Celebrate Local Food during Harvest Week

For weeks local chefs have been slicing Colorado tomatoes into their salads and peaches over their desserts. But they’ve been doing it kind of undercover, using only their menus to mention the origins of their produce.

But last Saturday, Harvest Week kicked off, and Denver restaurants’ weeklong celebration of late summer product reminds us that Colorado peaches, Olathe corn, and Torpedo Farms Pork are all worth more than a simple menu mention. The 36 restaurants involved in Harvest Week have designed entire meals around local products, and through Friday, they will be serving up dishes dedicated to Colorado food. Table 6, for example, is serving a smoked Colorado trout brandade (think salmon cake, except trout) made of all Colorado products. Root Down kicks off its menu with Rocky Mountain cantaloupe and tomato gazpacho. These dishes, and the many more like them featured during Harvest Week, are worth celebrating for their Colorado ties, super fresh flavor, and culinary sophistication.

For a complete listing of Harvest Week restaurants or for more information on the event, click here.

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Pop-Up Markets Build Community on the Coasts

Mention the word recession, and dark feelings are likely to bubble up. You think of all those lost opportunities. Unless of course, you want to start a food business. In that case, you might be feeling like you've hit the jackpot. Never before has it been so easy--or required less capital investment--to start a bakery, sandwich shop, or cookie company. It's just that your restaurant will probably be based out of a street truck--and your cookie company out of a pop-up market.

Pop-up markets are the latest manifestation of our newly frugal food society. In cities, like Brooklyn and Oakland, homegrown markets are the source of some of the cities best preserves and empanadas. The Brooklyn market, officially titled the Greenpoint Food Market, fills the basement of a local church one Saturday a month. All the eats are homemade, and although recent food safety restrictions will limit the number of participating vendors, you still find hand-crafted treats, like cherry jam and chocolate cheesecake cupcakes. In the Bay Area, the market is more spontaneous. A couple of days, before ex-Chez Panisse chefs throw open the doors of an old Oakland train depot, they post a notice on their website announcing their Pop-Up General Store. There's no fixed schedule or inventory, but you're likely to find fresh produce from Novella Carpenter, the author of "Farm City," delicate fresh pastas, and salted chocolate cookies.

Both of these markets have created an intimate sense of community within their cities. The founders of the Oakland pop-up market attribute their success to the "amazing connection between the person making the food and the person eating it." The Brooklyn vendors feel similarly. There's nothing like meeting the people who snap up your long-brined pickles or Japanese rice balls. So while these vendors haven't hit the actual money jackpot, they are making connections that are allowing them to shape the world of food.

Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Connect to the Boulder Beer Community

With all the college bars and craft breweries in Boulder, beer drinking is easy. In one afternoon, you can pull up a seat at Avery Brewery, settle into a table at the Mountain Sun, or jump in a car and head to Lyons and Oscar Blues. Simple, right? And the good news is that all this suds sipping just got a lot easier--and more personal.

Earlier this summer, the West End Tavern launched the Boulder Brew Bus, a shuttle that tours three of the city's best breweries each Sunday evening. Hop on the bus (the very same that's used for Banjo Billy's Bus Tours), and head first to the state's newest microbrewery, Upslope Brewing Company, then to Twisted Pine Brewing Company, and finally to Avery Brewing Company. At each stop, sample beers, walk through the brewery, and meet brewmasters. You'll have a chance to try Upslope's legendary Pale and India ales and Avery's awarding-winning brews--and as you do, you can ask the brewmasters about the hops, fermentation process, and more. Access to Boulder beer--and its makers--has never been so simple.

For more information, click here or call 303-444-3535.

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

Cocktail Cakes at Kim & Jake's

Last week, we learned about the tiny shop Kim and Jake's Cakes, tucked into the shopping center at Table Mesa Road and Broadway. Word had it that the southern-themed spot had a knack for tender, boozy sweets, like margarita and dark-and-stormy cakes. So we quickly dropped all we were doing and headed south from the office.

Indeed, the bakery, run by two ex-professional cyclists, serves up generous, luscious slices of cocktail-inspired cakes, as well as more traditional offerings, like carrot cake and moon pies. All the options have nuanced, finely developed flavors, influenced by the southern recipes of the owners' pasts. And one forkful of cake provides an escape to slower times and places. Kim & Jake's is a Simple Refuge from our busy, highly wired lives--and it's a great example of how expansive the cocktail movement has become, as well as how classic beverage flavors are Breaking Free of their conventional forms.

If you have a chance to drop by, plan your trip for a Wednesday (happy hour with $1-off slices runs from 5 to 6 p.m.) and watch out for the margarita cake. Based on the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant's famous cocktail, the dessert layers tequila-laced cake with sweet strawberry puree and lemon curd.

641 S. Broadway, Boulder, 303-499-9126

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director

The Kitchen Cafe Steps Out into the Community

Since it opened its doors more than six years ago, the Kitchen Cafe has worked closely with the Boulder community. Walk by early morning and you might see a chicken farmer dropping eggs off at the restaurant. Or simply read the Kitchen's menu: John Long pork, Monroe Farms beets. It reads like a directory of local farmers. This summer, though, the Pearl Street restaurant is pushing its community involvement beyond its four-walls. Which is a good reminder that as chefs increasingly look to connect with their diners, they are doing so both on their premises and beyond.

This summer, specifically, the Kitchen is joining forces with members of the Boulder food community and chef Ann Cooper. The group is raising money for The School Food Project, an organization dedicated to better equipping Boulder Valley school kitchens.

If you're interested in getting involved in the Kitchen's summer activities, here's how:

Peggy Markel and Chef Hugo Matheson "A Night in Morocco"
When: Sat., July 10th, 2010
Cost: $75 per seat
Details: Please Join Peggy Markel and The Kitchen at the gardens of Rebecca DiDomenico and Stephen Perry for "A Night in Morocco.” Enjoy Moroccan-inspired food and cocktails and listen to the Tk sounds of north African music. All proceeds benefit The School Food Project. For more information and reservations, click here.

Meadow Lark Farm Dinners and Chef Hugo Matheson
When: Sat., July 17th
Cost: $175 per seat
Details: Cure Organic Farm hosts a special Meadow Lark Farm Dinner, in which all of the proceeds will go directly to Boulder Valley School District’s, The School Food Project. For more information and reservations, click here.

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director