Thursday, July 13
Whole Beast Feast
Hearth & Dram
1801 Wewatta Street
303-623-0979
The Whole Beast Feast is a five-course collaborative dinner between Hearth & Dram executive chef Jeffrey Wall, chef Jason Zygmont of the Treehouse Nashville, Bob Perry of the University of Kentucky Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Working Group, and Kevin Nashan of the Sidney Street Cafe in Saint Louis. Each will create a dish from a different section of a whole pig for a pre-dinner reception at 7 p.m., as well as for the main dinner at 8 p.m. Beverage pairings are also included in the $150 ticket price. The pork will be sourced from Corner Post Meats in Colorado Springs, while produce will be provided by Woodland Gardens, an organic grower in Athens, Georgia. Tickets are still available on the Slow Food Nations website, and a portion of proceeds will go to Slow Food Denver.
Slow Food Nations is a great excuse to check out Annette and the Stanley Marketplace.
Danielle Lirette
Annette
2501 Dallas Street, Aurora
720-710-9975
If you haven't ventured to the Stanley Marketplace yet, tonight offers a great excuse to get there. Annette, a specialist in wood-fired cooking, is serving a four-course dinner prepared with seasonal ingredients "inspired by the ethos of Slow Food" and served at the charming restaurant's community table. For $65 per person (or $120 for two), guests will enjoy butter lettuce and tarragon salad with pickled onions, candied sunflower seeds and ricotta salata; grilled miso green beans with sesame and garlic; pork belly with cherry agrodolce, kale, onion butter and millet; and roasted chicken with Pedro Ximenez sherry vinegar, spring onions and dandelion greens.
The price also includes one mezcal cocktail, and a separate wine pairing can be added for $30. Seatings are at 5:45 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and are limited to ten customrs per seating. Call the restaurant to see if any seats remain.
Friday, July 14
Downtown Urban Farm Tour and Lunch
Blue Bear Farm at the Colorado Convention Center
700 14th Street
303-228-8082
You've seen the giant Blue Bear statue peering into the window of the Colorado Convention Center, but did you know that the big guy (or gal, perhaps) has its own urban farm? You can experience Blue Bear Farm, an urban farm located behind the Denver Center for Performing Arts, at 11 a.m. with a tour and lunch made with ingredients fresh from the dirt. Blue Bear is managed by Produce Denver, which bills itself as an "edible landscaping company dedicated to increasing and ensuring access to fresh, local, organic food." The three-course lunch, prepared by chef Bryan Zimmerman many different vegetable from the garden: Fairytale eggplant (a petite purple-and-white variety), tomatoes, arugula, dragon tongue beans, garbanzos, carrots and basil, to name a few. Tickets are thirty dollars each and there will also be a cash bar.
Colorado-Made Block Party
Larimer Square (Larimer Street Between 14th and 15th)
Slow Food Nations has teamed up with the Colorado Tourism Office to bring the Colorado-Made Block Party to Larimer Square. The Block Party celebrates Colorado farmers, ranchers, producers and chefs with a range of Colorado food demonstrations and tastings. There will also be a bar with beer, wine and spirits produced in the Centennial State. Tickets are $69 per person for the event, which runs from 6:30 to 8.30 p.m. on Friday, July 14.
The signs are already down at McCormick's, which served New Year's Eve dinner before closing.
Mark Antonation
Slow Food Nations Film Cafe
Urban Farmer
1659 Wazee Street
Urban Farmer is a soon-to-open restaurant at the Oxford Hotel that is dedicating its space to the best short films from the first four years of the Flatirons Food Film Festival. Stop by between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. for movies, snacks and drinks. See the event's web page for a complete list of the films being screened — all of which are free.
Love the Earth, Defend the Future: Taking Action to Protect Our Food
Larimer Square (Larimer Street Between 14th and 15th)
Here's a chance to find out what you can do to help protect the future of slow food, from the leaders who have helped shape the movement for several decades. From 10 to 11 a.m., enjoy a discussion from Carlo Petrini, founder and president of Slow Food International; Alice Waters chef, author and founder of Chez Panisse; Ron Finley, known as the “the gangsta gardener”; Michel Nischan, chef, author and advocate for sustainable food systems and social equity through food; and Jack Johnson, musician and proponent for sustainable local food systems.
Oyster 101 Workshop
Jax Fish House
1539 17th Street
303-292-5767
If you didn't make it to the Oyster & Shrimp Throwdown on Wednesday, catch Jax executive chef Sheila Lucero along with Nacio and Deckman back at Jax for the Slow Foods Oyster 101 Workshop on Saturday, July 15 at 11 a.m. You'll learn about oysters from three regions: Baja, the Pacific Northwest and Virginia. The $40 tickets (which include tastes of signature dishes from all three presenters) are still available for the workshop. You can pick up your ticket on the Slow Food Nations website.
Graniacs! An Ancient Grains Block Party
Larimer Square (Larimer Street Between 14th and 15th)
Several stations will be set up on Larimer Square from 3 to 5 p.m., where prominent bakers, including chef Kelly Whitaker of Basta in Boulder, will be cooking up grain-based specialties and giving demonstrations on kneading, milling and cooking. Tastings will include regional American breads made with flour from Eataly in New York City, as well as grilled flatbreads from the participating chefs. As a bonus, you'll get to mill and take home your own flour, along with recipes from the chefs. Tickets are $69 each; you can purchase them on the event website and see a list of other participants.
Sunday, July 16
The Art of Day Drinking
Cooper Lounge at Union Station
1701 Wynkoop Street
"There’s not much better than being just a little buzzed on a beautiful and sunny day," say the organizers of this delightful offering. Learn the art of buzz maintenance (sometimes called philosophical drinking — meaning you never get too drunk to discuss philosophy) from Chad Michael George, 2016 Food & Wine Best New Mixologist, certified sommelier and co-owner of the Way Back and American Grind. This intimate cocktail-making workshop and "spirituous strategy session" will cover low-alcohol aperitifs and beer and wine cocktails. Then you'll get to make your own signature Pimm’s Cup. Forty bucks gets you in the door at 9:30 a.m for the one-hour session — just make sure to arrange transportation for the trip home, or hang out for other Slow Food events and keep your buzz going.
Cooking Perfect Mushrooms
The Gallery Bar at Union Station
1701 Wynkoop Street
After filling up on naturally raised Colorado pork at Hearth & Dram on Thursday night, you'll want something a little lighter when next you see chef Jeffrey Wall. On Sunday, July 16, Wall will lead Cooking Perfect Mushrooms from 1 to 2:30 p.m., so you can learn how and where to buy mushrooms, as well as five simple steps to perfectly prepared them. The demonstration and tasting will include: roasted chanterelles, leeks and corn with butter and preserved lemon; hen of the woods with celeriac and aged vinegar; and glazed shiitake with bacon and potatoes Tickets are $40 each on the Slow Food Nations website. Don't go back to Hearth & Dram for this one; the chef will be leading the class at the Gallery bar at Union Station.
