Hush "spring chicken" dinner with Sweet Basil chefs was windy, but the dishes flew right

Seven kitchen guards from Vail's Sweet Basil, including sous chefs Chris "Cactus Jack" Douglas and Chris "Cupcake" Youmans, braved the gales, unseasonably cold temps and rain on Saturday night, when they left the snow-thumped ski resort to cook at the fourth Hush Denver dinner on the rooftop of the Denver...

By Lori Midson

May 17, 2010

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Seven kitchen guards from Vail's Sweet Basil, including sous chefs Chris "Cactus Jack" Douglas and Chris "Cupcake" Youmans, braved the gales, unseasonably cold temps and rain on Saturday night, when they left the snow-thumped ski resort to cook at the fourth Hush Denver dinner on the rooftop of the Denver Art Museum Residences. The menu, paired with wines, included six courses, all of which featured chicken in one guise or another. "It was definitely a challenging menu, but everyone else usually does menus with lamb or pork, and we wanted to do something that people don't see all the time," explained Douglas.

Hush Denver, the underground supper club that holds monthly dinners to promote up-and-coming Colorado chefs, already has its summer soirees in place, which you can read all about after the jump and food porn show highlighting the dishes that graced the tables at Saturday night's feast.

Chicken rillettes, red onion marmalade, green garlic aïoli and dehydrated chicken skin "chips." Chicken consommé, chicken heart gelee, shaved truffles and edible spring flowers. Grilled artichoke, grilled frisee, one-hour egg, chicken bacon and sorrel sprayed with a citrus vinaigrette. Kohlrabi, fava beans and pea trendils floating in a tamari-mushroom brodo. Capon stuffed with Swiss chard and morels; boudin blanc with fennel, onions, spring vegetables and fricassée. Mile chocolate "chicken egg" in a dark chocolate shell, anise, apricot chutney and mocha fluid gel.

Upcoming Hush Denver dinners:

Sunday, May 30: "Horton Cooks For You!" event featuring exec chef Kate Horton from Black Pearl and wines from the Infinite Monkey Theorem.

Sunday, June 13: "Dinner and a Show" event featuring Jeff Osaka from twelve, live music and chef demos.

Sunday, June 20: Hush Boulder launch featuring Tim Payne of Terroir in Longmont. The event is a fundraiser for Slow Food Boulder.

All dinners begin at 6 p.m.; to purchase tickets, go to www.hushdenver.com

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