Re-invented (again)

I think it is TJ Maxx who has a motto of "never the same place twice". It seems Gelman's has adopted this approach. Saturday night we discovered that Gelman's has forgotten that they are in a strip mall next to a Domino's and a by the scoop Chinese take out. They have moved further from casual neighborhood joint with yet another menu change and a velvet curtain at the entrance. The food was good but the tables were empty. I took advantage of the 3 course tasting menu while JB enjoyed the roast chicken (an entree that has made the cut through several menu changes.) Not that I can enjoy these days but I was most alarmed to see the Gorgonzola cheesecake had not made the cut. I really want this place to succeed but they worry me with the constant reinvention.

A sign that things are not going well- all the wait staff have turned over. But we found Springy Shoe girl at Mona's on Sunday morning. (Actually she recognized us but I guess it has been a while b/c she was thrown by my virgin bloody mary order... until I stood up.)

French Food in NW Denver

Friday night JB & I went to Brasserie Felix on Tennyson. We were surprised to get seated right away on a First Friday but based on our experience, I am certain reservations will soon be needed. (Early on we were able to walk right in at Duo too.)

We had an enjoyable meal. JB had a special salad with local heirlooms. The goat cheese free bite he shared with me was divine. I started with the french onion soup which had too much cheese for my taste but otherwise was solid. We both enjoyed seafood entrees (Sea scallops and shrimp over asparagus risotto with a lobster bisque sauce and mixed seafood, mussels, cockles, calamari, shrimp, garlic, parsley, lemon butter broth) but the menu is packed with carnivore options. We rounded out our meal with Crepe Suzette which would have been much better if we had not recalled the dulce de leche stuffed crepes from Centro.

The reason I know we will be back is that our most favorite waiter in Denver was wrapping up his training there. We have been fans of this sarcastic yet service oriented guy since we first crossed paths with him at DJs and then Mead St and now Felix. And if he leaves in a year for another spot in the hood- I am sure we will start to frequent that spot too.

Another note: Felix has recently added bottomless mimosas to the Sunday brunch (about the same time that Gelmans removed this from their menu.)

I want my 15 feet!!

So we just left a movie at the Pavilions and walked passed Coyote (E Coli) Ugly. There was a group of Denver Firemen panhandling for Jerry Lewis standing at the rail directly across from the main entrance where an employee was sitting on the bouncer stool right at the entrance smoking! WTF? The Smoking Ban clearly states that smokers must be 15 feet from the main entrance. Do Denver Fireman in uniform feel no sense of law enforcement? And furthermore, isn't there a panhandling ordinance for downtown too?

Suburban Venture

Saturday night we took 25 South to Greenwood Village. It was the new-ish Landmark Theatre that inspired the trip. We wanted to see Bottle Shock* without the discomfort of the Mayan. The theatre and screen were pretty modest in size (compared to a mega plex). The room smelled strongly of Dillards- enhanced by the over perfumed couple sitting next to us and perhaps a side effect of the overall demographic attracted to a 3pm showing of a wine theme movie in Greenwood Village. Tickets were $12 a head (flat weekend rate) which included the movie and self serve popcorn and soda. (Bonus: They have the fountain machines that include the secondary club soda option.) There is a full bar and they serve things in real glass. There is also a $3/tix VIP upgrade with better seating and wait staff who will bring you things from the self serve free selections or from the bar. (Most of the folks our age in the movie had shelled out the VIP charge and kicked back while bottles of wine were delivered to their seats.) Even the "cheap" seats are much more comfy than the Mayan. It is an interesting experience which I encourage you to try out next time there is a flick you really want to catch and it is only showing at an uncomfortable Landmark spot in Denver. It is quite a hike from NW Denver so I don't see it becoming a frequent destination but it is all rather intriguing.

*The movie, Bottle Shock, was solid and enjoyable. The plot is not as dark as Sideways and some appreciation of Napa Valley may be required. There are some subtitles which made me wish I hadn't left my glasses in the car. It is set in the late 70s and based on a true story. I would give it a B+.

Dinner at Pappadeaux rounded out the evening. It has pretty good food but less than 5 star service (example: when the host walked us to our seat- there was a tote of dirty dishes sitting in one of the chairs). It is always strange to me when chains have good food and bad service. It seems like something they could address in a universal training program- like Starbucks has. I have eaten at Pappadeaux in other cities and the food was very consistent (also pretty good).

Other dining options near by include Ted's Montana Grill and Hapa. (In a different time we would have planned our trip around Hapa Happy Hour where they have awesome cocktails and yummy raw fish.)

One of the downfalls of spending time in Greenwood Village- and eating at chains- is the increased likelihood of seeing evil characters in real life. In our case: Tancrazy. (Jeepboy quote of the week: "It's like seeing Hitler in person.")

Tennyson Street Eats

I am not sure if it is heat or the hormones, but the kitchen at our house saw very little action this weekend. The thought of cooking just doesn't sit well with me.

Friday night we tried Gemelli's Ristorante Italiano on Tennyson. It is in an old house closer to the 44th end of the strip. Don't be alarmed by the temperature in the lobby- the back dining room is nice and climate controlled. There is also a cute patio. The service still has a bit of a new feel where folks seem to be bumping into each other. I was dining with JB so of course one of the owners made an appearance at our table.

The dinner salad was really good with cucumber, carrot spirals, and mixed greens that included something other than iceberg and romaine. It was a much more exciting salad than the house salad at Patsy's. (But let's be honest, the homemade pasta will keep Patsy's on our dining list no matter all it's other flaws.) The entrees were solid. The best ever? No, but we didn't have any complaints. They were modest servings but reasonably priced. JB was very pleased with his ice cold Moretti on tap. They only listed one or two dessert on the menu but then our waitress brought a tray of options. The cannoli was very good.

Would I go again? Absolutely. Would I recommend it to GT as authentic? Probably not.

Saturday morning found us reunited with an old friend. DJs cafe is open again! They have new menu items but we both jumped right back to old favorites that were as good as we remembered. JB remarked that he was surprised they weren't promoting the grand re-opening more until we realized that every table was full 35 minutes into breakfast service on the second weekend they have been open since the fire.

silent cinco

I am not sure if it is the price at the pumps. Or perhaps it is a sign of the changing demographics of the neighborhood. This cinco has been virtually silent. Sure there are a few flags here and there but no honking during daylight hours and absolutely none after dark. The street closure supplies arrived on Thursday night but the cops haven't shut down the side streets once. There were more news helicopters this morning covering the I-25 wreck than we heard all weekend. I am sure in past years I have complained about the noise... usually while sitting on the front porch with a margarita in hand... but I am not prepared for silent cinco either.

Dropout Crisis

Did you know that only 50% of DPS students graduate, and that we're the 5th in the nation of worst dropout rates?

So many pieces of bad news, and to think that I went to this afternoon's Assets for Colorado Youth 'Dropout Summit' as a lowly interested citizen, only to observe that many people are 'working on' this issue but none has 'the answer.'

What do YOU think can, should, will, might be done?!

Helpful Email Reminder Tools

It is April and that means the return of Street Sweeping. A juggling challenge for JB with his multiple vehicles. Denver has a new email reminder service but I would only give it a "C" because it is not linked to your address. To schedule your e-reminders you must either be skilled at obtuse web map reading or just walk outside your house and read the signs. (I opt'd for the walk outside method.)
Denver Streetsweeping Email Reminder

There is a better tool for Recycle Day reminders where you only have to enter your street address instead of knowing your schedule. However, I only give this tool a "B" because it limits you to a single email address per street address. Since we do not subscribe to the shared/family email address in our household, this requires someone to be the designated responsible adult.
Denver Recycles Email Reminder

Sidebar: IC will appreciate the irony that I lifted the city logo to
include in this blog post since I just told her how unprofessional I found it
that the Women Who Tech esummit panel presenters used organization's logos
clearly without the branding approval from those organizations.

DJ Fire Update

The note on the door at DJ's Berkley Cafe has changed again. Now there is a phone # listed (303-482-1841) where patrons are encouraged to call and leave a voicemail with their email address to receive updates. Ummmm.... are you dense? Why not set up an email address for people to email? Or here is a really crazy idea- update your web page. That said, I am so calling.

Why I Love Living Here

Denver's a city, sort of.
Can you leave home at quarter-til, drive downtown, park, and be in your seat at the scheduled hour for any event in another major city??

You can walk around, alone and safe, at night downtown.

And most importantly you can wear jeans and fleece--nice jeans and fleece--to the fanciest places in town on Friday night and no one bats an eye.

You can drive 'really far' to buy freshly-roasted organic coffee beans right across from the french bakery, and be back home with your capuccino and croissants in way under an hour.

And, I'm lucky enough to be able to choose to not drive to any of these places as I'm close enough to walk to about anything you can imagine.

Pi(e): Not the breakfast of champions

In a search for new places to eat, I kept running into Pi. From the Lobster Mac & Cheese (or death in a casserole to DHP) offered as part of the DRW menu to google searches, I just couldn't seem to escape Pi. Reviews were very warm for this Hilton Garden based spot. With DJ's Berkley Cafe still on the post fire mend- we needed a new weekend breakfast spot and so we decided to give it a try.

The lunch and dinner menus seemed decent but it was 8am so we headed off to give breakfast a try. I am no stranger to hotel breakfast offerings and quirky service but my expectations were greater since they appear to be promoting themselves as more than just a hotel restaurant.

When we arrived, the outside doors were locked. We had to walk through the hotel lobby to get in. We waited several minutes at the host stand before just walking into the dining room where we were seated, provided menus, and drinks but then they never came back to take our order so as hunger set in we decided to just do the buffet. All hot food at the buffet actually had to be ordered at the counter- not just the eggs made to order but also hash browns- which were actually like really thick pub fries, meats, etc and the offerings were not posted. I ordered an omelet with sausage, tomato, & cheese. I was offered an assortment of cheeses as well as hash browns. JB ordered spinach and cheese. He got cheddar and was offered a wide variety of breakfast meats but no hash browns. The guy beside us got a waffle. The buffet did also include fruit, yogurt, granola, pastries, etc. It is an okay value ($13/pp including juice and coffee) if you know how to work the system but don't expect any of the staff to be of much use.

I think I will let someone else try out lunch or dinner or cocktails in the hipster bar. It is probably a good place to pick up out of town business men as you can see the big blue bear from the bar.

Where you might find CD2E & JB in the near future...

Saturday, 2/23/08, 2 - 4:30 pm @ Denver Central Public Library
Fresh City Life: I Speak Out with David Amram, Panama Soweto and The Flobots

Friday, 2/22 or Saturday 2/23, 8:30 pm @ Starz Filmcenter
Mile High Sci-Fi (ala Mystery Science Theatre) Logan's Run

Friday, 3/21 or Saturday 3/22 @ Comedy Works
John Oliver (We already have our tickets for the Saturday 8:30 pm show. Seats are GA if anyone is interested in joining us.)

Bad Name, Good Food

Anyone remember the antiques holdout Cluttered Closet at 12th/Clayton (?)?
Well, it’s now a happenin’ neighborhood Italian joint.

It’s like a cross between Il Posto (starter menu on chalkboard, crowded vibe) and the Cherry Tomato (yuppie neighborhood crowd) and Stella (a little on the avant garde side of Italian).

They’re covering the gamut, starting with $2 and $4 chalkboard antipasti with a wine list and all the requisite $15 Italian dishes plus some steaks, prefaced by choice of Caesar or house and closed by homemade desserts.

Run by a descendent of next door’s Zorba’s, with an open kitchen and a crowded TV-bar, there is a garage door and patio seating that awaits warmer weather. Oh, and they have brunch. Yeah.

Oh, did I mention the name is Shells and Sauce? Boo.

You can check out the review under Eat, Drink at a fellow blogger's site, Future Gringo. Gabby liked it.

And another thing...

So I just returned from getting an emissions test. This is the first time I have taken Penny. All of my previous trips with Iris involved finger crossing. If you remember she had a bit of a muffler issue.

I was looking forward to smooth sailing and I pull up and there are 7 lanes open. 6 really short lines and 1 really long line filled with mostly with Subaru varieties. Do Subaru drivers just like to flock together? DUH! 4-Wheel/AWD line. Penny & I got in the back of it.

As I watched all the other cars come & go in 20 minutes I tried to remember the sight of those cars stuck in snow drifts last year during the blizzards. So an hour and a half later.... Penny passes like a rockstar. In fact 2 employees came over to admire her and tell me how much they like Volvos and a stalker gave me a business card to his volvo repair shop as I was leaving. There was a 240 Wagon (88-ish) that came & went while I was there. They also got the rockstar treatment.

It's 2007 and we are in Colorado. Don't you think at least 2 AWD lanes might be in order?

My goal for 2009 is to try and take advantage of rapid screen. I have attached a link for other crafters who might be headed to the elite AWD line:
http://www.aircarecolorado.com/rapidscreen/locations.html

Foodstuff

Review of the sunflower market on rebeckspe's blog.

North Denver News loves fruition on 6th. (This is the same reviewer who went to the wrong location of Lola- a year after it had moved- to our hood.) Any other Crafters have thoughts on this spot? I am not sure how JeepBoy friendly it is with all the duck fat and red meat.

At the Mondo Vino Tasting Bar this weekend: Organic wines from Chile (Friday 2- 7 ) and sweet wines (Saturday 2 - 7).

Denver wiki

Still waiting to hear how the big 24 hour virtual think off thing went IC. (It's okay if you didn't attend. I didn't.)

But in case any crafters want to wiki, here is a site that needs some content on our beloved city.

http://www.fundenver.com/wiki/Main_Page

I found this while looking for info on then Jack-n-Grill near the airport. (The "review" is more of a rant.) Since J-n-G have had so many attempts at second locations, I am nervous to plan to go to any of them without confirmation in a 3 day window that they are still open.

Doors Open Denver

Doors Open Denver is a FREE two-day event that allows you to go behind the scenes at nearly 80 of the city’s significant architectural gems and lesser known treasures. Spend the day on a self-guided tour of both historic and modern buildings, take an expert-led tour or embark on an Urban Adventure, a self-guided tour based on a theme.
April 14 & 15, 2007, 10am - 4pm
www.denvergov.org/doorsopendenver

Yard Project Resources

As I look out my window on the freezing rain/snow mix, what a perfect time for a post on Yard Projects...

Yes, this is the year that Tres Elefantes's Kingdom goes gravel. At Ainsworth Rock (5600 N Washington, Denver) you can roam the lot to see what you are getting before the well spent $50 delivery fee. JB has done lots of research and found their prices to be the best.... unless you want to go dig out used rock found on Craig's List.

For plants, Al's at 44th & Pierce (not Harlen like I said at craft day, but a few blocks closer to CLC) is cash or check only. They have a great selection of xeriscape plants and the no-frills atmosphere means more plant, less green (dollars-that is). Survival rate is very high. This is where we will get our tomatoes in early June.

The DBG plant sale is May 11 & 12. InfoChef is a DBG's member and will have inside scoop.

A list wouldn't be complete w/out Paulino Gardens just like a trip to PG isn't complete w/out a U-turn.

I know SNG grows her basil, cilantro, parsley, and chives from seed each year, but for the rest of us I will bring a flat again to the May (or maybe June?) craft day. I am looking forward to CC's cilantro coaching tips this year to avoid a summer of coriander.

Rocky Mountain High

Colorado has a new state song (well, co-state song) “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver. Wikipedia has already taken note of the change. What did we ever do without that website?


This was DHP’s favorite song as a child. Well, this and the entire soundtrack of Grease. So, evidently I was to live in Colorado, or become a pink lady. Seems I chose right.

Dinner in the neighborhood

Wag of the finger: Mead Street Station. Get a watch. I am so over your estimated 20-25 minute wait bullshit. If it is going to be an hour and a half, just tell me. If I have time to go next door to Mondo Vino, taste 4 wines, shop, put my purchases in the car, and come back it can't still be 20-25 minutes.

Tip of the hat: Cebiche (32nd & Wyndadot-ish)- Peruvian cuisine. Good, friendly service. Excellent ceviche, interesting entrees, and to die for pumpkin fritters to finish off the meal. The house margarita was silver patron, orange juice, cointreau, and freshies mix. (If it can't be fresh, it better be freshies!) The space used to be something but I can't recall what - it has only been opened a short while but we slipped into the last available table. The decor has a peace corps alum feel. I would highly recommend this spot. And save room for the pumpkin fritters.

2/18 Update: So Bobby Flay is cooking Peruvian this morning (Food Network). I feel like the universe is really pushing Peru on us this week. Perhaps we should be checking on award tickets available there for our next vaca. I also found a photo of Picarones (pumpkin fritters) on http://perufood.blogspot.com/

3/1 Update: Website is not easy to find, even with the URL (from waitress last night), I had to type directly in the address line. Google never found it! http://www.cebiche.biz/ We also learned they are still working out the kinks and haven't had a grand opening yet. Yes, last night. We went back again... the pumpkin fritters had less pumpkin and more fritter this time (prefer other way) but overall still a thumbs up. There was a party of 20 on separate checks and the service didn't fall apart. More established places have trouble with that one.