You know that moment when you wake up in the middle of the night and have an epiphany? You even write it down.  That’s what happened to me one night when I came up with the concept for a food and beer tour app.

I’d like to introduce you to Fun Food Tours. Not only is it Denver’s only food and beer tour app it’s the only one in the country.  Matter of fact, if you know of a food tour app in the country, please email me at becky @ culinaryconnectors (dot) com and I will buy you a drink! As of March 16, 2015 we’re still in development but, don’t let that discourage you.  Sign up for our newsletter and we will send you information when it’s ready.

Matter of fact, we’re looking for beta testers, so, if you’re interested in taking a FREE (we did say free) tour, sign up and when we are ready we’ll email you the instructions on how to download the app.  Don’t be selfish, share it with your friends, we want to get at least 50 surveys completed so we can make sure we work out all of those pesky kinks before we launch to the rest of the world…I mean Denver.

Thanks to all of you who have supported our chef and beer geek led tours, we haven’t completely gone away, we just offer those on a private basis now.

Yours in food and beer!

Becky Creighton

President

The Denver Beer fest runs from September 26th to October 4th and features more than 300 beer related events around Denver. This is a perfect opportunity to sample of Colorado’s best craft brews and participate in some unique events related to beer.

One event going on this weekend for Denver Beer Fest is the 45th Annual Denver Oktoberfest. The event is free to get in. Purchase tickets at the event to sample various beers and German food. This event is not to miss; Denver Oktoberfest has gotten national recognition as one of the country’s best Oktoberfest. Denver Oktoberfest is located between 20th St and 22nd St on Larimer St.

This weekend would also be an opportune time to try Culinary Connectors craft beer tour happening on Saturday September 27th from 2-4pm. Tickets cost $29 and include plenty of beer sampling.

To keep up with all the events for Denver Beer Fest, check http://www.denver.org/denver-beer-fest/beer-fest-events/. This webpage will tell you what’s going on what day, how much the cost is and where the event is.

Argyll Whiskey Beer is a GastroPub with high caliber food, drinks and the warmth and ambiance of a 100 year old pub. Argyll Whiskey Beer focuses on whiskeys from all over the US, Canada and Europe. The cuisine focuses on local ingredients, flavorful sauces and some menu items with a Middle Eastern influence.

Argyll Whiskey Beer recently opened in Denver under Robert Thompson, creator of the Punch Bowl concept. Argyll has received much attention as a go to destination for Denver with it’s unique concept, delicious food and hand crafted drinks. Happy hour drinks include $4 beers, $4 selected whiskeys $5 punches and $5 wine glasses. They have brunch cocktails like mango mimosas, Irish coffee and rum punch for two.

Take advantage of the knowledgeable staff at Argyll to expand your drink choices and pairing with food, and try some of their different whiskeys and cocktail drinks that are new to you. They feature over 200 whiskeys, 20 draft beers and a global bottle selection.

Argyll Whiskey Beer is located at 1035 E 17th Ave. Denver 80218. 303-847-0850.
Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm
Friday 11am-2am
Saturday 10am-2am
Sunday 10am-9pm
Happy Hour Monday-Friday 3:30-6pm

Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill is located on Blake Street in LoDo and serves up some of the best gastropub fare in Denver. Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill uses the freshest ingredients possible and dynamic flavor profiles that set itself apart from sub-par cuisine. The standard is set high for quality, and almost everything is made in house- even their ketchup. Some of the unique food at Jimmy’s includes:

-Fresh cut beer battered fries
-Greek nachos with fresh cut pita chips, hummus, gyro meat, red pepper aioli and raita sauce
-Jimmy’s Jambalaya- family recipe with crawfish, chicken Andoullie sausage, Basmati rice and flat bread
-African chicken sandwich- spicy crispy chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, red onion, hot honey sauce, meleguate creme on a brioche roll.
Blake Street bison- sliced Bison tenderloin, pasta, heirlooms, spinach, Brussels sprouts, Italian cheeses, balsamic reduction.

Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill also serves a delicious brunch on the weekends with bottomless mimosas. Happy hour is everyday from 4-7pm, and Wednesdays wine bottles are HALF OFF.

Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill is located at 1530 Blake St. Unit B, Denver 80202.
Phone # 303-298-5000.
Monday and Wednesday 11am-10pm
Tuesday and Thursday 11am- Midnight
Friday and Saturday 10am-1am
Sunday10am-9pm

mmm…COFFEE is Denver’s first strictly Paleo coffee shop, located in the Santa Fe Arts District. Owners Derek and Jami Fynboh serve top notch coffee with organic fair trade espresso, homemade grain free baked goods and granola and serve savory soups and salads all with organic vegetables, free range, wild caught or grass fed meat and eggs.

mmm…COFFEE prides itself on serving the freshest, highest quality ingredients. The Paleo Diet has become very popular, and mmm…COFFEE sticks with the Paleo principle of cutting out grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugars and vegetable oils. Even if you’re not Paleo, you will appreciate the excellence in coffee and food mmm…COFFEE has to offer.

mmm…COFFEE serves the increasingly popular BulletProof coffee which is 2 tbsp grassfed butter, 1 tbsp medium chain triglycerides (MCT) in a double Americano. Give it a try if you’ve never had it before; it is a rich, satisfying drink. They do serve regular espresso drinks as well.

mmm…COFFEE is located at 910 Santa Fe Dr. Denver 80204. Phone # is 720-881-1750.
Open Tuesday- Friday 7am-7pm, Saturday 9am-5pm

When you stroll through Larimer Square, make sure you stop at Whatever Pops Up, a gourmet popcorn store because the tastes you find here are unlike anywhere else.  You will find unique flavors like dill pickle, buffalo and blue cheese, pizza, cherry cordial, peanut butter and jelly or maple bacon- just to name a few!

Owner Elizabeth Zimmermann is the master mind behind Whatever Pops Up, and she creates all the unique flavors on the spot in the store.  There are always new flavors coming in and out, so each time you come in you are bound to see something new to catch your eye.  The best thing is you can try a sample of a flavor before buying.  Zimmermann uses quality ingredients and keeps it simple without adding extra preservatives.  The kernels come from Indiana, are non-gmo and are popped in coconut oil.

Need a gift for someone?  You can ship the popcorn anywhere in the country for a birthday, Christmas or anytime fun gift.  Whatever Pops Up is one of the highlighted tour stops on Savor the Flavors walking tour with Culinary Connectors.

Whatever Pops Up is located at 1423 Larimer St. Suite 055, Denver 80202. Phone # 303-257-7205.

Monday-Friday 10am-7pm

Saturday 10am-6pm

Sunday Noon-5pm

Culinary Connectors now offers Denver craft beer tours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.  These tours are the best way to tour and taste some of Denver’s best breweries.  Denver has one of the nation’s most diverse and top notch breweries in the nation.  Culinary Connector’s Denver craft beer tours will give you an inside look into how the craft beer is made and an opportunity to taste different samples of craft beer around the city.

All the Denver craft beer tours have 3 stops- 2 different tap rooms and 1 local brewery and 3-4 beer tastings at each stop.  Thursday’s tour from 4-6pm rotates between LoDo (Lower Downtown) and Ball Park neighborhoods with stops at Wynkoop Brewery, Blake Street Vault, Stoney’s Full Steam Tavern, Star Bar and The Lobby.  Friday’s tour from 4-6pm is in LoHi (Lower Highlands) neighborhood with stops at Highland Tap & Burger, Ale House and Prost Brewing Company.  Saturday’s new tour from 2-4pm in LoDo at Jagged Mountain and The Lobby.

 Tickets for Denver craft beer tours cost $29, and tickets sales close at 12pm until the day of the tour.  Maximum capacity for the tours are 15 people.  Schedule your Denver craft beer tours soon to experience and learn about some of Denver’s best craft brews.

Culinary Connectors offers walking and top restaurant tours around various neighborhoods in Denver.  One of the stops on the Savor the Flavors tour with Culinary Connectors is EVOO in LoDo.  Culinary Connectors usually stops at restaurants, cafes to show case the tastes and skill of Denver neighborhood chefs, but we also highlight unique food pairings as in the case of EVOO.  EVOO was founded in 2008 by Mick and Carolyn Major when they moved to Denver from Appleton, WI to open EVOO.  They pride themselves on show casing genuine, fresh quality products and encouraging customers to sample the products before they buy.

EVOO Market Place

You won’t find any sub-standard run of the mill olive oils or balsamic vinegars like from a supermarket; instead you will find olive oils from the Northern and Southern hemispheres that have multi-layer flavor profiles and textures.  There are infused flavored olive oils that will astound your taste buds: white truffle, garlic, Persian lime olive oil, and on and on.  During a Culinary Connector tour, you will learn first hand from Mick the differences between olive oils, what to look for and the differences between flavor infused and flavor fused olive oils.

Participants on the Culinary Connector tour will be able to sample oils and balsamics at a discounted price specific for this tour.  Click here for more information on Culinary Connector tours and what else you can expect on the tour.

EVOO is located at 1338 15th St. Denver 80202.  303-974-5784

Open Monday-Saturday 11am-6pm; Sunday 11am-4pm

There are other EVOO locations in Littleton, Aspen and at the Cherry Creek farmers market.

Where can you taste some of the best food and cocktails from Denver’s top restaurants all in one place?  It’s not too good to be true- it’s possible at the chef and bar tender competition Toques and Tails on May 22.  Toques & ‘Tails was created to showcase the chef and bartender talent of Denver in a fun, interactive and fun competition.  Guests will be able to walk around the venue trying the food and drinks from these eight participating restaurants:

-Central Bistro and Bar

-Lower 48

-Old Major

-Session Kitchen

-The Squeaky Bean

-TAG

-The Corner Office

-ACE Eat Serve

Guests will have the chance to cast a vote for the people’s choice for best cocktail, best dish and best dish and cocktail pairing.  There are also two professional judged rounds.  The first round will be judged on bartenders creating a classic recipe and cocktail.  The second round will be judged on food and beverage pairing from each restaurant.  Judges for this event include:

-Anu Apte owner of Rob Roy in Seattle, internationally known cocktail bartender

-Tiffany Derry who appeared on Top Chef and will be on a new 2014 TV show “Hungry Investors”

-Liza Weisstuch an American Contributing Editor to the UK based Whiskey Magazine and a contributor to Whiskey Advocate

-Nico de Soto, decorated bartender and recently named one of New York City’s Top 5 bartenders for 2013

-Clayton Chapman, nominated for numerous James Beard Awards and highlighted by Cooking Light Magazine as one of the top “Trail Blazing Chefs”.

There will be numerous ambassadors from Colorado mingling and eating with guests including Alex Seidel chef/owner of Fruition, Amanda Faison food editor of 5280, Andra Zepplin Editor of Denver Eater and many more.

General admission tickets are $45, and VIP passes are $75.  You can purchase tickets online; make sure to get them before they are gone.  Toques and Tails is on Thursday May 22 from 6-9pm MST.

Venue address: 2620 Walnut St. Denver, CO

The charity that will be donated to for this event is Share Our Strength No Kid Hungry.

For questions about Toques and Tails, call Culinary Connectors at 303-495-5487 or email foodie@culinaryconnectors.com.

Forget the artificially flavored, colored and super sweet popsicles you remember from childhood.  Aiko Pops is a modern day popsicle shop serving artisinal, fresh, homemade, preservative free popsicles along with hand crafted sandiwches, soups and fruit de pate.  The flavor combinations are constantly changing, as Aiko strives for quality products and unparalleled creativity.  Where else can you find a cucumber sesame, avocado orange, peach chamomile or goat cheese/honey/date popsicle?

Aiko Pops was started in 2011 by owner, Christopher who started peddling a bike around Denver farmers markets with unique flavored popsicles.  Aiko continued to grow with more and more bikes, and soon grew into having a store front on South Pearl street complete with an outdoor patio.  Adults and kids a like fell in love with the simple, quality fresh tasting flavor combinations from Aiko.

The name Aiko means love child in Japanese, as Aiko Pops is and was started with passion, fun and love.  The highly creative, unique and ever changing menu items are designed to match the freshest ingredients available and in season.  Don’t just assume it’s a popsicle shop; the sandwich and soup menu is just as high caliber as their frozen treats.  The pate de fruit is also a must try; they are simply fruit, pectin, citric acid and sugar.  They come in unique flavors such as strawberry balsamic, prickly pear and melon lime.

Aioko Pops is one of the stops on the Culinary Connector Savor the Flavor tours in the South Pearl St. area.  You may also see an Aiko Pops bike around other parts of Denver, as they are selling popsicles in many locations.

Aiko Pops is located at 1284 S. Pearl St. Denver 80210.  Phone # 303-996-6400.

Open daily 11am-8pm.