Boulder Gets a Second Breakfast Spot

photo courtesy www.tangerineboulder.com

We’ve seen breakfast focused restaurants boom in Denver for a few years, with restaurants like Snooze, Jelly, Syrup, and Breakfast on The Edge, and now we’re excited to see Boulder join in on the morning fun. Back in June Chef Alec Schuler opened Tangerine, and showed Boulder-ites his creative interpretation of what breakfast could be with items like his BLR Pancakes, ricotta and lemon pancakes with blueberry sauce or the Asparagus and Mushrooms with two poached eggs over green lentils with pancetta, spinach, salsa verde, and grano padano cheese. Now Snooze has opened its doors on Pearl Street to offer up indulgent breakfast items as well as creative pancakes like the must-try Red-Eye Velvet Pancakes, red velvet buttermilk batter topped with espresso infused maple syrup, a touch of cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans or the Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes, buttermilk pancakes with caramelized pineapple chunks, house made vanilla crème anglaise and cinnamon butter. It’s no surprise that chefs have started giving breakfast a makeover, it ties closely with our Culinary Shift Luxury Re-Valued, were just glad we don’t have to drive to Denver anymore to enjoy a morning meal.

--Bryce Clark

Bryce Clark
Culinary Assistant

First Bite Boulder Starts Friday

If you're like us, you probably have a list of restaurants you want to try. Each week you add another name to it, and even though you go out, there are never enough dollars or nights to try what you want. Time to play catch up.

Friday night kicks off the sixth annual First Bite Boulder. (An event that SRG named!) During the eight-day affair, you can visit 42 of Boulder's restaurants for only $26 per person. Those dollars buy you three courses at places like Pizzeria Locale, Cafe Aion, the Kitchen, and more. Pick from dishes like Colorado lamb with Cure Farm Kale (at the Kitchen), squash tagine (at Cafe Aion), and passionfruit tart (at Centro).

Until Saturday, November 19, you can dine and tick spots off your list. At the end of next week, you might even feel caught up. And then, it's a full year before First Bite returns.

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

No Bitter Ending

For two and a half years Happy and The Bitter Bar have been a dueling duo; Asian comfort food in the day, classic American cocktails at night. Then Happy shut its doors to embrace its alter ego, The Bitter Bar. When the doors re-opened they revealed new furniture, a new menu, and even a stuffed bear with a top hat. The Bitter Bar now offers the same award winning classic and contemporary American craft cocktails by the same award winning bartenders and mixologists, but also incorporates delicious, straight-forward American small bites and decadent, intelligent, well-made desserts. Think Bratwurst with a pretzel bun, mead mustard, and napa kraut or Crispy Fried Brussels Sprouts Leaves tossed with togarashi and sea salt. Or on the sweeter side, a Noosa Yogurt Cloud with hibiscus rose broth, pavlova, and honeyed tea pearls. All of which can be enjoyed while sitting on a couch straight from the scenes of Mad Men, cozy fire included. The Bitter Bar’s food and drink now seem to be a match that will leave you quite happy about a bitter transformation.

For more details about The Bitter Bar: http://www.thebitterbar.com/.

Bryce Clark
Culinary Assistant

Get Schooled

If this Wednesday's Food Revolution Class Saving the Flavors of Summer with Associate Culinary Director Kazia Jankowski peaks your enthusiasm for spending time in the kitchen then get ready to start salivating through November.  Boulder Valley School District released their fall catalog for Continuing Ed last week and offers eight different courses to help you sharpen your cooking and gardening skills.  Become well versed in the world of beer, learn how to pair food and wine, or go in-depth with canning with a 3 session course that teaches you the skills you need to can the perfect pickles, salsas, and preserves.  Find out more about the food and drink courses offered here: www.bvsd.org.  

photo courtesy simplebites.net  //  info tip courtesy Diana Hodges

Bryce Clark
Culinary Assistant

Shifting Plates to Local

Where does your food come from? In Boulder County, of the $947 million we spend on food each year, less than two percent is actually grown or produced within the county. To begin changing these staggering statistics Transition Colorado asks residents to celebrate locally grown and locally processed food during EAT LOCAL! Week. From August 27th through September 4th Colorado residents will have the chance to explore, discover, and celebrate the abundance of local food and farming in Boulder County. It all starts with a kickoff party at the Boulder and Longmont Farmer’s Market. Then jump on your bike for the Tour de Coops on Sunday, August 28th where you can take a self-guided tour of backyard chicken coops, urban farms, and community gardens while meeting the beekeepers, goatkeepers, and cultivators behind them. Next up, head to Chautauqua on August 29th to meet one of the most recognized beyond organic and strictly local, clean food farmer in the Academy Award nominated documentary Food Inc., Joel Salatin. The week-long series features an array of events like these including keynote presentations by sustainable food authors, a film festival, and a local food cook-off to inspire and inform everyone about the abundance of fresh, delicious, local food right here in our backyards.

For more information about EAT LOCAL! Week and the full schedule of events visit http://www.transitioncolorado.org./

Bryce Clark
Culinary Assistant

Boulder vs. Denver: Who Should Win?

Sazerac, The Bitter Bar

The recent issue of Sunset Magazine highlighted a foodie face-off between Boulder and Denver. Where Boulder is acknowledged for having a plethora of organic foods, chef-farmers, and the farmers market, Denver is recognized for attracting chef transplants and having international flavors available into the wee hours.

We definitely agreed with their assessment of places like The Bitter Bar, Black Cat, Civic Center EATS Outdoor Cafe, Marczyk’s Fine Foods, and Bones and far too many artisanal pizza places in Boulder. We were also excited to see a slew of notables from our Culinary Council including Hosea Rosenberg, Peggy Markel, Bradford Heap, Mark Stoddard and many others mentioned in the article. But, we thought one point lacked accuracy and may have skewed their final ruling, (not all Boulderites wear performance-fiber windbreakers and bike cleats to dinner).

The verdict; Sunset Magazine’s deemed Denver the winner by a mere 3 points. Who do you think should have won the food fight?

Click for the full article in Sunset Magazine

Bryce Clark
Culinary Assistant

Stock Up for Winter Now

Ok, you may have only been to the farmers’ market once (maybe twice) this year. So the last thing that you’re likely to be thinking about in these first days of summer is winter. But for a moment just imagine the first chilly day of December—and think how nice it would be as the snow comes down if you could eat the same locally grown cherries and Colorado beets that you’ve recently enjoyed.

That’s how MM Local, the hip local canning company that came to a First Friday lunch last year, is thinking. Right now as you are heading out to farmer’s markets, MM Local is beginning to work with local farmers to preserve the season’s best so that it can deliver Colorado produce to you in the cooler months.

MM Local has just launched its 2011 Harvest Share program—and this is a great way to ensure your access to local produce year-round. Sign up now, and in the fall you will get a delivery of preserved tomatoes, peaches, and more. (You can think of it like your winter CSA.) And good news some of its shares are on sale now!

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Spring Showers Bring…New Restaurants

As we shake the final rainy days of spring and look forward to a forecast of sunshine, we’re anxious to get out and about. And the good weather’s not the only reason. In the past months, Boulder and Denver restaurateurs have been busy creating new spots--and reinventing old ones. This weekend and next week, they start to open their doors (and food truck windows). Here’s what to keep your eye on.

BOULDER

Tangerine – This breakfast and lunch spot from the chef/owner of Arugula promises to bring retro fun to the beginning of the day. Opens Saturday, June 4.

The Kitchen [Next Door] – The Kitchen’s third venture is focused on approachable, community dining and sustainability. Soups, salads, and sandwiches make up the menu, and the restaurant's floors, bar, and windows are made of recycled materials. Opens Thursday, June 9.

DENVER

Justice League of Street Food - This hip group of food trucks kicks off its summer parties at a new location, TAXI, with food from Steuben’s, Biker Jim’s, and more. First event is Saturday, June 4.

Linger - In the Olinger Mortuary, the hub of Lower Highland, the owner of Root Down opens a restaurant dedicated to crafted cocktails and global street food. Opens Tuesday, June, 7.

-Kazia Jankowski

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Recipe Search Tools Aren’t Always What You Think

Recently, NatureSweet tomatoes sent over a last-minute request for recipe testing, and the first thing I did was open my browser. Crunched on time and in need of reliable ideas, I knew I could turn to the internet for recipe research. What I didn’t know at the time, though, is just how many options I had—or that there’s mounting criticism to some of the biggest of these.

I visited sites I knew well, like Epicurious.com, but as the New York Times’ article Can Recipe Search Engines Make You a Better Cook points out, I could have turned to Google’s recipe search. Or Bing. Or I could have checked out Foodily. Or Cookzillas. Each of these search tools would have pulled up countless tomato recipes for me—or they might not have. The recent NYT article notes that these sites are still primarily designed by programmers, not foodies. Which means that a search for no-bean chili might actually turn up a recipe packed with jus the ingredient you didn’t want. Similarly, these tools are likely to only pull recipes from the major food websites, like Allrecipes.com, but not chefs’ blogs.

So the takeway? Recipe search engines are still in the early stages of development. We’re eager to see how they take shape in the next several years, especially given that recipes are one of the most searched items on the internet. But for now, we’ll stick to going to the sites we trust.

Here's a list of our go-tos:

MyRecipes.com
Epicurious.com
Chow.com
EverydayFood.com

-Kazia Jankowski

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Blog Pick: Fooducate

After our Food Revolution speaker-and-movie series, we got an influx of emails. We want to eat better food. One way to do that is to begin to better educate ourselves. For that there’s Fooducate, a blog and mobile app (pictured here) that breaks down what makes up the food on grocery store shelves.

The Fooducate blog offers regular updates on topics, like artificial colors, food allergies, and unfamiliar back-panel ingredients. But what’s even cooler is the Fooducate mobile app. For those moments when you’re grocery shopping and you can’t decide if a cereal has too much sugar—or not enough real fruit—pull out your smart phone and use the Fooducate app (available at the App Store) to scan the bar code. Fooducate will pull up a rating of the product as well as a list of product warnings (too much sugar, artificial ingredients, controversial additives). In seconds, you can decide if you’re dropping a product into your grocery cart or putting it back on the shelves.

-Kazia Jankowski

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

CSA Season Begins

The Boulder Farmer’s Market kicked off last weekend—and next weekend, most ski mountains shut down for the season. Which means that right now, you’re probably thinking more about skinny carrots than skinny skis. If that’s the case, you’ve got many options to get your hands on the season’s produce.

Of course, there are the farmer’s markets (in Boulder and Denver), but there are also countless CSAs. These Community Supported Agriculture programs allow you to buy a share of a farm and receive regular deliveries, all summer long, of the farm’s best. Early summer, greens will fill your fridge. Mid-summer, expect juicy, red tomatoes. And late summer, watch out for squash and pumpkin.

To kick start the CSA season, Eileen, our in-house CSA devotee, and our Culinary Team share their favorite local programs:

Stone Bridge Farm CSA
Ollin Farms
Oxford Gardens Boulder
Grant Family Farms

Please let us know if you have others.

-Kazia Jankowski

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Eric Skokan - Chef and Owner of The Black Cat

On Tuesday we were fortunate to be joined by Eric Skokan, the chef and owner of The Black Cat farm-to-table restaurant in Boulder. Eric grew up on a farm in Virginia, has been a professional chef for more than 20 years, and just in the last three years started his latest, and most personal venture.

Eric's philosophy is to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. Food scraps go to the chickens and pigs, and because he grows most of what is served at the restaurant, packaging is drastically reduced, as well. For the few items he can't grow himself, Eric tries to source GMO-free, local, and organic products, with his goal for the restaurant being to someday be 100% GMO-free.

Eric grows hundreds of varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs, as well as several breeds of chickens, turkeys, pigs and sheep. He says that depending on the farm to supply the restaurant has been a wonderful creative challenge, and as such, he has found ingenius ways to use what is in season all year round (even in the winter!) while still keeping the menu fresh and unique.

Check out his seasonal creations at The Black Cat.

Photo courtesy of http://www.jamesbeard.org/

--Christie Wood

Christie Wood
Culinary Assistant

Blake Hurst - The Voice of the Farmer

Last week we hosted our third Food Revolution speaker, Blake Hurst. Blake is a third generation farmer from Missouri. He raises corn, soybeans and bedding plants for commercial sale using conventional methods.

Blake provided a lot of great counterarguments to the other views we've heard so far this month. He believes that GMOs are advancing the possibilities of farming, making crops hardier, increasing yields, decreasing the risks of disease or blight and overall improving the possibilities of various crops, without causing any significant risks to consumers. He also believes that the selective use of chemical herbicides is actually beneficial to the earth, because they allow farmers to use no-till farming methods, where, instead of having to plow weeds under, thereby loosening the soil and allowing more soil erosion, they can instead just spray to control weeds, and prevent as much soil and chemicals from running off into rivers and ultimately oceans. In response to the argument that organic crops have as high yields as conventional crops, Blake explained that in many cases, organic farming requires more crop rotation and field resting in between plantings than does conventional farming, which can sustain the same crop in the same field year after year. Therefore, an organic corn field may produce the same yield in year one, but only be plantable every three years, whereas a conventional corn field produces that same yield every year, so on year-over-year basis, the yield is considerably greater from the convetional farm.

Blake continues to work to make the voice of the farmer heard, and to defend many of the views and practices that have come under fire in recent years. He is the president of the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation and, when he's not busy on his farm, does as many speaking and contributing engagements as he can.

You can read more of Blake's views in his essay, "The Omnivore's Delusion."

Photo courtesy of http://www.mofb.com/

--Christie Wood

Christie Wood
Culinary Assistant

Ann Cooper, "The Renegade Lunch Lady"

Last week we were fortunate to have Ann Cooper join us as part of our ongoing Food Revolution speaker series. Ann, also known as "The Renegade Lunch Lady," has made it her mission to improve the health of the next generation. She has worked with school districts all over the country to create more nutritious lunches, add salad bars for kids to school cafeterias, educate kids on healthier choices, and even teach them how to cook for themselves.

Ann first gained national recognition for her overhaul of the Berkeley, CA school district's cafeterias, which she did by eliminating processed and packaged foods and replacing them with fresh, local, and when possible, organic options. She has also worked with school districts to help improve the environment for kids eating lunch through such measures as lengthening lunch periods (to allow kids to get through both a hot lunch and salad bar line and still have to eat) and having recess before lunch (so younger kids don't rush through or skip lunch just to get outside to play). Beyond this, Ann has worked alongside some of the biggest names nationally, in both food and politics, to help further her cause and disseminate her message. She is also taking steps to help shape policy and government spending in order to make healthier lunches possible for more school districts.

It is through changes like this that she hopes to put an end to the prediction that for the first time in history, kids born in the year 2000 have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, this due directly to diet-related illness.

Learn more about her efforts on her website: http://www.chefann.com/

Cathryn Olchowy
Culinary Director

Food Revolution month kicks off with Robyn O'Brien

Last week SRG kicked off Food Revolution month, a series of events intended to educate and create debate and discussion within SRG about the numerous topics surrounding our food supply.

Yesterday, we were fortunate enough to be joined by Robyn O'Brien, author of The Unhealthy Truth. Robyn shared her story of starting as a food industry analyst on Wall Street, to becoming a busy mother of four who relied on familiar, processed, kid-targeted foods. When her youngest daughter developed a severe food allergy, it opened her eyes to the world of chemicals that exist in out food supply. Robyn dove in head first, applying her Wall Street-honed analytical skills to uncovering information about hormones used in meat and dairy farming, dyes and preservatives used in processed food and chemicals and genetically engineered materials used in farming.

Her discoveries not only changed her life and her family's, but they also inspired her to take a stand, educating others through her actions and empowering her to reach out to those in power to help spread the message and affect change. She is now on the forefront of this cause!

Learn more at her website - http://www.robynobrien.com

--Christie Wood

Cathryn Olchowy
Culinary Director

Looking to try a new restaurant?

Now's your chance! Denver Restaurant week (which includes numerous Boulder restaurants) is happening February 26 - March 11. A 14-day celebration of Denver's culinary scene with more than 270 restaurants offering multi-course dinners for the "Mile High" price of $52.80 for two ($26.40 for one). Make your reservations now!

For the list of participating restaurants and their menus, go to http://www.denverrestaurantweek.com/

--Cathryn Olchowy

Cathryn Olchowy
Culinary Director

DIY Valentine Gifts

As we sat down to brainstorm Valentine gifts this year, we couldn’t get our heads out of the pantry. Thinking of all the pickles and jams we’d made this year—and the chefs across the country, who in the "More is Less" mentality, are doing the same—we decided that we had all the ingredients for great last minute Valentine gifts right in our kitchens.  All we needed was a free afternoon to mix, stir, and make delicious treats. Sunday afternoon sounds ideal, so we share with you a few of our favorite DIY Valentine gift ideas.

Basil-infused Olive Oil (Feel free to substitute other herbs like cilantro or rosemary)

Chinese Five Spice Candied Nuts

Cowboy Cookie Mix in a Jar

Almond Crunch Granola

Fresh Vegetable Pickles

-- Kazia Jankowski & the Culinary Team

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Breakfast Boom

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Or so the old adage goes. Whether you believe the axiom or not, the recent restaurant trend is doing its best to make it true. Breakfast has taken over the local dining scene.

Traditional dinner restaurants are opening their doors earlier. In Denver, the pizza joints Atomic Cowboy/Fat Sully’s and Basil Docs have put coffee on their menus, and each morning, they pop biscuits into their ovens so you can enjoy sausage and egg-stuffed breakfast sandwiches. The late-night bar and taco spot El Diablo also just added Mexican morning eats, like huevos and chorizo.

But the latest Denver spot to put some prestige into breakfast is Jelly. The three-week-old Capitol Hill spot serves up tasty breakfast sliders (think gourmet omelets on a mini hamburger bun), as well as sweets, like Bakti chai French toast and Corn Flake and banana pancakes. Even 5280 magazine is a fan.

Now, we just can’t wait for what’s next. In early April, Alec Schuler of Arugula and Phil Armstrong of Hush plan to open Tangerine, and when they do, Boulder will finally get its very own hip breakfast diner.

-Kazia Jankowski

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Cutting Back in the New Year

Just like the rest of us, restaurants, chefs, and even food policy makers use the New Year to rethink how they're doing things. And the food world has entered 2011 with a clear message: Do more with less.

On January 1, Italy banned non-biodegradable, plastic bags.

Celebrity chef David Chang, of the Momofuku restaurant group, has declared that this year he will find domestic purveyors of soy sauce, miso, and sake.

Alice Waters, owner and chef of Chez Paniesse is putting a pretty compost bucket on her counter top so she remembers to use it all the time.

When he goes to restaurants, Bobby Flay plans to eat only three-quarters of the food he's served. That way he can enjoy and save calories.

To check out more ways the country's leading foodies are cutting back, read Oprah's line-up of chef resolutions.

-Kazia Jankowski

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director