Colorado is an all-seasons state, which means when it snows, we go outside. This most recent storm dumped up to 16 inches on southern mountains, around 8-10 inches in the northern mountains and roughly 3-4 inches at the Front Range ski areas. Another storm is expected to roll into the mountains Thursday morning.
Check out the photos on The Know Outdoors.
Three-time Olympic champion snowboarder Shaun White has apologized for a Halloween costume that drew criticism from the Special Olympics.
White recently posted and then deleted an Instagram photo showing himself dressed as “Simple Jack,” a character with disabilities from the 2008 movie “Tropic Thunder.”
Soeren Palumbo, senior director of global youth engagement at the Special Olympics, told HuffPost the organization was disappointed White had chosen a costume that “is so offensive and causes so much pain. Disability is not a joke nor should it be a punchline. We hope that Shaun White and others learn that this just continues stigma, stereotypes and discrimination.”
White tweeted an apology for what he said was a last-minute, “poor choice” of a costume.
“The Special Olympics were right to call me out on it,” White said. “They do great work supporting so many tremendous athletes and I am sorry for being insensitive. Lesson learned.”
The 32-year-old White won Olympic gold medals in 2006, 2010 and 2018.
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The curse of the takeout box of rice: If you’re anything like me, you know it well. Shoved toward the back of your fridge — “Oh, I’ll use it later!” you promise yourself — it languishes, unused, unloved, its red pagoda and admonition of “ENJOY” glaring at you like some scarlet letter. Then, weeks pass until you unearth it, long after its useful life is up.
Guilt, frustration, the haunting of meals uneaten, all of it bubbles to the surface. But no more! After years of telling myself I would repurpose the extras, I now feel confident I will, because this dish is one of my favorite things I’ve made and eaten lately.
The “fresh” fried rice you get from your local carryout is often so underwhelming. No surprise, homemade is better (and can even use up the bits and pieces of other dishes, too).
Perhaps no one knows her way around a quick, improvised stir-fry better than cookbook author Grace Young (“poet laureate of the wok,” according to one food historian, and owner of the Twitter handle @stirfrygrace).
“It’s the quintessential one-pot meal,” Young says of fried rice. “I love it because it’s my lifesaver. … I know I can get dinner on the table in 15 minutes because I have cooked rice in the refrigerator.”
Young strongly endorses making this and other stir-fries in a well-seasoned carbon-steel wok. To reflect what most beginner and intermediate cooks probably have, I adapted this recipe for the more common 12-inch stainless-steel skillet. (If you do use such a wok, you can double all the ingredients and cut back a bit on the oil, because the wok can handle more volume and requires less oil.)
Here are Young’s tips for fried rice success:
— Use cold rice. Any rice will do — brown, jasmine, even sushi — as long as it’s cold. Day-old is best. This way, the grains are dry and distinct, assuming you fluff up the rice after you cook it. Basmati is great, too, and Young says it’s one you can actually use while hot because it cooks up drier with grains that don’t stick together. If you want to inject extra flavor, make your rice with vegetable, chicken, beef or seafood broth. Of course, you can use your takeout rice, too. Just don’t let it solidify into a block in the carryout box. Heck, you don’t even have to use rice. Bulgur is one great alternative grain that Young suggests.
— Preheat the skillet. If you add oil to a cold pan, your food will stick. You’ll know the skillet is at the right temperature when a few drops of water flicked on the surface evaporate in a second or two.
— Don’t just stir like you’re stirring a pot. The stir-fry motion is scooping and tossing. This does a better job cooking all sides of all the ingredients and prevents sticking. You really need to get under the rice and keep it moving so it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the skillet. That’s why a fish spatula is excellent for the task. Any other type of thin metal spatula, even one designed for pancakes, works.
Each ingredient should be cut the same size to encourage even cooking. Young recommends that hard vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips and broccoli stems, be cut into ¼-inch dice.
The cooking happens fast, so be sure to have all your ingredients nearby before you start.
— Make the dish exactly the way you want it. Think of this recipe as a starting template. You can use whatever vegetables or meat you have in the refrigerator, as long as you think about when it’s added to the dish. Hard ingredients, such as carrots, and medium-hard, such as bell peppers, should go in first. Then you can use defrosted frozen vegetables. Add cooked proteins in the last minute, and you can get as creative as you want. Two of Young’s favorite recipes use unexpected stars — jerk chicken and crab. (She suggests cutting chicken into about a ½-inch dice.) And don’t discount barbecue chicken and shredded prosciutto, either. Eggs and nuts help turn the fried rice recipe here into a hearty main for vegetarians. Young says fresh shiitake mushrooms are another good option.
“I feel like fried rice is a wonderful way to express yourself as you cook,” Young says. “Once you start doing this, the sky’s the limit.”
Prep note: Toast the nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan a few times to avoid scorching. Let cool completely before using.
Ingredients
Steps
Heat a 12-inch stainless-steel skillet over medium-high heat. When a few drops of water flicked over the surface evaporate in a second or two, the skillet is at the right temperature.
Swirl in 2 tablespoons of the oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add the beaten eggs and tilt the skillet so that they spread, covering the surface like a crepe. Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until it’s just set. Use a thin spatula and flip the eggs over; cook for 5 seconds to make sure they are thoroughly cooked through. Slide the eggs onto a cutting board, then cut into strips.
Wipe the skillet clean, then return it to medium-high heat. Repeat the water test to make sure the skillet heat is the right temperature.
Pull the skillet off the heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil, swirling the pan to coat the bottom and sides. (If the oil begins to smoke, the skillet is too hot. Let it cool for a few minutes, wipe it clean, wash and start again.)
With the skillet back over medium-high heat, add the ginger and crushed red pepper flakes; stir-fry for 10 seconds, or just until fragrant.
Add the carrots; stir-fry for 30 seconds, or until they turn a brighter shade of orange. Add the corn and peas; stir-fry for 1 minute.
Make a small clearing in the center of the pan and pour the remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoons of oil into the skillet, then swirl to distribute. Add the rice and scallions; stir-fry for 2 minutes, breaking up the rice with a spatula until the rice is heated through. Season with the salt and white pepper.
Pour the soy sauce around the edges of the skillet, then stir-fry to incorporate it. Return the cooked egg to the skillet, along with the nuts, if using, tossing to incorporate. Stir-fry just until the egg is just warmed through.
Serve right away.
Adapted from a recipe by cookbook author Grace Young posted on TheKitchn.com.
The curse of the takeout box of rice: If you’re anything like me, you know it well. Shoved toward the back of your fridge — “Oh, I’ll use it later!” you promise yourself — it languishes, unused, unloved, its red pagoda and admonition of “ENJOY” glaring at you like some scarlet letter. Then, weeks pass until you unearth it, long after its useful life is up.
Guilt, frustration, the haunting of meals uneaten, all of it bubbles to the surface. But no more! After years of telling myself I would repurpose the extras, I now feel confident I will, because this dish is one of my favorite things I’ve made and eaten lately.
The “fresh” fried rice you get from your local carryout is often so underwhelming. No surprise, homemade is better (and can even use up the bits and pieces of other dishes, too).
Perhaps no one knows her way around a quick, improvised stir-fry better than cookbook author Grace Young (“poet laureate of the wok,” according to one food historian, and owner of the Twitter handle @stirfrygrace).
“It’s the quintessential one-pot meal,” Young says of fried rice. “I love it because it’s my lifesaver. … I know I can get dinner on the table in 15 minutes because I have cooked rice in the refrigerator.”
Young strongly endorses making this and other stir-fries in a well-seasoned carbon-steel wok. To reflect what most beginner and intermediate cooks probably have, I adapted this recipe for the more common 12-inch stainless-steel skillet. (If you do use such a wok, you can double all the ingredients and cut back a bit on the oil, because the wok can handle more volume and requires less oil.)
Here are Young’s tips for fried rice success:
— Use cold rice. Any rice will do — brown, jasmine, even sushi — as long as it’s cold. Day-old is best. This way, the grains are dry and distinct, assuming you fluff up the rice after you cook it. Basmati is great, too, and Young says it’s one you can actually use while hot because it cooks up drier with grains that don’t stick together. If you want to inject extra flavor, make your rice with vegetable, chicken, beef or seafood broth. Of course, you can use your takeout rice, too. Just don’t let it solidify into a block in the carryout box. Heck, you don’t even have to use rice. Bulgur is one great alternative grain that Young suggests.
— Preheat the skillet. If you add oil to a cold pan, your food will stick. You’ll know the skillet is at the right temperature when a few drops of water flicked on the surface evaporate in a second or two.
— Don’t just stir like you’re stirring a pot. The stir-fry motion is scooping and tossing. This does a better job cooking all sides of all the ingredients and prevents sticking. You really need to get under the rice and keep it moving so it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the skillet. That’s why a fish spatula is excellent for the task. Any other type of thin metal spatula, even one designed for pancakes, works.
Each ingredient should be cut the same size to encourage even cooking. Young recommends that hard vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips and broccoli stems, be cut into ¼-inch dice.
The cooking happens fast, so be sure to have all your ingredients nearby before you start.
— Make the dish exactly the way you want it. Think of this recipe as a starting template. You can use whatever vegetables or meat you have in the refrigerator, as long as you think about when it’s added to the dish. Hard ingredients, such as carrots, and medium-hard, such as bell peppers, should go in first. Then you can use defrosted frozen vegetables. Add cooked proteins in the last minute, and you can get as creative as you want. Two of Young’s favorite recipes use unexpected stars — jerk chicken and crab. (She suggests cutting chicken into about a ½-inch dice.) And don’t discount barbecue chicken and shredded prosciutto, either. Eggs and nuts help turn the fried rice recipe here into a hearty main for vegetarians. Young says fresh shiitake mushrooms are another good option.
“I feel like fried rice is a wonderful way to express yourself as you cook,” Young says. “Once you start doing this, the sky’s the limit.”
Prep note: Toast the nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan a few times to avoid scorching. Let cool completely before using.
Ingredients
Steps
Heat a 12-inch stainless-steel skillet over medium-high heat. When a few drops of water flicked over the surface evaporate in a second or two, the skillet is at the right temperature.
Swirl in 2 tablespoons of the oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add the beaten eggs and tilt the skillet so that they spread, covering the surface like a crepe. Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until it’s just set. Use a thin spatula and flip the eggs over; cook for 5 seconds to make sure they are thoroughly cooked through. Slide the eggs onto a cutting board, then cut into strips.
Wipe the skillet clean, then return it to medium-high heat. Repeat the water test to make sure the skillet heat is the right temperature.
Pull the skillet off the heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil, swirling the pan to coat the bottom and sides. (If the oil begins to smoke, the skillet is too hot. Let it cool for a few minutes, wipe it clean, wash and start again.)
With the skillet back over medium-high heat, add the ginger and crushed red pepper flakes; stir-fry for 10 seconds, or just until fragrant.
Add the carrots; stir-fry for 30 seconds, or until they turn a brighter shade of orange. Add the corn and peas; stir-fry for 1 minute.
Make a small clearing in the center of the pan and pour the remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoons of oil into the skillet, then swirl to distribute. Add the rice and scallions; stir-fry for 2 minutes, breaking up the rice with a spatula until the rice is heated through. Season with the salt and white pepper.
Pour the soy sauce around the edges of the skillet, then stir-fry to incorporate it. Return the cooked egg to the skillet, along with the nuts, if using, tossing to incorporate. Stir-fry just until the egg is just warmed through.
Serve right away.
Adapted from a recipe by cookbook author Grace Young posted on TheKitchn.com.
One of Austin’s best restaurants, Uchi, opened earlier this month in — where else? — River North.
What should you expect at this creative sushi spot from chef Tyson Cole? (Who, fun fact alert, won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2011, beating out Colorado’s finalist that year, Ryan Hardy of Montagna at the Little Nell.)
Besides the fresh fish, there are lots of beards, wood and quadrilaterals at Uchi — just not in that order. Wait, maybe in that order.
The menu is divided up into several sections: cool tastings, hot tastings, yasaimono (veggies), agemono (fried things), sushi/sashimi and makimono (rolls). It’s a mix of popular dishes from the Texas Uchi restaurants and Colorado-only dishes made by chef de cuisine Brandon Brumback.
And it’s not cheap.
You’re going to have to order at least a few plates per person, and those go from $3 for pumpkin tempura to $24 for the wagyu beef off the hot tastings menu. Rolls range from $10-$13, and are probably your best value outside of the happy hour (5-6:30 p.m. daily), where you can try smaller versions of menu favorites for $4-$8.
The machi cure ($18.50) — smoked yellowtail that you layer onto yuca chips with Marcona almonds for crunch and golden raisins for sweetness — and the biendo roll ($13) — a Vietnamese spring roll-inspired spin on classic shrimp tempura — are great examples of Uchi’s sushi-with-a-twist M.O.
Since opening, one of the diners’ favorite items has been the kinoko nabe ($18.50), a hot bowl that crisps up koshihkari rice to tangle up with umami-rich mushrooms and egg yolk. Another good hot dish is the walu walu ($16.50), a sweet, tangy, garlicky taste of oak-grilled escolar with ponzu and yuzu marmalade.
Desserts are creative, like the jasmine cream ($8) — trifle-esque layers of honey crumble, jasmine panna cotta, cilantro granita and frozen pineapple — and the pistachio choux ($9) — a pistachio biscuit with strawberry lemon jam, yuzu ice cream and pistachio cream.
Even if you don’t typically like sake, you should probably try one because you can drink it out of a box, which is pretty cool. (You can also drink it out of the glass, but what fun is that?)
The Denver outpost of Uchi is the first outside of Texas, so congratulations on that, Colorado.
Uchi: 2500 Lawrence St., Denver, 303-444-1922, uchidenver.com; Sun.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5-11 p.m.
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One of Austin’s best restaurants, Uchi, opened earlier this month in — where else? — River North.
What should you expect at this creative sushi spot from chef Tyson Cole? (Who, fun fact alert, won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2011, beating out Colorado’s finalist that year, Ryan Hardy of Montagna at the Little Nell.)
Besides the fresh fish, there are lots of beards, wood and quadrilaterals at Uchi — just not in that order. Wait, maybe in that order.
The menu is divided up into several sections: cool tastings, hot tastings, yasaimono (veggies), agemono (fried things), sushi/sashimi and makimono (rolls). It’s a mix of popular dishes from the Texas Uchi restaurants and Colorado-only dishes made by chef de cuisine Brandon Brumback.
And it’s not cheap.
You’re going to have to order at least a few plates per person, and those go from $3 for pumpkin tempura to $24 for the wagyu beef off the hot tastings menu. Rolls range from $10-$13, and are probably your best value outside of the happy hour (5-6:30 p.m. daily), where you can try smaller versions of menu favorites for $4-$8.
The machi cure ($18.50) — smoked yellowtail that you layer onto yuca chips with Marcona almonds for crunch and golden raisins for sweetness — and the biendo roll ($13) — a Vietnamese spring roll-inspired spin on classic shrimp tempura — are great examples of Uchi’s sushi-with-a-twist M.O.
Since opening, one of the diners’ favorite items has been the kinoko nabe ($18.50), a hot bowl that crisps up koshihkari rice to tangle up with umami-rich mushrooms and egg yolk. Another good hot dish is the walu walu ($16.50), a sweet, tangy, garlicky taste of oak-grilled escolar with ponzu and yuzu marmalade.
Desserts are creative, like the jasmine cream ($8) — trifle-esque layers of honey crumble, jasmine panna cotta, cilantro granita and frozen pineapple — and the pistachio choux ($9) — a pistachio biscuit with strawberry lemon jam, yuzu ice cream and pistachio cream.
Even if you don’t typically like sake, you should probably try one because you can drink it out of a box, which is pretty cool. (You can also drink it out of the glass, but what fun is that?)
The Denver outpost of Uchi is the first outside of Texas, so congratulations on that, Colorado.
Uchi: 2500 Lawrence St., Denver, 303-444-1922, uchidenver.com; Sun.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5-11 p.m.
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Become a subscriber for only 99 cents for the first month.
Denver is no longer the worst place to find love. It’s the fourth-worst.
The Great Love Debate, a nationally touring show and podcast that stops in Denver regularly, has named Seattle “America’s Worst City To Find Love” for 2018. Seattle singles earned low marks across the board for their lack of communication, confidence and optimism, the release said.
Good for you, Seattle. But Denver had that title first. So take that.
In 2017, The Great Love Debate named little ol’ Denver as the worst city to find love. Why? Here is the explaination from 2017:
They say the saddest thing is wasted talent. Friendly, beautiful women, great weather, plenty to do — and home to the most passive men in America. The Mile High City social scene resembles an awkward school dance — women standing in a pack in the middle, flannel-wearing bros on the outside sippin’ their beers and stroking their beards.
That’s one title the Mile High City won’t be sad to shed. Denver has graduated to the fourth-worst and, though it still houses “the most passive men in America,” the release said, ”an extremely communicative and accommodating group of women kept the Mile High City out of the basement this year.”
GLD told The Denver Post that they used four main factors from audience feedback at live events, surveys, city demographics and more:
1. Enthusiasm about dating
2. Opportunities for dating
3. Frequency of dates
4. Dates turning into relationships
Ah, yes, now it’s starting to sound familiar, isn’t it?
Other terrible cities include San Jose for ”a sorry stalemate between women who think they’re too good for him and men who think they’re entitled to her”; Phoenix, with ”go ahead guys, offer to take her on a date. She will take that offer and shop it around till she can find a better one” (whatever that means); and Portland, because ”trying to be the center of the Beard & Beer Universe is never a good way to show you actually care about dating.”
So, yeah, good luck out there. You’ll need it.
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Michelle Obama’s book tour promoting her upcoming memoir, “Becoming,” was expected to be big – the former first lady has sold out arenas, after all. And now we know just how star-studded it will be.
Obama on Tuesday announced an eclectic slate of famous folks who will be joining her onstage during her stops at various cities. The list includes media queen Oprah Winfrey, “Blackish” actress Tracee Ellis Ross, former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, actresses Reese Witherspoon (who is in Denver Dec. 13) and Sarah Jessica Parker, comedian Phoebe Robinson, former NPR host Michelle Norris and poet Elizabeth Alexander.
Some of the women are members of Obama’s friend squad, including Winfrey (who will help her pal kick off the tour in Chicago on Nov. 13) and Jarrett, who is slated to appear at the D.C. stop on Nov. 17 and in Dallas on Dec. 17. “We have some stories, don’t we @ValerieJarrett?” Obama tweeted in response to Jarrett’s tweet sharing the news. “Looking forward to talking with someone who’s had my back since before Barack and I were married!”
But it seems Robinson isn’t among the former first lady’s famously close friend group – at least not yet. “OMG! Exciting news! I’ll be joining one of my newest & dearest friends (#SpeakItIntoExistence), @michelleobama in Philly on 11/29 & Detroit on 12/11 for her #Becoming book tour,” the host of the “2 Dope Queens” podcast wrote. “I can’t wait to talk about her extraordinary story that has so many powerful lessons for all of us.”
To which the former FLOTUS responded: “Dope Queen for a day? Sign me up-looking forward to it, Phoebe! #IAmBecoming.”
As for the other women scheduled to be part of the tour, Ross will appear at the Nov. 15 stop in Los Angeles; Alexander will be at two New York events, on Nov. 25 and Dec. 1; Witherspoon in Denver on Dec. 13; Norris will join the appearances in Boston on Nov. 24 and San Jose on Dec. 14; and Parker will take the stage in Brooklyn on Dec. 19.
A few tickets remain for the Denver appearance on altitudetickets.com. Many are listed on the secondary ticket market.
I can still remember the first time I touched pjur’s signature silicone lubricant. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before in the condom aisle of a drugstore. It didn’t feel natural at all — it felt better than natural.
[Read More …]
2.5 stars (out of 4)
The last flight out of Stapleton airport took off more than 20 years ago, but the venue continues to inspire builders in the burgeoning northeast Denver neighborhood.
There are the obvious homages, like Punch Bowl Social’s second Colorado location, which was built around the original air traffic control tower, and the forthcoming Constellation Ice Cream Shop with its replica Lockheed Constellation wing.
Then there are places like Concourse Restaurant Moderne, in Eastbridge Town Center, that incorporate more subtle nods (see: the name, the runway-like lighting above the bar, the globally influenced menu).
Concourse is the third eatery from chef/owner Lon Symensma, who is best known for downtown’s ChoLon (and its addictive soup dumplings). His first foray into Stapleton promises seasonally focused, modern American cuisine in an elegant but approachable space.
The almost 18-month-old restaurant — helmed by executive chef/owner Luke Bergman — mostly delivers. Though diners should expect some turbulence, to borrow a bit of the original site’s parlance.
The menu is eclectic but lacks cohesion. The primary hiccup, however, is inconsistent service — an unexpected blunder considering the reliability of Symensma’s other hot spots.
Still, there is plenty to enjoy at Concourse. The clever, contemporary design, for one. Bergman’s creativity (dishes are plated beautifully) and skill (pastas, desserts, pastries, and almost all of the breads are made in-house) are also obvious. If the team can smooth out the ride, Denver commuters will buckle in.
Vibe: The sophisticated dining room and bar exude warmth, but it’s the restaurant’s ceiling that calls for attention, with its slats of dark walnut rippling up the wall and across the banquettes and tables. It creates a sense of movement and wonderfully juxtaposes the otherwise classic, chic design. The uncovered light bulbs above the U-shaped bar are reminiscent of the glow of a runway, calling diners inside for a drink. There’s also a decent-sized patio overlooking the Eastbridge walkway and, inside the front door, a modest coffee bar for grab-and-go pick-me-ups. The contemporary décor feels light and living room-esque when the sun beams through the restaurant’s large windows, but transforms into a more elegant, high-end space in the evening.
Hits: Winter is coming, and soup should be on the menu. Especially if it’s Bergman’s celery root creation ($9). The dish arrives like a cappuccino, topped with a frothy foam made from Granny Smith apples stewed with maple syrup. Hidden beneath is the creamy, not-too-heavy soup whose flavors are enhanced by sunchoke chips and a sticky brittle of pistachios, cocoa nibs and apple pectin crumbled on top. It’s autumn in a cup.
For the main course, dive straight into the scallops ($30). Yes, the mollusks — served about four to a plate — are perfectly cooked, but it’s their accompaniments that really steal the (gorgeous) plate. Spaetzle (dumpling-like egg noodles) are sautéed with fenugreek leaves, cayenne pepper and sour cream, then paired with pickled breakfast radishes, pearl onions and paper-thin delicata squash slivers. All of it is served over a ginger juice-infused beurre blanc. There’s a lot going on, but every ingredient plays well with the others in this “zingy” (to borrow a server’s description) dish. Also, be sure to ask about the specials; there are two to four available nightly.
Brunch is mostly breakfast-focused, though there are a hamburger ($13), cheese plate ($13) and a couple of salads ($13) and pastas ($14 to $31) available. Those in the mood for eggs should opt for a skillet: Eggs in Purgatory ($12) is a vegetarian, shakshuka-like combo of runny eggs, stewed tomatoes and gooey cheese. Meat-lovers will prefer the chorizo and egg skillet ($13), which tastes like the inside of a breakfast burrito but would benefit from having the heat level kicked up by a notch or two. Both are served with a hulking piece of grill-kissed bread.
Sweet-seekers will be satisfied with the brioche French toast ($12). The house-made bread is eggy and perfectly browned and comes topped with extra crispy Tender Belly bacon. One complaint: The kitchen pre-drizzles the dish with maple syrup before it arrives at the table; we suggest letting diners do it themselves.
Misses: Bergman’s talent is obvious (the Florida native honed his skills with the likes of Charlie Palmer and Danny Meyer), but it doesn’t come through equally in every dish. Many are good, not great, and none rise to the same level as the aforementioned scallops. Admittedly, Bergman and Symensma leading the kitchen sets a high bar, but it’s one they’re more than capable of surpassing.
One starter, the Wagyu Beef Tataki ($16), is a customer favorite but felt overly complicated. It arrived with a generous portion of beautifully marbled meat from the Western Slope’s 7X Beef sitting atop an oh-so-chefy smoked egg mayo (post-boiling, the eggs are smoked over hickory wood). Perfection. The other half of the dish — much-too-tart pickled veggies and greasy house-made chips — disappointed. The concept of Asian-style nachos is appealing, if Bergman can even out the elements.
The pappardelle with Colorado-grown bison Bolognese ($22) showed potential in its simplicity — twirls of flat noodles tossed with a generous serving of sauce and decorated with grated dark chocolate — but the pasta was cooked well past al dente, leaving the dish mostly texture-less, and the meaty centerpiece was unpleasantly sweet.
Bergman makes all of the desserts in-house. The milk chocolate Chantilly gold bar ($5) was delightfully chocolate-y, but the menu description’s promise of hazelnut and Feuilletine crunch (essentially, crispy crêpe crumbs) was left unfulfilled. It’s also much too small for sharing — unless you’re OK with just two or three small bites to end your meal. If you ask us, “shareable” is a prerequisite for all desserts.
Drinks: Too often these days, cocktail menus resemble books, overwhelming diners and, in some cases, showing a lack of focus behind the bar. Not so at Concourse, where the single-page lineup features five signature offerings and six classic tipples (all $12). The former are more exciting twists on the familiar, like the sunshine-hued Paloma de Fuego, a boozy combo of silver tequila, Mezcal, charred grapefruit and Prosecco. The gin-based Cast Away packs less of an alcoholic punch. The tight beer list ($7 to $8) is comprised mostly of Colorado’s heavy hitters: Odell, Great Divide, Avery … you get the idea. Wine is available by the glass, half-bottle or full; ask the sommelier for suggestions if you’re having trouble deciding.
At brunch, the bottomless Mimosa ($14) is the most logical order, seeing as the rest of the cocktail offerings are $12. But Bloody Mary devotees won’t be disappointed by Concourse’s slightly thicker take on the a.m. classic, which incorporates house-made mix and is stirred to your heat (as in, spice level) preference. There’s also a full coffee bar, including chai lattes ($4) and French press service ($3 to $8).
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Service: Unexceptional. Servers were pleasant and responsive, but in a frustrating pattern, they responded with authority to questions about dishes or ingredients — and their answers later turned out to be incorrect. The focus, though, should be on providing a warmer welcome when guests walk in the front door. On two occasions, no one appeared at or near the host stand until a few minutes after arrival. Once they did finally greet diners, it took longer than necessary to clear a table — even though, in both instances, reservations had been made, and at brunch, the restaurant was fairly quiet. Concourse looks sophisticated and charming. Its service should reflect the same qualities.
Bottom Line: Concourse has a lot of potential but isn’t quite ready for takeoff. The food is consistent but lacks the wow factor we’ve come to expect from these two worldly chefs, and service needs to rise to the expectations set by the elegance of the venue.
Price: Cocktails and beers ($7 to $12); wines by the glass ($8 to $14); brunch ($5 to $31); appetizers and salads ($4 to $16); pastas ($15 to $31); entrées ($18 to $30); desserts ($5 to $8)
Fun Fact: Chef-owner Lon Symensma is keeping himself busy. The toque behind ChoLon Restaurant Concepts (CRC) recently opened BorraCho Tacos on South Broadway. The taqueria took over his former Cho77 space, which will reopen in the coming months near Symensma’s original Denver eatery, ChoLon. But that’s not all: Denver diners can also look forward to checking out LeRoux, a European-inspired concept from the CRC team coming to LoDo this winter.
Find more restaurant reviews from The Know.
Concourse Restaurant Moderne
10195 E. 29th Drive, Suite 140; 720-550-6934; concoursedenver.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday
Reservations: Accepted
Parking: Lot
Star Rating Guide: Ratings range from zero to four stars. Zero is poor. One star, satisfactory. Two stars, good. Three stars, very good. Four stars, excellent.
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2.5 stars (out of 4)
The last flight out of Stapleton airport took off more than 20 years ago, but the venue continues to inspire builders in the burgeoning northeast Denver neighborhood.
There are the obvious homages, like Punch Bowl Social’s second Colorado location, which was built around the original air traffic control tower, and the forthcoming Constellation Ice Cream Shop with its replica Lockheed Constellation wing.
Then there are places like Concourse Restaurant Moderne, in Eastbridge Town Center, that incorporate more subtle nods (see: the name, the runway-like lighting above the bar, the globally influenced menu).
Concourse is the third eatery from chef/owner Lon Symensma, who is best known for downtown’s ChoLon (and its addictive soup dumplings). His first foray into Stapleton promises seasonally focused, modern American cuisine in an elegant but approachable space.
The almost 18-month-old restaurant — helmed by executive chef/owner Luke Bergman — mostly delivers. Though diners should expect some turbulence, to borrow a bit of the original site’s parlance.
The menu is eclectic but lacks cohesion. The primary hiccup, however, is inconsistent service — an unexpected blunder considering the reliability of Symensma’s other hot spots.
Still, there is plenty to enjoy at Concourse. The clever, contemporary design, for one. Bergman’s creativity (dishes are plated beautifully) and skill (pastas, desserts, pastries, and almost all of the breads are made in-house) are also obvious. If the team can smooth out the ride, Denver commuters will buckle in.
Vibe: The sophisticated dining room and bar exude warmth, but it’s the restaurant’s ceiling that calls for attention, with its slats of dark walnut rippling up the wall and across the banquettes and tables. It creates a sense of movement and wonderfully juxtaposes the otherwise classic, chic design. The uncovered light bulbs above the U-shaped bar are reminiscent of the glow of a runway, calling diners inside for a drink. There’s also a decent-sized patio overlooking the Eastbridge walkway and, inside the front door, a modest coffee bar for grab-and-go pick-me-ups. The contemporary décor feels light and living room-esque when the sun beams through the restaurant’s large windows, but transforms into a more elegant, high-end space in the evening.
Hits: Winter is coming, and soup should be on the menu. Especially if it’s Bergman’s celery root creation ($9). The dish arrives like a cappuccino, topped with a frothy foam made from Granny Smith apples stewed with maple syrup. Hidden beneath is the creamy, not-too-heavy soup whose flavors are enhanced by sunchoke chips and a sticky brittle of pistachios, cocoa nibs and apple pectin crumbled on top. It’s autumn in a cup.
For the main course, dive straight into the scallops ($30). Yes, the mollusks — served about four to a plate — are perfectly cooked, but it’s their accompaniments that really steal the (gorgeous) plate. Spaetzle (dumpling-like egg noodles) are sautéed with fenugreek leaves, cayenne pepper and sour cream, then paired with pickled breakfast radishes, pearl onions and paper-thin delicata squash slivers. All of it is served over a ginger juice-infused beurre blanc. There’s a lot going on, but every ingredient plays well with the others in this “zingy” (to borrow a server’s description) dish. Also, be sure to ask about the specials; there are two to four available nightly.
Brunch is mostly breakfast-focused, though there are a hamburger ($13), cheese plate ($13) and a couple of salads ($13) and pastas ($14 to $31) available. Those in the mood for eggs should opt for a skillet: Eggs in Purgatory ($12) is a vegetarian, shakshuka-like combo of runny eggs, stewed tomatoes and gooey cheese. Meat-lovers will prefer the chorizo and egg skillet ($13), which tastes like the inside of a breakfast burrito but would benefit from having the heat level kicked up by a notch or two. Both are served with a hulking piece of grill-kissed bread.
Sweet-seekers will be satisfied with the brioche French toast ($12). The house-made bread is eggy and perfectly browned and comes topped with extra crispy Tender Belly bacon. One complaint: The kitchen pre-drizzles the dish with maple syrup before it arrives at the table; we suggest letting diners do it themselves.
Misses: Bergman’s talent is obvious (the Florida native honed his skills with the likes of Charlie Palmer and Danny Meyer), but it doesn’t come through equally in every dish. Many are good, not great, and none rise to the same level as the aforementioned scallops. Admittedly, Bergman and Symensma leading the kitchen sets a high bar, but it’s one they’re more than capable of surpassing.
One starter, the Wagyu Beef Tataki ($16), is a customer favorite but felt overly complicated. It arrived with a generous portion of beautifully marbled meat from the Western Slope’s 7X Beef sitting atop an oh-so-chefy smoked egg mayo (post-boiling, the eggs are smoked over hickory wood). Perfection. The other half of the dish — much-too-tart pickled veggies and greasy house-made chips — disappointed. The concept of Asian-style nachos is appealing, if Bergman can even out the elements.
The pappardelle with Colorado-grown bison Bolognese ($22) showed potential in its simplicity — twirls of flat noodles tossed with a generous serving of sauce and decorated with grated dark chocolate — but the pasta was cooked well past al dente, leaving the dish mostly texture-less, and the meaty centerpiece was unpleasantly sweet.
Bergman makes all of the desserts in-house. The milk chocolate Chantilly gold bar ($5) was delightfully chocolate-y, but the menu description’s promise of hazelnut and Feuilletine crunch (essentially, crispy crêpe crumbs) was left unfulfilled. It’s also much too small for sharing — unless you’re OK with just two or three small bites to end your meal. If you ask us, “shareable” is a prerequisite for all desserts.
Drinks: Too often these days, cocktail menus resemble books, overwhelming diners and, in some cases, showing a lack of focus behind the bar. Not so at Concourse, where the single-page lineup features five signature offerings and six classic tipples (all $12). The former are more exciting twists on the familiar, like the sunshine-hued Paloma de Fuego, a boozy combo of silver tequila, Mezcal, charred grapefruit and Prosecco. The gin-based Cast Away packs less of an alcoholic punch. The tight beer list ($7 to $8) is comprised mostly of Colorado’s heavy hitters: Odell, Great Divide, Avery … you get the idea. Wine is available by the glass, half-bottle or full; ask the sommelier for suggestions if you’re having trouble deciding.
At brunch, the bottomless Mimosa ($14) is the most logical order, seeing as the rest of the cocktail offerings are $12. But Bloody Mary devotees won’t be disappointed by Concourse’s slightly thicker take on the a.m. classic, which incorporates house-made mix and is stirred to your heat (as in, spice level) preference. There’s also a full coffee bar, including chai lattes ($4) and French press service ($3 to $8).
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•Beirut Grill serves familiar, if much too mild, Middle Eastern flavors
•Take a tasty trip around the world without leaving Denver at 12@Madison
•At Chuy’s, “Deep in the heart of Tex-Mex” doesn’t taste quite as good as it sounds
Service: Unexceptional. Servers were pleasant and responsive, but in a frustrating pattern, they responded with authority to questions about dishes or ingredients — and their answers later turned out to be incorrect. The focus, though, should be on providing a warmer welcome when guests walk in the front door. On two occasions, no one appeared at or near the host stand until a few minutes after arrival. Once they did finally greet diners, it took longer than necessary to clear a table — even though, in both instances, reservations had been made, and at brunch, the restaurant was fairly quiet. Concourse looks sophisticated and charming. Its service should reflect the same qualities.
Bottom Line: Concourse has a lot of potential but isn’t quite ready for takeoff. The food is consistent but lacks the wow factor we’ve come to expect from these two worldly chefs, and service needs to rise to the expectations set by the elegance of the venue.
Price: Cocktails and beers ($7 to $12); wines by the glass ($8 to $14); brunch ($5 to $31); appetizers and salads ($4 to $16); pastas ($15 to $31); entrées ($18 to $30); desserts ($5 to $8)
Fun Fact: Chef-owner Lon Symensma is keeping himself busy. The toque behind ChoLon Restaurant Concepts (CRC) recently opened BorraCho Tacos on South Broadway. The taqueria took over his former Cho77 space, which will reopen in the coming months near Symensma’s original Denver eatery, ChoLon. But that’s not all: Denver diners can also look forward to checking out LeRoux, a European-inspired concept from the CRC team coming to LoDo this winter.
Find more restaurant reviews from The Know.
Concourse Restaurant Moderne
10195 E. 29th Drive, Suite 140; 720-550-6934; concoursedenver.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday
Reservations: Accepted
Parking: Lot
Star Rating Guide: Ratings range from zero to four stars. Zero is poor. One star, satisfactory. Two stars, good. Three stars, very good. Four stars, excellent.
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The adrenaline. The racing heart. The excited nerves. You’re staring down a particularly steep run, mapping out your route. And then, you ride.
Ski Magazine recently listed nine of the steepest in-bounds runs in North America. Although Alaska, Vermont and Utah all had runs on the list, no state had as many as Colorado, which came in with three.
So without further ado, here are the three Colorado runs named among the steepest by Ski Magazine: Breckenridge’s Crazy Ivan 2, Crested Butte’s Rambo, and Telluride’s Senior’s.
Crazy Ivan 2, which isn’t marked on a trail map, is a double-black diamond located at 13,000 feet. Rambo forces skiers to navigate a 55-degree pitch. And Senior’s run at 13,320 feet takes people down a 52-degree gully.
Check out the rest of the list at Ski Magazine. And if you’re looking to find more exciting runs, check out our list of 2017’s scariest runs in Colorado. (Telluride’s Senior’s run made that list, too.)
Brad Mitchell is a gentleman and a scholar, a tech-savvy bodhisattva garbed in flamboyant threads as eye-catchingly colorful as his vibrant personality.
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The Denver Zoo’s annual Boo at the Zoo, which returned Oct. 20, 21, 27 and 28, is in many ways an ideal sandbox for trick-or-treaters.
Quite simply: Kids love animals and candy, and this has both. Trick-or-treat stations and “creepy crawly” animal demonstrations have always been the cornerstones of the event.
But there’s also the fact that all Halloween-themed activities at this year’s 34th annual happening — including jugglers, magicians and character meet-and-greets (Tinkerbell, Jack Sparrow, Moana and “Frozen” princesses, to name a few) — are included in the price of general admission, a nice break for families who have already ponied up for spiced cider, hayride glow-bracelets and corn maze T-shirts elsewhere.
The event returns 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 28, with $14-$20 tickets still available at denverzoo.org. To warm up, here’s a colorful slideshow of cute, spooky and everything-in-between costumes.
Note: If you go his weekend, be sure to read up on the costume restrictions, such as no masks for kids 12 and over, no fake weapons and other guidelines, at denverzoo.org/booatthezoo.
Check out the photos on The Know.
The Paranormal Palace celebrated its 10th anniversary Saturday inside the McNichols Civic Center Building with more than 50 performers, thousands of costumed guests, live music and DJs. One of Denver’s most popular Halloween celebrations, the party went all out with decorations and hosted a $5,000 costume contest.
Check out the photos on The Know.
There were a lot of ninjas in Colorado this weekend. The Colorado Ninja Challenge took place Sunday at Bromley Farm in Brighton. The inaugural event had three obstacle courses: pro, intermediate and kids. Some of the top ninjas competed for $20,000 in cash and prizes. Check out the photos at The Know Outdoors.
The mountains and cliff rose as high as 3,300 feet above the deck of the MS Nordnorge as it glided on a fall afternoon through the RaftsundetStrait, which is fed with the waters of the Arctic Ocean.
The rugged crags, threaded with thin, silver waterfalls, floated by as passengers on the Nordnorge, one of the Hurtigruten fleet plying the Norwegian coast with cargos of tourists and fish meal, were in full picture-taking mode.
As if the strait were not spectacular enough, the captain then slipped the 11,300-ton ship into Trollfjord, a mile-long finger of water between soaring cliffs, which seemed close enough to touch. The opening to the fjord is about 328 feet wide, and the beam of the Nordnorge is 64 feet.
Once inside the fjord, the Nordnorge turns around smartly and heads back into the strait. From there, we continued our journey south.
Two days earlier, my wife and I had flown to Kirkenes — a town 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, near Norway’s border with Russia — to catch the Nordnoge on its 1,250-mile voyage to Bergen.
We settled into our cabin on Sunday afternoon, and off we went. There are four cabin classes on Hurtigruten vessels: Polar Inside (no porthole), Polar Outside, Arctic Superior and Expedition Suites. All cabins come with a private bath and a flat-screen TV.
The price of cabins varies from ship to ship and the time of the year. A Polar Outside, with a porthole, is running about $1,000 for the six-day trip. Next spring, it is twice that. An Expedition Suite in the spring will run as much as $6,600.
For our September six-day cruise, we booked an Arctic Superior cabin — with a nice, big porthole, plenty of closet and storage space — for $3,948.
Life on a ship evolves into a routine colored by preference. First, folks stake out favorite places to pass the day. Some relax in the big leather chairs of the glassed-in forward Explore Lounge on deck seven. Others were in the armchairs and sofas of the café, still others on outside deck chairs when the weather permits. Others headed to the pair of hot tubs on deck six.
The book readers find their niches; the card players, their tables. Everyone checks their phones, and here was the first of several bits that added to the bill. The Wi-Fi charge for the voyage was about $30, but that also gave you unlimited coffee, tea and hot chocolate at any of the snack bars on board.
The other great organizing principle on a ship is meals. Breakfast and lunch were come-when-you-like and sit-where-you-like buffets, while dinner was in four seatings between 6 and 8:30 p.m. with assigned tables. That first night, we dined on reindeer steaks with a bottle of cabernet.
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Ah yes, while your passage includes meals, not so for wine, beer and anything stronger. A draft went for about $10. The draft beer package provides two beers a day plus two bottles of water for about $97. There were three wine packages, each offering a bottle a day plus bottles of water, ranging from the house wines for $276 to a premium package with a richer variety and champagne at $568.
The food was uniformly good, delicious and locally sourced. We had reindeer steaks from Finnmark, cod from Lofoten and Arctic chard from Sigerfjord. The same for desserts such as Norwegian Duga cereal, cream and lingonberries.
That first night while we slept, the Nordnorge plowed through the Barents Sea, making brief, late-night stops — the stops for explore were all during the day. By 8 a.m., it had visited six towns, the smallest the fishing village of Mehamn, population 776 people. In all, it would visit 32 ports.
That second morning, low-hanging clouds and fog raced each other to cloak the Kjøllefjord in shades of blue, gray and linen. After a stroll around the deck in appropriate rain gear — Norwegians say there is no bad weather, only bad clothing — it was a delight to settle into a chair in front of the large windows of the Explorer Lounge with a book and one of those endless coffees.
In 1891, Richard With launched his first coastal steamer, and the Hurtigruten line was born. The service became a crucial link for communities, fishing villages and mining towns, some of which were otherwise only reached by dirt roads.
Refrigerated holds were added in the early 20th century to haul fish. The number of passengers rose from 298,000 in 1938 to 500,000 in 1950. In the late ’80s, however, Hurtigruten ran into stiff financial winds. So, the company remade itself, dumping most of the fish and replacing them with tourists.
The Nordnorge can carry nearly 700 passengers. The cargo for this trip was composed of Americans, Australians, Brits and Germans — many Germans. There was also a fair representation of Norwegians and families.
Still, the Nordnorge and its sisters retain some of their working-ship tradition, ferrying cars and passenger between coastal ports and hauling freight including fish, dry fish and frozen goods, as well as live chickens.
At Øksfjord, a town of 504 that owes its existence to herring shoals, we watched as large bags of fish meal were loaded by forklift. The bags were destined for a salmon farm hundreds of miles to the south.
So, this is to be remembered: While the Nordnorge was comfortably appointed, with a crew that was courteous, cheerful and helpful, it is no luxury cruise ship. Those expecting luxe deluxe may be disappointed.
The ship’s “Expedition” staff arranges lectures and demonstrations — the head chef showed us how to fillet a salmon — and on-shore excursions, add-ons that ranged from a midnight concert in Tromsø’s Arctic Cathedral ($92), riding horses on the beach in Lofoten ($195) and a visit to a salmon farm ($66).
But the main draw is the rugged Norwegian coast and the sea.
With a general aversion to tourist buses, we were happy to simply wander the coastal towns and villages — strolling through a rainy graveyard in Hammerfest among the Hansens, Jensens and Sundahls, with the oldest headstones too weathered to tell a tale.
One night, however, we were treated to a free show beyond compare as the Northern Lights snaked their way in green and blue hues across the sky above the ship.
On the morning of the third day, we dropped below the Arctic Circle, and it was marked with a ceremony. Doses of cod liver oil were dispensed on souvenir Hurtigruten teaspoons. You could buy a flute of Champagne to wash it down.
We reached Trondheim — the capital of Norway in the 11th century and now a city of 193,000 — on the fifth day. Trondheim has deep Viking and medieval roots and retains some of those Middle Ages’ alleyways. The city center is still filled with brightly painted wooden buildings going back to the 1700s.
The thing about a ship is that it sails on the ocean, and while the water had been relatively calm, we hit heavy seas later that day. It was exciting to be on deck and watch the swells and white caps, although I must admit it did rob me of my appetite.
On our final morning, the rains were up again as we weaved through rocky outcrops in the Hjeltefjorden with Bergen coming ever closer. In Bergen, the Nordnorge would load another cargo of visitors and head north.
The northern voyage isn’t a mirror of the southern descent, as many of the ports we passed in the night, the northern cruise hits in the day. There is almost double the number of on-shore excursions offered.
We reached Bergen midday. Six days of sea, wind, sun and rain had worked their will recalibrating my internal clock. It was a shame to disembark.
For information about Hurtigruten cruises, go to bit.ly/2RWREcI.
It is extremely important to have an attorney on your team. Although it might be tempting to forgo the expense, typically, it’s much cheaper to prevent an issue than to have to fix it. Hiring a lawyer can seem intimidating though.
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Robischon Gallery has long held a lock on big money art in Denver. In a city this size, there’s room for only one major contemporary art player and Robischon has capitalized on its position at the top, assembling an unbeatable roster of near and far talent that has kept the momentum going for more than three decades.
Robischon is where the money is, it sells art at serious prices, and that means it gets first dibs at the most commercially interesting artists in Denver, as well as internationally famous outsiders, such as Kiki Smith, Christo and Ann Hamilton, who want a regional retailer to rep their work.
But Robischon has always, at the same time, been socially responsible to its hometown. It gives back by presenting Denver with the most consistently fascinating private gallery exhibits around. Robischon fills its space with fun and fascinating work as a rule, even when that work isn’t an easy sell.
The current four-artist show is a good example of why folks should always stop into Robischon for a look. Powered by John Buck’s hyper-political, oversized, kinetic sculptures, it’s a thrill to wander through. It’s also all those things you want a group exhibit to be: thoughtful, adventurous, energizing, puzzling and, for sure, a bit uneven; a mix of artists who have reached their market potential and others who are heading there with Robischon’s guidance.
Buck leads the pack, and the exhibit itself, with a handful of large-scale pieces in the front room of Robischon’s 9,000 square-foot headquarters in Lower Downtown. He’s a woodcarver really, a folk artist who works in simple materials, but also a mad inventor, assembling his carefully shaped bits of soft wood into complicated machines.
Viewers activate them, which is a blast. Step on a floor switch and suddenly things start to crank and turn and swirl, powered by old-school tech, like simple electricity and interlocking gears. They are reminiscent of children’s toys — firetrucks, toy soldiers and wagons — in the days before video games took over the imagination.
Their sentiments, however, are decidedly contemporary and perhaps a bit controversial. This exhibit’s signature piece, “The March of Folly,” is a parody of the odd relationships between news-friendly figures, like Donald Trump, Kim Jung-un, Vladimir Putin, Dennis Rodman and Stormy Daniels. These characters march in a dynamic parade of international, ego-driven excess, each looking more ridiculous than the other and underscoring the absurdity of 21st century global politics. References to mythology, Greek history and Russian architecture put things in a broad perspective.
A second notable piece, “The Mother of All Wars,” has a darker edge, with a Trump-like figure, on a tank, leading an ominous military parade. Step on the switch and tiny soldiers outfitted with gas masks go on the march, and a rather large bomb, saddled by a hat-waving cowboy, “Dr. Strangelove”-style, hurdles toward earth.
Buck’s work is full of over-simplified messages and quick-hit commentary on current events. It’s punditry really, just like on cable news, only in three-dimensional form and delivered via an art gallery instead of TV.But it’s surprisingly effective. First. because of its wildly sensational, motion-based form — it’s impossible not to pay attention and try to decipher what it is saying — and second, because it uses an out-of-date medium (who whittles anymore?) to comment on information that’s shockingly of-the-moment.That blend of old techniques and and new ideas defines the overall exhibit at Robischon.
All of the artists tap into some folk art tradition and update it.In a back gallery space, artist Walter Robinson uses materials like leather, rhinestones, canvas, stuffed toys and zebra skin to create objects that get at the underlaying uncertainty of a world awash in both nostalgia and an endless stream of new images and information. In one piece, a single leg, dressed in striped, prison pants and wearing an ice skate, appears to come right through the wall from another room, raising ominous questions about how it got there and what resides on the other side of the wall. Next to that is an artificial snowman, laying on his back and grasping a bottle of some mysterious liquid. In the middle of the room, are two hand-crafted jackets set on mannequins, adorned with leather lace-up straps and found logo patches.
There’s something surreal to all of it, but also something familiar. There’s a hint of Americana in his snowman and ice skates and leather jackets, but it all feels uncontrollable and little bit dangerous.
In another room, artist Fred Stonehouse presents his small, acrylic paintings in recognizable forms, they resemble the framed, perspective-free, religious works found in churches and other sacred places from pre-Renaissance Europe to colonial Latin America. There’s an antique innocence to them.
But their imagery updates the pieces to our era of self-aware psychology, horror films and political stupidity. He uses text and images of half-human, half-beast beings to illustrate ideas like “The Hypnotic Lure of Faith” and “The Illusion of Emotion.” They are loaded with nervous anxiety and, at the same time, a knowing calm. If we are, indeed, weird, gullible creatures, then that is our nature. We are an inescapably, eternally screwed-up species.
The fourth artist in the show is Paco Pomet, a Spanish artist making his debut at Robischon. and whose work is connected to the past though his use of vintage photographs as source material.
Pomet recreates in oil paint old-time scenes — a cabin in the woods, a truss bridge spanning an underdeveloped waterfront. But he adds startling doses of brilliant colors that inject fantastical qualities into the scenery, completely interrupting their rustic nature. The cabin is sheathed in a cool purple. the water under that bridge is a shiny, yellow gold.
This technique is most effective when it remains abstract. Why purple? Why gold? Those wild colors transfix viewers. But his colorful modifications are less interesting when they become more obvious. His inserted text over a 19th century portrait of three gentlemen isn’t so funny, his addition of “Star Wars” light sabers into a picture of pre-industrial miners feels immature and a play to the Gen X crowd. Still, it’s all entertaining. And it’s good to see Robischon taking an international view of contemporary art.
This is what Robischon does best, mix and match its artists in a way that makes you see what they have in common and what sets them apart. In this particular case, it’s also an opportunity to see how far a trip down memory lane can take you into the future. Is all this work a look back or a look forward? It’s both of those things, and a very clear view of art as it stands in the present.
Robischon Gallery’s current group exhibition continues through Nov. 3. It’s free. 1740 Wazee St. Info: 303-298-7788 or robischongallery.com.
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Monster appetite
Before you stuff yourself with candy, check out these frightfully good Halloween food freebies and deals around town on Oct. 31. Costumed customers get a burrito, bowl, salad or tacos for $4 from 3 p.m. to closing at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Kids (12 and under) can put together their own free Scary Face Pancake at IHOP from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Little monsters (12 and under) can enjoy a free kids meal at Applebee’s with the purchase of an adult entrée – up to four free meals per adult. For a snack before haunting the neighborhood, head to Sonic Drive-In for 50-cent corn dogs all day. And, if all the treats don’t deliver enough sugar, Baskin-Robbins is scooping a single serving of ice cream for $1.50. Or stop by Krispy Kreme in costume and bite into a free doughnut. For more scary savings, visit milehighonthecheap.com/halloween-free-cheap-denver.
Numbers game
As the recent Mega Millions proved, it can be fun to play a few bucks with the hopes of winning big. To add a little more luck, the Colorado Lottery is giving players an extra chance at cashing in a winning ticket. According to the Lottery, Lotto and Cash 5 offer the best odds to win, whether it’s in the millions or thousands. Buy $10 worth of Lotto (on a single ticket) at Shell, Exxon and Mobil Suncor locations and receive a free $2 Cash 5 ticket for one drawing. The bonus ticket automatically prints, following the qualifying Lotto ticket purchase. The offer is valid through Nov. 4 or until the allotment of free tickets is exhausted. coloradolottery.com/events/288
Cartoon time
Harkins Theatres is bringing cinema’s favorite mischievous, yellow, banana-loving characters back to the big screen with its Illumination Film Festival from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1. The festival plays at both Harkins Theatres locations in Arvada and Denver. See “Despicable Me”, “The Secret Life of Pets”, “Sing” and “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” for $5 each during the weeklong family-friendly event. Each film screens once each day of the festival, so the family can see their favorite multiple times. Parents know the drill. Kids can watch the same film over and over and over again. Tickets are on sale at the box office and online. harkins.com/iff.
Hero’s meal
There are many ways to thank first responders for their heroic efforts in helping others, but feeding them is near the top of the list. All active first responders, including EMT, firefighters and police officers, in uniform (or with proper ID) eat free with the purchase of any beverage at Hooters on Oct. 28. First responders may choose from a special menu, including 10 traditional wings, 10 boneless wings, 10 smoked wings, Buffalo Chicken sandwich, Buffalo Chicken salad and Hooters burger. hooters.com
It’s a steal
Thanks to Mookie Betts stealing a base in Game 1 of the World Series, America gets to crunch on a freebie. On Nov. 1, stop by Taco Bell to pick up a totally free Doritos Locos Taco from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. No purchase necessary, but limit one per person. For convenience, you can also “steal” yours online and pick up the complimentary taco at any location throughout the day. Expect long lines, given the Doritos Locos Taco is one of the chain’s most popular menu items. tacobell.com/stealataco
Every Saturday, Laura Daily and Bryan K. Chavez at MileHighOnTheCheap.com compile “Cheap Checklist” to help smart shoppers find freebies, discounts and deals. Send tips to info@milehighonthecheap.com 10 to 14 days in advance. More freebies, discounts and deals at MileHighOnTheCheap.com.
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The dark days are upon us. A cold wind blows. In the Pacific Northwest, a coven of witches gathers to cast spells under a full moon. They begin the cursed incantation: “Eye of newt and toe of frogs,” they chant. “Conjure a drink that looks good on blogs.”
A poof of smoke, and there it appears, in the Starbucks headquarters: A magical purple sugar potion. They cackle with glee, for the spell has worked: For one weekend, people will clamor to pay $5.45 to take photos of this bedeviled drink. They swish their cloaks. “We shall call it Witch’s Brew,” says the eldest.
The drink’s ingredients are “A pinch of toad’s breath. A dash of bat warts. A sprinkle of lizard scale,” according to the official Starbucks news release, which was probably written by a talking cat or a piece of enchanted furniture. The toad’s breath is “orange flavored purple powder,” according to the ingredient list. The bat warts are chia seeds. The sprinkle of lizard scale is a dusting of green powder that rests on top of the whipped cream. The only problem is that instead of being streaked throughout, the chia seeds all fall to the bottom pretty quickly, which gives it a thin layer of gray sediment. It tastes like a melted creamsicle with a hex that tricks people into drinking it, but instead of turning into a toad they just feel like one – slightly bloated.
Also, it’s so sweet that it makes my teeth hurt. Maybe that’s the point, and they’ll all fall out.
This is just the latest in a line of spooky, magical Starbucks Frappuccinos. There was the vampire, the zombie and the dragon Frappuccino in the former category, and the unicorn, mermaid and crystal ball Frappuccinos in the latter. The drinks named for benevolent magic, like the unicorn, seem to do better than the ones based on monsters, cryptids or the dark arts – which doesn’t bode well for the Witch’s Brew. But then again: Witches are having a moment in pop culture right now, with “Charmed,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and Bewitched” all getting a 2018 reboot.
“LIFT THE CURSE,” says the signage advertising Witch’s Brew in Starbucks’ stores, but I fear this drink does the opposite. Just as Snow White bit the poisoned apple, or Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on the spindle, I, too, am now cursed: It’s been more than an hour since I had this drink, and there is still a lingering aftertaste. I fear it will follow me for the rest of my life, and will be transmitted through my lineage, and my children’s children’s children will taste this hexed liquid creamsicle full of sludgy chia seeds, until one of them can break free of our malediction. Or until I rinse with some mouthwash.
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The dark days are upon us. A cold wind blows. In the Pacific Northwest, a coven of witches gathers to cast spells under a full moon. They begin the cursed incantation: “Eye of newt and toe of frogs,” they chant. “Conjure a drink that looks good on blogs.”
A poof of smoke, and there it appears, in the Starbucks headquarters: A magical purple sugar potion. They cackle with glee, for the spell has worked: For one weekend, people will clamor to pay $5.45 to take photos of this bedeviled drink. They swish their cloaks. “We shall call it Witch’s Brew,” says the eldest.
The drink’s ingredients are “A pinch of toad’s breath. A dash of bat warts. A sprinkle of lizard scale,” according to the official Starbucks news release, which was probably written by a talking cat or a piece of enchanted furniture. The toad’s breath is “orange flavored purple powder,” according to the ingredient list. The bat warts are chia seeds. The sprinkle of lizard scale is a dusting of green powder that rests on top of the whipped cream. The only problem is that instead of being streaked throughout, the chia seeds all fall to the bottom pretty quickly, which gives it a thin layer of gray sediment. It tastes like a melted creamsicle with a hex that tricks people into drinking it, but instead of turning into a toad they just feel like one – slightly bloated.
Also, it’s so sweet that it makes my teeth hurt. Maybe that’s the point, and they’ll all fall out.
This is just the latest in a line of spooky, magical Starbucks Frappuccinos. There was the vampire, the zombie and the dragon Frappuccino in the former category, and the unicorn, mermaid and crystal ball Frappuccinos in the latter. The drinks named for benevolent magic, like the unicorn, seem to do better than the ones based on monsters, cryptids or the dark arts – which doesn’t bode well for the Witch’s Brew. But then again: Witches are having a moment in pop culture right now, with “Charmed,” “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and Bewitched” all getting a 2018 reboot.
“LIFT THE CURSE,” says the signage advertising Witch’s Brew in Starbucks’ stores, but I fear this drink does the opposite. Just as Snow White bit the poisoned apple, or Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on the spindle, I, too, am now cursed: It’s been more than an hour since I had this drink, and there is still a lingering aftertaste. I fear it will follow me for the rest of my life, and will be transmitted through my lineage, and my children’s children’s children will taste this hexed liquid creamsicle full of sludgy chia seeds, until one of them can break free of our malediction. Or until I rinse with some mouthwash.
Journalism isn’t free. Show your support of local news coverage by becoming a subscriber.
Your first month is only 99 cents.
White Fence Farm is being put out to pasture.
The popular family-friendly restaurant with animals, live music, games, a year-round Christmas shop and more will close on December 30 after 35 years of serving up mouth-watering chicken, according to Westword.
“We have been operating at a net monthly loss for a considerable amount of time,” owner Craig Caldwell told the alt-weekly. “Efforts to create a profitable operation were not successful, and we can no longer operate in this capacity.”
[related]
This isn’t the first closure for the fried chicken favorite. In February, White Fence Farm closed its satellite locations.
“We found that with all the competition of the new restaurants that have opened in the last few years, as well as all the food delivery services, that the carry-outs were not taking off like we expected. We are focusing back on the main farm and hoping to do another concept down the road,” Whitney Carloss, general manager of Lakewood’s White Fence Farm, wrote in an email to us in February.
Caldwell and Tom Piercy purchased White Fence Farm a few years ago.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
White Fence Farm: 6263 W. Jewell Ave., Lakewood, 303-935-5945; whitefencefarmco.com
White Fence Farm is being put out to pasture.
The popular family-friendly restaurant with animals, live music, games, a year-round Christmas shop and more will close on December 30 after 35 years of serving up mouth-watering chicken, according to Westword.
“We have been operating at a net monthly loss for a considerable amount of time,” owner Craig Caldwell told the alt-weekly. “Efforts to create a profitable operation were not successful, and we can no longer operate in this capacity.”
[related]
This isn’t the first closure for the fried chicken favorite. In February, White Fence Farm closed its satellite locations.
“We found that with all the competition of the new restaurants that have opened in the last few years, as well as all the food delivery services, that the carry-outs were not taking off like we expected. We are focusing back on the main farm and hoping to do another concept down the road,” Whitney Carloss, general manager of Lakewood’s White Fence Farm, wrote in an email to us in February.
Caldwell and Tom Piercy purchased White Fence Farm a few years ago.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
White Fence Farm: 6263 W. Jewell Ave., Lakewood, 303-935-5945; whitefencefarmco.com
We are an open-minded bunch when it comes to content. We’ve seen it all over the past 13 years, including the kind of content which can raise the ire of the card brands and result in significant, non-compliance assessments and/or account termination for egregious violations.
[Read More …]
Robischon Gallery has long held a lock on big money art in Denver. In a city this size, there’s room for only one major contemporary art player and Robischon has capitalized on its position at the top, assembling an unbeatable roster of near and far talent that has kept the momentum going for more than three decades.
Robischon is where the money is, it sells art at serious prices, and that means it gets first dibs at the most commercially interesting artists in Denver, as well as internationally famous outsiders, such as Kiki Smith, Christo and Ann Hamilton, who want a regional retailer to rep their work.
But Robischon has always, at the same time, been socially responsible to its hometown. It gives back by presenting Denver with the most consistently fascinating private gallery exhibits around. Robischon fills its space with fun and fascinating work as a rule, even when that work isn’t an easy sell.
The current four-artist show is a good example of why folks should always stop into Robischon for a look. Powered by John Buck’s hyper-political, oversized, kinetic sculptures, it’s a thrill to wander through. It’s also all those things you want a group exhibit to be: thoughtful, adventurous, energizing, puzzling and, for sure, a bit uneven; a mix of artists who have reached their market potential and others who are heading there with Robischon’s guidance.
Buck leads the pack, and the exhibit itself, with a handful of large-scale pieces in the front room of Robischon’s 9,000 square-foot headquarters in Lower Downtown. He’s a woodcarver really, a folk artist who works in simple materials, but also a mad inventor, assembling his carefully shaped bits of soft wood into complicated machines.
Viewers activate them, which is a blast. Step on a floor switch and suddenly things start to crank and turn and swirl, powered by old-school tech, like simple electricity and interlocking gears. They are reminiscent of children’s toys — firetrucks, toy soldiers and wagons — in the days before video games took over the imagination.
Their sentiments, however, are decidedly contemporary and perhaps a bit controversial. This exhibit’s signature piece, “The March of Folly,” is a parody of the odd relationships between news-friendly figures, like Donald Trump, Kim Jung-un, Vladimir Putin, Dennis Rodman and Stormy Daniels. These characters march in a dynamic parade of international, ego-driven excess, each looking more ridiculous than the other and underscoring the absurdity of 21st century global politics. References to mythology, Greek history and Russian architecture put things in a broad perspective.
A second notable piece, “The Mother of All Wars,” has a darker edge, with a Trump-like figure, on a tank, leading an ominous military parade. Step on the switch and tiny soldiers outfitted with gas masks go on the march, and a rather large bomb, saddled by a hat-waving cowboy, “Dr. Strangelove”-style, hurdles toward earth.
Buck’s work is full of over-simplified messages and quick-hit commentary on current events. It’s punditry really, just like on cable news, only in three-dimensional form and delivered via an art gallery instead of TV.But it’s surprisingly effective. First. because of its wildly sensational, motion-based form — it’s impossible not to pay attention and try to decipher what it is saying — and second, because it uses an out-of-date medium (who whittles anymore?) to comment on information that’s shockingly of-the-moment.That blend of old techniques and and new ideas defines the overall exhibit at Robischon. All of the artists tap into some folk art tradition and update it.In a back gallery space, artist Walter Robinson uses materials like leather, rhinestones, canvas, stuffed toys and zebra skin to create objects that get at the underlaying uncertainty of a world awash in both nostalgia and an endless stream of new images and information. In one piece, a single leg, dressed in striped, prison pants and wearing an ice skate, appears to come right through the wall from another room, raising ominous questions about how it got there and what resides on the other side of the wall. Next to that is an artificial snowman, laying on his back and grasping a bottle of some mysterious liquid. In the middle of the room, are two hand-crafted jackets set on mannequins, adorned with leather lace-up straps and found logo patches.
There’s something surreal to all of it, but also something familiar. There’s a hint of Americana in his snowman and ice skates and leather jackets, but it all feels uncontrollable and little bit dangerous.
In another room, artist Fred Stonehouse presents his small, acrylic paintings in recognizable forms, they resemble the framed, perspective-free, religious works found in churches and other sacred places from pre-Renaissance Europe to colonial Latin America. There’s an antique innocence to them.
But their imagery updates the pieces to our era of self-aware psychology, horror films and political stupidity. He uses text and images of half-human, half-beast beings to illustrate ideas like “The Hypnotic Lure of Faith” and “The Illusion of Emotion.” They are loaded with nervous anxiety and, at the same time, a knowing calm. If we are, indeed, weird, gullible creatures, then that is our nature. We are an inescapably, eternally screwed-up species.
The fourth artist in the show is Paco Pomet, a Spanish artist making his debut at Robischon. and whose work is connected to the past though his use of vintage photographs as source material.
Pomet recreates in oil paint old-time scenes — a cabin in the woods, a truss bridge spanning an underdeveloped waterfront. But he adds startling doses of brilliant colors that inject fantastical qualities into the scenery, completely interrupting their rustic nature. The cabin is sheathed in a cool purple. the water under that bridge is a shiny, yellow gold.
This technique is most effective when it remains abstract. Why purple? Why gold? Those wild colors transfix viewers. But his colorful modifications are less interesting when they become more obvious. His inserted text over a 19th century portrait of three gentlemen isn’t so funny, his addition of “Star Wars” light sabers into a picture of pre-industrial miners feels immature and a play to the Gen X crowd. Still, it’s all entertaining. And it’s good to see Robischon taking an international view of contemporary art.
This is what Robischon does best, mix and match its artists in a way that makes you see what they have in common and what sets them apart. In this particular case, it’s also an opportunity to see how far a trip down memory lane can take you into the future. Is all this work a look back or a look forward? It’s both of those things, and a very clear view of art as it stands in the present.
Robischon Gallery’s current group exhibition continues through Nov. 3. It’s free. 1740 Wazee St. Info: 303-298-7788 or robischongallery.com.
