Nomadic Foodie » Denver

Friday Food and Travel Round-Up

doniree — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:00:16 +0000

See our great selection of food & wine magazines at MagsDirect.com today.

There’s been a lot of tasty and wanderlusty goodness on the web lately! I thought I’d take a moment and pause from my gratuitous food photo-posting to share some things I’ve found around the web lately.

My friend and fellow freelance writer, Jayme Lamm wrote an awesome review of her experience at Travaasa Austin. I want to go to there.
I’m getting really, really into iced coffee. I’ve stalked recipes from both The Pioneer Woman and Smitten Kitchen, as well as recipe sites like Food.com and AllRecipes.com. I think I’ve finally landed on my mix and technique. More on that next week. But Ree’s and Deb’s sites are a killer place to start.
Erin and her hubby recently launched a new food blog called The Speckled Palate. Check out this recipe for Fig Tart that just makes me want to find a fig tree and do this rightnow.
Grace has been covering new restaurants in the Denver/Boulder area left and right, and I can not wait to get there next month and try some (especially The Kitchen [NEXT DOOR]).

ICYMI : I’m trying to post more recipes here than ever before. This week, I covered Drunken Mushrooms and Baked Eggs with Kale and Cream. Next week? Grilled chicken and some really tasty champagne cocktails.

What tasty morsels have you found around the Internet lately?

doniree

Doniree Walker is the Nomadic Foodie. She loves the exploration and community of food, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves the region's focus on local and seasonal food, daily farmers' markets and food carts at seemingly every turn. She's on twitter as @doniree and @nomadicfoodie, and blogs her adventures and life in general at doniree.com.

Fromage to Yours: Colorado Cheese Festival

doniree — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:00:30 +0000

Grace and I had the chance to attend Fromage to Yours – the Colorado Cheese Festival a couple of weeks ago. First of all, mad kudos to Groupon for sharing that deal when they did; I’d have never heard of the Colorado Cheese Festival, and it’s something I’m glad I didn’t miss!

A few favorites, before the glorious and gratuituous shots of delicious cheese. Chevre was really front and center, which was fine by me – there’s nothing that doesn’t taste better with goat cheese in it, right?

Anything truffled. There were a couple, but one in particular really stood out: The Truffled Honey & Lemon Chevre, from the Avalance Cheese Company. Incredible.
The Jumping Good Goat Dairy. Their creative flavor pairings deserve a nod or two, and my favorites were the honey, maple, and pumpkin chevres.
Teton Basque Grilling Cheese from Blue Sage Farms. No, not grilled cheese. This was cheese that you can grill in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil, and it doesn’t melt! Instead, the outside gets a beautiful grilled finish, and the inside? Hot and melty cheese perfection. These were paired with red pepper, though I see so much potention with other fruits, veggies, herbs, and meats for the perfect cocktail party hors d’oeurves.
37 Degrees Crispbread. These not-quite-crackers are the most perfect pairing for cheese-tasting. They’re light and airy, don’t distract from the cheese flavors, but rather complement them with various flavors of fruits and herbs that really make the cheese flavors stand out. Best of all? They’re right here in the Denver/Boulder area. I really want to take their recommendation and pair the Lemon Zest crackers with some mascarpone and smoked salmon. YUM.

For more details, Grace posted a great write-up on her food blog, here. Check that out for more cheese fun and cultural swooning!

And now for the photos. Ready, set, drool:

Not enough? Check out my Flickr set.

doniree

Denver’s 5280 Wine Tours

doniree — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 04:30:33 +0000

It’s no secret I’m a bit of a wine-o. New(ish) to Colorado, but not new to the vine, I wanted to check out what Colorado has to offer in terms of grape-growing and production. So, Boyfriend and I spent this past Saturday checking out some of the wineries and tasting rooms here on the front range, along with local wine tour group, 5280 Wine Tours.

What’s interesting about these is that they’re all totally urban – really, all five wineries we visited were right in the middle of the Denver area. The grapes come in from the Western Slope (like Palisade), but are produced here in the city.

Because a picture’s worth a thousand words, enjoy these shots we got while we sniffed, swirled, and sniffed with our fantastic tour guides, Lisa and Sean.

Urban wine tasting, in pictures

We were told this was a bus tour. Turns out “bus” means “stretch Hummer”.

We spent the first part of the trip at Balestreri Vineyards, sampling more wines than should be allowed for the first stop on the wine tour. Favorites included a Late Harvest Red Zinfandel and a Cherry Port, of which we bought two bottles.

Check out the cherry mash in this photo below. They press the seeds with the grapes to get a nutty, almond flavor into the wine, which I gotta – say is so, so good.

After Balistreri, we went to Colorado Winery Row – Denver’s Urban Wine Tasting Destination. Basically, this is four tasting rooms, all side-by-side, in the heart of urban Denver at I-70 and Pecos, not too far from LoDo and downtown. You know how when you get to a Midas or a car shop in a long, rectangular building with garages side-by-side next to a main office? This is kind of what that felt like.

Four in one

We visited Garfield Estates and Cottonwood Cellars, which share a space, but due to liquor licensing, won’t allow you to bring one drink from one winery across a line onto the other side. No worries, we kept it separate and enjoyed both the Cottonwood Cellars and Olathe Winery and then hopped the line to Garfield Estates, where I tried the most decadent chocolate port in the history of… well, chocolate ports I guess.

Old wines, new methods

Some of the coolest things about these vineyards was the different approaches they were using to doing some familiar wines. For instance, Balistreri produces their Chardonnay like a red wine, skins on until the end – unfiltered. You get a very interesting, not so oaky Chardonnay. Very cool.

After my time in Traverse City last month, I was delighted to see that Balistreri was doing some cherry wines – tart Montmoncery “pie cherries,” actually, which brought me briefly back to cherry country. And we bought two bottles of their cherry wine because it was that good.

They also still hand-cork, hand-seal, and hand-label every single bottle. They’re not a huge operation, but at over 50,000 bottles sold each year – that’s no small feat.

Speaking of Little Feet, try the Little Feet Merlot at Balistreri. It’s one of their signature wines and is a fan favorite as the grapes are stomped each year by kids’ little feet. Don’t worry – everything’s cleaned and purified during fermentation, with all the other dirts and germs that land on grapes during their growth and harvest.

Front range grape goodness

The best part about all of this was the fun and interesting introduction into wines of the Front Range. I know that other places in Colorado grow and bottle some great wines – Palisade, Ft. Collins, etc., but it’s awesome to know that right here in the Denver area, we have some really fine wine going on.

doniree

Pearl Street Hooligans

doniree — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:52:45 +0000

My first trip of 2009 was out to visit my oldest and dearest friend Steve. He moved out to Colorado from Minnesota after college, and having recently decided that four years was enough, he moved back this summer. I went out to visit two weeks prior to that move, back in the middle of May, to soak in the mountains and a vacation one more time before he returned.

We did all kinds of awesome things while I was there including climbing a mountain, walking around Boulder, and taking a mini road trip up to Wyoming.

But of course, I seek out interesting restaurants and remember the food, so here’s my little recap of where we ate and what we had:

In Denver (technically, Broomfield):

Tres Margaritas (6896 W 120th Ave, Broomfield – (303) 410-8705)

We weren’t on any particular culinary adventure or mission at Tres Margaritas; I was mostly in need of food and drink upon my arrival and Steve picking me up from the airport. We each had two margaritas – on the rocks, thanks – and I ordered a taco/enchilada combo that was HUGE and AWESOME and naturally came with the requisite Mexi-rice and beans.

I’m always a sucker for good Mexican food and for a quiet little hole-in-the-wall in the suburbs? This one was muy bueno.

In Boulder -

Boulder was SO much fun to explore! They have a walking mall area called Pearl Street where vehicles aren’t allowed and folks just roam freely up and down the shop- and bar-lined cobblestone road. Street performers entertain visitors, and gorgeous flower gardens and cute decorations line the street from one end to the other.

The Med (1002 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302 – (303) 444-5335)

At the recommendation of a colleague, Steve and I popped into The Med for dinner. We opted for splitting a number of different small plates to better taste more of their offerings. The menu’s set up really well for that too, and I believe we ended up with five options. And I know, I know… FOODIE BLOGGER FAIL, since it’s now August and I’m writing about a May trip, I don’t remember all the details. I remember mussels, lamb meat (I think on skewers), and I believe salmon. I know, FAIL, but really? The food was INCREDIBLE, the staff extremely pleasant and knowledgeable, and the atmosphere is deliciously funky.

All in all? Denver and Boulder are fine culinary spots and I’d love to go back to try more.