100 Favorite Dishes: Telluride jalapeño poppers from Encore

Lori Midson

No. 49: Telluride jalapeño poppers from Encore

One of my favorite bars in Denver to drink, eat, people-watch and simply relax is at Encore, whose buzzy, open kitchen struts the culinary smarts and skills of Paul Reilly, who also happens to be one of the most affable chefs on the planet. And lucky for us, he can cook his butt off, but long before we pick our way through his menu, or tune into his specials -- hell, before we even think about a cocktail -- we order at least one plate (more likely, two) of the Telluride jalapeño poppers. The racy red, fiercely hot peppers are slit down the middle, smeared with cream cheese and, because bacon is the Snickers of meat candy, Reilly wraps the fat, fiery suckers with apple-smoked strips of pig, transforming them into a fixation that I can't resit.

Hungry for more? All the dishes in our countdown are linked below:

No. 100: Italian wedding soup from the Squeaky Bean
No. 99: American Classic Burger (and fries) from Tarbell's
No. 98: E's clam linguini from Mangiamo Pronto
No. 97: Queso a la plancha taco from the Pinche Tacos wagon
No. 96: Prosciutto-wrapped jalapeño poppers from Tony's Market
No. 95: Fried chicken from the Pinyon
No. 94: Seafood soup from Farro
No. 93: Posole from The Porker
No. 92: Breakfast Burrito from the Taco Wagon in Lafayette
No. 91: Hummus from Shish Kabob Grill
No. 90: Albondigas meatballs from Solera
No. 89: Lemon-ricotta doughnuts from Olivéa
No. 88: Döner kabob from Shondiz
No. 87: Roasted cauliflower salad from Euclid Hall
No. 86: Beef cheek enchiladas from El Diablo
No. 85: Fried Brussels sprouts from Panzano
No. 84: Pork osso buco from Osteria Marco
No. 83: Cazuela Colombiana from Cafe Brazil
No. 82: Chicken potpie from Devil's Food
No. 81: Sichuan braised beef noodle soup from Zoe Ma Ma
No. 80: Larb nua from Taste of Thailand
No. 79: Pork shank from Argyll
No. 78: Truffo panino from Shangri-La Cafe
No. 77: Pig-snout tacos from Guadalajara Authentic Mexican Buffet
No. 76: Speck and maple ice cream from Pizzeria Basta
No. 75: Tom yum goong from Thai Flavor
No. 74: South African black ruff from TAG
No. 73: Gumbo from Bistro One
No. 72: New England clam chowder from Bittersweet
No. 71: Celery and lime popsicle from Spuntino
No. 70: Curried split pea soup from Modmarket
No. 69: Mais pizza from Pizzeria Locale
No. 68: Risotto frutti di mare from Firenze a Tavola
No. 67: Frico caldo from Frasca Food & Wine
No. 66: Sea scallop and rock shrimp noodle bowl from Bones
No. 65: Luther Burger from Crave
No. 64: Chongqing Chicken from East Asia Garden
No. 63: Bouillabaisse from Deluxe
No. 62: Crue fries from D Bar Desserts
No. 61: Chili gobi from Jai Ho
No. 60: New Mexican eggs Benedict from DJ's Berkley Cafe
No. 59: Lamb vindaloo from Cuisine of the Himalayas
No. 58: Gazpacho verde from Zolo Grill
No. 57: Hama Hama oyster from Jax Fish House-Denver
No. 56: Mixiote de borrego from El Trompito Taqueria
No. 55: Samosas from the British Bulldog
No. 54: Mole verde with carnitas from Tarasco's
No. 53: Pork chop from Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar
No. 52: Santa Fe skillet from Hits the Spot Diner
No. 51: Pork tenderloin with bread pudding and green split peas from the Wooden Table
No. 50: Noodle jelly salad from Thai Street Food

In late 2009, we embarked on a culinary journey that took us through our favorite dishes in the Mile High City -- one hundred, to be exact. Now we're back with round two, counting down (in no particular order) a hundred more of our favorite Denver dishes in a list that, by our imperfect calculations, should be wrapped up...sometime this year. If there's a dish you think we need to try, tell us about it in the comments section below, or shoot us an e-mail at lori.midson@westword.com.