Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 i 5280 Magazine

SUBSCRIPTIONS A one-year subscription to 5280 costs $16 for 12 issues. A two-year subscription costs $32. Special corporate and group rates are available; call 303-832-5280 for details. To start a new subscription, to renew an existing subscription, or to change your address, visit 5280.com/subscribe; call 1-866-271-5280 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST Monday through Friday; or send an email to circulation@5280.com. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR & DINING GUIDE Letters to the editor must include your name, address, and a daytime phone number (all of which can be withheld from publication upon request). Letters may be submitted via regular mail or email (letters@5280.com). To have a restaurant considered for our Dining Guide, contact us by phone or email (dining@5280.com) to receive a submission form. We also encourage you to contact…

The past two-plus years have forced us to become closer than ever with our loved ones. Like, straitjacket close. In other words: You could use some space. Not a permanent split, of course—but a short-term separation? Yes. Please. Now. Our present to you is five gift ideas that’ll make your heart grow fonder by creating temporary distance between you and the rest of your household. 1. END OF THE LINES In November, JSX airline began offering direct flights from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport five days a week. The Dallas-based carrier flies smaller planes that don’t require passengers to suffer through TSA lines, yet round-trip tickets cost less than $500. 2. ROAD WARRIOR The newest offering from Longmont-based Rossmönster, the Lagom series (from…

Manna Restaurant has all the trappings of a buzzy hot spot: a locally sourced menu that changes with the seasons, an open kitchen, and dishes sporting spins on classics such as cilantro lime wings doused in black garlic and a jalapeño pickle pizza with fresh dill. The catch? The eatery is located inside Centura Castle Rock Adventist Hospital. “Oftentimes in hospital cafeterias, you see patients’ family members come down and look around at the stations, and they don’t know what to do or where to go,” says Adam Freisem, who was tapped to open the eatery with fellow chef Dan Skay in 2013. “That’s why we wanted to have a [true] restaurant. We wanted to be a place where people could get away from the clinical environment, sit down, and…

For the nomadic community, home is where you park it, and over four days in June, that was the tiny hamlet of Hudson for more than 120 camper vehicles. Souped-up custom vans, vintage Volkswagen buses with pop-up tents, and skoolies (converted school buses) descended on the mountain-nestled Wind River Country for the inaugural Wind River Rally. The gathering—which featured live music, gear swaps, performances by a traveling circus family, morning yoga sessions, and fresh ink from mobile tattoo artist Chris Montes—is slated to return in August. That’s good news for van lifers and overlanding enthusiasts and even better news for area businesses such as Svilar’s Bar & Steakhouse and Wyoming Whiskey. Local outfitters also got an economic boost by hosting add-on adventures like hot air balloon rides, guided rock climbing,…

The merino sheep that grow the wool destined to become base layers, socks, and T-shirts from this eight-year-old, Dillon-based brand have a side hustle: ecosystem restoration. This past summer, the city of Missoula tapped about 800 of third-generation rancher and Duckworth co-founder John Helle’s sheep to chow down on invasive and noxious plants such as leafy spurge, spotted knapweed, and Dalmatian toad-flax on several thousand acres of the city’s public lands. “It’s a really novel—and in every sense of the word, organic—solution to a problem,” says Mike Somerby, Duckworth’s marketing director. And in a market where most merino wool is imported from abroad, raising the fluffy ovines in the Rockies not only helps to lessen the company’s carbon footprint but also yields an extra-crimped fiber (due to a combination of…

“Bread is just flour, water, and salt, but all over the world, you have millions of representations of those ingredients,” says Tucson’s Don Guerra, who won the 2022 James Beard Foundation Award for outstanding baker. “Bread is about the artisan.” For Guerra, that means showcasing the heritage and ancient grains he’s worked closely with area farmers to bring back to their fields over the past decade. The varieties, dense with flavor and nutrients, are what was grown before maximum-yield, hybrid wheat became ubiquitous in the mid-20th century. Patrons flock to his Barrio Bread bakery for loaves of Sonoran white, Khorasan, red fife, and einkorn, a primitive wheat that’s naturally low in gluten and has notes of roasted corn and coffee. You can also taste his work in the tortas at…

Although potter Russell Sanchez spent only (only!) one year crafting his best-in-show winner for the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts’ 100th Santa Fe Indian Market, he pulled inspiration from the event’s entire history. The black, red, and white of the polychrome piece—made of clay sourced from San Ildefonso Pueblo, where he lives, northwest of Santa Fe—is a nod to what his ancestors brought to the inaugural Native American arts bazaar in 1922, while the carving techniques and 400 inlaid turquoise and hematite beads are part of more recent Indigenous design traditions. Sanchez has sold out of his wares every one of the 45 years he’s attended the market and credits the event for his success in making connections with collectors and galleries, including Denver’s Native American Collections. But taking the…

It’s a tale as old as time: You trudge back to the lot after an epic day on the slopes. You lean your skis against the car to de-layer. And, every time, they clatter to the ground, dragging those metal edges right down your paint job. Thankfully, Denver-based RigStrips founders Steven Graf and Zhach Pham created a $50 solution: a molded, magnetic bit of genius called the SnoStrip with slots where you can securely rest your gear. For summer, switch out your SnoStrip (an updated model, released in October, features deeper grooves and a grippier material) for the SunStrip, similarly designed to prop up fishing poles and bikes.…

Until recently, many outdoor brands making women’s gear were guilty of simply shrinking men’s apparel and turning it pink. Frustrated by the resulting dearth of properly fitting, shred-ready get-ups, in 2016 Cassie Abel launched Wild Rye, a women-focused bike, ski, and active lifestyle brand based in Sun Valley. Dedicated to function and fashion in equal measure, with a touch of fun (hello, pandemic-inspired houseplant graphics), Wild Rye makes clothing for women with strong, athletic figures. That means strategically using four-way stretch fabrics that move with a woman’s curves; including lots of pockets because, as Abel says, “women carry a lot of shit”; and testing products on women with a range of body sizes. “We are—and always have been—unwaveringly a brand for adventurers who identify as women,” Abel says, noting that’s…

JEWISH BAGEL At 37-year-old Zaidy’s Deli & Bakery, a haunt off South Holly Street for latkes, blintzes, and challah French toast, owner Gerard Rudofsky offers traditional Jewish bagels in eight flavors, including onion and pumpernickel. Every day, up to 300 of the circular indulgences are shaped, boiled, and baked to yield the style’s signature thick crust and dense texture. Order the lox melt—which features cream cheese, lox, onion, tomato, capers, and melted pepper jack cheese—on your favored variety. TURKISH SIMIT Marla Celik’s three-year-old Istanbul Café & Bakery is a Washington Virginia Vale staple for specialties such as Turkish baklava and coffee. But Celik also makes three types of bagels from her homeland, including the simit, a take that’s lighter than its New York–style counterparts. The hand-size rings are composed of…

5280: What’s the creative process behind your playfully named treats? Angelia Han: I like to take nostalgic flavors from childhood snacks and things like that and re-create them with more Asian flair. One of my top flavors, Cookiesz N Bae, is ube with black sesame and Oreo, so it’s like my take on an Asian cookies and cream. How do you keep them so moist? We actually freeze our cupcakes immediately after we bake and decorate them so that they retain the moisture. Our frosting is made with a whipped cream base instead of a buttercream. What makes NYMC stand out? If you go to the grocery store or an American bakery, the sweets are very sweet because they’re Western desserts—so I wanted to offer an alternative. I let customers…

300 Acres of regenerative farmland in Colorado supported by Dry Storage. At the company’s grain mill in Boulder, pros transform batches of sustainably grown heirloom wheat purchased from local growers into flour for businesses—including Dry Storage’s own Arapahoe Avenue bakery, which produces thick-crusted sourdough baguettes—in the state and beyond. 5 Brightly striped varieties of filled croissants available from space-themed Black Box Bakery in LoDo. The colors of the pastries, available for delivery and at pop-ups, are often a clue to what’s inside: The strawberry, for instance, is streaked with layers of red dough that hint at its jammy center. 40 Minutes each yellow-tinted turmeric loaf spends cooking in the Funky Flame’s mobile, wood-fired oven at the corner of 44th Avenue and Zuni Street in Sunnyside. Chef-owner Allison Declercq Steiner seasons…

Adults don’t often make wish lists, even if they’re feeling confident that Santa would characterize them as nice. But I have a friend who likes to say that “if you want something, you’ve gotta put it out into the universe.” Thought leaders in the self-help space (see: Deepak Chopra) would probably call this “manifesting.” I’m not typically prone to woo-woo philosophies—in fact, my pragmatism enjoys near-mythic status among those who know me—but as we entered the holiday season and began to wind down yet another challenging year, even I found myself wondering if there were any harm in this if-you-think-it-it-will-come notion. On a crisp November day, I decided a little chat with the cosmos couldn’t hurt. My index of desirables wasn’t to be about me (although I could use some…

Charles Ingalls may have called California’s Truckee home, but the musician forged a lasting legacy in Denver. Going by the stage name CharlestheFirst, Ingalls specialized in electronic bass music, and his signature sound—low, throbbing frequencies interplayed with rich, ethereal melodies—could be heard during his frequent visits to perform at local venues big and small, from Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom to Red Rocks Amphitheatre. In December 2021, Ingalls died during a tour stop in Nashville, Tennessee, from what a coroner determined to be an accidental overdose of drugs that included fentanyl. Thousands amassed for Ingalls’ memorial concert at RiNo’s Mission Ballroom the following month, when a mural of him was unveiled. But perhaps a more telling tribute is the number of Colorado musicians and industry veterans who count CharlestheFirst among their most…

Colorado reminds Zin Zin Htun of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), a country she left as a refugee. “I like it here a lot because my native town has a lot of mountains. [Colorado] feels like home,” says Htun, who arrived in Denver with her husband and two young children in 2015. Although she became accustomed to the West’s landscapes and traditions, she soon realized that many people aren’t familiar with her birthplace. “I tell people I’m from Burma, and they’re like, What is that?” she says. Those reactions fueled Htun’s desire to teach locals about her roots by posting cooking videos on YouTube that featured foods she ate growing up. In 2021, she opened her own catering company, Zin Zin’s Burmese Cuisine, which gained a following at Front Range…

Nearly 20 skiers are squeezed into a hut atop Eldora Mountain on March 27, but only a handful know what’s going on as the radios begin to squawk. I’m one of 15 candidates in the room who are trying out to fill the four or so openings on the resort’s ski patrol, and we’ve been taking a break to warm up after an hour of ski drills on icy slopes. Now, we watch as our judges don helmets, pull on goggles, and rush out the door. Zach Ryan, a patrol supervisor, stays behind with us and listens to the radio traffic. There’s a mechanical failure on the Indian Peaks lift, leaving hundreds of people stranded on chairs. Patrollers must close part of the mountain to ensure other guests don’t ski…

A year ago, MSN named this 1,500-foot truss arch bridge, which extends across the Snake River in Twin Falls, Idaho’s most terrifying attraction. That’s not because it’s structurally unsound, but because it’s open for BASE jumping, a pursuit in which parachute-clad thrill-seekers leap from high perches (per the name: buildings, antennae, spans, and earth). At 486 feet above the water’s surface, the Perrine is among the tallest bridges in the United States and the only man-made structure in the country where you can BASE jump year-round without a permit. That doesn’t mean just anyone should try it, of course, which is why local outfitters offer visitors the opportunity to take the plunge while strapped to certified instructors. Jumps with 13-year-old Tandem BASE (pictured) and BASE Jump The Bridge, which opened…

“A lot of what I’ve been interested in is the overall idea of justice in an unfair world,” says Brooke Pepion Swaney, the Polson-based writer, director, and producer behind a suite of film projects that focus on the contemporary Indigenous experience. Her first feature-length documentary, Daughter of a Lost Bird, follows a Lummi woman who was adopted by a white family as she meets her birth mother, reconnects with her tribe, and grapples with what it means to be Native. (The 2021 festival release is newly available for streaming on pbs.org.) Pepion Swaney’s first love is fiction, though, and she especially loves comedy—a proclivity that’s evident in her in-development sitcom, Tinder on the Rez, about a woman’s dating misadventures after returning to her family’s reservation. The project snagged a prestigious…

From the first time he took the ice at age three in Salt Lake City to winning the men’s figure skating gold medal at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, Nathan Chen covers the quadruple loops and lutzes that fueled his journey to international stardom—as well as the falls he endured along the way—in his memoir released in November. With the help of co-writer Alice Park, a Time magazine staffer, Chen opens up about knee and hip injuries that threatened his career, his difficulties navigating his relationship with his mother while she served as his coach, and the mental health struggles he confronted with the help of a sports psychologist. The lessons the 23-year-old shares—particularly how finding hobbies outside of figure skating and attending Yale University brought him the balance…

Oba Bonner, professionally known as Obeeyay, could attribute any number of experiences to his musicality, from sitting in his mother’s lap at the piano while she taught voice lessons to showing up his seven older brothers and sisters (one of whom has performed on Broadway) in impromptu singing competitions. In fact, he still records gospel tunes with his parents and siblings as part of a group called the Bonner Family, with nearly 24,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. But that doesn’t mean Bonner isn’t forging his own path: As a preteen, he begged his mother and father to move to Los Angeles. Once there, he knocked on studio doors, offering to sweep floors and fetch lunches for musicians, and before long, he was working as an audio engineer with the likes…

As a teenager, Matt Dulin was so crazy about cheesecake that he wrote a lyrical ode to the dessert. “My friend and I had a rap group called Hot Sauce and Cheese,” says Dulin, the owner of GetRight’s, a new bakery, house-plant nursery, and event space in Wheat Ridge. The duo broke up, but Dulin’s obsession endured. Cheesecake—particularly a caramelized, crustless style called Basque—is still one of his favorite sweets. So, naturally, he added the specialty to the rotating lineup at GetRight’s, which (after regularly selling out of pop-up and delivery goods since 2020) is set to debut a storefront in early 2023. The secret to Dulin’s Basque cheesecakes—which feature the usual cream cheese, egg, sugar, flour, salt, and heavy cream—is that he removes them from the oven a few…

Bouchard put his ski skills to the ultimate test when he tried out for Eldora Mountain’s ski patrol (“The Price Of Powder,” page 44). But the New Hampshire native was confident his East Coast upbringing had prepared him well. EAST VS. WEST “East Coast skiers don’t complain about conditions. And I’m not trying to start anything, but there’s a reason Mikaela Shiffrin moved to the Northeast to train as a kid. OK, maybe I am trying to start something.” ON BEING A SKI JOURNALIST “Most of your sources are very cool people and very good skiers. It’s hard to be objective when you want to quit writing for a living and hang out with them instead.” BEST SKI RUN IN COLORADO “Do you actually think I’d let you print that?”…

MEASURE TWICE, BUY ONCE Nothing is more frustrating than purchasing lights and then, after you’re on the ladder, discovering you need more. Whether trying to illuminate a porch, roofline, or tree, having an accurate idea of the feature’s dimensions will save you a return trip to the store during an already busy time of year. O TANNENBAUM The right amount of tree lights can turn ordinary displays into regular Rudolphs. The general rule of thumb is about 100 bulbs per foot for pines (so a five-footer needs 500 bulbs) and a little less for deciduous trees; wrap the trunks as tightly as possible. Canopies, however, look better with just a glimmer, so use a strand with bulbs that are two feet apart. SAFETY FIRST Don’t add to the spike in…

Since it opened in 2020, Nurture, a wellness marketplace, has enriched West Highland with a Pilates studio, acupuncture practitioners, and nutrition and counseling services. The heart of the 25,000-square-foot former elementary school, however, is its velvet-seat-lined cafe. During the day, the eatery is filled with natural light and goes by the name of Nest, but as of six months ago, the space has been transforming into a moodier counterpart, called Rewild, at night. Guests still gather for gluten- and dairy-free breakfast and lunch fare, but the new suppertime concept—helmed by onetime Clayton Members Club chef Juan Tapia—delivers an affordable farm-to-table experience with hyperlocal ingredients from purveyors such as Tasty Acres, Rock River Bison, and Hazel Dell Mushrooms. This fall and winter, the menu is graced with dishes such as roasted…

Brasserie Brixton doesn’t care what a French restaurant should be. It doesn’t mind that people have been conditioned to expect white tablecloths and a pretentious menu. Yes, Brixton often serves escargot and pâté—albeit with Ritz crackers sprinkled over those snails—but there’s also blood-sausage-filled wontons, Star Wars stormtroopers painted behind the bar, and hip-hop on the speakers. To be honest, I think calling Brasserie Brixton a French restaurant is a stretch. I highly doubt, however, that a place folding blood sausage into wonton skins worries about what I think. So, if chef-partner Nicholas Dalton wants to bill it as such, then oui, French it is. Classifications out of the way, what diners need to know about Brasserie Brixton is that it’s a very good restaurant where Denverites can enjoy smart…

We have at least one good thing to thank the COVID-19 pandemic for: the resurgence of the great American motor lodge. Leery of crowded lobbies and sharing elevators with strangers, travelers found rooms with drive-up access particularly attractive—leading to investments in classic properties such as Jackson’s Virginian Lodge. Originally opened in 1965, this past January the 165-room property debuted an extensive multiyear renovation that merged Western and midcentury modern design elements into a travel influencer’s dream. The courtyard’s pool, two hot tubs, and fire pits are open year-round, and in the winter, skiers returning from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort on the complimentary shuttle can après there or in the on-site saloon, which kept its original sign. Meanwhile, the adjacent Outbound Adventure Center, operated by Backcountry Safaris and JH Skis, has…

The Lewis-Clark Valley’s vineyards were decimated during Prohibition, but a century later (and six years after an official American Viticultural Area designation), rows of grapes once again line the hillsides. Nearly three-quarters of the almost 307,000 acres, which span central Idaho and eastern Washington, are in the Gem State, and its nine wineries are already racking up accolades. Clearwater Canyon Cellars, for one, was named Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year in 2020 by what’s now called Great Northwest Wine, and its 2020 Renaissance Red tied for the highest-rated red at this year’s Bellingham Northwest Wine Competition—beating out more established vintners from Washington and Oregon. The Rhône varietals that thrive in the region’s steep canyons are reason enough to visit, but what makes for good wine here also makes for…

Coelette stands out in Jackson’s star-studded culinary scene by aiming high—6,000 feet high, to be exact. That’s the minimum elevation for the vast majority of ingredients used in the restaurant’s self-described “snowline cuisine,” which draws inspiration from high-country cultures such as those in Japan, Peru, and the Himalayas. Sam Dawson and Drew Madison, former sous chefs at two-year-old Coelette who took over the head chef duties in August, use pickling, lacto-fermentation, and preserves to extend seasonal produce year-round. Rotating dishes primarily feature goods from local farms, with a few far-flung surprises: Diners might sample poached beef with horseradish skyr (Icelandic yogurt) or a whole snow trout raised in an aquaculture system in Hokkaido, Japan. The cozy dining room is located in a restored 1915 log cabin while the bar—which slings…

In the late 1870s, the Ql’ ispé people brought a handful of bison to the Flathead Indian Reservation, home to the Confederated Séliš and Ksanka Tribes (CSKT), in an effort to prevent the animals’ extinction due to overhunting. A few decades later, in an all-too-familiar story in the West, the U.S. government seized a prize parcel of the tribes’ land to form the National Bison Range under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It took until 2022, but the 18,500-plus-acre preserve—a mountain-meets-prairie landscape with black and grizzly bears, pronghorn, elk, wolves, and, yes, 350-some bison—has been restored to the CSKT. “When our wildlife management and conservation efforts are guided by Indigenous knowledge developed over millennia,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said at an emotional celebration in May, “we all succeed.” Since…

STROOPWAFELS Colorado Stroopwafels ONLINE When Yolande Schmitz moved from Amsterdam to the Front Range in 2018, she missed the fresh-made, syrup-filled waffle cookies synonymous with the Netherlands. To satiate her cravings, she baked her own. Schmitz’s crisp, delicate exterior layers are made with mostly local ingredients and give way to a caramelly molasses interior. Hot tip: Warm the treats by resting them atop a cup of coffee. ICED CRANBERRY & OAT COOKIES The Urban Cookie CHEESMAN PARK Baker Denon Moore’s dried-fruit-bejeweled, frosting-drizzled wonders are so popular they earned her Cake Crumbs Bakery an appearance on a holiday episode of the Today Show in 2015. Although Moore sold that Park Hill eatery in 2017, she added the crowd-pleaser to her lineup at nearly two-year-old Urban Cookie, where she now sells a…

For Thanksgiving weekend alone, the 19-year-old Boulder store produces more than 1,000 crusted beauties—starring apple caramel crumble, pecan, and other sweet fillings—as well as galettes and savory varieties. Cream-laden options such as chocolate mousse and Key lime are perennial favorites, owner-baker Shamane Simons says, but lately, more customers have been gravitating toward the coconut cream. Use her recipe below to craft your own. COCONUT CREAM PIE Yields two 9-inch pies 2 cups 100 percent coconut milk4 oz. granulated sugar1½ oz. cornstarch1 egg yolk1 whole egg1 oz. butter (optional)2 9-inch pie crusts*1½ cups fresh whipping cream3 Tbs. powdered sugar½ tsp. vanilla¾ cup toasted shredded coconut *For Simons’ sweet pie crust recipe, visit 5280.com. To make the custard: 1. Whisk coconut milk, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Cook over low to…

When Jack and Mary Torosyan moved to California from Armenia in 1990, they quickly connected with other immigrants at West Coast bakeries. But in 2009, when they relocated their family to Colorado, they found a less-established Armenian community. To fill the void, they opened their own place for people to gather. House of Bread, the Front Range’s only Armenian bakery, is a humble strip-mall eatery where the Torosyans have prepared family recipes (Turkish coffee, Soviet-era pastries, Armenian lunch fare) since late 2020. “Half [of our customers] have prior knowledge of [our food], whether it was something that they had when they were traveling or something they always had when they were living in their home countries,” says Allan, the Torosyans’ 23-year-old son. One such delight is the yojik, an apple-size…

PRICE KEY (Average Entrée) UNDER $ 10 ▪ $$ $ 11 TO $ 15 ▪ $$$ $ 16 TO $ 25 ▪ $$$$ $ 26 AND HIGHER. Want More Dining Options? Visit our online listings at 5280.com/restaurants. SYMBOL KEY NEW Indicates a restaurant featured in 5280 for the first time (though not necessarily a restaurant that has just opened). 25 BEST Indicates inclusion in 5280’s 2022 list of Denver’s best restaurants. These selections are at the discretion of 5280 editors and are subject to change. A 25 BEST A5 $$$$ Downtown / Steak House The team behind Forget Me Not and Tap and Burger offers a refreshing chophouse experience with a stellar lineup of steaks in a hip, delightfully funky bar and dining room. Reservations accepted. 1600 15th St., 303-623-0534.…