Listen in as Culinary Connectors LIVE! host Becky Creighton interviews chef Lance Barto and Seth Murty from Central Bistro & Bar, located in the Highlands neighborhood. Central’s menu is rotated out ever 2-3 weeks, to provide a new flavor experience for their guest. Lance began is career in industrial design, but the “love of the food” inspired him to become a chef 6 years ago. Lance created Central Bistro & Bar to provide a slice of Americana, and create fine food without pretense. Seth discusses how he pairs wines with the dishes Lance creates and Central’s happy hour!

Take a Trip Down South, to S. Pearl St. in Denver

If you live in Denver, you don’t have to drive far in order to feast on some spicy Southern cajun food and listen to live blues.  Tucked away on the corner of S. Pearl St. and Buchtel Blvd. is an unassuming tavern known as Lincoln’s Roadhouse.

Started by Jimbob, a gregarious, smiling man who brought his southern roots to Colorado, replanting them on S. Pearl St., Lincoln’s Roadhouse is a spot where people can enjoy some of that southern blues and spice.

Voted Best Blues Club in 2011, this road house is a mecca for blues players and listeners from all ends of the U.S.  Live music can be heard Fridays and Saturdays at 9:30 pm, Sunday at 3:30pm, Boa Blues Jam on Tuesday, and an open mic on Wednesdays.

This New Year’s Eve join the crowd at Lincoln’s for a night of music by the Delta Sonics.  $10 covers party favors and a midnight champagne toast.  For a southern experience this weekend, enjoy music by the Katfish Kray Blues Band this evening, the 28th of December.  Pair the music with a bowl of Jambalaya, fried pickles and mushrooms, or a New Orleans style Po-Boy, and you will be singing the blues with an accent from down south.

Catch Jimbob at 1201 S. Pearl St.  Denver, CO 80210 – 303-777-3700

Listen in as Culinary Connectors LIVE! host Becky Creighton interviews Tom Ryan, owner of Smashburger and Tom’s Urban 24, and Ken Kodys, cocktail director for Tom’s Urban 24. Tom has a Ph.D in Flavor and Fragrance Chemistry. Tom reflects on his career at McDonalds where he help develop the Dollar Menu, the McFlurry, the McGriddle, and the Yogurt Parfait. He discusses his move to Denver and the development of Smashburger, the Smashburger philosophy, and the founding of Tom’s Urban 24 on Larimer Square. Ken brings in a sample of cocktails he  created for Tom’s Urban 24 and discussed the cocktail competitions he has won.

Conscious Drinking begins in The Kitchen

Wine on Tap

One of the first Colorado restaurants to subscribe to the local food movement was The Kitchen in Boulder.  So it is no surprise that they helped to spawn the local, sustainable drink movement as well.

The wine menu at The Kitchen reflects the restaurant’s sensitivity to just what conscious drinking is all about.  Under each wine, you will read the eco-friendly buzz words “sustainable,” “organic,” or “biodynamic.”  Their eco-consciousness does not stop there.  The Kitchen also serves Conscious Coffees, freshly squeezed organic orange, lemon, grapefruit, and apple juices, in addition to a local all-natural milk from a cow that may have very well been milked that morning.

Whether you are drawn to the local movement for reasons of taste, quality, or for personal values, there is no doubt that you will come to appreciate this movement as you sip on an award-winning, sustainably produced Persian Lemon cocktail.  It is guaranteed to leave you all puckered up, waiting to kiss the next glass of another sustainably produced drink.

Listen in as Culinary Connectors LIVE! host Becky Creighton interviews Katie Lorenzen & Doug Campbill from bb’s kitchen. Katie discusses her culinary background, including her time on Iron Chef America! Katie & Doug discuss their new menu, being released Thursday December 13th and what makes bb’s kitchen in Aspen unique.

Coffee at Shangri-la

Nestled within one of the hippest streets in the Highlands neighborhood, is Shangri-La Coffee, a cafe that offers much more than a monoculture Starbucks may offer.  The drink menu at Shangri-La is culturally diverse with real Lavazza Italian coffee, India inspired Bhakti and Third St. Chai, and the classic “London Fog” tea-based latte made with Early Grey tea, steamed milk, and a shot of vanilla flavored syrup.

Shangri-La offers freshly made salads, award-winning panini’s, and even gluten-free dolce (a.k.a. desserts) that outdo any prepackaged pastry, sweet bread, or sandwich at Starbucks.  The list of paninis seems endless.  The paninis are all made with the finest meats and cheeses, often rooted in the Italian cuisine that the owner and chef Massimo Ruffinazzi grew up eating.

For a cultural experience that expands outside the monoculture of Starbucks, make your way to Shangri-La.  Massimo will greet you with a smile and a “Prego,” (a.k.a. How may I help you?), wafting you away to a different land.

Breckenridge handles

Breckenridge Brewery is ringing in twenty years this month in a fresh, entirely new style.  Locally sourced ingredients, smaller plates, and healthier dining options in addition to an interior renovation has given Breckenridge Brewery a new edge.

Sixteen new taps, several new wines, and house-crafted margaritas on tap will have your thirst needs fully satisfied.  The new taps include Colorado beers such as Boulder Beer, Bristol Brewing, Odell, Oskar Blues, and Ska, in addition to the classics of Breckenridge and Wynkoop Brewing.  For some seasonal cheer, wrap your hands around a tall glass of their Christmas Ale.  Its sturdy texture and rich flavors of caramel and chocolate, will have you doing a little “ho-ho-ho.”

If wine is more of your forte, Breckenridge Brewery offers progressive Colorado selections including Infinite Monkey Theorem’s Monkeyshine White and Red, exclusively available at Breckenridge and Wynkoop restaurants.  Other progressive Colorado wines include Sutcliffe Vineyards from Cortez and Colterris’ Cabernet Sauvignon from Palisade.  If you like to go local, Breckenridge Brewery offers a local wine in each of their wine categories including their wine on tap, bubbles/rose, whites, and reds categories.

In addition to your beer, wine, or margarita on tap, get a taste of Breckenridge Brewery’s innovative cuisine.  The menu includes the classics you know in a form you have never before tasted.  For instance, their mac ‘n cheese is made with smoked cheddar, bison jalapeno-cheddar sausage or even smoked wild boar sausage.  

Even their mustards are homemade, flavored with anything and everything that will stimulate your taste buds from crystallized ginger to apples, or horseradish for a strong, pungent punch.  Wash that down with a cozy, rich Christmas Ale, and you will be complementing Breckenridge Brewery on their recent face-lift.