Saturday, March 31, 2018
Friday, March 30, 2018
The name of the 2018 Denver Comic Con beer is…
The winning name of the 2018 Denver Comic Con beer turned to Norse mythology and the Marvel Universe for inspiration.
“Razznarok,” a name suggested by Marisa Harding, is the moniker for Breckenridge Brewery’s 5.1 percent ABV raspberry witbier, beating out finalists “The Scarlet Wit,” “Wreck-it Raspberry,” “Witty in Pink” and “Justice for Barb-Berry.”
For suggesting the winning name, Harding wins free beer for a year and a DCC tap handle.
Denver artist Morgan Beem will design the illustrated that will be featured on a special pint glass for the beer.
Previous beer names include “The Fantastic Pour” (2012), “The Caped Brewsader” (2013), “Brews Wayne” (2014), “Hulk’s Mash” (2015), “Snape-ricot” (2016) and “I am Brewt” (2017).
[Read More …]
Cheap eggs for Easter, free pizza and other deals around Denver, March 29-April 5
Eggs-ceptional price
Looking for the lowest price on eggs? One of the best bargains is at Target, with 18 Market Pantry Grade A large eggs for 99 cents. The sale price ends March 31. At this low-price, get creative and try new Easter egg designs or deviled eggs recipes. Plus, no problem if little hands drop a few on the kitchen floor. As an added bonus, text GROCERY to 827438 to earn $10 Target gift card on a food and/or beverage purchase of $50 or more. Most other chain retailers and grocers also have eggs on sale, but prices vary. target.com
Easter lunch
Parents won’t need to hunt for a bountiful bargain this weekend. Families should hop over to Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar for a big savings on Easter. On April 1, kids (12 and under) eat free with the purchase of an adult entrée. Children choose from a variety of entrées from the kids menu, including their choice of a side dish and juice, milk or chocolate milk. Even better, up to four kids can eat free with the purchase of each adult entrée. Families with lots of baby bunnies will definitely appreciate the savings. applebees.com
Pizza party
Who says there no such thing as a free lunch? There’s a first time for everything. UMBC did the unexpected in the NCAA Tournament on March 16. As a No. 16 seed, they beat the No. 1 seed, the Virginia Cavaliers, in a 74-54 victory. Little Caesars promised a huge giveaway “if crazy happens.” Well, it happened, and now everyone scores a big deal on April 2. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., get a free lunch combo — a four-slice Deep! Deep! Dish pizza with pepperoni and a Pepsi-Cola product. The combo regularly sells for $5, so it’s definitely a slam dunk. littlecaesars.com
Pint-sized fun
Denver’s landscape is about to get a little cooler. High Point Creamery is opening its third location. The new ice cream shop in the Berkley neighborhood (3977 Tennyson St.) opens on April 6 at 4 p.m. The first 50 customers will receive a free $10 High Point Creamery gift card with purchase. (Limit one per family/party for use on a future visit.) The shop is also offering buy-one-get-one free pints, scoops and ice cream flights from 4-6 p.m. on opening day. Consider one of the spring flavors including bananas and honey, sunflower with lemon preserves or violet and lime cookies. highpointcreamery.com
Dollar days
Frugal families can find lots of adventure in the city for just a few bucks. One of our favorites: SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) recipients get entry to three of Denver’s most popular museums for just $1 per person (up to 10 people) — the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, History Colorado Center and Children’s Museum of Denver at Marisco Campus. To get the discount, simply present an EBT card at the ticket counter. The offer is only valid for general admission and does not include any added attractions or special exhibits. (At the Children’s Museum, all adults must be accompanied by a child.)
More freebies, discounts and deals at MileHighOnTheCheap.com.
[Read More …]
WIA Profile: Jennifer Jarach
Each month, industry news media organization XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry’s most influential female executives.
[Read More …]
Thursday, March 29, 2018
As women’s stake in the Colorado beer scene grows, so does the recognition that they have a right to be there
Only 21 percent of breweries out of 2,500 surveyed by Stanford researchers had at least one woman in a top role, the most recent research from 2014 shows.
Despite the low percentage — or perhaps because of it — more than 40 women working in Colorado’s beer industry teamed up on International Women’s Day in early March to create a collaborative beer named Equal Hopportunity Pineapple IPA at the Blue Moon Brewery in RiNo.
“Supporting each other is really important,” said Emilie Stewart, Blue Moon’s pilot brewer and one of the women behind the Denver chapter of the Pink Boots Society, an association for women in the beer industry. “Women in the brewing industry have grown from what it once was, but it’s still not where it needs to be.”
The Pink Boots Society held the collaborative brewing event on March 8. Chapters across the nation, and a few across the globe in places like South America and Australia, brewed their own styles of beers using the same mix of hops. The beer will soon be available at select breweries starting April 10.
During the brewing process, about a dozen women watched Stewart send malt and water through a mash tun. Meanwhile, others tasted beers while more swapped stories from their breweries.
Pink Boots Society had been trying to start a chapter in Denver but it never took off until April 2017. Among the women present during the brew day, there appeared to be a consensus: More and more women are both joining the beer industry and being accepted in the male-dominated world.
Dev Adams, an advanced cicerone who runs Miss Lupulin Libations, and Bess Dougherty, head brewer of The Grateful Gnome, have both been in the local industry for quite some time. When they started, there were only a handful of other women. Of those, most worked in marketing positions instead of as owners, quality assurance analysts or brewers. The number has skyrocketed in the past six or so years, Adams said.
There is very little data available for the number of women in the beer industry. In 2007, Pink Boots Society founder Teri Fahrendorf created a list of every female brewer following a five-month road trip visiting breweries and distilleries across the country. It was only 60 women deep. Now, the organization’s Denver chapter alone has more women than that — although, the chapter includes women in the industry who are not brewers.
Additionally, data from the national Brewers Association said women made up 28 percent of weekly craft beer drinkers in 2016, up from 25 percent the year before. Similarly, in 2016, women accounted for more than one-third of new craft drinkers.
“It’s been amazing for me to see how women in the industry have been growing,” Adams said.
Yet problems still exist, notably a lack of women in leadership roles. There are other lingering issues, too.
“One of the biggest ones for me is people believing and trusting that I know what I’m talking about,” said Gates Minis, who works at the front of the house for Woods Boss Brewing Company in Denver.
Adams, Dougherty and Barbara McDonald, an assistant brewer at Dean & Co. Brewing, were chatting with Minis at the brewery and agreed with her frustration.
The four added that it can be hard for women to find someone to give them a chance to break into the industry. Or, even after getting the job, a brewery may not trust a woman enough to let her do it. There are other times women may be doing a job but not getting the title that goes along with it.
The four said they now work with men who trust their expertise. Much of the dismissing they experience comes from people either out of the industry or others who don’t know them, they said. Adams said what the industry needs more of is men acting as advocates for women.
Despite this, women are still willing — and wanting — to join the boy’s club. Part of that growth is driven by women seeing others who have already carved a path, Dougherty said, pointing to industry giants like Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing co-founder and CEO Kim Jordan.
“I think a lot of it is the loud people that came before me being outspoken and vocal,” Dougherty said.
And that’s where groups like the Pink Boots Society come in. Fahrendorf, the first woman craft brewmaster west of the Rockies, created the organization in 2007 following her road trip.
Stone Brewing’s small batch brewer Laura Ulrich held the society’s first meeting in San Diego the next year with 16 women brewers present — and six women beer writers. Now there are more than 2,700 members.
It’s for women working in all areas of the beer industry from brewing and front of the house to owning and marketing. The society’s focus is education, bringing in experts from the industry to talk about everything from the brewing process to the legal side of owning a brewery.
The society has been trying to build a chapter in Denver, where the annual Great American Beer Festival takes place, but there was never enough volunteer power to really get it off the ground, Executive Director Emily Engdahl said.
Last year, the society put out a call for Denver’s beer women to start up a chapter. Three women — Stewart, Melissa Bosak, who was director of operations at Crazy Mountain Brewing Company last year but now works at MillerCoors, and Erin Cox, who is a quality assurance analyst at Great Divide Brewing Company — answered.
About 15 people showed up at the first chapter meeting. Now, less than a year later, the chapter has 83 members.
And the Pink Boots Society isn’t the only group trying to make the industry more welcoming to women.
Girls Pint Out is a national organization birthed out of Indianapolis that works to build a community of women who love craft beer. Women Enjoying Beers is a consulting firm in Oregon focused on marketing beer to women. And last year, the national Brewers Association changed its advertising and marketing codes to crack down on sexually explicit, lewd or demeaning brand names and labels.
Despite some of its problems with a lack of female leadership and support, the women of the Pink Boots Society love the beer industry, talking at length that day at Blue Moon Brewery about how collaborative and supportive it is.
“The more of us there are, the more noise we make, the more welcoming it’ll be,” Dougherty said.
Breweries that will have the Pink Boots Society’s Equal Hopportunity Pineapple IPA on tap starting April 10:
- Dry Dock Brewing Company – 15120 E. Hampden Ave., Aurora CO 80014
- Dry Dock Brewing Company – 2108 Tower Rd., Aurora, CO 80011
- Eddyline Brewery – 102 Linderman Ave., Buena Vista, CO 81211
- Mother Tucker Brewing – 2360 E. 120th Ave., Thornton, CO 80241
- Great Divide Brewing Company – 2201 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO 80205
- Great Divide Brewing Company – Barrel Bar – 1812 35th St., Denver, CO 80216
- Blue Moon Brewing Company – RiNo – 3750 Chestnut Pl., Denver, CO 80216
- Molson Coors Brewing Company – headquarters – 1801 California St., Denver, CO 80216
- Coors Distributing Company – 5400 Pecos St., Denver, CO 80221
- Woods Boss Brewing – 2210 California St., Denver, CO 80216
- DeSteeg Brewing /Blind Faith Brewing – 4342 Tennyson St., Denver, CO 80212
- Launch Pad Brewery – 884 S. Buckly Rd., Aurora, CO 80016
- High Alpine Brewing Company – 111 N. Main St., Gunnison, CO 81230
- Black Shirt Brewing Co. – 3719 Walnut St., Denver, CO 80205
- Brix Taphouse & Brewery – 813 8th St., Greeley, CO 80613
- Twenty Brew TapHouse – 11187 Sheridan Blvd. Unit 10, Westminster, CO 80020
- I HOP IPA – 12920 Lowell Blvd. Unit G, Broomfield, CO 80020
- Colorado Plus Brew Pub – 6995 W. 38th Ave., Wheat Ridge, CO 80033
[Read More …]
As women’s stake in the Colorado beer scene grows, so does the recognition that they have a right to be there
Only 21 percent of breweries out of 2,500 surveyed by Stanford researchers had at least one woman in a top role, the most recent research from 2014 shows.
Despite the low percentage — or perhaps because of it — more than 40 women working in Colorado’s beer industry teamed up on International Women’s Day in early March to create a collaborative beer named Equal Hopportunity Pineapple IPA at the Blue Moon Brewery in RiNo.
“Supporting each other is really important,” said Emilie Stewart, Blue Moon’s pilot brewer and one of the women behind the Denver chapter of the Pink Boots Society, an association for women in the beer industry. “Women in the brewing industry have grown from what it once was, but it’s still not where it needs to be.”
The Pink Boots Society held the collaborative brewing event on March 8. Chapters across the nation, and a few across the globe in places like South America and Australia, brewed their own styles of beers using the same mix of hops. The beer will soon be available at select breweries starting April 10.
During the brewing process, about a dozen women watched Stewart send malt and water through a mash tun. Meanwhile, others tasted beers while more swapped stories from their breweries.
Pink Boots Society had been trying to start a chapter in Denver but it never took off until April 2017. Among the women present during the brew day, there appeared to be a consensus: More and more women are both joining the beer industry and being accepted in the male-dominated world.
Dev Adams, an advanced cicerone who runs Miss Lupulin Libations, and Bess Dougherty, head brewer of The Grateful Gnome, have both been in the local industry for quite some time. When they started, there were only a handful of other women. Of those, most worked in marketing positions instead of as owners, quality assurance analysts or brewers. The number has skyrocketed in the past six or so years, Adams said.
There is very little data available for the number of women in the beer industry. In 2007, Pink Boots Society founder Teri Fahrendorf created a list of every female brewer following a five-month road trip visiting breweries and distilleries across the country. It was only 60 women deep. Now, the organization’s Denver chapter alone has more women than that — although, the chapter includes women in the industry who are not brewers.
Additionally, data from the national Brewers Association said women made up 28 percent of weekly craft beer drinkers in 2016, up from 25 percent the year before. Similarly, in 2016, women accounted for more than one-third of new craft drinkers.
“It’s been amazing for me to see how women in the industry have been growing,” Adams said.
Yet problems still exist, notably a lack of women in leadership roles. There are other lingering issues, too.
“One of the biggest ones for me is people believing and trusting that I know what I’m talking about,” said Gates Minis, who works at the front of the house for Woods Boss Brewing Company in Denver.
Adams, Dougherty and Barbara McDonald, an assistant brewer at Dean & Co. Brewing, were chatting with Minis at the brewery and agreed with her frustration.
The four added that it can be hard for women to find someone to give them a chance to break into the industry. Or, even after getting the job, a brewery may not trust a woman enough to let her do it. There are other times women may be doing a job but not getting the title that goes along with it.
The four said they now work with men who trust their expertise. Much of the dismissing they experience comes from people either out of the industry or others who don’t know them, they said. Adams said what the industry needs more of is men acting as advocates for women.
Despite this, women are still willing — and wanting — to join the boy’s club. Part of that growth is driven by women seeing others who have already carved a path, Dougherty said, pointing to industry giants like Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing co-founder and CEO Kim Jordan.
“I think a lot of it is the loud people that came before me being outspoken and vocal,” Dougherty said.
And that’s where groups like the Pink Boots Society come in. Fahrendorf, the first woman craft brewmaster west of the Rockies, created the organization in 2007 following her road trip.
Stone Brewing’s small batch brewer Laura Ulrich held the society’s first meeting in San Diego the next year with 16 women brewers present — and six women beer writers. Now there are more than 2,700 members.
It’s for women working in all areas of the beer industry from brewing and front of the house to owning and marketing. The society’s focus is education, bringing in experts from the industry to talk about everything from the brewing process to the legal side of owning a brewery.
The society has been trying to build a chapter in Denver, where the annual Great American Beer Festival takes place, but there was never enough volunteer power to really get it off the ground, Executive Director Emily Engdahl said.
Last year, the society put out a call for Denver’s beer women to start up a chapter. Three women — Stewart, Melissa Bosak, who was director of operations at Crazy Mountain Brewing Company last year but now works at MillerCoors, and Erin Cox, who is a quality assurance analyst at Great Divide Brewing Company — answered.
About 15 people showed up at the first chapter meeting. Now, less than a year later, the chapter has 83 members.
And the Pink Boots Society isn’t the only group trying to make the industry more welcoming to women.
Girls Pint Out is a national organization birthed out of Indianapolis that works to build a community of women who love craft beer. Women Enjoying Beers is a consulting firm in Oregon focused on marketing beer to women. And last year, the national Brewers Association changed its advertising and marketing codes to crack down on sexually explicit, lewd or demeaning brand names and labels.
Despite some of its problems with a lack of female leadership and support, the women of the Pink Boots Society love the beer industry, talking at length that day at Blue Moon Brewery about how collaborative and supportive it is.
“The more of us there are, the more noise we make, the more welcoming it’ll be,” Dougherty said.
Breweries that will have the Pink Boots Society’s Equal Hopportunity Pineapple IPA on tap starting April 10:
- Dry Dock Brewing Company – 15120 E. Hampden Ave., Aurora CO 80014
- Dry Dock Brewing Company – 2108 Tower Rd., Aurora, CO 80011
- Eddyline Brewery – 102 Linderman Ave., Buena Vista, CO 81211
- Mother Tucker Brewing – 2360 E. 120th Ave., Thornton, CO 80241
- Great Divide Brewing Company – 2201 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO 80205
- Great Divide Brewing Company – Barrel Bar – 1812 35th St., Denver, CO 80216
- Blue Moon Brewing Company – RiNo – 3750 Chestnut Pl., Denver, CO 80216
- Molson Coors Brewing Company – headquarters – 1801 California St., Denver, CO 80216
- Coors Distributing Company – 5400 Pecos St., Denver, CO 80221
- Woods Boss Brewing – 2210 California St., Denver, CO 80216
- DeSteeg Brewing /Blind Faith Brewing – 4342 Tennyson St., Denver, CO 80212
- Launch Pad Brewery – 884 S. Buckly Rd., Aurora, CO 80016
- High Alpine Brewing Company – 111 N. Main St., Gunnison, CO 81230
- Black Shirt Brewing Co. – 3719 Walnut St., Denver, CO 80205
- Brix Taphouse & Brewery – 813 8th St., Greeley, CO 80613
- Twenty Brew TapHouse – 11187 Sheridan Blvd. Unit 10, Westminster, CO 80020
- I HOP IPA – 12920 Lowell Blvd. Unit G, Broomfield, CO 80020
- Colorado Plus Brew Pub – 6995 W. 38th Ave., Wheat Ridge, CO 80033
[Read More …]
Improvement to Copper Mountain Resort chairlifts raises concerns on environmental impact
If Copper Mountain Resort gets it way, the POWDR corporation resort will replace and upgrade both its American Eagle and American Flyer chairlifts in time for next ski season.
But the U.S. Forest Service will first have to sign off on the plan, as each lift corridor up the mountain would have to be doubled from 30 feet wide to 60 feet wide, among other noted forest and potential wildlife impacts. Both lifts are located within the resort’s existing special use permit and operational boundary within forest service land.
For the American Eagle lift out of the resort’s Center Village, Copper wants to install a combination six-passenger chairlift and eight-person gondola cabins. Copper says the new lift would increase lift capacity by over 40 percent. It’d be along the same alignment of the current detachable quad lift, the only difference being American Eagle’s top terminal would be shifted approximately 150 feet downhill from its existing location.
For the American Flyer lift out of the resort’s West Village, Copper wants to install a six-passenger bubble — or weather protection cover — chairlift, with the American Flyer bottom lift terminal relocated approximately 30 feet to the east, the resort says, to improve skier circulation.
Read more at summitdaily.com
[Read More …]
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Q&A: ManyVids Ignites Content-Creation Renaissance
From humble beginnings in a small basement apartment four years ago, ManyVids has flexed serious industry power to become a hulking platform for adult content creators of every stripe.
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Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Monday, March 26, 2018
A roaming snowcat taco truck with beer is coming to Steamboat Ski Area
Steamboat Ski Area parent company Alterra Mountain Company has announced new updates for the 2018-19 ski season, including a snowcat food truck that will roam the mountain.
The proposed snowcat food truck will be called the Taco Beast and will redefine “slopeside” dining, according to the announcement. The Taco Beast will serve carne asada and al pastor trail tacos — the resort’s take on street tacos — breakfast burritos, esquites (Mexican street corn on the cob) and Mexican-style beer.
The Taco Beast will begin operating on the mountain in summer 2018 and will continue to offer trailside service in both winter and summer seasons. Guests can find out more information about the Taco Beast including expected locations, dates and times of operations and how to track the Taco Beast online at steamboat.com/tacobeast (information coming in summer 2018).
Read more at steamboattoday.com.
[Read More …]
Avanti tenant expanding to its own restaurant, will fill former Squeaky Bean space
It’s been nine long months since The Squeaky Bean closed. That’s nine months of experiencing the cavernous Bingo Brunch-less void plaguing downtown, not to mention the sleepless nights wondering what, exactly, could ever replace the Bean.
But sleep easy, dear readers — we now know what is moving into Squeaky’s space. Chow Morso, the casual Italian eatery by the Barolo Grill owners (currently in restaurant incubator Avanti Food & Beverage), will open inside the historic Saddlery building.
The brick-and-mortar Chow Morso — called Chow Morso Osteria — will feature an expanded menu of fresh-made pastas, salads, appetizers and desserts. Chef Darrel Truett will split his time between Chow Morso Osteria and Barolo Grill as culinary executive director.
“Chow Morso was developed to bring Barolo Grill’s high-quality foods into a more casual environment in another zip code,” Barolo founder Ryan Fletter said. “We love the history of the old Saddlery building and how close it is to Union Station and all the businesses in the area. The 4,000 square-foot space allows us to roll-out a much larger menu than we had at Avanti and show Denver what Chow Morso Osteria is all about.”
The new Chow Morso will open this summer in the Bean space, and it will remain at Avanti until at least the end of October.
Chow Morso Osteria: 1500 Wynkoop St., chowmorso.com; opening summer 2018
[Read More …]
Q&A: AVSecure CMO Steve Winyard Bucks the System
Steve Winyard is a dynamo personality in the adult industry, well-heeled in a bootstrap fashion, riding the entrepreneurial edge of technology for the past four decades.
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Sunday, March 25, 2018
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Friday, March 23, 2018
Seen: Beaux Arts Ball 2018 benefits National Jewish Health
The term “grand entrance” is usually reserved for individuals who go out of their way to be sure their arrival catches everyone’s attention.
In the case of the 2018 Beaux Arts Ball, however, the description was more literal: In order to get to the area where the Bollywood-themed gala was taking place, guests had to pass through an entry that was truly grand.
Guided by Clem Connolly, the director of special events for National Jewish Health, and executed by David Squires of Design Works, the path leading to the Hyatt Regency Convention Center’s Centennial Ballroom was transformed into a passageway reminiscent of the Marchi galli, or spice corridor, at Mumbai’s storied Crawford Market.
Baskets filled with fragrant, colorful spices lined one wall, alternating with equally fragrant floral displays. Dancers, moving to the haunting beat of a sitar, also helped extend a welcome to all who passed through.
Later, as the 1,200-plus guests sat down for an Indian-inspired meal and program, Blair Richardson, chairman of the National Jewish Health board of directors, didn’t mind bragging when he pointed out that “Year after year, the Beaux Arts Ball is one of the most popular events in Denver. We throw the best parties, don’t we?”
The fundraiser chaired by Karen and John Ikard, Wendy and James Miller and Suzanne and Lee White raised $2.4 million. A special appeal conducted by auctioneer and former Denver Broncos player Reggie Rivers brought in a record-breaking $750,000. That money is earmarked for care ad research involving children with lung disease.
After hearing Dr. Pamela Zeitlin, chair of the Silverstein Family Department of Pediatrics at NJH, remind everyone that the hospital takes care “of every child, no matter their ability to pay. We always have, and with the help of donors, we always will,” Fred Churbuck kicked off the special appeal by pledging $100,000 from his family’s Salah Foundation.
The Beaux Arts Ball also was the occasion for NJH to pay tribute to the 2018 Grand Marshals, four couples who are valued supporters of the nation’s No. 1 respiratory hospital: Susan Juroe and Michael Schonbrun, Michelle and Mike Fries, Gail and Jack Klapper and Karen and Michael Long.
Juroe, an attorney and co-owner of Balfour Senior Living, served as special assistant to the chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board during the Reagan administration.
Her husband spent 13 years as chief executive officer of National Jewish Hospital before founding Balfour Senior Living in 1997. He also was the first chairman of the Metropolitan Air Quality Council, whose work was pivotal in reducing Denver’s notorious “brown cloud.”
Michelle Fries graduated with honors from the University of Florida, earning a bachelor’s degree in global business. She has worked for the world’s largest fashion and apparel trade show company and as manager of strategic development and planning for IMG, a global leader in sports, fashion and entertainment.
Mike Fries is the CEO of Liberty Global, which has cable television operations in 30 countries and revenue of nearly $20 billion. He and his wife are trustees and lead donors to the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and are deeply involved in such organizations as the Denver Film Society, the Colorado Symphony, Biennial of the Americas, ACE Scholarships and Denver School of Science and Technology.
Gail Klapper is president of the Colorado Forum and managing partner of The Klapper Firm. After receiving her law degree from the University of Colorado, she served as a White House Fellow, returning to her native Colorado to become executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies and the Colorado Department of Personnel.
Her husband graduated from East High School, where he was state tennis champion from 1954 to ’57, and went on to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He is director of the Mile High Research Center, where he leads a team that specializes in Alzheimer’s disease pharmaceutical trials.
Karen Long is a member of the Colorado Symphony board and supports numerous education-related causes, including ACE Scholarships, the CU Leeds School of Business mentorship program and AmeriCorps. Her husband is chairman, president and CEO of Arrow Electronics and serves on the boards of the Denver Zoo, the National Western Stock Show and AmerisourceBergen. He’s also active in the Young Presidents Organization and has been honored by several professional groups.
Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Reps. Mike Coffman and Ed Perlmutter were among those attending the ball, joining a group that also included Carrie and John Morgridge, whose Morgridge Family Foundation was the presenting sponsor.
National Jewish Hospital’s president and CEO, Dr. Michael Salem, also welcomed such friends as Katherine Gold, the evening’s Visionary Sponsor; Bollywood-level sponsors Walter and Christie Isenberg; Norm and Sunny Brownstein; Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld; Dana Davis; Tom and Margie Gart; David Engleberg; John and Debi Medved; Steve and Robin Chotin; Judy McNeil with her sister-in-law, Linda McNeil; Jay Mills and Kiana Akina; Carol and Dr. Richard Abrams; Brian and Dana Parks; and Steve and Shelley Lucas.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, partiwriter@hotmail.com and @joannedavidson on Twitter
[Read More …]
Native Ads, Pre-Roll In-Stream Videos Rock
With the new restrictions from Google kicking in, it is clear that user experience will be the key to success in 2018. Google rewards publisher sites that provide value to users.
[Read More …]
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Album and shows of the week: Bad Licks’ “Lies,” The Savage Blush and more
The Savage Blush
A deep itch, flushed cheeks, dripping beads of sweat — The Savage Blush’s shows are the reason, not the cure, for the spate of dancehall fever that flares up here and there around Denver. Under clatches of reverb, the surf’s-up psych three-piece evokes the ghosts of the misremembered ’70s, and can turn a cold night inside out on a tempo change. Swampy single “Half Broken” is a good example: It feels like a visitation from Janis Joplin, with credit due to frontwoman Rebecca Williams’ witchy charisma. The band plays Syntax Physic Opera, a fittingly enigmatic space, in Denver on Friday. Fellow Denver hip wigglers Palo Santo will open the show. Tickets to the evening are $7 at the door.
Roy Woods
Trap R&B is nothing new, but the preponderance of it is. Roy Woods is its latest attendant, a max-relax 20-something that’s here less to turn you up than bring you down easy. He drapes himself in dark synths, chilly blue light and action-movie bass rattles that roll through his stylized down-tempo pop like headlights through the blinds of your bedroom window. A member of Drake’s OVO crew, Woods — stylized as Wood$, of course — is in good company, and for good reason. He sounds like a relative of The Weeknd, albeit with less range and even less of an inclination to scale it. Still, he’s an easy bet for the genre’s most promising prospects. See for yourself when he plays Summit Music Hall on March 27. Tickets are $20-$125 via ticketfly.com.
The Bad Licks, “Lies” (EP)
Bad Licks sounds like the band your grandparents would have warned your parents about. In the vein of Truth and Janey, the band is a fuzz lord, shoveling ungainly amounts of gain in its songs that spikes of a dump of dopamine in the bloodstream. The Denver band’s latest is “Lies,” a three-track smash-and-grab EP of fast, crunching riffs that gets at that base itch that rock was meant to scratch: An outlet for unruly — or unholy — urges. “Is anyone hearing my call into the void?” frontman Rett Rogers sings on “Radio,” an apropos title for the EP’s logical single. But the title track does it one better, cramming a middle finger in the barrel of the band’s gun, its cross-hairs fixed on god and other institutional powers. It’s an immense track, trickling with ’70s studio magic you can only conjure if you’ve listened closely enough to the classics, or spent a weekend playing fight club in a fun house. Whatever Bad Licks did, it’s working.
[Read More …]
Conveyor belt sushi, Barcelona Wine Bar and more new Front Range restaurant openings
Roll on rolls
I’m not sure what it says about us as a society that conveyor belt restaurants are a trend, — We want instant gratification when it comes to our angry tuna rolls? We’re easily entertained? — but the original Denver food belter, Sushi-Rama, opened a second location last week at Belleview Station in the Denver Tech Center. Be amazed as spider rolls and unagi spin round and round and round. 4960 S. Newport, Denver, 720-667-1195; sushi-rama.com
How about some tapas and wine?
Wine is a good thing. Tapas are several good things. So RiNo’s brand-new Barcelona Wine Bar must be a really great thing. The Connecticut-based chain serves more than 400 bottles of wine, plus 30 tapas (the jamon and manchego croquetas sound pretty fantastic) and a menu of shareable large plates, too. 2900 Larimer St., Denver, 303-816-3300; barcelonawinebar.com
Eat more biscuits
It’s possible that my only regret in life will be not eating enough biscuits, which is kind of a catch-22 when it comes to regrets because one can never really eat enough biscuits. Le sigh. Here’s a new spot in Lafayette for your biscuit-eating exercise in futility: Mon Cheri Bakery & Bistro has a generous biscuit menu, and other, non-biscuit-centric meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 211 N. Public Rd., Lafayette, 303-664-1234; moncheribakery.com
#TimesUp far-flung groceries
If you’re looking to localize your grocery shopping, you’ll want to know about the Local Foods Market. The independent, natural foods store opened last month in Westminster with the goal of stocking the largest selection of locally-sourced groceries. Think of it as a year-round, indoor farmers’ market. 5005 W. 72nd Ave., Westminster, 720-84
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
The Legal Gray Area of Cannabis Transactions
Across 30 states and the District of Columbia, marijuana consumption is now legal in some form. With more than half the country buying and selling cannabis products legally, there’s still a large gray area when it comes how these transactions are handled.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Long-Running Ohio Retailer The Garden and Chamber Forges Ahead With New Owner
2017 and early 2018 were a time of transition for The Garden and Chamber (TheGardenColumbus.net). For 20 years, the Columbus, Ohio-based adult store was owned and operated by founders Tom and Shawn Smith.
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Monday, March 19, 2018
Consistency, Variety Key to Clips Revenue
I am Bratty Nikki, co-founder of iWantClips.com and iWantEmpire.com, and I have been selling my own content for over seven years now. Whether you are a performer, director or producer, you can earn passive income from the content you own.
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Sunday, March 18, 2018
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Friday, March 16, 2018
6 (mostly free) interactive art lectures in Denver that deserve your attention
Of course, art galleries are a place for looking. But lately, they’ve become a place for listening, too, as the region’s best showplaces for painting, sculpture and other creative forms have upped their games when it comes to lecture series.
These places go beyond the traditional practice of inviting an academic to present slides from a podium (though, honestly, we still love that, as well). For them, it’s more about shaking up formats, integrating outsider voices into the mix and recognizing that the act of presenting speakers is not secondary to the visual arts programming; it’s an equal part of what a museum, gallery or art school can do.
Here is a round-up of places that are engaging in the evolved show-and-tell dynamic and making Denver a more interesting place.
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, Collapsing Time Lecture Series
RMCAD’s series of talks by visiting artists has grown into one of the city’s most interesting, and under-appreciated, places to hear about contemporary culture. The speakers are culled from the top ranks of professional artists working around the globe and their output tends to be on the experimental edge of art-making. In other words, they are artists who matter now. The events, organized by artist Gretchen Marie Schaefer, are free but RMCAD usually asks guests to register in advance.
Next up: Chicago-based Lilli Carré, who creates comics illustrations, animations and sculpture, on March 20.
More info: rmcad.edu
PlatteForum, Temple Tattle paired lectures
This new series is co-produced by PlatteForum, which works with underserved youth, and its landlord, the Temple, a shared studio space for artists in Curtis Park. The offerings are free-wheeling and unpredictable, pairing a Temple artist and a community “change agent.” Topics can be as varied as gentrification and chess.
Next up: Temple Artist Theresa Anderson and Miguel De La Torre, professor of Social Ethics and Latina Studies at the Iliff School of Theology, who will take on topics of art and civil disobedience. Free.
More info: platteforum.org
Counterpath Press, ongoing speakers
East Denver’s Counterpath is a lot of things, including an art gallery, a printing press and a community center, and its live offerings aren’t exactly a series but an ongoing collection of events that feature authors, artists and other interesting characters. The fare could be as simple as a writer pitching a new book or as off-beat as a group reading of the complicated new federal tax code. It’s always interesting, diverse and forward-thinking.
Next up: Christina Sharpe, associate professor of English at Tufts University and author of “In the Wake: On Blackness and Being,” from Duke Press, on April 5. Free.
More info: counterpathpress.org
The Dikeou Collection, Literary Series
The Dikeou Collection, the underground museum off the 16th Street Mall, brings in a lot of speakers, many of them artists who have objects in the collection. But its Literary Series is definitely worth a look as well. The lineup, currently organized by Ashley Colley, a poet from Ohio, includes readers who are both familiar to the public and unknown, and they are dependably the sort of fresh voices not often heard here.
Next up: Steven Dunn, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Kelly Krumrie and Blake Guffey (who is described as a “poet misplaced from a mountain holler in Alabama, a heredital tongue dancer and head clapper”), all on March 29, at the Dikeou Pop-Up space on East Colfax. Free.
More info: dikeoucollection.org
Clyfford Still Museum, One Painting at a Time
The Still’s OPAAT, as it is affectionately called, is the kind of deep-dive lecture series that could only happen at a museum that specializes so purely in one artist. It takes a long, slow look at the abstract expressionist’s career, inviting one member of the community — an artist, critic, teacher, writer, curator, whatever — to discuss just one work per evening. The guest picks the painting, it goes up on the wall, and the talk takes place right in front of it. The experience — there have been 50 OPAATs so far, hundreds more to go — can be intimate and profound for both the speaker and audience and it lasts just one hour. Like all of the Still’s best public programming, it’s free.
Next up: Michael Henry, executive director of Denver’s Lighthouse Writers Workshop, on March 20. What painting will a guy who specializes in literature choose to discuss?
More info: clyffordstillmuseum.org
Denver Art Museum, Logan Lecture series
DAM’s Logan Lecture series is universally top-notch and features, simply put, some of the best artists on the planet. Generally speaking, it takes on a traditional format with guest lecturers showing images of their work and explaining the thinking that goes on behind it. The lineup is open-minded but usually centers around artists currently exhibiting at the museum. That means it is diverse and professional enough to include, this season alone, Xiaoze Xie, who was born in Guangdong, China, and Ana Teresa Fernandez, who was born in Tampico, Mexico.
Next up: Hot-right-now installation artist Phillip K. Smith III, known for his large-scale, temporary works placed in remote, outdoor settings.
More info: denverartmuseum.org
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Denver’s Jim Howard was a “hick boy from Texas.” Now, his fashion illustrations are on display at the DAM.
Long before the invention of Instagram, people got information about what was new in fashion from looking at beautifully rendered illustrations. Newspapers and magazines were loaded with pages of advertising showing what stores were interpreting as a season’s most desirable suits and dresses.
Given how ubiquitous photography is today and the fact that anyone with a smartphone or digital camera can make high-quality images of street fashion as well as runway shows, it’s hard to fathom the importance that illustrations once held in the world of high style.
An upcoming exhibition at the Denver Art Museum brings that era back into focus. “Drawn to Glamour: Fashion Illustrations by Jim Howard,” which runs from March 25 through July 22 at the museum’s Hamilton Building, documents not only one artist’s work, but also the evolution of drawing as a medium and the importance of it to American retailing in the second half of the 20th century.
Howard, who has lived in the Denver area since 2002, had a career spanning four decades. The Texas native started at Neiman Marcus in the 1950s, then made a name for himself in New York City, where he worked as a freelance artist with such stores as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bonwit Teller and B. Altman.
More than 100 of Howard’s illustrations — along with newspaper clippings, portraits he created and a dozen garments from the museum’s archives — are included in the show. The exhibition was organized by Florence Müller, the museum’s fashion and textile curator and an internationally known fashion authority, as well as Jane Burke, senior curatorial assistant.
“Advertising created the desire in people to buy things,” Müller said, adding that the rise of department stores in Europe and America and their translation of designer looks for a wider audience also “democratized fashion.”
Müller, who met Howard in late 2016, said she was impressed with his talent as well as his personality. The artist kept a lot of his work through the years, which gave the curator ample material to tell the exhibition’s story. “I suddenly saw this as an opportunity to show how from the 1950s through the 1980s illustration was the way fashion trends were communicated,” Müller said.
Howard’s career paralleled the rise of fashion illustration in the 20th century, and he rode the wave until the late 1980s, when photography became the norm. “Jim was in the Golden Age and had an artistic and elegant style,” Müller said, noting Howard’s use of shading that made his subjects appear photographically lit. Many of the works in the show were done in charcoal pencils.
Among the other qualities that sets Howard’s work apart from artists of the day were his use of lifestyle settings and the fact that he drew detailed facial expressions. “He didn’t just focus on the garment,” the curator said. “He used the landscape of his drawings to create stories.” Among the backgrounds in his work are scenes of airline travel, elegant parties, beach scenes and, especially in the 1980s, office environments with both men and women working together. “He liked to play with subtext and make you wonder what the people were doing,” Müller said.
Howard also was known for his drawings of men, and for doing illustrations for fragrances and cosmetics as well as clothing found in every section of a store, from lingerie to swimwear, as well as jewelry.
With his neat beard and carefully groomed mustache, bowler hats and penchant for wearing suits, Howard captured Müller’s attention with his personal style as well. “The way he dresses, the way he behaves and his sophistication are so attractive,” she said. “He’s a dandy.”
Howard, who will turn 87 in June, hasn’t given up his artistic pursuits. On a recent morning at the art-filled Lakewood home he shares with Walter, his Boston terrier, Howard was at work on his latest book of fashion paper dolls. The drawing table in his studio was covered in charcoal pencil sketches of outfits he chose from pages in his collection of period fashion magazines.
This book, called “The Other Sixties,” is about the early part of the decade when ladylike style prevailed rather than the miniskirts, neon colors and pop prints that became synonymous with the later 1960s. Howard creates and colors the drawings, then sends them to the printer for sizing and production. He’s done a dozen books published by Paper Studio Press.
The artist isn’t afraid to admit that his personal taste runs to the earlier part of the 20th century, and readers can see that influence in his paper doll books that highlight fashions from the 1910s through the ’50s. By the end of the 1960s, fashion had “too much tacky,” he said, noting that he agreed with Chanel that a woman’s knees “were the ugliest part of the body.”
Howard had no early art training but said he started drawing about age 8. Born in tiny Sterley, in the Texas Panhandle, Howard was the son of a railroad worker and a homemaker. He had two older sisters, and one is still living in Kansas.
Following studies at junior college in Arlington, he went to the University of Texas at Austin, where he was in the ROTC and became an army officer stationed in Europe. Howard saved his leave time so he could visit Paris and Italy and soak up the culture. When he returned to Austin, he got his first job in the fashion world by working as a window dresser at a department store. “They let me draw some and I started getting a sense of style,” he said.
Next, the big city called and he landed a job as an illustrator at Neiman Marcus’ flagship in Dallas. Neiman thrust Howard into the world of fashion and design in a busy department that employed eight artists sketching live models, an art director, copywriters and production people. Neiman hosted top designers; among those Howard met were Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent.
Early on, Howard developed a technique of drawing models starting at their head and going to their feet rather than sketching the body first. He was also prolific, creating eight figures in a day.
“Lucky for me, it was a pretty good period to draw. I loved clothes,” said Howard. His style was realistic, which is what the stores wanted.
A former Neiman’s ad director, Jane Trahey, had moved to New York City. She hired Howard to join the Franklin Simon department store, marking the beginning of his successful career in New York. He soon got an agent and freelanced for many top retail clients.
Store executives would plan promotions, then have the advertising department create layouts. “They’d leave space for me to draw in fashion illustrations,” Howard recalled. “The stores would send me big boxes of clothes. I’d hire models to wear them, and start sketching,” he said. His longtime partner Wayne Lemanski, who would later become his agent, modeled the men’s looks.
“Fashion illustrators were the connecting link between product, the store and the customer,” said Cynthia Petrus, an instructor at the Art Institute of Colorado who had a career in the retail industry at such stores as Saks Fifth Avenue before becoming an educator. “The merchants would direct the artists on what to show in their newspaper ads, which were the promotional key to retail. But the illustrators were allowed leeway to execute their work. It is an art form that speaks volumes about image and possibilities.”
Howard was so well-established by the 1970s that art directors would have their junior artists copy his style. It was the era of such models as Patti Hansen, whose likeness is evident in some of Howard’s work. Cosmetics models in some of his illustrations bear a not-coincidental resemblance to such beauties as Isabella Rossellini and Audrey Hepburn.
When it was time to retire, Howard and Lemanski moved to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M. “I was bored, so I became a theater geek and did a stint as actor, and worked on sets and costumes,” he said.
Along the way, he met fellow illustrator Mel Odom, creator of the Gene doll. Howard next got into the doll collecting world. He visited Denver for a doll conference and says he “fell in love” with the city.
Howard then moved to Denver and got involved in such organizations as Fashion Group International while continuing to work on his art projects.
Looking back, he said he never could have predicted how a “hick boy from Texas” would develop a career in fashion illustration. He dreamed of being a fine artist and idolized such Impressionists as Edgar Degas, the subject of another current show at the Denver Art Museum.
While Howard’s work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this is his first major museum show.
He’s honored by the recognition, simply noting, “Florence (Müller) sees something in me that I didn’t see in myself. It is gratifying to have people look at what I did and give it value.
If you go
“Drawn to Glamour: Fashion Illustrations by Jim Howard” will be on view in the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building from March 25 to July 22. Included with museum admission.
A couple of programs will be held in conjunction with the exhibit, including Talk at 12 on April 11 and 13. “Jim Howard: Transformative Hand” will feature a 30-minute docent-led tour of the exhibition. The talk is included with museum admission (participants will meet in the first-floor elevator lobby). On June 8 from 6 to 7 p.m., the museum will host Florence Müller, the museum’s Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art and Fashion, and Jane Burke, senior curatorial assistant, who will talk about how they worked in partnership with Howard to develop the exhibition. Tickets at 720-913-0130, or purchase online, denverartmuseum.org
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Ads Caught in a Bad Romance With Google
Dear Google, you used to be cool. Now that you’re rich and banked your first year over $100 billion in revenue, you’ve changed.
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Thursday, March 15, 2018
Montreal-style bagels, a dog restaurant in Aurora, and more Denver restaurant openings
Your dog needs this restaurant
It’s a tough time to be a dog. If your pooch is down in the dumps over the latest United Airlines snafu, cheer him up at the dog-friendly (at least on the patio) Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, opening in Aurora on March 19. Treat him to a hamburger patty, chicken breast or brown rice — just make sure he avoids the restaurant’s three forbidden B’s: begging, barking and biting. 24110 E. State St., Aurora; lazydogrestaurants.com
Montreal-style bagels, eh?
The portion of your brain dedicated to bagel knowledge is about to expand: Montreal-style bagels are an up-and-coming thing, and you can get them in Lowry. The main differences between Montreal style and New York style is that Montreal bagels are boiled in honey water and then baked in a wood-fired oven. Woodgrain Bagels, which opened its first location in Boulder last year, would be happy to introduce you to your new BCFF (best carb friend forever). 7559 E. Academy Blvd., Denver, 720-510-1903; woodgrainbagels.com
Make it Mardi Gras all year long
Need a new jambalaya spot in Aurora? The Lost Cajun recently opened at Southlands. It’s the seventh Colorado location for the family-friendly Cajun restaurant known for its gumbos, beignets and other favorites from the bayou. 6105 South Main St., Aurora, 303-627-5747; thelostcajun.com
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New program helps adventure seekers get started in Colorado’s many outdoor adventures
Outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing and exploring are unparalleled in bonding and creating memories with family and friends. There is also an exceptional value system that develops among true sportsmen and women. In addition, we need a strong outdoor community to make sure our resources are protected, we maintain access and our heritage of outdoor recreation continues.
A generation or two ago, we were a rural agrarian society. The outdoors was our playground. Our parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents taught us how to fish and hunt. Times have changed. We are now an urban society with a variety of family structures. There are still many people who would love to start their family in outdoor activities, but are overwhelmed by what they need and how to get started.
Logan Wilkins from Colorado Parks and Wildlife joined me on the radio Saturday to share information on the Rookie Sportsman Program, a pilot program initiated by CPW in the Colorado Springs area to help people and families in this situation get started in outdoor recreation. The Rookie Sportsman Program (RSP) was started in 2015 by Colorado Parks and Wildlife as an opportunity for individuals and/or families to try their hand at hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation. The purpose of RSP is to introduce people to various outdoor experiences who have no previous background or other opportunity to try. It’s designed to educate and mentor people for a year while creating a social support network for participants to use.
Participants are selected from a pool of applicants. All supplies and gear are provided. Applicants need to be able to commit one year to the program and attend specific activities that are part of the program. There are no age restrictions. During the course of the year, participants will experience hunting for turkey, doves, pronghorn and elk. They will go bait fishing, fly fishing and ice fishing. The course also includes hunter safety, target shooting, camping, learning to cook game and more. The hope is that by exposing the participants to a variety of outdoor activities, they will be attracted to one or more and stick with it. In addition, by tailoring the program to “family” units, it will develop mentors for the younger members of the group to help them continue. The ultimate goal of the program is to provide a safe, wholesome and ethical environment for new people to experience the outdoors. Hoping these participants will continue the sportsman’s lifestyle and actively participate in the conservation of Colorado’s resources.
In a couple years, CPW will evaluate the program for its effectiveness and use of resources. Hopefully, the program will not only continue but be expanded and provide an opportunity for people throughout Colorado to start experiencing the great outdoors.
Anyone interested in participating in the program can contact Wilkins at area14@state.co.us and learn more about the Rookie Sportsman Program here.
Hear my entire interview with Logan Wilkins here.
Follow Terry on Facebook at Terry Wickstrom Outdoors.
Join Terry every Saturday at 9 a.m. for all your outdoor information on Terry Wickstrom Outdoors FM 1043 The Fan.
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WIA Profile: Allison Travers
Each month, industry news media organization XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry’s most influential female executives.
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Wednesday, March 14, 2018
2018 James Beard Awards announces finalists, including five Colorado nods
The James Beard Award nominees have been whittled down, and two Colorado restaurants, one chef, one publication and one architecture firm are still in the running.
Last month it was announced that eight Colorado food and drink purveyors made the short list of semifinalists, double what we scored in 2017. Some of those were newcomers to what’s considered the Oscars of the food world, with Annette and its chef Caroline Glover getting nods for Best New Restaurant and Best Chef: Southwest, and Andy Clark of Louisville’s Moxie Bread Co. getting a shout-out in the Outstanding Baker category. (For a full list of our Colorado semifinalists, click here.)
Those surviving to make it into the final five, however, are familiar names that have been to the dance before.
Frasca Food and Wine is a finalist yet again for Outstanding Restaurant, and I really think this is their year. I also predicted that this would be the year Scott Baio makes a triumphant comeback, so we’ll see how I do when it comes to clairvoyance.
Our other finalists are The Little Nell in Aspen, up for Outstanding Wine Program, and Mercantile Dining & Provision’s Alex Seidel, repping us in the Best Chef: Southwest category.
But wait! There’s more! Paonia’s independent media organization High Country News got a nod in the journalism category for Julia O’Malley’s feature story “The Teenage Whaler’s Tale” and local architects Shears Adkins Rockmore got an Outstanding Restaurant Design nomination for a project in Arkansas.
Fingers and forks crossed that Colorado scores big when winners are announced on May 7.
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2018 James Beard Awards announces finalists, including five Colorado nods
The James Beard Award nominees have been whittled down, and two Colorado restaurants, one chef, one publication and one architecture firm are still in the running.
Last month it was announced that eight Colorado food and drink purveyors made the short list of semifinalists, double what we scored in 2017. Some of those were newcomers to what’s considered the Oscars of the food world, with Annette and its chef Caroline Glover getting nods for Best New Restaurant and Best Chef: Southwest, and Andy Clark of Louisville’s Moxie Bread Co. getting a shout-out in the Outstanding Baker category. (For a full list of our Colorado semifinalists, click here.)
Those surviving to make it into the final five, however, are familiar names that have been to the dance before.
Frasca Food and Wine is a finalist yet again for Outstanding Restaurant, and I really think this is their year. I also predicted that this would be the year Scott Baio makes a triumphant comeback, so we’ll see how I do when it comes to clairvoyance.
Our other finalists are The Little Nell in Aspen, up for Outstanding Wine Program, and Mercantile Dining & Provision’s Alex Seidel, repping us in the Best Chef: Southwest category.
But wait! There’s more! Paonia’s independent media organization High Country News got a nod in the journalism category for Julia O’Malley’s feature story “The Teenage Whaler’s Tale” and local architects Shears Adkins Rockmore got an Outstanding Restaurant Design nomination for a project in Arkansas.
Fingers and forks crossed that Colorado scores big when winners are announced on May 7.
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Q&A: Liviu Berbece Inspires Elegance, Class at Gloria Agency
Gloria Agency brings glory to its cam models, with luxurious camming amenities, not to mention stellar training. And leading the team behind the camming curtain is none other than administrative director Liviu Berbece, whose dedication to creating “people value” is matched only by his pioneering ambitions.
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Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Celebrate Pi Day in Denver on Wednesday with these pizza and pie deals
Ain’t no party like a mathematical party ’cause irrational numbers don’t stop.
Celebrate Pi Day (3/14) like the numerical champion you are, with cheap slices, an all-day happy hour and even wine and pie pairings. Go get your piece of the pie at these spots around town exalting all things 3.14.
Get $3.14 slices at Wednesday’s Pie. And would you look at that — Pi Day is on a Wednesday! Clearly it’s a sign you need more pie. Grab a slice at Wednesday’s Pie, Russell’s Smokehouse or Green Russell from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. 1422 Larimer St., Denver, 303-893-6505; wednesdayspie.com
Great minds think alike: Hinman’s Bakery is also offering $3.14 slices in honor of Pi Day. You should probably get 3.14 slices, or maybe a less obnoxious order. 4850 E. 39th Ave., Denver, 303-287-3431
The Long I Pie Shop and The Infinite Monkey Theorem RiNo are teaming up for three wine-and-pie pairings for $20. It’s first come, first served, so line up now. 3200 Larimer St., Denver; thelongipie.com
It’s happy hour all day at Humble Pie Store, which means you get $3.14 cocktails (yes, this pie shop also serves liquor). Humble’s got pie specials, too, like two for $15 individual sweet pies in flavors like triple berry crumble, tart cherry lattice, buttermilk custard and chocolate chess. 3550 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, 720-479-8690; humblepiestore.com
Of course there’s that other sort of pie — pizza pie. Mici Handcrafted Italian is giving you 10-inch cheese pizzas for $3.14 all day on Pi Day. (Normally $7.95.) Use code PIDAY when ordering online or by phone. Limit one per order. Various locations; miciitalian.com
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New food hall coming to Golden Triangle care of Stanley Marketplace, Avanti vets
Did you wake up this morning thinking, “Gee, I wish Denver would get another food hall?” (I know; it’s like I’m living inside your head, but not in a creepy, stalker sort of way.) Then do I have good news for you!
Local food hall vets from the Stanley Marketplace and Avanti Food & Beverage are teaming up to open Broadway Market in the Golden Triangle neighborhood.
Mark Shaker (Stanley), Brad Arguello (Avanti), and Tim White and Chris Haugen of White Construction Group (who helped build The Source, Zeppelin Station and Stanley, so they know what they’re doing when it comes to food halls), will transform the former Tony’s Market space at 950 Broadway. Tony’s closed late last year and is moving further south.
Broadway Market will feature 15,000 square feet of food, drink and retail concepts, including a pizza place, a coffee shop, a central bar and up to seven other mini eateries. Specific food vendors are yet to be locked down, but Bryant Palmer, a representative for the Stanley Marketplace and the new venture, said that the team is currently talking with interested local chefs. We’ll let you know what you’ll be able to eat there as soon as we find out.
The new Broadway food hall is expected to open this summer.
Broadway Market: 950 Broadway, Denver; opening summer 2018
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The ultimate “Top Chef” tour of Colorado: Relive the Bravo hit at these locations
When Bravo’s “Top Chef” announced last March that it would be filming the 15th season of the popular cooking competition in Colorado, we all had a lot of questions.
Where would the “Top Chef” kitchen be? (A Thornton warehouse.) Where would they go? (Denver, Boulder, Telluride, Aspen, Estes Park, Larkspur.) Will we have any locals as contestants? (Carrie Baird of Bar Dough and Brother Luck of Four by Brother Luck.) Will they make the chefs cook Rocky Mountain Oysters? (Yep.) Denver omelets? (Also yep.) Make a dish with marijuana? (Nope.)
Now that all has been revealed — including winner Joe Flamm, from Chicago –we thought you might want to take your own “Top Chef” tour of Colorado, eating and drinking as Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and Padma Lakshmi did on the show.
Here’s everywhere “Top Chef” went this season, from the Cherry Creek Whole Foods that always had a way better fish selection than when we go, to the snowy Estes Park campground where the chefs cooked, to the cheese farm in Larkspur that gave Baird her first taste of victory.
Denver area
You know what they say: If a hotel’s good enough for Padma … well, then, you probably can’t afford it. But that’s not the case for The Maven Hotel at Dairy Block, where the judges stayed while in town filming the show. Room rates start at $149, although we’re sure Lakshmi wasn’t sleeping in a standard double queen room. 1850 Wazee St., Denver; themavenhotel.com from $149/night
The contestants were sequestered at a private home in Capitol Hill, but the Bravo folks won’t tell us where, exactly, it is. We’re sure it’s probably to protect the privacy of the homeowners, but come on! We need to know the exact whereabouts of the bear den.
Give yourself a shopping list (make sure to include “Top Chef”-worthy items like monkfish and purple cauliflower) and 15 minutes to shop at the Cherry Creek Whole Foods that the chefs frequented. When a Lululemon-clad woman threatens to sue you for running her down with a shopping cart, just tell her you saw others racing on TV so thought it was OK. 2375 E. First St.
The “Top Chef” kitchen took three weeks to build inside a Thornton warehouse typically occupied by Northern Electric. That’s where most of the Quickfires, Last Chance Kitchens and Judges’ Tables took place. Unfortunately, it’s back to business as usual for Northern Electric, so no more culinary TV drama for Thornton.
The first Elimination Challenge took place at Larimer Square. The chefs put their spins on meat and potatoes right before that epic May hail storm rained down on us. Mother Nature not cooperating for you? You can recreate the fun by taking a hammer directly to your windshield. Same end result. larimersquare.com
You, too, can tailgate at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and hey, your food might even be better! For the Super Bowl episode, chefs were paired off to cook for hungry Broncos fans, players and Denver’s Mayor Michael Hancock — and judge Tom Colicchio scolded the cheftestants for their lackluster food. Baird and Chris Scott won Super Bowl tickets after their poutine reigned supreme. 1701 Bryant St.; sportsauthorityfieldatmilehigh.com
Brother Luck met his doom at Elitch Gardens. His egg rolls didn’t quite fit the challenge, to pair authentic German food with a radler (half beer, half fruit soda). Eat a pretzel and pour out a beer for him at Elitch’s Beer & Pretzels stand. 2000 Elitch Circle; elitchgardens.com
Before the Elitch’s challenge, the cheftestants gathered at Rhein Haus with guest judge Keegan Gerhard (D Bar) for some German inspiration. Although this episode wasn’t the best for Luck, he did create his own sandwich — a cheddarwurst, bacon-jam, fried egg and pickle concoction — for Rhein Haus’ menu, so at least there’s that. 1415 Market St.; rheinhausdenver.com
Commentary: Beer episode of “Top Chef” spills its chance to highlight Colorado’s brew culture
The Restaurant Wars episode was at Mile High Station. Baird’s team won with its “Colorado-forward” restaurant, Conifer, but since the space is usually used for weddings and events rather than reality-TV restaurants, you may leave disappointed — and hungry. 2027 Old West Colfax Ave.; milehighstation.com
The final Denver Elimination Challenge took place at the Governor’s Residence at Boettcher Mansion, where the chefs created a dish that told the story of their culinary journey on “Top Chef.” Stop by and see if Hick and Robin are available for dinner; we’re sure they’d love to see you. 400 E. Eighth Ave.
Three other Denver restaurants that got in on the 15 seconds of food TV fame: Comal Heritage Food Incubator helped inspire the chefs for their heritage food Elimination Challenge, filmed at former “Top Chef” contestant Gregory Gourdet’s restaurant, Departure. Say “hi” to Mercantile Dining & Provision chef/owner Alex Seidel, who contestant Tyler Anderson had a serious man-crush on in episode 2. Mercantile hosted that episode’s Elimination Challenge. 3455 Ringsby Court, 249 Columbine St.; departuredenver.com; and 1701 Wynkoop St.; mercantiledenver.com
Your chance to eat Baird’s cooking right now is at Bar Dough, where the affable chef often works the dining room, talking with fans and taking selfies. To see more of her menu magic, check out Just BE Kitchen, a paleo restaurant that Baird helped open right before heading off to compete. 2227 W. 32nd Ave.; bardoughdenver.com and 2364 15th St.; justbekitchen.com
Larkspur
The chefs got schooled on cheese at Fruition Farms Creamery. For their second Elimination Challenge, they used the farm’s cheeses to create a four-course cheese-centric menu. Baird won her first challenge with a potato and ricotta dumpling. Want to host your own cheese challenge? Stock up at one of the Creamery’s tours (check its website for dates). 14347 SE Cherry Creek Road, Larkspur; fruitionfarmscreamery.com
Colorado Springs
Just two days before “Top Chef” filming started, Luck opened his restaurant, Four by Brother Luck. See if he deserved to pack his knives and go so soon with the $45 four-course tasting menu. 321 N. Tejon St., Colorado Springs; fourbybrotherluck.com
Boulder
Remember the Boulder food truck challenge with the notorious Instagram “influencer” Logan Paul? That one took place at East Boulder Community Park, and local trucks The Ginger Pig, Niishi, Farm & Smoke and Hoof, Wing & Fin were all along for the ride. Alas, you won’t get to try “Mustache” Joe Sasto’s winning chicken wings. 5660 Sioux Drive, Boulder
Estes Park
Baird had a nightmare of a time with the Quickfire Challenge at The Stanley Hotel. She failed to get most of her dessert on the plate, which prompted Lakshmi to look at her with disdain. Like, even more than usual. 333 E. Wonderview Ave., Estes Park; stanleyhotel.com
Sadistic judge Gail Simmons called the snowy camping in Estes Park challenge one of her favorites of the season. Of course, she didn’t have to sleep outside in frigid weather. She just had to eat what the frostbitten, exhausted chefs made for her. If you want to sleep where the chefs slept, get a spot at the East Portal Campground and pray for snow. 3420 Tunnel Road, Estes Park
Telluride
The chefs’ Telluride headquarters was the Madeline Hotel, where you can stay in style and practice your high-altitude baking. Except instead of getting berated for playing it too safe, as Baird did in this Elimination Challenge, have the chefs at Alpino Vino, North America’s highest restaurant at 11,966 feet, feed you their $150-per-person five-course tasting menu. 568 Mountain Village Blvd., Telluride; madeline.aubergeresorts.com and 12100 Camels’ Garden Road, Telluride
Reunite with family the “Top Chef” way — by forcing them to cook your favorite childhood dishes at The Observatory at Alta Lakes, a backcountry cabin 13 miles outside of Telluride. Even though Baird’s spin on her mom’s beef stroganoff was successful, it was less so than the remaining three contestants’ dishes. Toast her over a meal at 221 South Oak, the restaurant owned by “Top Chef” alum Eliza Gavin and site of Baird’s last creation. altalakes.com (to get the exact location, you have to book it) and 221 S. Oak St., Telluride; 221southoak.com
Aspen
For their Rocky Mountain trout Quickfire Challenge, the final three chefs went fishing in the T-Lazy-7 Ranch‘s lake. (Remember: bears poop up the mountain, so don’t eat mountain trout raw!) If you’re in Aspen in June and have an extra couple grand burning a hole in your pocket, stop by the Food & Wine Classic, where “Top Chef” winners and contestants often host demos and meet and greets. 3129 Maroon Creek Road, Aspen; tlazy7.com
“Top Chef” Colorado came to an end at the Aspen Mountain Club at The Little Nell. That’s where Flamm cooked an Italian feast good enough to edge out Adrienne Cheatham’s soul food menu. Riffraff like us can’t just waltz in to the club, though. The AMC is private, so you’ll either have to know a member or become one to get in. 675 E. Durant Ave., Aspen; thelittlenell.com
Find our complete “Top Chef” Colorado coverage including recaps of every episode, interviews with the judges and more here.
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The ultimate “Top Chef” tour of Colorado: Relive the Bravo hit at these locations
When Bravo’s “Top Chef” announced last March that it would be filming the 15th season of the popular cooking competition in Colorado, we all had a lot of questions.
Where would the “Top Chef” kitchen be? (A Thornton warehouse.) Where would they go? (Denver, Boulder, Telluride, Aspen, Estes Park, Larkspur.) Will we have any locals as contestants? (Carrie Baird of Bar Dough and Brother Luck of Four by Brother Luck.) Will they make the chefs cook Rocky Mountain Oysters? (Yep.) Denver omelets? (Also yep.) Make a dish with marijuana? (Nope.)
Now that all has been revealed — including winner Joe Flamm, from Chicago –we thought you might want to take your own “Top Chef” tour of Colorado, eating and drinking as Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and Padma Lakshmi did on the show.
Here’s everywhere “Top Chef” went this season, from the Cherry Creek Whole Foods that always had a way better fish selection than when we go, to the snowy Estes Park campground where the chefs cooked, to the cheese farm in Larkspur that gave Baird her first taste of victory.
Denver area
You know what they say: If a hotel’s good enough for Padma … well, then, you probably can’t afford it. But that’s not the case for The Maven Hotel at Dairy Block, where the judges stayed while in town filming the show. Room rates start at $149, although we’re sure Lakshmi wasn’t sleeping in a standard double queen room. 1850 Wazee St., Denver; themavenhotel.com from $149/night
The contestants were sequestered at a private home in Capitol Hill, but the Bravo folks won’t tell us where, exactly, it is. We’re sure it’s probably to protect the privacy of the homeowners, but come on! We need to know the exact whereabouts of the bear den.
Give yourself a shopping list (make sure to include “Top Chef”-worthy items like monkfish and purple cauliflower) and 15 minutes to shop at the Cherry Creek Whole Foods that the chefs frequented. When a Lululemon-clad woman threatens to sue you for running her down with a shopping cart, just tell her you saw others racing on TV so thought it was OK. 2375 E. First St.
The “Top Chef” kitchen took three weeks to build inside a Thornton warehouse typically occupied by Northern Electric. That’s where most of the Quickfires, Last Chance Kitchens and Judges’ Tables took place. Unfortunately, it’s back to business as usual for Northern Electric, so no more culinary TV drama for Thornton.
The first Elimination Challenge took place at Larimer Square. The chefs put their spins on meat and potatoes right before that epic May hail storm rained down on us. Mother Nature not cooperating for you? You can recreate the fun by taking a hammer directly to your windshield. Same end result. larimersquare.com
You, too, can tailgate at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and hey, your food might even be better! For the Super Bowl episode, chefs were paired off to cook for hungry Broncos fans, players and Denver’s Mayor Michael Hancock — and judge Tom Colicchio scolded the cheftestants for their lackluster food. Baird and Chris Scott won Super Bowl tickets after their poutine reigned supreme. 1701 Bryant St.; sportsauthorityfieldatmilehigh.com
Brother Luck met his doom at Elitch Gardens. His egg rolls didn’t quite fit the challenge, to pair authentic German food with a radler (half beer, half fruit soda). Eat a pretzel and pour out a beer for him at Elitch’s Beer & Pretzels stand. 2000 Elitch Circle; elitchgardens.com
Before the Elitch’s challenge, the cheftestants gathered at Rhein Haus with guest judge Keegan Gerhard (D Bar) for some German inspiration. Although this episode wasn’t the best for Luck, he did create his own sandwich — a cheddarwurst, bacon-jam, fried egg and pickle concoction — for Rhein Haus’ menu, so at least there’s that. 1415 Market St.; rheinhausdenver.com
Commentary: Beer episode of “Top Chef” spills its chance to highlight Colorado’s brew culture
The Restaurant Wars episode was at Mile High Station. Baird’s team won with its “Colorado-forward” restaurant, Conifer, but since the space is usually used for weddings and events rather than reality-TV restaurants, you may leave disappointed — and hungry. 2027 Old West Colfax Ave.; milehighstation.com
The final Denver Elimination Challenge took place at the Governor’s Residence at Boettcher Mansion, where the chefs created a dish that told the story of their culinary journey on “Top Chef.” Stop by and see if Hick and Robin are available for dinner; we’re sure they’d love to see you. 400 E. Eighth Ave.
Three other Denver restaurants that got in on the 15 seconds of food TV fame: Comal Heritage Food Incubator helped inspire the chefs for their heritage food Elimination Challenge, filmed at former “Top Chef” contestant Gregory Gourdet’s restaurant, Departure. Say “hi” to Mercantile Dining & Provision chef/owner Alex Seidel, who contestant Tyler Anderson had a serious man-crush on in episode 2. Mercantile hosted that episode’s Elimination Challenge. 3455 Ringsby Court, 249 Columbine St.; departuredenver.com; and 1701 Wynkoop St.; mercantiledenver.com
Your chance to eat Baird’s cooking right now is at Bar Dough, where the affable chef often works the dining room, talking with fans and taking selfies. To see more of her menu magic, check out Just BE Kitchen, a paleo restaurant that Baird helped open right before heading off to compete. 2227 W. 32nd Ave.; bardoughdenver.com and 2364 15th St.; justbekitchen.com
Larkspur
The chefs got schooled on cheese at Fruition Farms Creamery. For their second Elimination Challenge, they used the farm’s cheeses to create a four-course cheese-centric menu. Baird won her first challenge with a potato and ricotta dumpling. Want to host your own cheese challenge? Stock up at one of the Creamery’s tours (check its website for dates). 14347 SE Cherry Creek Road, Larkspur; fruitionfarmscreamery.com
Colorado Springs
Just two days before “Top Chef” filming started, Luck opened his restaurant, Four by Brother Luck. See if he deserved to pack his knives and go so soon with the $45 four-course tasting menu. 321 N. Tejon St., Colorado Springs; fourbybrotherluck.com
Boulder
Remember the Boulder food truck challenge with the notorious Instagram “influencer” Logan Paul? That one took place at East Boulder Community Park, and local trucks The Ginger Pig, Niishi, Farm & Smoke and Hoof, Wing & Fin were all along for the ride. Alas, you won’t get to try “Mustache” Joe Sasto’s winning chicken wings. 5660 Sioux Drive, Boulder
Estes Park
Baird had a nightmare of a time with the Quickfire Challenge at The Stanley Hotel. She failed to get most of her dessert on the plate, which prompted Lakshmi to look at her with disdain. Like, even more than usual. 333 E. Wonderview Ave., Estes Park; stanleyhotel.com
Sadistic judge Gail Simmons called the snowy camping in Estes Park challenge one of her favorites of the season. Of course, she didn’t have to sleep outside in frigid weather. She just had to eat what the frostbitten, exhausted chefs made for her. If you want to sleep where the chefs slept, get a spot at the East Portal Campground and pray for snow. 3420 Tunnel Road, Estes Park
Telluride
The chefs’ Telluride headquarters was the Madeline Hotel, where you can stay in style and practice your high-altitude baking. Except instead of getting berated for playing it too safe, as Baird did in this Elimination Challenge, have the chefs at Alpino Vino, North America’s highest restaurant at 11,966 feet, feed you their $150-per-person five-course tasting menu. 568 Mountain Village Blvd., Telluride; madeline.aubergeresorts.com and 12100 Camels’ Garden Road, Telluride
Reunite with family the “Top Chef” way — by forcing them to cook your favorite childhood dishes at The Observatory at Alta Lakes, a backcountry cabin 13 miles outside of Telluride. Even though Baird’s spin on her mom’s beef stroganoff was successful, it was less so than the remaining three contestants’ dishes. Toast her over a meal at 221 South Oak, the restaurant owned by “Top Chef” alum Eliza Gavin and site of Baird’s last creation. altalakes.com (to get the exact location, you have to book it) and 221 S. Oak St., Telluride; 221southoak.com
Aspen
For their Rocky Mountain trout Quickfire Challenge, the final three chefs went fishing in the T-Lazy-7 Ranch‘s lake. (Remember: bears poop up the mountain, so don’t eat mountain trout raw!) If you’re in Aspen in June and have an extra couple grand burning a hole in your pocket, stop by the Food & Wine Classic, where “Top Chef” winners and contestants often host demos and meet and greets. 3129 Maroon Creek Road, Aspen; tlazy7.com
“Top Chef” Colorado came to an end at the Aspen Mountain Club at The Little Nell. That’s where Flamm cooked an Italian feast good enough to edge out Adrienne Cheatham’s soul food menu. Riffraff like us can’t just waltz in to the club, though. The AMC is private, so you’ll either have to know a member or become one to get in. 675 E. Durant Ave., Aspen; thelittlenell.com
Find our complete “Top Chef” Colorado coverage including recaps of every episode, interviews with the judges and more here.
[Read More …]