There aren’t many things better than biting into a perfect Colorado peach. Turns out that our best chefs, brewers, and artisans agree—and they’ve been busy utilizing the famed stone fruit in a wide variety of dishes and products. Here, we’ve rounded up 10 of our favorites.
See the full listicle here. Written for 5280.com.
Perhaps you’ve been to Balistreri Vineyards’ 17-year-old north Denver tasting room for glasses of Colorado-sourced wine or an Italian-inspired lunch. But you may not know about its outstanding seasonal wine dinners, which owner and winemaker John Balistreri launched 13 years ago.
You can experience one for yourself at the family-owned winery’s lush garden this Friday, August 4. The Showcase Wine Dinner promises six courses from chefs Ariana Pope and Chris Teigland, veterans of Blackbelly Market and Honor Society Hand-Crafted Eatery, respectively. They’ll be preparing summery dishes such as tuna carpaccio, Talbott Farm peach caprese, a play on surf and turf involving Snake River Farms wagyu beef and butter-poached lobster, and a sweet Olathe corn custard. All will be served on grandson John Domenico’s ceramic plateware, baked in a 30-foot Japanese kiln a few hundred yards away from the winery.
Of course, there will be wine, and lots of it. Balistreri plans to break out library wines as well as a never-before-released orange-style wine, which gets its color from the skins of white grapes that are left on during the fermentation process. At a recent spring barrel-tasting supper, my fiancé and I (and 108 others guests) were wowed by Balistreri’s fruit-forward 2016 Colorado Syrah, the green pepper notes of the 2016 Colorado Cabernet Franc, and the bold, oaky-vanilla flavors of the 2016 Colorado Cabernet Sauvignon. All are made with grapes sourced from Palisade vineyards and will be available in the tasting room this fall. Between the delicious food, familial hospitality, and award-winning wines, it was an experience that I look forward to repeating.
Written for 5280.com. Find the original story here.
I love ice cream as much as the next person. But there’s a whole world of diverse frozen treats out there that I’m also fond of, from Taiwanese bao-bing (shaved snow) to Japanese kakigori (flavored shaved ice). On a recent trip to my hometown of Cebu, Philippines, I was reminded of why “halo halo” is my hands-down favorite way to beat the summer heat.
Colorado may be landlocked, but island-inspired Adrift Tiki Bar in the Speer neighborhood manages to deliver a slice of beachside heaven. That’s especially true now that the serene enclosed patio is open for the season, with its brilliant hula dancer mural (by Denver graffiti artist Jolt), grass-hut awnings, and piping-hot lava rock fire pit. Nothing pairs better with patios than cocktails, and you’ll definitely want to soak up the warm weather with Adrift’s macadamia nut chi-chi in hand.
Read more about this boozy cocktail here. Written for 5280.com.
Low Country Kitchen
Fried chicken continues to flood our fair city, and three-month-old Low Country Kitchen has joined the party with a new outpost in LoHi. Owners Brian and Katy Vaughn (from Lexington, Kentucky, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, respectively) opened the original Low Country in Steamboat Springs in 2014 to satisfy their hunger pangs for the food of their childhoods. Now Denverites can dig into the Vaughns’ homestyle offerings, including cheesy shrimp and grits and bourbon cocktails aplenty—the frosty mint juleps are perfect for slow sipping. But save room for Low’s fried bird, which undergoes a three-day process before it hits your table. First, the chicken brines in salt, sugar, and herbs for 24 hours; then it marinates for another day in buttermilk and hot sauce. On day three, the pieces are doused in flour and secret spices then fried to juicy perfection. 1575 Boulder St., Unit A, 720-512-4168
Written for Where We’re Eating in June (5280 Magazine June 2017).
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