurant at 2878 Fairfax St. in Park Hill.
“Every family has their own little recipefor their wontons. We’re very, very generous with our aromatics. Tons of fresh pressed ginger juice in there, scallions, coriander for the brightness
of it,” she said “It’s the perfect balance of sweet, salt, spice.”
On Mondays, when Yuan Wonton is closed, the kitchen staff prepares as many as 7,000 hand-made dumplingsfor the week. They form an assembly line where one person rolls out dough, another fills it with meat and other ingredients, and anotherfolds it.
“Our product is very, very labor intensive,” Wong said. “We’re making every single dumpling by scratch, by hand. There’s no dumpling machines here making our dumplings. We’re pleating every single one, cutting every piece of dough.”
“This is how I’m holding onto my family’s memories,” Wong said.
Modernized presentation
For the five Nguyen sisters, a nowclosed family-owned Vietnamese restaurant on Federal Boulevard was the foundation for the three places they now own.
AARON ONTIVEROZ THE DENVER POST
Chef/owner Penelope Wong works alongside line cook Katarina Guettlein at Yuan Wonton in Denver on Aug. 26.
Thao Nguyen and An Nguyen co-own Dân Dã at 9945 E. Colfax Ave. Anothersister, Thoa Nguyen, owns Bahn and Butter next door while Thu Nguyen owns New Saigon Bakery on Federal Boulevard. The youngest of the sisters, Kha Nguyen, floats between restaurants to help while she finishes college.
Thesisters grew up playing and then working in New Saigon, a popular Vietnamese restaurant that their parents Vietnamese immigrants who came to Denver in the early 1970s— owned for 30 years. They sold the the restaurant in 2017 and it closed in 2024, but their legacy thrives through their daughters’ businesses, in what they call an “elevated” way.
An Nguyen was handpicked by their mother, Ha Pham, to become the cook in the family, and Dân Dã’s menuoffers plenty of dishes that were on her parents’ old menu.
For example, Bo Luc Lac is a traditional Vietnamese meal found frequently at local restaurants The recipe was passed down from the Nguyen’s mother, and it was extremely popularat New Saigon. But every chef or cook who cooks it makes it a little bit differently.
An’s is a cubed beef tenderloin stir-fried with soy sauce, butter, garlic and black pepper and served with a salad covered in a fish-sauce vinaigrette dressing At New Saigon, Pham served Bo Luc Lac with iceberg lettuce and sliced tomatoes At Dân Dã, it comes with artisan lettuce and tastier cherry tomatoes. “So now the plating on that dish is completely different,” An said. “There’s certain ingredients in there that bring it up for the taste buds.”
“Because An was trained under my mom the flavors are all there. It’s just the presentation is different,” Thao Nguyen said “Her presentation is more modernized.”
“You could just throw together a plate of stir fry and eat it and have the same flavors,” An added. “But people are eating withtheir eyes first.”
Thoa Nguyen, thefourth sister, owns and operates Banh & Butter Bakery Cafe next door to Dân Dã She is a French-trained pastry chef so the bakery coun-
ter inside is filled with croissants, cakes, tarts and other sweets Her menu also includes banh mi sandwiches onhousebaked baguettes and Parisienne sandwiches with ham or turkey on a baguette.
Thoa said she first opened without the Vietnamese sandwiches on the menu but customers were confused because she had the word “banh” in the restaurant’s name Banh is the Vietnamese word for pastry or bread and is used interchangeably. She had resisted banh mi because it is the specialty of New Saigon Bakery and Deli, which is ownedby her sister, Thu Nguyen.
“People who want something traditional will hate my banh mi sandwiches,” Thoa Nguyen said “Mine’s a little bit more Asian fusion and the bakery is Asian fusion.”
If someone wants a more traditional Vietnamese sandwich, Thoa suggests they visit New Saigon Bakery and Deli, where their mother still works in the kitchen.
“Pastries are my passion and croissants are my specialty,” Thoa said. “If you want some really good croissants, then that’s what you come here for.”
Vietnamese-ish
When Long Nguyen opened Pho King Rapidos, which operates from a stall at Avanti Food & Beverage, 3200 Pecos St., no one in his Vietnamese family approved of the name.
“Everyone was like, ‘It’s crass,’” Nguyen, whose parents are from Vietnam, said.
But he wanted a name and a mascot that stood out. So he kept the name and incorporated Denver’s Big Blue Bear into the logo; the bear is wearinga crown cocked on his head like the iconic image of rapper Biggie Smalls. The name is a combination of an R-rated pun on the Vietnamese word “pho” and Tacos Rapidos, a 24hour taco shop in Denver that Nguyen and his friends enjoyed as a teenager.
“Kind of the reason we named our restaurant what we named it was so we could have the flexibility of making what we wanted and not be narrowed into onefood item,” he said.
He describes hisfood as “Vietamese-ish.”
“We try to say it’s influenced by Latino food and New York City but it’s Vietnamese,” he said.
One of Pho King Rapidos “Vietnamese-ish” dishes is the chicken over rice, which is his take on the meal served by halalfood carts in New York City. Pho King Rapidos’ version has chicken that is marinated in fish sauce, garlic, lemongrass and other seasonings served over rice that is cooked with ginger, garlic and turmeric Nguyen created his own ver-
sion of the white sauce poured over the dish at the halal carts, and then sprinkles his housemade tingly rice crisps on top to make a hearty, comforting bowl of food.
“You put all of those components together and it’s a harmonious bite,” he said.
Nguyen believes he and other second-generation Asian chefs learned to appreciate the res-
taurant industry because of their hard-working immigrant parents Food, he said, is a connection to their heritage and their families. But Denver’s food scene is growing, and tastes are evolving. So he and others want to use their family’s old recipes and add their own creativity to them.
“There’s a core memory that unites people, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I want to share that,” he said.
HELEN H. RICHARDSON THE DENVER POST
Thefive Nguyen sisters, all of whom own new Asian restaurants in the metro area, pose for a portrait at Dân Dã restaurant in Aurora on Aug. 20 From left: An, Thao, Thoa, Kha, and Thu, right, holding her daughter Taylee, 2.
PROVIDED BY PHO KING RAPIDOS
Pho King Rapidos’ Vietnamese menuhas influences from Denver and New York City, like a pho banh mi.
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Kathryn Jens, 76, and her husband Alan Hayden, 71, love to travel, and they eat well on their excursions. It’s hard to go back to cooking once they’re home.
“We go away on trips and we eat gourmet food,” Jens said. “I thought, if there is one thing that would make our life better it would be a chef.”
She found the cost of a personal chef to be prohibitive until coming across an article about Chefs for Seniors. Jens contacted local franchise owner Darren Rabie and now has a chef come in every other week.
“I’ve been raving about it to all my friends,” Jens said. “This is the perfect solution for me. It’s totally affordable. We pay for groceries and $175 for the service which is much better than the thousands of dollars you would have to pay each month for a personal chef.”
Chefs for Seniors takes the hassle out of meal planning and preparation. Clients can pick from more than 175 meal options, which can be customized to meet special dietary needs.
The chef goes grocery shopping on the day of service, buying only what’s needed, eliminating food waste. They cook in the client’s home and prepare between 10 and 14 servings in around two hours. The chefs use their own equipment. The food is packed in containers provided by Chefs for Seniors and stored in the refrigerator or freezer with reheating instructions. The chef cleans up, packs up, and is on their way.
Kathy Berthiaume said she was looking for some variety for herself and her husband, both in their 70s. “I’m not really a cook myself and I don’t really enjoy it,” she said. “Now we have a chef come in once a week. There’s such a variety. We can have a different protein every night.”
She said they look forward to their chef’s arrival. He’s been coming for a little more than a month and is already learning their tastes. “If a meal has a vegetable that you’re not crazy about, he’ll make adjustments,” Berthiaume said. “It gets very tailored and personal.”
She avoids gluten, so the chef uses gluten-free pasta and flour in any recipes he prepares for them. “It’s a really good resource to have that more people need to know about,” she said. Pam Trout prefers to cook for company. But she said she has run out of ideas for just her and her husband who are both in their 70s.
“I love it,” Trout said. “They bring all the food, they cook it, and clean up.” She says she’s “big on vegetables” and lower-fat meals.
She also said she has lupus, which sometimes saps her desire to eat, much less cook. The service, Trout said, makes sure her husband gets fed during those periods.
For those concerned about visitors in the home, rest assured that the chefs are ServSafe certified, undergo thorough background checks, and are fully insured.
To learn more, visit our website at chefsforseniors.com or contact us at (720) 445-8232.
