Denver Food Blog

Shauna Ahern

​One in eight Coloradoans will struggle to put food on the table this holiday season, and 99 percent of food banks in the state have reported an enormous surge in the need for emergency assistance.

Kudos, then, to the Colorado Egg Producers, whose Good Egg Project is lending a helping hand to Food Bank of the Rockies and the Weld Food Bank. This Saturday, November 21, the CEP will donate over 100,000 eggs to people scheduled to receive USDA food boxes at both food banks. Howard Helmer, the Guinness World Record Books' fastest omelet maker ever, will also be teaching omelet workshops to those interested in learning how easy omelet cooking can be. And homeboy knows what he's talking about: He made 427 omelets in thirty minutes to claim his record.

Mark Manger

​The New York Times blog "You're the Boss," ruffled the apron strings of restaurant servers nationwide when it ran Bruce Buschel's two-part list of things restaurant staffers should never do. As someone who worked the FOH for 14 years, I have two words for Buschel:

Bitch, please.

While Buschel made some decent points, his elitist tone reinforced the popular notion that servers are servants as opposed to facilitators. Good servers go out of their way to make the guest's dining experience exceptional -- but getting the recipe for every guest "that goes gaga over a particular dish," which is actually one of Buschel's suggestions, is ludicrous. Seriously, give me a break. Any server on the planet would rather slide down a five-foot razor blade into a pool of rubbing alcohol than ask the chef for their duck confit recipe during a Friday night push. That doesn't mean they give shitty service.

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We have been shamelessly shilling for Anthony Bourdain for the past few days, talking about his upcoming trip to Denver, giving away tickets to his lecture and Q&A on November 18, throwing up pictures of him whenever we can.

Shameless? Absolutely. Not for nothing, the man is very popular -- and every time we use Bourdain's name, people seem to find their way to our little corner of the digital world and stay a while to have their say. Love the guy or hate him, he's good at what he does. And what he does is eat, drink, write, travel and photograph well. And get paid for it by the bucket.

But one very handy thing came out of our relentless pimping: the comments following our original "Win a Dream Date with Tony" contest (whereby we asked the good citizens of Denver to come up with three appropriate restaurants for Bourdain to eat at while he was in town). These responses actually serve as a very handy reference guide to some of the best eating in the city, assembled by people who actually care enough to have favorites that don't rhyme with Schmolive Garden.

​What you may have missed this week on Cafe Society while you were busting your brain trying to compile a list of canteens worthy of Sir Anthony Bourdain's refined palate during his pit stop in D-Town next Wednesday, November 18 to lecture at the Temple Buell Theater. By the way, the winners of our Tony Bourdain ticket contest will be announced bright and early Monday morning.

Jason Sheehan, who is probably in the back alley behind Fogo de Chão right now stuffing scraps of lamb deep inside his pockets, put forth his own list of top ten south-of-the-border restaurants, which includes Empanada Express Grill in Golden, a joint that you should totally try, if you haven't already.

Come to think of it, we were all about lists this week. As a countdown to the Best of Denver, coming April 1, we began dishing up a hundred of our favorite plates in Denver, beginning with the chicken fried steak at Lola, followed by Biker Jim's Alaskan reindeer wiener and the huge bowl of french fries from Jonesy's.

Kate Kennedy unleashed her own top ten list of the most unappetizing food scenes in the history of cinema, which was a fine follow-up to her list of recipes that you might actually want to eat this Thanksgiving, although I'm not sure about that green bean casserole, even if there is no mention of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.

You can bet that there was never a Campbell's label anywhere near Ian Kleinman's laboratory kitchen at O's Steak and Seafood at the Westin Westminster, which is where Kleinman let loose the liquid nitrogen for a few years before getting ousted earlier this week. Bummer.

Of course, he could always drown his foam in the suds at the Tilted Kilt, which opened Wednesday with a school of lassies in knee-highs, very short plaid kilts and matching bras bouncing from bar to bar with nipple warmers beers and big plates of pedestrian pub grub.

You won't find much of that coming from the kitchen at Strings, which is now commanded by executive chef Lance Barto, the subject of this week's Chef and Tell interview with Lori Midson.

In Behind the Bar, Nancy Levine interviews Randy Layman, the drink slinger at Avenue Grill, who attests to the fact that blow jobs really do happen in public parking lots.

​The only thing better than a fabulous food scene on the big screen is a scene involving brutal, unabashed violence (True Romance, or anything Tarantino for that matter), or a fantastic food moment involving sex (9 1/2 Weeks, for example). But while some culinary scenes will leave you yearning to hump on the kitchen counter, others might make you swear off food forever. Scenes like these:

10. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1997)
Classic. The turkey is nearly carbonized, the chewing noises are atrocious, Uncle Eddie calls dibs on the neck, and Aunt Bethany puts cat food in the green Jell-O. Oh, Clark.

Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images

​First, Michelle Obama caught the attention of carrot stalkers when she corralled a group of Washington, D.C., schoolkids to help her garden grow on the White House's South Lawn; she also pimped her garden on Sesame Street.

Then Spike Mendelsohn, burger wizard, former Top Chef Chicago contestant and the exec chef of Good Stuff Eatery in D.C., named a burger after the First Lady. Made with free-range turkey, Swiss, caramelized onions and several of the herbs grown in the White House garden, he called it the "Michelle Melt" and donated the proceeds to a D.C. nonprofit that feeds the city's homeless population.

And on Tuesday night's episode of The Biggest Loser, Obama's garden was, again, prominently featured -- even if she wasn't.

But now comes word that the First Lady will appear on the January 3, 2010, premiere of the Food Network's Iron Chef America.

Lori Midson

Would you eat that?

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​Tim and Nina Zagat just dropped the 2010 edition of America's Top Restaurants (full disclosure: I edited the Colorado section), along with pages and pages of dining stats culled from eaters who responded to Zagat's annual survey that, more or less, sum up the best and worst of each city.

And survey says...

Lori Midson

​It's been a while since I've found a formerly untrodden (at least by me) taqueria that showed promise, but that changed yesterday when I stumbled across this upbeat taco shack in Aurora. It was out of horchata, but had an ample supply of Mexican coke in the bottle, jarritos and jugs of really good cantaloupe agua frasca.

Outside, the snowflakes were falling like giant teardrops and kids were throwing the first snowballs of the season. Inside, the small TV in the corner was tuned to slapstick Mexican comedy, while the owner (and cook) delivered baskets of piping hot salted chips and a ruddy salsa to a steady parade of customers.

I was in the mood for menudo or pozole, but I didn't see either on the menu. So I ordered the next best thing: four soft corn tacos -- adobada, pastor, buche and shrimp -- misted with lime and slapped with cilantro and onions. They weren't the best tacos I've had, but they were damn good, and the salsa bar, stockpiled with a half dozen rojas and verdes, a mix of jalapenos, onions and carrots, plus rounds of pickled jalapenos and pico de gallo, was worth the pilgrimage east from downtown.

Name the joint.

Lori Midson

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Lori Midson

Brendon Doyle, the new exec chef at Jonesy's EatBar

​"I love the gastropub concept, I love the word 'gastropub' and I love Leigh Jones," declares Brendon Doyle, the former exec chef of Campo de Fiori who's now in command of the kitchen at Jonesy's EatBar, the gastropub at 400 East 20th Avenue, as Jason Sheehan reports here. Doyle didn't actually actually mention Sheehan's recent gastropub rant out loud, but he did say that his own cooking philosophies jive with the gastropub movement. "The gastropub concept is about simplicity, and that's what I stand for, too," he says. "But simple doesn't have to mean boring. You can still create fireworks with simplicity."

Which is exactly what Doyle intends to do with Jonesy's current menu. "I had a lot of parameters when I was at Campo, but there are no parameters at Jonesy's, so I'm going to have some fun with the menu, move it forward and use more seasonal, local products, like a gastropub menu should," he explains. When Doyle rolls out the autumn menu, sometime in early November, it'll have dishes like smoked veal chops, grilled cheese and tomato soup, duck confit, braised pork and cassoulet, he promises. And once the dinner menu is in place, a new brunch menu will follow. 

Sheehan will be watching.

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It has been a long time since I stood a shift in any kitchen. By my own (admittedly poor) accounting, it has been 2,650 days since I last picked up a knife, pulled on my whites or stood before a stove in any sort of professional capacity. I've missed it, sure. I loved the time I spent cooking and still consider the nights I spent with a knife in my hand to be some of the best of my life. But I never missed it quite enough to ever consider, you know... going back.

Until now, that is. On October 23, for one night only, I will be stepping back into the traces as a working cook and doing my level best not to burn the house down at Mezcal.

Why am I doing this? And, more to the point, why are Jesse Morreale and Sean Yontz allowing me to defile the cool and calm of their galley, when they know full well that the odds of me doing anything useful are slim and the odds of me causing something catastrophic to happen a virtual sure thing? For the same reason that anyone can be talked into doing just about anything these days: Because it's going to be on TV.

Lori Midson

​At this relatively new Mexican restaurant, the menu is a mash-up of the usual suspects -- carne asada, burritos, fajitas and huevos rancheros -- and more interesting south-of-the-border foodstuffs like posole poblano, nopales and shrimp ceviche, the shout-out dish in the above photo. Splashed with fresh citrus juices and vivid with cilantro, tomatoes, half moons of avocado and specks of jalapeno, it was delicious -- and exactly what I was in the mood to eat.

Just one problem: It took an hour for the bowl to travel from the kitchen to our table -- the only occupied table in the dining room -- and by then, I'd already plowed through two baskets of housemade salted chips, six salsa refills and a pitcher of lime water. My mood had gone from good to grumpy.

Still, I'd come here again, both for the ceviche and the chilaquiles (excellent). And if you can guess where I'm eating, you can get there first, order, wait it out, and call me when the food is on the table. I live close.

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Denver's apparently getting a fifth gastropub -- and that could give Jason Sheehan a major case of indigestion, as you know if you've been following his gastropub rants right here on Cafe Society.

As we reported last month, Denver's three existing, self-proclaimed gastropubs -- Jonesy's, Argyll and Colt & Gray -- will soon be joined by Downtown Gastropub, one of three new spots that Tryst owner Paul Piciocchi is putting into the former Alto on 15th Street.

And now comes news of SKYBOX, a gastropub that's slated to open at the Streets of SouthGlenn in November. Judging from the advert the place posted on Craigslist (below), it's looking for a chef. Food for thought if you're searching for a job, and more food for fodder if you're Sheehan.

Lori Midson

Where would you find "chipotle muscles"?

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The menu description in the above snap obviously never went through a menu Spellcheck. The more I look at it, the more I laugh -- I have this image of some 400-pound linebacker with bulging muscles sitting on the pot eating chips, and daydreaming about getting laid instead.

Have your own image to share, or know the name of the restaurant that can't spell? Contribute below.

​What you might have missed this week on Cafe Society while checking out Jason Sheehan's top ten places on 17th Avenue to swell your belly.

Lori Midson got a sneak peak of Sean Yontz's new restaurant space during a sit-down with the Sketch, Mezcal and Tambien executive chef, who's also the subject of this week's Chef and Tell interview.

We discussed bars, bars and more bars, including ten TV bars where we'd like to hang with friends and get drunk, drunker and drunkest and dive bars, specifically our favorite dive bars, about which our readers have strong opinions. (We like that.)

And speaking of bars, Nancy Levine got up close and personal with mix master Ken Kodys, the bartender at Bacaro in Boulder.

Meanwhile, in New York, Gourmet magazine , the glossy food title, lost its print battle after nearly seventy years of page-turning recipes, travelogues and wish-I-was-there photography.

And if that weren't bad enough, Travel + Leisure, the upscale getaway 'zine that pimps vacation hot spots that cost more than your average luxury car, released the results of its 2009 America's Favorite Cities poll, which included an ethnic food category, in which Denver was ranked...way the hell at the bottom. We got smoked, big time, and we're not happy about it.

Sadly, we also lost some big names in the restaurant business, including Frank Finn of the Gold Hill Inn, who passed away last month; pitman Mike McCrea of Big Mike's BBQ, who died from injuries suffered during a propane tank accident; and Ben Ali, co-founder and namesake of Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington, D.C.

RIP.

Lori Midson

​It's Friday morning. Where are your pancakes? If you can pinpoint the exact location of the pancake in the above pic -- which on further examination, looks like a distorted Halloween mask, what with those freaky butter eyes (not intentional, by the way) and rivers of syrup that somehow managed to take on nose and mouth traits -- then you can get your pancakes on, too.

But these aren't just any pancakes. They come from an unassuming shanty that specializes in a specific kind of pancake. That's it from my end. Now it's your turn. Cast your guesses in the box below.

Lori Midson

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Lori Midson

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Lindsay McNicholas explains the produce offered at Smith Elementary.

​The playground at Smith Elementary becomes quite crowded on Thursday afternoons. That's when parents, teachers, students and community members gather to purchase fresh organic vegetables and fruits. The sales are designed to raise money to start a community garden -- but they also educate students on the importance of locally grown foods and the nutrients they provide.

Every week, Lindsay McNicholas, the resource advocate for Smith, drives to the Slow Food Denver storeroom, where Andy Nowak has a truckload of vegetables donated from different Colorado farms. our local farms are represented at Smith's market: Brighton Berry Patch, Palombo, Ela Family Farms and Forte Farms. There are usually ten types of produce available, all inexpensive. Palisade peaches go for 50 cents each, three ears of corn sell for $1, and broccoli heads are a bargain at 25 cents each.

Lori Midson

Fruition Farms

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Talk about green energy! For a slide show of Fruition Farms, Alex Seidel's ten-acre parcel of land in Larkspur, click here. Seidel is also the chef-owner of Fruition, at 1313 East Sixth Avenue, and the subject of this week's Chef and Tell interview.

Lori Midson

​Candy-apple-red booths (vinyl, natch), an air of intrigue, stiff drinks poured by chill bartenders and a killer jukebox that, to my ear, doesn't promote one throwaway tune form the endearing vibe at this Denver dive that's also the perfect spot for tucking into a dark corner and snogging.

There's a menu, too, with waitress-recommended fried mac-and-cheese wedges that you could never convince me to eat again, even if Kraft promised to leave me its entire fortune. But this isn't a bar for foodinistas -- not by a long shot. It's a moody joint that's full of interesting, low-key people who like their liquor doubled and their conversations kept private.

Think you frequent the same bar that I do? Lock in your answers below to find out.

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Yeah, it did taste good. And thanks for asking.

Matter of fact, it tasted so good, it inspired me to post this double-strength challenge. I don't just want to know where I was eating (because that might be too easy), but I'd also like you to guess exactly what I was eating.

Both answers only, please. And if anyone gets it right, I might even have prizes...

Lori Midson

Enchiladas from El Taco de Mexico

​Gourmet, the national food porn glossy with lots of dreamboat pictures, is rumored to be going down -- fast, at least according to The Observer, which reported earlier this week that the monthly, along with several other pubs owned by Conde Nast, will likely need to slash its budget by 25 percent next year. And don't be surprised if there's a reduction in issue frequency, either, thanks to a cringing slide in ad pages.

So it was a pleasant surprise to open the October issue -- a celebration of The American Restaurant -- and see some good stuff, namely shout-outs to two Colorado spots in an article recognizing "Restaurants Worth the Money."

But while editors noshed their way through restaurants in New Orleans, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago with $1,000 in their pockets, Denver didn't get that kind of royal treatment. Which may explain, in part, why one of the joints that Gourmet named best in the West is El Taco de Mexico, 714 Santa Fe Drive, which is obviously worth the money since it's effing delicious and it costs virtually nothing to eat there. Gourmet didn't exactly say that, but here's what they did write about our beloved taqueria:

This tiny no-frills Mexican joint is beloved for its green chile, a.k.a. Colorado's de facto state food. Order tacos al pastor or burritos de chile relleno at the counter, say yes when asked if you want it smothered, and get some horchata to cool the chile's blaze.

Lori Midson

Worst french fries in the wooorld

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1. Grease-fest
2. You could use them as whips
3. Droopy
4. Unsalted
5. Undercooked, by like a mile
6. Tasted like dirt
7. Cold
8. Over 600 calories of yuck
9. One more artery. Clogged.
10. Gritty

Translation? Worst. Fries. Ever.

Guess where you should never eat french fries? Bummer, too, because I really like the burgers.

Lori Midson

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Last week, while corrupting indoctrinating our new Cafe Society intern, we ordered a pizza. But because we were trying to impress a smart Johnson & Wales University student with more extracurricular activities to her credit than Gordon Ramsey has kitchen disasters, we asked the pizza dude from a nearby pie palace to please do a pizza that would make our intern drop to her knees in gratitude. A pizza with, I don't know, tzatziki sauce and lamb on it.

Question is, where did it come from? Bonus points if you can name the delivery boy.

Lori Midson

Argyll Gastropub exec chef Sergio Romero and Jing exec chef Jay Spickelmier get up close and personal during the Mile High Chef Competition

​What you might have missed this week on Cafe Society while shoving chicken wings down your throat...

Carnivorous anti-vegetarian Jason Sheehan trots out the city's top cow temples in his Denver's Ten Best Steakhouses roundup.

At Dish, the Westword Menu Affair, Argyll Gastropub executive chef Sergio Romero and Jay Spickelmier, the exec at Jing, battle for rights to the marshmallow statue during the Mile High Chef Competition.

Lori Midson gets her tarot cards read while interviewing Panzano chef Elise Wiggins, who dishes on everything from bulls' balls to her most embarrassing moment -- the day her butt mooned the dining room.

In an attempt to give the great foodniks in this city their say about the state of Denver's dining scene, Sheehan gives power to the people after polling the people in Westword's 1st Annual Cafe Society Poll about Food and Chefs and Stuff.

Lori Midson

​The restaurant where the above pic was snapped is still one of my favorite spots in Denver, which is saying a lot, considering that it's been feeding the faithful for nearly 20 years -- 19 years longer than it takes most joints to fall off the radar and into the black abyss of restaurant amnesia. It's not a seafood haunt, although the menu certainly pimps some of the best scallops and shrimp in the city -- and if that nugget of information isn't a blatant clue, then you're spending your time at all the wrong restaurants.

You should be spending your time here. The question is, where is "here?"

Lori Midson

Mile High Chef competitors Sergio Romero and Jay Spickelmier

​The voting was close, really close. But after the judges -- Jason Sheehan, Tyler Nemkov, Nancy Levine, Ben Davison from Tony's Market and yours truly -- taste-tested eight courses, all of which involved Colorado lamb, and then tabulated the results, Jay Spickelmier, the exec chef at Jing, edged out Argyll Gastropub exec chef Sergio Romero in last night's Mile High Chef Competition at Dish-the Westword Menu Affair.