Now covering the 303!

With a new zip code comes a new column. In the past few months I graduated from my MFA program and moved from Fort Collins to Denver—leaving behind restaurant reviewing for The Coloradoan, but taking on happy hours, dining, and food events for 303 Magazine's blog. Check out my first two posts, below, and if you want even more Salty / Savory / Sweet, be sure to subscribe to the Facebook page!


Fork It: The Über Sausage: "While Denver isn’t new to gourmet hot dogs, the recently opened spot The Über Sausage is bringing a new perspective to the table.…"


Happiest Hour: The 9th Door: "Enter The 9th Door’s darkened lounge, complete with flickering candles, lush red sofas, and sultry music in the background, and even the most stoic won’t be able to help but feel a tingle.…"

"Bondi Beach Bar: Australia by way of Colorado"

Dear Blog,

I miss you. I don't know when we will be reunited. It looks like that won't happen until the end of the semester. All my intentions to post once a week have turned out to be wicked lies, and I apologize.

But I can offer a sort-of recent dining profile, which is here. Ignore the weird and inappropriate hyphenation, or just imagine a robotic voice is reading it aloud. Also, forgive me.

Up to her neck in school,
Soopling

A sandwich served sans smile at Num Pang

Now that I no longer work in NYC or have my own place in Astoria, when I'm back visiting it's a rare occasion that I arrive to Manhattan early enough to have breakfast on my own. My parents' house is deep enough in Queens so that by the time I wake up, shower, pack my bag, and make my way downtown the clock is usually ticking toward noon; plus, there's so much food in the house there's no reason to wait until I reach the city to eat.

But one day last week I had stayed with TL, and woken up when he left for work. With nothing else to do in his apartment, I decided to head in to Think Coffee for the afternoon. I could have gotten off at a closer subway station, but I arrived to Union Square around 9:45am, fully intending to eat a fun breakfast first.

I hadn't decided where until I passed the sandwich shop Num Pang, which I'd been wanting to try for a while. The girl at the window informed me that they wouldn't be open until 10. And I'll say this—while she wasn't unfriendly, she certainly wasn't friendly, either. Maybe I've grown soft from hanging out in Colorado, where strangers smile and say hello even when you are simply passing them in the aisle of a grocery store, but to me her vibe seemed unnecessarily aloof, given that for a while I was the only person standing on the sidewalk outside of the shop that morning. Whatever. I decided to wait anyway.

At 10:01am, she took my order. Having had ample time to consider what I felt like having, I asked for the blood orange lemonade and one of their daily specials, a lemongrass chicken liver pate sandwich. I was order #0001 on the receipt.

And then I settled myself upstairs, in front of a window facing out onto the sidewalks. I must admit I felt quite luxurious, leisurely sitting down for breakfast while cab after cab clogged the street below, ferrying people to work. I was glad to be waking up my sleepy tastebuds with cold, sweet blood orange lemonade instead of rushing to an office.

As for the sandwich, it was good. I'm not sure how much I would sing its praises beyond that. At $7.25 for a relatively small sandwich, it wasn't cheap. The chewy toasted roll was delicious, but too stiff to properly hold its contents without squirting them out the sides and bottom—I ended up splitting my sandwich into two open-faced halves, not wanting to deal with a landslide of pate each time I took a bite. The pate itself was studded with coarsely ground peppercorns and had a loose, chalky, vaguely gloppy texture; the advertised grilled pickled red scallions made no impression; the garnishes of cucumber, mayo, cilantro, and pickled carrots were fine. All the elements seemed of decent quality, but there was just something about the sandwich that felt like it had been executed with a lack of soul.

Or perhaps I was just responding to that girl at the counter. Sometimes you just want a little friendliness in the morning, you know?

Having a Winegasm

Back in NYC! The evening after I arrived, TL and I went to Winegasm, a sweet little wine bar in Astoria. He'd been there before and was a fan of its laid-back, mellow ambiance and welcoming vibe; I was happy to have a place to relax and chat.

TL was hungry, so we ordered a panini and a dessert to share. At eight bucks, the chicken version wasn't a bad deal: the hot, pressed sandwich was layered with chunks of chicken breast, a soft, gooey cheese (Swiss?) and paired with roasted red peppers, red onion, spinach, and a basil-laced mayonnaise. A perfectly dressed salad of tender mixed greens arrived on the side. The chocolate molten cake was good but typical; no complaints here except maybe about the price, which was only a dollar less than the panini.

We showed up near closing time so didn't stay for too long, but I could see myself spending a much longer evening here, sipping on wine and grazing on some of their lighter fare. Winegasm might have a cheesy name, but it still seems like a good spot in the neighborhood.

Caribbean Food Shack, now in new digs

My friend GS, who I hadn't seen in probably ten years or more (aside from a three-minute run-in at a subway station once) was in Fort Collins for a ten-day conference, and I was eager to catch up with her. Mostly I was tickled that someone I knew from NYC was actually in the area, so that tells you how excited I would be if any of you were in town. Hear that, friends? Visit me!

Since she had a full schedule and only about an hour for dinner, we walked to a stretch of restaurants near campus and came upon the Caribbean Food Shack, which had moved from its location in the gas station to a little spot all its own. I'd really liked the "combo pie" I'd eaten there, and had been meaning to try their bake 'n' shark sandwich ever since. This was the perfect opportunity.

The bake 'n' shark sandwich consists of marinated and seasoned fried shark stuffed into fluffy, fried "bake" bread, topped with cabbage slaw and a sweet Caribbean cocktail sauce. The firm flesh of the shark against the crunch of slaw and crispy bread was quite delicious, and of course it was good in the way fried things always are. Though I might have preferred that either the bread or the shark be fried, instead of both—the sandwich felt a little heavy by the time I got through it, though the sweetness of the cocktail sauce went a long way toward balancing things out.

There's so much more on the Caribbean Food Shack menu that I want to try…I'll definitely be back. Also, when we left, we came upon this scene outside:

Bunny. On a leash. Tethered to a bush. In a parking lot.

Perhaps his owner had taken him for a walk, and stopped to run an errand…?

I'll never know.

A gazpacho conversion at Danal

Early Monday morning after JF and JA's wedding, I made my way, with some effort, to TL's apartment. It had been a hectic weekend: on Friday I had slept only few hours in order to catch the shuttle for my 8am flight from Denver International on Saturday morning; I had spent Saturday afternoon and evening with friends having dinner and partying at the beer garden in Astoria; and I had spent all of Sunday at the wedding, traveling between Hastings, NY and Chelsea for the ceremony, reception, and after-party. By the time Monday rolled around, I had gotten maybe four hours of sleep a night and was feeling dead tired. TL was wiped out too, having just returned from Vancouver that morning on a red-eye flight.

But we had errands to run, such as delivering a special package to FoodMayhem headquarters (more on that later), so before we could take a nap we had to take the train from Astoria to Union Square. After dropping off the goods with JL, we asked if she knew of a good place to get breakfast and she recommended Danal.

Danal is definitely a restaurant full of charm: the decor is very French parlor, with menus presented in picture frames and all sorts of quaint knick-knacks and decorations around. Our cozy little banquette belonged more to a house in the countryside than to a restaurant in the middle of New York City.

TL went for the poached eggs with chicken-apple sausage and hollandaise on top of an English muffin (pictured at top). I asked for the lunch special of a tomato, mozzarella, and basil sandwich paired with the soup of the day, which that morning was gazpacho. I had always dismissed the cold Spanish soup as being some kind of watered-down salsa, but this version made me completely change my perception. I loved its clean, bright flavor and lightness, and each sip made me feel rejuventated.

The other half of my lunch special was less exciting. While the sandwich had arrived warm and with marks from a panini press embedded in the bread, sometime between the press and the table the cheese had solidified again mid-ooze. Unremarkable tomatoes and a slightly tough bread didn't help matters, but in the end it wasn't a bad sandwich, just not an amazing one. And it provided just enough fuel to get me back to TL's apartment for a much-needed snooze.

Five Guys for a burger and fries

Guess where I had a burger?

If you guessed Five Guys, you're spot on. CH and I stopped there to pick up an early dinner after going to Recycled Cycles to purchase new inner tubes for my bike—MH had offered to give my bike a much-needed tuneup and to change out the tires, and feeding him (and us) was only proper.

We got everything to go, so above is the large-sized portion of their french fries, but poured out into a bowl and set on a placemat (we're civilized folk around here). Like the Vern's fries, these weren't particularly crisp, but I thought the ones at Vern's had a more distinctive potato flavor. So much for the fried potato with a pedigree.

My "little cheeseburger" really wasn't all that little—in fact, it was the perfect size. It had traveled for a bit so it wasn't as hot as I would have liked it to be, but it was a decent burger, and would probably be quite excellent fresh (I'm only guessing). Two burgers in a month…not bad!

A sandwich surprise at Jimmy John's

I was riding my bike into Old Town to check out the aftermath of Brewfest when NH's call came. "Everyone's splitting, but I'm about to go eat at Jimmy John's, do you want to meet me?"

"Sure," I replied, wondering why she'd be eating at an unremarkable-looking chain sandwich shop when there were so many other places to dine. I wasn't sure if going to Jimmy John's was a random decision, but once I arrived NH told me how much she liked the sandwiches there. Hmm, I thought, I gotta check this out.

After perusing their menu of 8" sub sandwiches and giant club sandwiches, I went with the Beach Club: "Fresh baked turkey breast, provolone cheese, avocado spread, sliced cucumber, sprouts, lettuce, tomato, and mayo." I added sweet peppers too for some acidity, and asked for it to come on thick-sliced seven grain bread instead of the standard French bread.

What the girl passed over the counter to me was a simply enormous, overstuffed packet wrapped in paper. And I have to say, it was a really good sandwich: the bread was soft and hearty and all the ingredients tasted fresh. Way better than the sandwich I had at Backcountry Provisions! The avocado spread got a little lost—I might simplify this combo to only include turkey, provolone, sprouts, lettuce, tomatoes, and sweet peppers—but as a whole everything melded together really nicely. At $5.50, it was also very reasonably priced. Whenever I pass by Jimmy John's now I wonder if I should stop in to pick up another one….

CSA, Week Five: And the greens started rolling in

Once I got back to Fort Collins from my month-long stint in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York City, my CSA share with Grant Family Farms began. Due to a mixup with the first week of delivery, I got to take home more than five times my share from boxes that hadn't been picked up and wound up with an enormous amount of assorted lettuce, kale, dill, spinach, rhubarb, cilantro, and baby beets. Even after doling out the extras to a neighbor and to the three other people I split the CSA share with, I still had a ton in my fridge and had to come up with some creative ways to eat everything before it started going bad.

One of the first things I tried was kale chips, the idea for which I'd seen floating around the interwebs for a while now. With KS's help, I tossed pieces of curly kale with olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar, and then spread them out on cookie sheets and baked them at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes. (Actually, I think I left them in a little too long, because they were brown and just edging toward bitterness by the time I pulled them out of the oven, so probably fifteen minutes is better.) I added too much salt, because those great, voluminous leaves fool me every time—I always forget how drastically vegetables shrink down when they are cooked. Don't be me!

I made a chicken salad with carrots, celery, cranberries, and a lot of the CSA dill, and then realized that I could use pieces of the CSA buttercrunch lettuce as a wrap to eat the salad with.

Then there was the kale quesadilla: after braising ribbons of raw lacinato kale until soft, I piled the cooked greens between two small flour tortillas along with pepper jack cheese and caramelized onions. The earthiness of the kale went really well with the sweet caramelized onions and spicy cheese. The Feisty Foodie tried a version with simply collards and pepper jack and wasn't impressed, but the kale, pepper jack, and caramelized onion quesadilla is probably my favorite thing to come out of my veggie experimentation. For a week or two I was eating them nearly every other day.

With the ridiculously wee beets we received—five or six attached to their greens, each no bigger than a gumball—I made a wee beet salad. Unlike the last time I messed with raw beets I didn't have any apples on hand, so I just peeled and julienned the beets and added lime juice, olive oil, and a tiny sprinkle of salt. Above is the entire quantity of the beet salad I made, but turns out that it's plenty; the apple version was better.

This sandwich could be a close cousin to my kale quesadilla, since it involves cheese and greens stuffed into a carb. For this one I layered cooked, drained spinach, brie, and whole-grain mustard onto rosemary ciabatta, and then put the whole thing into a panini press until the cheese got gooey. I make sandwiches like this a lot: some kind of cheese, some kind of vegetable, some kind of condiment, some kind of bread. With all the kale, chard, and beet greens currently coming my way from the CSA, I'll probably be eating a lot more of these in the future.

Just a simple outdoor meal

Semi-impromptu picnic in KS and WP's backyard, with cheese, veggies, spreads, and tortilla chips from Whole Foods, buttercrunch lettuce from our CSA, and homemade bread from my oven. Watermelon too, which I had sitting in my fridge.

A picnic can be an elaborate, planned-out meal, but it can also be a simple spread of sandwich fixings, chips, and fruit. Sometimes they're just more fun that way.

Stand, for burgers a step above

I never thought it could happen, but I actually OD'd on Asian food by my third week away from Colorado. Between the Burmese, Shanghainese, and multiple Vietnamese meals I'd had in San Francisco; the Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese meals I'd had in Philadelphia; and the Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Malaysian, and Japanese meals I'd had in NYC, I'd completely satisfied any cravings I had for noodles and rice and was totally ready for some good ol' American food.

So TL and I met up with my brother and SS for dinner at Stand, which I had been wanting to check out for a while. What's more American than a burger? The restaurant is conveniently located just off of Union Square, and so dinner marked yet another occasion of me trying to scout out a place to grub in the area.

After our server misheard our order of fried bread and butter pickles as one for an order of their "pot of pickles," we found ourselves with not one but two briny appetizers. I was pretty happy the latter arrived by mistake, because I really liked the pickled carrots and string beans. The fried pickles were great too: the sweetness and acidity of the pickle slices stood right up to the hot, crunchy batter, and they barely needed their dipping sauce of honey mustard. Despite the menu's claims, tempura-battered they were not, but I wasn't bothered.

Both SS and I went for the "Kid's Pack," which includes a mini burger, small fries, and a drink for eight bucks, and we both got pretty excited when we realized our drink options extended to a kid-sized portion of any one of their milkshakes. Above is my honey-lavender milkshake next to TL's full-sized maple-almond one; the minis are probably about half the size of the regular.

The milkshakes weren't as thick as I prefer and their flavors were a little muted, but I still liked them. I especially dug the crunchy bits of almond in TL's, and I kept stealing sips of his between mine. He didn't mind…I think.

Our burgers came out shortly after. TL went with the classic (left), which came topped with red onion, lettuce, tomato, sliced pickles, ketchup, and dijon mustard, while my brother went with the hamburger (right), which came with onion marmalade, lettuce, and a side of green peppercorn sauce. Both burgers came with a few fried pickle slices, too.

Above is the Kid's Pack in its entirety. The Mini Burger consists of a small beef patty on brioche, topped with pickles and ketchup (I added Swiss cheese for an extra dollar). I think the Mini Burgers actually suffered for their size—both SS's and mine were cooked too long (more medium than medium rare), and both were extremely salty. TL and my brother didn't have any complaints about their burgers, but SS left half of hers uneaten.

Innards shot. Not sure if you can tell, but the meat was far from juicy. I'll stick with a regular-sized burger next time.

Not only did we have the piles of fries from our Kids Packs, but we also had two other side dishes, which came out a little after our burgers. The onion rings weren't anything special, but the sweet potato fries were quite good—nice and crispy instead of soggy like so many other versions. The odd thing was that they didn't have much sweet potato flavor; had you mixed them in with the regular fries, I don't think I would have noticed too much of a difference.

I could have had a better burger, but Stand is still a decent, inexpensively priced option for the area. Otherwise, if you haven't overdone it with Asian food like I did, Num Pang is right across the street.