As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to [email protected].
Number 87: Corn-in-a-cup from Jack-n- Grill
It was my food-fearing neighbor who first told me about Jack-n-Grill,
Jack Martinez's original New Mexican joint on 25th and Federal.
(There's now a second location at 2630 West Belleview). It was ten
years ago, and at the time, Jack-n-Grill had just graduated from a
chile stand to a one-room chile stop with little more than a roaster, a
cook, a couple of pinatas dangling from the ceiling and dusty shelves
littered with every bottle of hot sauce under the desert sun. What a
difference ten years makes.
I've loved this place from the
moment it opened its doors, stopping by at least a few times a month,
kid in tow, for Jack's infallible vaquero tacos, Frito pie, authentic
green chile, his earthy red and the corn-in-a-cup, which isn't just one
of my favorite dishes in Denver, but my solid dependency dish when I've
butchered by belly with whatever vice or addiction that week brings.
The canary yellow corn kernels, bathed in butter, squeezed with lime,
dusted with red chile and doused with hot sauce, should be jarred and
sold. And delivered to my house on a daily basis, so that I've always
got my fix.
Jack, are you listening?
