8:16 am, Mar 29, 2013
It makes sense. Once the push for locally grown seasonal food took hold, the next logical step would be finding a way to preserve all those seasonal ingredients. Enter...pickling. Pickling—which involves preserving, marinating, and storing food in an acid base, usually vinegar—imparts a distinct sour taste to food. The trendy technique has become so pervasive it's hard to find a local menu that...
8:30 am, Mar 28, 2013
In our April issue, I wrote an essay about children and food allergies. I know this subject well because my youngest daughter is allergic to eggs, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, and avocado. Aside from avocado, these ingredients are pervasive in the foods most people eat everyday. Sesame seeds are included in crackers and many breads (not to mention hummus), nuts are hidden everywhere,...
11:30 am, Mar 27, 2013
Oatmeal Stout, Breckenridge Brewery, Denver Style: Oatmeal stout ABV: 4.95 percent Serving Type: 12-ounce bottle Malty? Hoppy? Malty, but dry rather than sweet Reviewed: March 2013 Cozy up to a bowl of oatmeal first thing in the morning, and it's unlikely that you'll give beer a passing thought. And yet, oats can complement a batch of dark brew quite nicely. Popular...
8:00 am, Mar 27, 2013
Do you believe in perfect bites? I'm talking about those moments when a dish—and all of its components—come together just so. This is what chefs hope you experience when eating their carefully composed dishes. Sometimes those sauces and garnishes and main ingredients work together and sometimes, well, they don't. Flawless bites are rare, but I had one on Saturday night at Beast + Bottle,...
10:30 am, Mar 26, 2013
For more than 40 years, pastry chef Erhard Bochert has turned out exquisite European pastries that showcase a finesse learned long ago in Frankfurt, Germany. Those decades of experience have laid the groundwork for Erhard’s European Cafe and Espresso Bar in South Boulder. This tiny shop, which Bochert owns and runs with his wife Jola, sells European-style tarts, cookies,...
9:00 am, Mar 26, 2013
How does a restaurant come to be? That's a question I always like to ask a chef-owner or a restaurateur when he or she is opening a place. That's how you discover the details that lie at the heart of a place. (For example: Johnny Ballen hatched the Squeaky Bean over an Aperol spritzer in Italy, which is why the cheery Squeaky spritzer will likely always...
8:20 am, Mar 25, 2013
Twelve Restaurant in Denver's Ballpark neighborhood has gained a loyal following for its seasonal menu--one that lists 12 dishes and changes monthly (or 12 times a year—get it?). You can count on chef-owner Jeff Osaka to deliver fresh, innovative takes on dishes like Dungeness crab beignets, cioppino with shrimp and monkfish, and creamy fettuccine carbonara made...
10:30 am, Mar 22, 2013
I'm not sure how to decipher Epernay Lounge, the seven-week-old Theater District restaurant from the wildly talented chef Duy Pham. The food is a mix of exquisite, highly styled sushi and heartier, sous-vide meats and seafood. Fine cooking and global influences unify all of the dishes, but the menu simply doesn't hang together. Is this a sushi bar or a contemporary...
8:00 am, Mar 22, 2013
Erratic March temperatures are the telltale sign that spring is here. Before the cold retreats once and for all, make sure to stop into Williams & Graham and order the cozy, show-stopping Blue Blazer. The cocktail sounds simple enough—Glenlivet Nadurra Scotch, raw sugar, and lemon zest—served hot. But this ain't your grandmother’s hot toddy. Scotch and an equal...
10:30 am, Mar 21, 2013
Aspen seems to have it all: some of the best ski runs in the country, beautiful people, and even more attractive scenery (it is named “Aspen,” after all). So if there was a ski town that needed to have a brewery, this High Country haven did. Enter: Aspen Brewing Company, a small brewery that has poured suds since 2008. We sat down with Chase Engel, the head brewer, this summer to talk low-alcohol...
