News bits

Hi all


Here are a few things that we thought were note worthy.
Starting today, all 28 Panera Bread bakery-cafes in Colorado will donate 25 cents of all soup in a bread bowl purchases to Porter Hospice and St. Anthony Hospice as part of its involvement in Soup for the Soul, a unique and heart-warming fundraising event.

In its 11th year, the “Soup for the Soul” fundraiser brings together some of the best restaurants in Denver to showcase a wide array of gourmet soups and appetizers to benefit the two non-profit hospice programs. Porter Hospice and St. Anthony Hospice, which work together through Centura Health at Home, have provided thousands of people with comfort and peace through their end-of-life journey for more than 25 years.

Also for the soup for the soul main event
http://www.soupforthesouldenver.org/





Now we haven’t tried this service yet but it looks great and right now they are helping out the American Heart association

Did you know that February is American Heart Month? Along with getting a yummy box of organic fruits and veggies delivered, you can now add Valentine’s Day goodies to your order, including items from local Colorado companies Beautiful Sweets Organic Bakery and Seth Ellis Chocolatier.
We will donate 10% of the proceeds from the purchase of these special Valentine’s Day items to the American Heart Association. We are proud to support them because of our shared belief that good food makes healthy bodies.
The American Heart Association says that “a healthy diet and lifestyle are your best weapons in the fight against heart disease.” Many of you probably already know this or share the same beliefs about how what we eat affects our bodies. Maybe there is more to that old saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” In any case, we strive to make it easy to eat healthfully while feeling good about supporting sustainable food systems.
So we know that eating plenty of fruits and veggies is important for a balanced diet, but even the healthiest of us needs a sweet treat every now and then. So treat your sweetie to some local organic chocolate truffles or sugar cookies and you can feel good that your purchase will help support the American Heart Association. You can place orders online through February 13th, and have your Valentine’s Day goodies delivered directly to your door.

And Beatrice and Woodsleys Valentines menu’s

short but sweet glimpse behind the scenes and into happenings which are typically only shared with our most interested guests...
As long as this Rumors page is this time, rest assured, it's mostly yummy yummy menus!

________________________________________

Provisions...
Happy Valentine's Day -Two Ways!

Inspired by the notion of togetherness, this year we offer two ways to celebrate Valentine's Day. Amidst the aspen trees we'll be serving a six course prix fixe dinner for the many cute couples and double dates. Just below, in the wine cellar, we'll be welcoming the talented Mr. Bryan Baltzell, Beer Baron of Great Divide Brewing for a beer lover's dinner.
We've been working for months with Bryan to create an evening for an alternative celebration of love; The love of beer! Bryan will be hosting a beer-paired dinner for beer lovers with Great Divide's award winning brews!
Six Course Couple's Prix Fixe Valentine's Day Menu:
Begun with a half-bottle of Schramsberg bubbly...
Amuse Course
First Course ~to share~
SUGARCANE GRILLED PRAWNS - With coconut-lemongrass nage
Second Course
SWEET PEPPER and BUTTERMILK BISQUE - With caviar crostini
Intermezzo
ESTATE OLIVE OIL GELATO
Pre-Entrée Course
SEARED FRESH RED SNAPPER - With braised celery fennel-leek jus and fresh oyster
Entrée Course
TOURNEDOS of VEAL "OSCAR" - With fresh asparagus, Dungeness crab and mustard hollandaise
Dessert Course ~to share~
PARIS BREST
• $145 Per Couple; Gratuity and Tax Not Included
• Vegetarian and Celiac Options Available
• Monday February 14, 2011
• Seating for Dinner Service Available Between 5 pm and 9 pm;
• Call for Reservations: 303-777-3505

"I Heart Beer" -Great Divide Tasting Prix Fixe Menu:
First Course ~ Hoss Rye Lager ~
GRILLED CITRUS CURED QUAIL - With cider braised red cabbage
Second Course ~Titan IPA & Hercules Double IPA ~
RED CURRY MONK FISH - With black rice and bok choy
Entrée Course ~ Smoked Baltic Porter ~
ROASTED HANGING TENDER OF BEEF - With buttery sweet potato puree, beet-bacon hash and sunny quail egg
Dessert Course ~ Espresso Oak-aged Yeti ~
TOASTED BARLEY CAKE - Malted milk chocolate ice cream and puffed faro
• $70 Per Person; Gratuity and Tax Included
• Monday February 14, 2011
• Reception in the Wine Cellar Begins at 7 pm; Seating at 7:30 pm
• Call for Reservations: 303-777-3505

Next two or three weeks

Hi all

Well the blog is being put on a minor hold due to flu and family issues but I expect we will be back up and running in 2 or 3 weeks. Thanks for stopping by.

Jonathan

A few questions and a recipe from Chef Lon Symensma of Cholon Bistro

1. What attracted you to cooking?
I grew up in Iowa, my family had a big farm/garden and in charge of hoeing, picking fruits and vegetables. I lived in a rural area and grew up around food. We raised a lot of our own food, so I knew what I wanted to do from an early age.

2. What is the philosophy behind your cooking, or in your kitchen?
Modern Asian Bistro – I lived and worked in France for a year. I spent a year in Asia. I wanted to reproduce the traditional kind of Asian dishes with the traditional kind of French style. I wanted to bring the European way of cooking and discipline into Southeast Asia. And to generate educated dishes that represent the county of origin with a refined technique to it.


3. What is the biggest influence on the way you cook?
Traveling – once you learn how to create food and learn how to develop flavors, you expose yourself to cuisines and people. You learn about food through the people. I attribute a lot of thought process to a story that represents my traveling.


4. Is there a chef living today you would like to work with?
Thomas Keller – haven’t spent much time with him and his philosophy. What he does is amazing. I’ve lived with Daniel Boulud’s family in France and spent some time with him. So, I’ve spent time with some of the big chef’s out there.

5. Is there a particular ingredient you like to cook with more than others?
Right now I’m digging tamarind, lemongrass, and kaffir lime.



6. Is someone asked you for two Colorado restaurants to try other than your own what would you suggest?
Fruition (Alex Seidel) and 12 (Jeff Osaka). Alex, Jeff and I have developed a friendship.


7. How about one restaurant anywhere in the world?
McCrady’s in Charleston, South Carolina – Chef Shaun Brock is a really cool guy. He’s raising his own pigs, making his own cheese. He’s really far out there.

8. Would you be willing to share a recipe with us?
Yes.
Please see end of article for the recipe!

9. Which food are you embarrassed to admit you like?
I’m from Iowa; I’m not embarrassed about any food. I eat peanut butter by the spoonful and I really dig the Velvetta shells and cheese. (Hmm..did he know Barb is from Iowa too).

10. What made you choose Denver?
It's interesting to see how Portland has emerged, and I feel that Denver will be the next city to thrive. The city’s beautiful; the economy hasn’t caught up, there’s the Aspen Food and Wine Festival. The area has a green technology business that’s booming with a lot of computer software stuff. I wanted to be a part of what’s happening.

It’s a no brainer. It’s going to explode soon and I want to be a part of it.

11. Why the small plate concept?
I enjoy the vibrant flavors. I get bored after 3 or 4 bites, tired of taking the same bite over and over again. I wanted to throw away the full dining structure and create an interactive eating atmosphere. Our atmosphere creates energy and conversation.

Once we set up the expectation, it’s a true dining experience. I would rather have 4 dishes that cost $10 bucks instead of one meal for $40. You’ve gotten more for your money, and you get a variety of dishes to taste and talk about.


Chili Crab Rolls, Charred Corn Salad, Sriracha Mayo
Yield: 1 Qt.
Sriracha Mayo
Egg Yolks 4 ea.
Water 1 Tbl.
Sriracha ½ C
Salt 1 tsp.
Lime Juice ¼ C
Grapeseed Oil 3 C

Method: Mix yolks with water, sriracha, salt and lime juice. Add oil in a slow steady stream.

Pickled Peppers Condiment
Red Bell Peppers, roasted 8 oz.
Yellow Bell Peppers, roasted 8 oz.
Red Finger Chili, roasted 2 oz.
Pickling Liquid 1 C

Method: Peel and dice the bell peppers. Mince the chili and place them all in the pickling liquid and reserve.

For the Plate
8” Rice Paper Wrap
Red Leaf Lettuce, large leaves
Vermicelli Noodles, cooked and lightly oiled
Blue Lump Crab, picked 2 oz.
Scallion Whites, thinly sliced
Corn, lightly oiled and charred in the wok
Cilantro, wide chiffonade
China
Slate Plate


Thanks to Chef Lon for talking to us. As we said before in a previous post, get to Cholon Bistro as soon as you can, you will be happy that you did.

Thanks for stopping by the blog. If you have any questions, leave us a note here or email us at jonathan or barb@milehigheater.com.

Cholon Bistro, Go, Go Right Now!

Hi all,
We spent a great evening at ChoLon which is located at 15th and Blake in Denver. According to their website www.cholon.com, ChoLon, translates to "big market”, and is named after the largest Chinese-influenced market in Saigon, Vietnam.
A peek at the kitchen:


Chef Lon


A glimpse at the restaurant:




They have small bites, small plates, large plates and Wok choices. We decided to try 3 small bites and 3 small plates. Our friend Elena joined us, so we each picked two to try.

First off, they bring you a Sesame Rice Puff with Tomato Chili Jam. This was a nice crunchy appetizer to start the evening with.



He says:

I thought this was pretty cool, something different from the standard bread and looked fun. Taste wise it was good but not great with a nice dipping sauce. If for nothing other than cool factor I liked it a lot.

Jonathan picked the Pork Belly Pot Sticker, with Ginger Mustard and the Butternut Squash Soup with Golden Raisin Miso and Root Vegetables.

Barb picked the Curried Duck Spring Rolls, with Cilantro Yogurt and the Shrimp Cakes with Nuoc Cham and Lettuce Wrap.

Elena ordered the BBQ Chicken Bao Buns with Cucumber and the Green Papaya Salad with Tamarind Sorbet and Grape Tomatoes.

We'll go with the order of how plates came out.

First up was the Curried Duck Spring Rolls.


She says: These were a great start to the night. Crunchy, chewy filled spring rolls. The cilantro sauce was a great sauce to swirl your spring roll in. The contrast between the warm spring roll and the cool sauce made me want more.

He says: Yum! That is all, one of many things that makes me want to go back.

Next was the Pork Belly Pot Stickers.


She says: These were really good as well. I think I could have an entire meal of the spring rolls and the pot stickers.

He says: Double yum. Ok, I need to watch out or all you will hear from me is well, yum. But seriously, these were great. Wonderful cooked pork inside the dumpling made me a happy camper

Next was the Bao Buns.

She says: This was a very interesting dish. You open the bun up and make your bite. We had BBQ Chicken, cucumber and other items. This was a lot of great flavors mixing together. I loved creating it and the taste. I didn't like the messiness of it though.

He says: Bah the messiness was kind of fun, and I agree that the chicken and all the ingredients were very tasty, but for me maybe because I did not put enough on but the steamed bun seemed to detract from the overall flavor rather than make it better.

Small Plates

Next up was the Green Papaya Salad.


She says: This dish was my least favorite of the night. I wasn't expecting this dish to be such a cold dish and the tamarind sorbet just made it that much colder.

He says: Rarely do Barb and I completely disagree but here we do, this was one of my most memorable dishes and one that kind of makes me smile when I think of it. The sweet tart taste of the sorbet just made this salad fun, and fun to eat. I wish every salad could make me want to have more like this one did.

Next up was the Butternut Squash Soup.


She says: This was a wonderful warm, rich soup after the cold salad. It was crunchy and tasted delicious. I wanted to lick the bowl clean!

He says: YUM, darn it there I go again, but really that’s all I can say. This wonderful soup was one of those that warms the stomach and makes the taste buds scream for more.

Last up was the Shrimp Cakes


She says: This was a great end to the meal. I didn't care for the Nuoc Cham (the dipping sauce). It didn't really seem to fit the dish, and it was messy running down your fingers as you ate the lettuce wrap. But, the flavors of the shrimp were good.

He says: Well here is the one thing out of so many great dishes that I was not impressed with. It wasn’t bad and some people at our table liked it but for me, meh. Looking back wish we would of stopped at the soup.


Dessert!
We tried two: Bread Pudding with Palm Sugar Ice Cream and Caramelized Banana and the Spiced Doughnuts, Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream and Condensed Milk.

The doughnuts came first, but we were all in agreement that we wished they were the last thing we had as they were Elena and Barb's favorites. Jonathan favored the bread pudding.

Spiced Doughnuts


She says: Yum! The doughnuts came out spiked with a small bamboo stick. The doughnuts were light and fluffy and the coffee ice cream had a nice kick to it.
-He says: YUM! Nope that does not do it justice - YUMMMMM! These were out of this world yummy even for a non coffee drinker like us. The combination of the incredible donuts and the rich wonderful coffee ice cream will blow your mind. If there are 2 of you, you may want to get 2 orders as you’re not going to want to share even though there is more than enough on the plate to do so.

Bread Pudding


She says: The bread pudding was good, but after the doughnuts, it just didn't stand up. It was also messy to dig into. It was hard to cut into and get just the right bite.

He says: Yeah, would have to agree this was the lesser of the two desserts, but it was still a good bread pudding and I enjoyed it, but this was quickly pushed aside for another bite of the donuts.


Overall, we had a wonderful meal and this was one of the two restaurants from last year that were dying to go back to (the other being DISH in Edwards). Next time you’re in Denver or anywhere close and hungry, GO HERE you won’t regret it. As always, thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them here or email us at jonathan or barb @milehigheater.com



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Friday news bits 01-07-2011

Hi all


Friday news bits

Black Cat at the James Beard House
A Heritage Breed and Heirloom Cultivar Dinner
We are fortunate to have been asked to cook again at the illustrious James Beard House on January 19th in New York City. Our progress with heritage breed livestock and ethno botanical and cultivar crops made us stand out in the national dining scene. For the dinner we’ve woven these themes into a menu that speaks of Boulder’s sense of place, its climate and its community. Along the way of cooking great food and taking care of our guests, the Black Cat's mission is to develop a cuisine specific to the Front Range and plains of Colorado. With this special dinner in New York the Black Cat has an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the elements that make our community a special place.
Though the NYC dinner is sold out, we want to share this special dinner with you in our restaurant. From January 10-14th, we will offer our special James Beard menu as our regular tasting menu option along with our à la carte menu, leading up to our two James Beard Celebration dinners on Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th. Eric will be coming out of the kitchen to talk about each course and how it reflects our regionalized Front Range cuisine.
Cost: $99/$149 with paired wines
We also would like to invite you to read our Winter Newsletter and discover all that has been going on at our farms. You can find it on our website and by following the link:
www.blackcatboulder.com/main_newsletterrwinter2011.html.

We hope you can join us as we prepare for our night in the Big Apple!

Happy New Year!

Eric & Jill Skokan

Black Cat is located at:

1964 13th St.
Boulder, CO 80302
Phone: 303.444.5500''

Please join us next Sunday, January 16 at 5 p.m.
for our first in a series of Italian wine dinners

Northern Italian Wine Dinner
(excluding Piedmont)

Course 1:
Tuna carpaccio with blood orange, fennel, pickled cippollini onions, Meyer lemon oil, and fried capers paired with the Le Colture Cruner Prosecco

Course 2:
Sweet potato bisque with sweet potato ravioli and crispy prosciutto paired with the Tenuta di Blasig Friulano

Course 3:
Duck breseola en brioche with farro paired wtih the Castelfeder Lagrein

Course 4:
Red wine braised bison short ribs served over creamy Gorgonzola polenta and gremolata paired with the Inama Carmenere

Course 5:
Hazelnut torte with lavender honey ice cream paired with the Cantina Beato Bartelomeo Torcolato

Tickets for this event are $55 excluding tax and gratuity.

__________________________________________________

Join us as we tour Italy's many wine regions...other upcoming dinners:

Sunday, January 30 at 5 p.m.: Piedmont Wine Dinner

Sunday, February 13 at 5 p.m.: Terroir's 3rd Annual Chocolate Lover's Dinner featuring the wines of Tuscany

Sunday, March 6 at 5 p.m.: Central Italian Wine Dinner

Sunday, March 27 at 5 p.m.: Southern Italian Wine Dinner

To join us on this journey of Italian wine country, please call 303.651.0630 to make your reservation. Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!!

Terroir Restaurant is located at:

246 Main Street
Longmont, CO 80501
Phone: 303.651.0630
Fax: 303.651.0631



Twisted Pine Shows Craft Beer Cares
A Summary of 2010’s Contributions

Boulder, Colorado – January 4th 2010 – Twisted Pine Brewing Company has long been a believer in community involvement. "Giving back to the community is built into the core of our company, it's a part of our mission statement and, while we always have fun hosting events, we take our contributions very seriously,” says general manager Jody Valenta. Over the past 12 months the brewery was able to collect 1,000 lbs of food for EFAA(Emergency Family Assistance Association) a local food cupboard, through their canned food drive. The brewery offered, and continues to offer a promotion that encourages customers to bring in 3 canned food items for a free pint of beer.

This month, the brewery will begin employing members of Imagine!. Imagine! supports services to people with developmental delays and cognitive disabilities. They will be assisting with box construction and mixed 12 pack assembly.

The Ale House at Twisted Pine hosted one benefit event every month for the past 12 months. The events serve to raise a substantial amount of awareness and critical funds for various organizations. “This is a win-win situation for everyone involved,” says brewery owner Bob Baile. “It’s great to work with local organizations to help build awareness, make new friends and give back to the community that has supported us for the past fifteen years.” A few of the organizations partnered with in 2010 include the Autism Society of Boulder, the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center and KGNU public radio.

The company plans to continue with these programs which have only grown in popularity since their inception. “We measure the success of our business in various ways,” says Baile. “Partnerships with organizations like this are critical to our overall success and essential to who we are as a company.”

For information regarding beer donations or to propose a charitable event send an email to info@twistedpinebrewing.com.

Happy New Year

Hi all


Happy New Year! We took last week and this week off from the blog we will be back with our experience at Cho Lon Bistro next Monday. (if you haven’t been yet GO!)

Fogo de Chao

Hello all,

We first visited Fogo De Chao last year on it's pre-opening night event. Since then, we have visited Texas de Brazil and Rodizio Grill and had come to the conclusion that we thought Fogo De Chao was the best of the three, but had a suspicion that maybe the day to day menu and service there at Fogo may be different than the grand opening so we wanted to come back to Fogo to see if it still held up to it's pre-opening night buzz.

Guess what? It did. We still consider Fogo the best of the Brazilian restaurants.

We invited a couple of friends to try it with us who had never been there but like us had tried the other Brazilian steak houses in the area to see if they shared our view, and they did as well.

Jonathan started off with the signature Brazilian Caipirinha drink (1 lime, 2 ounces of cachaça, Sugar to taste and ice cubes). This tasted a bit like a Margarita. Jonathan really enjoyed it and would recommend for any margarita lover out there to give it a try.

The drink was a great start to the evening along with the house bread, which is a parmesan bread that is gluten free and delicious (these are evil little things that in Jonathan's belief are there to fill you up before the meats come, because they are so darn good when they are toasty hot that it's almost imporrislbe to stop at one of them).
In fact we found out that almost everything on the menu with one or two exceptions is gluten free which is a huge boon for the people that have to watch that.



The Salad Bar
The salad bar at Fogo is full of tasty treats. The items among our favorites were: fresh beets, salmon, asparagus, basil sauce and fresh mozzarella to list just a few of them.

The comments from the table were: The salad bar had less items then the other restaurants, but Fogo's was fresher and seemed of higher quality, and if you let yourself it would be very easy to fill yourself up there. But, whatever you do, don’t do it because if you fall to temptation and fill up on the bread and salad bar, you're missing some incredible meat.









Meatapalooza
Let the meat begin! Fogo has 15 different meats that their gaucho chefs bring to the table. We found out that the servers are also cooking the meat. So, they are very aware about each piece they serve you since they know which cut is rare, medium rare, etc. and seem to take a pride in making sure the meat is exactly the temperature you want, which I think really comes from them being the cook and server.








We also tried out some wine and if you have read the blog much you know we are not huge on wine and know very little about it and seem to gravitate to a white wine when we got a Terreza Reserva Malbec 2008, which we both liked a lot. It wasn’t an in your face strong wine and it seemed to us to go very well with the meat though. Our friend Elena thought it fought with some of the items.

We started out with Filet Mignon (which everyone agreed was the best). From there the meats moved fast and furiously. We were served: lamb chops, chicken wrapped in bacon, pork loin encrusted in parmesan cheese, sirloin and rib eye.

Also on the table are three sides: mashed potatoes, polenta and carmelized bananas. The polenta was a huge hit at our table. Our friends declared it the most moist and best that they had but for Barb and myself the caramelized bananas were the treat of the sides. Thought to be honest, I tried not to spend too much time on the sides because there was just too much wonderfully cooked tender meat to be had.

Daniel showed us a great evening and even gave us a tour of the kitchen area. It was amazing to see where the meat was cooked and to see how the gaucho chefs stay on top of their meat.





Daniel also showed us the Private Dining areas. They also have private rooms and equipment for meetings of all sizes from 8 to 130 and the cool thing about them you can have them for no charge other than the cost of the meal itself. That’s a pretty nice thing where most meetings rooms outside a public library cost an arm and a leg.

Dessert

We were all so full, but we couldn't pass up trying a few desserts (and share family style). We tried Creme Brule, Flan, Turtle Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie and their signature dessert Papaya Creme.

I think we were definitely winding down as we left dessert on the plate - except for the Flan and Creme Brule. They didn't stand a chance! Jonathan kept coming back to the Papaya cream even though he should of stopped. It had a great taste and seemed very light and just appealed to him a lot.






If you are HUNGRY and want a great dining experience, take a few friends out to Fogo De Chao, a great night will be had by all. Thanks again to Fogo De Chao for having us over to prove that our first opinion was not just a fluke! If you have any comments feel free to leave one here or email us at barb or jonathan @milehigheater.com



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