February 28 - Celebrating the Seasons, Winter Edition
Chef Mike Bowe of the Red Yeti is the guest chef. $85 per person, included food, service, and non-alcoholic beverages.
This was an incredible specialty dinner that delivered flavor in every course. The menu consisted of five courses. Here they are from first to last: Sweet Potato Bisque, Spice Roasted Hazelnuts, Charcoal Creme Fraiche, Brown Butter, House Cracker Cornbread Pudding, Shaffer Farm beef Brisket, Kentucky Sorghum Glaze, Smoke Pepper Popped Sorghum, Micro Buckwheat Braised Stonecross Farm Bacon, Weisenberger Mills Grits, Herbed Capriole Farm Goat Cheese, Tomato Jam, Charred Onion Red Frazier Farm Bison Meatloaf, Cauliflower Silk, Bourbon Barrel Red Eye Gravy, Roasted Root Vegetables Apple Butter Cake, Whipped Greek Yogurt, Smoked Wildfower Honey, Granola

So delicious. Will you be attending any specialty dinner at J.Q. Dickinson this season?

For my last evening in Colorado, I wanted to go out with a bang. That led me to Frasca in Boulder, a Michelin-starred and James Beard Foundation Award winning restaurant.



"This sleek restaurant is set in the heart of downtown Boulder on a charming street lined with shops and restaurants. All are treated as special guests here, where the cooking is Italian, but in a hyper-specific way: it's the food of the northeast Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. You'll find pasta and seafood on the prix fixe and tasting menus, but Slavic and Alpine elements also appear. Focused and distinct, the menu might showcase a lesser known part of Italy, but the ingredients are clearly Coloradan. The plates are beguiling with a minimal, straightforward approach, as in cjalson, half-moon fresh spinach pasta pockets filled with an English pea and potato purée. Save room for dessert, like the beautifully arranged goat cheese semifreddo," reads the Michelin website.



The quattro piatti menu is a fixed price ($140) menu consisting of four courses. In each course, there are a few options to choose from.



I started with a delicious hunk of bread that had some slight funky, cheesy flavors and a full-fat butter that was warmed.



Next up is a small amuse-bouche from the chef; a palate awakener of fresh greens and petals.



Antipasti - Fiori di zucca: squash blossom, ricotta, zucchini



Primi - Chitarra: squid ink, clam, sepia, spring onion, caper, cherry tomato



Secondi - Terre e mare: halibut, chanterelle, polenta, corn, shellfish brodo, summer truffle



Dolci - STRATI DI TONKA, guava eolivello Spinoso: tonka parfait, guava sorbet, buckthorn, vanilla gelato, semolina

Every single course here was a home run. From bright and fresh flavors to salty, indulgent pastas and umami-rich truffle with more umami foam. Delightful.

Grade: A

Annette is a scratch-to-table modern American restaurant just outside of Denver, Colorado, in Stanley Marketplace. Stanley Marketplace is a community of 50+ independently owned Colorado businesses that offer a place for to eat, drink, shop, exercise, play, work and more.



The space has some modern flair and is pretty slick. It's not a comfy-cozy atmosphere; it's refined.

I recently listened to a podcast about how restaurants psychologically influence diners to eat quickly or slowly depending on how cozy the seats are and how fast the music is. That resonated with me a bit here.



Chef-Owner Caroline Glover is a 2019 Food and Wine Best New Chef and was awarded the title of 2022 James Beard Best Chef in the Mountain Region.



The menu features seasonal items from local producers, as well as some new spins on classic items. I ordered the pork tonnato with tuna, capers, red onion and parsley. I learned that tonnato is a room-temperature, creamy, mayonnaise-like sauce flavored with tuna. It was interesting, and I'm glad I tried it. But I think I'll pass next time.



I did, however, love the fried and stuffed squash blossoms. There's a bit of whimsy when eating these because it's like a delicious flower, stuffed with a cheesy mixture and deep-fried. Yum. For my main entrée, I devoured the housemade cavatelli with sausage, confit tomatoes, and Parmesan. The chew of the fresh pasta in the simple toppings are the definition of comfort food for me.



Grade: A

Blissful Bites is a bakery that sells goods at local markets and events. I was lucky enough to catch them recently in Charleston and had to nab some sweets. I devoured a vanilla flavored cake pop as I walked through holiday lights. I tend to like mine a bit more moist, in this one was more on the dryer cake side. Still fun and whimsical.

Grade: B

The 18th annual Heart & Soul Dip Dinner was held today at the East End Resource Center, and I attended for the first time ever. “A dip dinner is simply an event where attendees purchase tickets for $1 each. They use the tickets to purchase a ‘dip’ or serving-spoon portion of a side dish. Entrees and desserts range from two to four tickets, side dishes are one or two tickets and beverages are available for one ticket. It is very similar to the Taste of Charleston, only with good ol’ home-cooked soul foods made with lots of love," according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The dinner sees dishes from local churches, restaurants, sororities, and individuals who donate their specialty dishes in a competition to see who has the best bite. The money raised goes toward programming at the center. I bought $15 worth of tickets and got a to-go box to fill up with "dips" to take home. I do wish there was a menu available with the allotted tickets required so I could strategically plan. Instead, I started at one end and made my way around the room nabbing up whatever looked good at the moment. I started with chicken à la king with pastry from Carver Career Center. It's like an elevated pot pie and was a nice balance of homestyle taken up a notch. Next up for me was a potsticker with chili sauce and some curry over rice from Chow Thai. Both were just as good as you'd get in the restaurant, including a bit of heat from the curry. As I moved around the room, I saw some folks packing up as they ran out of items just 30 minutes into the event. I also saw some restaurants like Soho's and Johnnie's sharing some of their classic dishes. I ended up with a Mexican cornbread, which was OK, and kibbeh, which was unique, before finding the back table filled with different pastas. That's my happy place. Rigatoni, macaroni and cheese, and my favorite of the day, sausage and greens bowtie pasta, filled out the remainder of my plate. I had them piling scoops on top of other scoops. But that sausage pasta had a little bit of a kick and it was creamy and earthy, and I'm going to have to try to re-create it at home. Did you attend? If so, what were your favorite items?

"Top Chef" season 5 winner Hosea Rosenberg owns a Boulder-based restaurant that focuses on seasonal, local ingredients and pasture raised, sustainable animals.



Blackbelly offers its own selection of house-made cured meats, charcuterie and provisions, as well as daily breakfast and lunch. Blackbelly consists of the main restaurant, butcher counter, breakfast & lunch menus, catering, and events.



I ended up arriving at a weird time between lunch and dinner so I went with an adult snack: the house meat & cheese board, which consisted of nduja, coppa, saucisson leonora (goat), belford (cow), pickles, and mustard.



It is like a rainbow in a box. Vibrant and colorful with a range of flavors that spans the whole spectrum - salty, sour, sweet, fatty, spicy. I love picking and choosing flavors and textures at my own free will, and this menu option gave me the ability to do that with ease. My favorite? Some of that whole grain mustard slathered on a hunk of salty cheese and followed up with a grape. Bon appetit.



Grade: A

Rioja, a Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Denver, features a menu inspired by Mediterranean ingredients and influenced by local and seasonal products. Rioja's Jennifer Jasinski was the first Denver chef to win a James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest.



The space is home to a copper-topped bar and exhibition kitchen with simple decor that allows the food to shine. They offer a lunch menu dubbed "the flavor dojo," which features a smaller menu of lighter fare.



I ordered the "artichoke tortelloni - artichoke mousse, white truffle brodo, queso de mano, chervil." It's a classic Rioja dish that is even featured on the James Beard website.



Fresh tortelloni pasta is paired with earthy artichokes and local, funky goat cheese mousse that is elevated even more with truffle essence in a delicate broth. It's a lovely balance of light freshness and rich decadence. It is silky and satisfying.



Add a refreshing and slightly sweet drink, and I was a happy camper.



Grade: A

"Jim ‘Biker Jim’ Pittenger is not your ordinary culinary chef. He is however, the undisputed Gourmet Dog King of Denver. With an appetite for grilling exotic game meat ... Pittenger has redefined an American icon in his own image in more ways than one ... Pittenger has generated local, regional, national, and international acclaim for his grilled gourmet dogs, cream cheese, sizzling caramelized onions ..."



I had to check out this quirky place. Their menu offers dogs made of ostrich, elk, boar, rattlesnake, rabbit, veal and more. I went with a slightly less adventurous option in the chicken peach chipotle - "fresh fruit, hot peppers and lean chicken make this a flighty delight."



There are also a bunch of different topping options with everythint from cactus to mustard cream sauce. I added "THE CONSPIRACY - Bleu cheese, bacon red onion marmalade, lemon aioli, and French-fried onions." That sweet and salty combo is my jam. It's a whole different hot dog experience with an unconventional dog and unconventional toppings. A whole new flavor profile that is unexpected - and delicious.



Grade: A

The Boba Bus is a new food truck based in the Huntington area, but recently set up in Charleston, and I had to give them a try.



Boba/bubble tea, lemonade, and create-your-own drinks are all on the menu. You can pick a base from black tea, green tea, or milk tea. You can add peach, raspberry, mango, strawberry or passionfruit flavors. And, you can opt for tapioca balls or popping boba.



I kept it simple with a strawberry milk tea with tapioca balls. It was refreshing, and I love how generous they are with the tapioca. That extra chew makes it all the better for me.

Grade: A