Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2021 i 5280 Magazine

A STIGMA-FREE ZONE Aurora native Jay Triiiple moved back to Denver from Illinois when she was 15. Now 30, the unabashedly Black and gay emcee delivers sharp lyrics full of irony and self-assurance. “She’s fearless,” Swarn says. Who’s Triiiple?, her 2017 EP, laid bare the artist’s personal struggle with depression. Her latest project, an Instagram-first video series called I Rap Better Than Your Boyfriend (@irapbetterthanyourboyfriend), offers icy braggadocio fused with mantras like, “Instead of running, I’m understanding my feelings. Let it flow on out my pen and express when I’m done healing.” Listen: soundcloud.com/jaytriiiple POETIC (FOOD) JUSTICE An artist, educator, and vegan chef with roots in Five Points, DJ Cavem has shared the stage with hip-hop royalty like Stic.Man of Dead Prez and even landed the ultimate gig: an invitation from…

At Ash’Kara in Boulder, executive chef and co-owner Daniel Asher regularly watches patrons recognize their grandmothers’ cooking in his dishes. “There are folks from the Middle East here every night with stories to share about family recipes,” says Asher, who opened the original Ash’Kara in LoHi in 2018 and debuted this second location in April. The nostalgia-inducing specialties served at both spots—wood-roasted carrots with pearlescent labneh, silky hummus, earthy baba ghanoush—are inspired by Asher’s travels in Israel and the blending of cultures across countries of the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. At the convivial Pearl Street restaurant, which offers a mostly vegetarian lineup, those influences are best tasted in the mushroom tagine. The made-for-sharing beauty features multiple varieties of locally grown fungi stewed in a conical clay pot with velvety…

The first sign it’s going to be crowded is the trailhead parking lot. Or, rather, it’s the overflow of Subarus, Jeeps, and roof-rack-sporting minivans lining the access road to the parking lot. Still, you think, maybe there’s a chance for solitude. After all, your friend’s geotagged Instagram posts, which inspired this particular outing, showed an empty trail snaking through ponderosa pines and a panoramic high-alpine vista without a soul in sight. After a handful of miles and several hundred feet of elevation gain, however, you’ve exchanged more polite hellos with strangers than you would with your office mates on a pre-pandemic Monday morning. As you leave the treeline behind for the final push to the summit, your hope for a quiet communion with the outdoors fades for good: There’s a…

BEFORE YOU: Go to the Broncos game GET THE: Buddy Mary at Baba & Pop’s Handmade Pierogi in Aurora This joint’s Sunday brunch lineup stars ribsticking offerings (think: pierogi and kielbasa Benedicts). But the most indulgent item lives on the drink menu: The Buddy Mary is studded with a parade of skewered accoutrements, including fried chicken kebabs, potato and cheese pierogi, kielbasa sausage, pickled veggies, and cheese curds. Weighing in at 50 ounces, it’s the pregame cocktail of champions. $48 BEFORE YOU: Head up the hill to hike GET THE: Breakfast sandwich at Chicken Rebel in Highland or Westminster Since debuting in Denver as a food truck four years ago, this cult favorite has expanded its chicken sandwich empire into two brick-and-mortar outposts. To give her gargantuan classic fried chicken…

On your first visit to Lakewood’s African Grill & Bar—where you’ll likely be greeted by owners Sylvester and Theodora Osei-Fordwuo or one of their three children—ordering the akwaaba platter is a no-brainer. Akwaaba means “welcome” in the family’s Ghanaian dialect, and like the full menu, the dish’s components span the continent. While you might be tempted to go back again and again for the two-person sampler, broken down below, it’s meant to prompt diners to explore the casual restaurant’s other offerings, from lamb kebabs to palm butter soup to cassava fufu (starchy, comforting dough balls). “Sometimes we have to encourage people to get a different item,” Theodora says. “People get stuck on it.” We understand why. $32 1. Two chicken drumsticks are roasted and then deep-fried—a simple and traditional preparation,…

Over the past year, birria has popped up at restaurants across Denver in burritos, griddled tacos, and even ramen, but the meaty Mexican goat stew has been a mainstay at Work & Class since the RiNo hot spot opened its repurposed-shipping-container doors eight years ago. There, chef-owner Dana Rodriguez presents a traditional version of the dish called cabrito (roasted young goat). Currently an every-other-week special, the protein comes with a simple garbanzo bean salad and house-made tortillas. Here’s what makes Rodriguez’s cabrito the GOAT. Market price 20 TO 25 Pounds of cabrito produced from each whole goat the restaurant gets from farms in Boulder, Salida, and Evans and butchers in-house 12 Hours the bone-in goat pieces are brined to tender perfection (this also eliminates the meat’s gaminess) before spending another…

Eriko Tsogo often tells the story of her father’s art career in Mongolia. Tsogtsaikhan “Tsogo” Mijid’s enthusiasm for experimental, expressionist painting clashed with the communist regime’s preference for realism, resulting in his frequent censorship. So it delights Eriko that 22 years after immigrating to the Mile High City, her father, mother, and sister all joined her under the moniker Betart Collective to build a space inside Convergence Station, Meow Wolf’s new installation in Denver. More than 300 artists created 72 exhibits that form a cohesive narrative about a cosmic merging of worlds. No work captures that union quite like the family’s contribution, called “Mongovoo Temple”—a multisensory room that draws from Mongolia’s cultural, religious, and political histories. One of the few cross-generational teams with work in Convergence Station, the group is…

What do we really know about carp? Ask your average angler, and nearly 200 years of collective cultural disdain for the grayish-brown, wideeyed, slow-moving bottom feeders might color his answer. But if you’re Barry Reynolds, a Denver-based fly-fishing guide and author, when you see carp, you see cunning opponents unfairly maligned by notoriously snobby fly anglers. “In the early 1990s, when I was doing fly-fishing seminars around the country, I started to introduce a little bit about fishing for carp,” Reynolds says, “and I’ll be honest with you, people would walk out.” Nearly three decades later, carp’s reputation among fly anglers has changed. Far from being smeared as dumb, ugly bread eaters, they’re now considered to be intelligent fish known for putting up fierce fights. There are Instagram hashtags, Facebook…

Avenerable friend stops by one day to recommend a poem. He’s on his way to fish the Colorado River, which runs between our houses, but instead steers his old truck into our gravel driveway, apparently with a singular purpose. His name is Walt. He once was a big-time Wall Street bond trader. He’s hard to reach now because he never answers his phone. “I spent too many years with one of those things stuck in my ear,” he says. I didn’t know him then. I just know him now, as the 84-year-old who hugs his wife goodbye each spring, motors away from his home in New Jersey and, for six months a year, lives alone in a Grand County hayfield. During his annual Colorado idyll, Walt reads weighty and important…

KOREAN CORNFLAKE DOG Ginger Pig Sunnyside Chef-owner Natascha Hess excels at playful Pan-Asian eats, and her fried dinner on a stick—a Nathan’s hot dog wrapped in yeasted dough, rolled in panko and cornflakes, dusted with sugar, and fancied up with a combination of ketchup, mustard, sliced scallions, and black and white sesame seeds—is no exception. $10 CHEESE DOG Mukja Food Truck This mobile eatery’s bestseller consists of a baton of gooey fried cheese dusted with sugar and garnished with spicy ketchup and homemade honey mustard. You can also get it topped with crumbled Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and nacho cheese or with mayo, Parmesan, and Tajín. Both are delectable options. Starting at $4 TOKYO CRUNCH DAWG Mama’s Noodle Cafe Greenwood Village Mama’s Noodle Cafe’s proximity to Cherry Creek High School inspired…

PORK BURGER Sunday Vinyl Wine Bar LoDo Tavernetta’s vinyl-spinning sister excels at bites that complement a good glass of wine, and that repertoire includes a juicy pork patty nestled inside a fluffy potato bun with a handful of thinly shredded lettuce. It’s presented alongside a pile of crispy fries—a simple yet satisfying partner for whatever vintage you’re sipping. $18 SLUG BURGER Split Lip Chicken at Number 38 RiNo This former pop-up from Ultreia executive chef Adam Branz and partners David Wright and Jessica Richter found a permanent home at RiNo food hall Number 38 in September. The hot chicken sandwiches are divine, but it’s the Slug Burger we crave. Inspired by the Mississippi classic, Split Lip’s version is built with a fried, bread-crumbenriched beef patty, an abundance of thinly sliced…

Intent on bringing the outside world into your home during the pandemic’s darkest days, you purchased a plant. At first, it was a perky bright spot in your kitchen. Soon, though, droopiness set in. You tried everything as its leaves yellowed and shriveled, but eventually you apologized to your desiccated sprout, dropped it in the compost bin, and labeled yourself the Plant Killer. Well, we want you to try again—once you’ve eradicated three common newbie behaviors that likely cut your plant’s life short. YOU GAVE YOUR GREENERY TOO MUCH WATER. Many novices, terrified of neglecting their new additions, overcorrect and become helicopter horticulturists, showering them with affection in the form of daily H2O. “We’re taught that plants need water,” says Maurice Ka of Rosehouse Botanicals on Broadway. “It becomes our…

1 THE TIPS OF THE LEAVES ARE TURNING BROWN. Crispy leaves usually mean your home isn’t humid enough. I’d get a nice humidifier to deal with the problem. I don’t have a ton of space. Is there another option? Your second-best option is going to be a pebble tray. Take a large tray that’s as wide as the widest part of your plant. Add a layer of pebbles to the bottom, and set the potted plant atop them. Pour some water into the tray, but not so much that your plant is sitting in a puddle. Evaporated water particles add humidity. Can’t I just mist them? I don’t recommend it. It’s not as effective, and the droplets can catch and magnify the light, burning leaves with soft, fuzzy filaments on…

GRAND VALLEY AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA (AVA) Nearly 85 percent of Colorado’s grapes come from this growing region near Grand Junction known for its hot, dry climate. FRIDAY 4 p.m. Hospitality interns from Colorado Mesa University hone their be-our-guest energy at Grand Junction’s Hotel Maverick. thehotelmaverick.com 6 p.m. Sneak over to Moody’s for wagyu steak in a speakeasystyle lounge. moodyslounge.com SATURDAY 12 p.m. Savor the Barbera and Sémillon wines at Restoration Vineyards, named for the owner’s Mercedes-Benz refurbishing hobby (spot 14 on the property). restorationvineyards.com 3:30 p.m. At Plum Creek Cellars, a nine-foot-tall metal sculpture lovingly dubbed “Chardonnay Chicken” gets a giggle out of visitors even before they start sipping the off-dry Palisade Festival white blend. plumcreekwinery.com SUNDAY 9:30 a.m. Rent a board from GJ SUP for a float at the…

On a warm Friday afternoon in mid-August, beer drinkers begin trickling into Lady Justice Brewing Company’s small, light-filled taproom on East Colfax Avenue in Aurora. On their way to the bar, they’re greeted by a lifesize cardboard cutout of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, clad in her black U.S. Supreme Court robe and white lace collar—and a tie-dyed, flat-billed hat bearing the Lady Justice logo. Behind her, colorful “Summer of Queer” T-shirts hang on a wall. As 1980s pop rock plays overhead, customers sip their Sandra Day IPAs next to a floor-to-ceiling mural of Ginsburg, Black gay rights activist Marsha P. Johnson, and Latina labor leader Dolores Huerta. The piece, painted by Denver artist Chelsea Lewinski, is a symbol of the work being done at Lady Justice. “People love it,”…

SIGNATURE WINGS Mono Mono Korean Fried Chicken LoDo and City Park In 2021, Mono Mono opened two locations in Denver, introducing a roster of nearly a dozen Korean crispy chicken dishes. Its audibly crunchy wings are fried in two stages at lower temperatures, allowing the fat to render from the skin to achieve a light, crackly crust. Ask for them doused in the restaurant’s Hot & Spicy sauce. Starting at $11 for six COUNTRY KAARAGE Pony Up LoDo When you’re throwing a few back at Pony Up, it’s almost impossible not to order one of the five stellar French dips, but the bar’s take on Japanese fried chicken is inspiring patrons to adopt a new go-to. The meaty strips of boneless thigh meat are flavored with hints of ginger, garlic,…

YOU SCORED A BIG RAISE GRANDMA STUFFED A $50 BILL IN YOUR BIRTHDAY CARD $225 The Sinker at Jax Fish House and Oyster Bar Multiple locations Choose three or four freeloading friends to toast your prosperity and help you devour this iced raw bar platter, stocked with one pound of peel-and-eat shrimp; one pound of king crab; 12 shucked oysters; a shrimp, octopus, and squid salad; Emersum ahi tuna poke; and whitefish roe caviar with house-made potato chips and crème fraîche. (Smaller versions, for $55 and $110, are also available.) $95 Hot Stone Wagyu at Corrida Boulder The team at this swanky Spanish steak house will hook you up with thick slices of immaculately marbled, imported Japanese A5 wagyu to cook over hot stones at your table. The spread includes…

When Mike Nolan started farming in southwestern Colorado a little more than a decade ago, the region’s agricultural community considered the Mancos Valley a utopia of sorts. It was, they believed, one of the last best places to farm in an era of rising temperatures, crippling drought, and devastating pestilence. The gentle terrain, nestled among high mesas in the shadow of the La Plata Mountains’ 13,000-foot peaks, had endured a few drier-than-normal years, but it typically avoided the scorching summers and associated pests that plagued lower-elevation ag land in the Montezuma Valley to the west or the La Plata River drainage to the east. Even at 7,000 feet in elevation, an adequate number of frost-free days brought tomatoes and eggplants to fruition, with a little springtime help from a greenhouse.…