Winds of change are blowing through the concourses at Denver International Airport.
“They needed some fresh (restaurants),” said Scott Cohen, a business traveler from Oakland, Calif. “For a long time, you couldn’t even get a decent cup of coffee here.”
Cohen was sitting in the recently opened Cru — A Wine Bar in concourse B, — one of two new wine bars in the airport, with another one on the way. But the airport’s commercial team is not just looking to open wine bars. The Premium Value Concessions Program is a new competitive process aimed at updating all of DIA’s concessions.
At the wine bar, Parker Gregg of San Diego waited for his delayed flight while nibbling on the Rocky Mountain High cheese plate.
“This caught my eye immediately,” Gregg said. “It’s amazing to have tastings that are made locally because that’s something that’s important to me when I travel — to taste the local flavors.”
Prison-bred tilapia escaping to Whole Foods
A new line of tilapia products from Colorado is now finding its way to Whole Foods shelves in a four-state region as part of a buildup to more products and a national rollout. The seasoned tilapia, cheese-stuffed tilapia filets and talapia cakes are the products of Quixotic Farms, the Arrowhead Prison fish farm in Florence and Canon City goat dairy Mini Moos & Kids Too. “We process 700 to 1,000 pounds of fish from the prison daily,” said Ty Dick, corporate chef for Quixotic.
Securing prime tea times in Vail
At Larkspur in Vail, tea has become a centerpiece of the menu.
“They say the three worst words in the restaurant industry are ‘hot tea, please’ because of the amount of work it takes,” said owner and chef Thomas Salamunovich. “It’s quite a process for our staff when people order tea.“
But Salamunovich sees tea as more than just a way to warm up. “It’s an indulgence that makes you slow down,” Salamunovich said.
Angelica Palladino, food and beverage director at the Four Seasons in Vail, wants to change the image of tea. “We don’t want people to only associate tea with old ladies sitting around the patio having scones and hot tea,” Palladino said.
And it has to be served properly, said Chris Chantler of Vail Mountain Coffee & Tea: “The upgrade in quality from a tea bag to whole leaf is like going from Boone’s Farm to Dom Perignon.”
What about a Martian meatloaf?
Given Colorado’s strong connection to the U.S. space program, numerous space nerd cooks in the state are expected to contribute to a new cooking contest. Researchers at the University of Hawaii and Cornell University are asking for recipes to be served from April through August to astronauts during the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation mission. Breakfast, main dish, side dish and dessert recipes will be accepted online through March 8 at hi-seas.org.
How locavore are you?
Todd Bemis, executive chef at Atwater on the Gore restaurant in Vail, has an update for ardent locavores.
“When you say ‘farm-to-table’ and ‘local,’ remember that we’re in Colorado. I have guests that want asparagus. It’s not local and it wouldn’t be available if we were staying local. Farm-to-table has been a marketing trend, most definitely. They’re all good with it until they can’t get asparagus in January, or raspberries in February.”
Lamb chops settle Broncos bet
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper recently mailed Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley a dozen lamb chops from the Triple M Bar Ranch in Manzanola to settle their friendly wager on the Broncos-Ravens playoff game.
Simmons: Don’t be a recipe robot
Gail Simmons, of Food & Wine Magazine and Top Chef fame, cooked recently at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek. Simmons suggested that cooks at home who follow recipes “robotically” pay more attention to the recipes they’re following so they can break out of their shells a little bit and try cooking more casually. “Once you start to think about the method behind a recipe, you’ll start to see patterns,” Simmons said.
Eat like a Neaderthal
With all the bones scientists have dug up in Colorado in recent years, maybe it’s not so surprising that the so-called “paleolithic diet” is popular in Colorado. Essentially, the paleo diet is supposed to mimic the Stone Age hunter-gatherer diet including fish, meats, fruit and roots but not grains, beans, cheese, potatoes, and refined salt, sugars, and oils. As a result there aren’t a lot of paleo sandwiches, the exception being the following recipe from Chef Jason Morse, executive chef of the Douglas County School District. And yes, you should cook it on your grill outdoors. In Colorado, grilling has a 12 month season.
For more Colorado recipes: coloradoagriculture.com
Paleo Bison Burgers
2 pounds Colorado ground bison
2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
2 tablespoons dried Italian herbs (oregano, basil, etc.)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup Greek olives, well-drained, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 10-ounce can roasted red peppers, well-drained, chopped
1 large egg
kosher salt, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, to taste
1 large head iceberg lettuce
1 lemon, squeezed
In a large stainless steel mixing bowl, combine bison, garlic, herbs, oil, olives, parsley, peppers and egg and mix well. Divide into 8 equal burgers and set aside. Lightly spray grill with cooking spray then heat grill to high. Place the burgers on the grill and season as needed with salt and pepper. Turn burgers once to cook on both sides. Remove from the grill when cooked to desired doneness. Place onto iceberg lettuce “buns,” drizzle lightly with fresh lemon juice and olive oil.