Drink of the Week

Tax audits, invasive surgery, DIA over the holidays. Sadly, although people try to avoid such horrors at all costs, it's impossible. On my last trip to DIA, I stood in line for what seemed like a lifetime, only to have Mr. TSA ask me to take off my belt, shoes and sweater. Seriously, I take off fewer clothes on most first dates than I do going through DIA security. Mr. TSA (I think that stands for Terminal Slackers of America) then proceeded to search my entire carry-on suitcase. When he got to my underwear, I asked him to change his nasty-ass rubber gloves that had touched a million offensive items and that I didn't want anywhere near my panties. A glove-change request required a supervisor's approval, so after a ten-minute delay, Mr. TSA proceeded to meander through my unmentionables and finally found the offending item: cuticle scissors. (Bless you, TSA, for saving me from the terrorists who are going to take over the plane with three-inch scissors that barely cut cuticles.) Needless to say, by the time I made it through, I was ready for a cocktail -- no matter that it was only 9 a.m. In order not to look like one of those people you always see slumped over their beers in airport bars early in the morning, I headed straight for the upstairs level of Concourse B, home of Wolfgang Puck Express. The Red Rocks Bloody Mary ($6.80) with Absolut Peppar Vodka, tomato juice and spices helped me forget the loss of my favorite cuticle scissors. A second Wolfgang Puck Express location will open at First Avenue and Fillmore Street on February 9; it will serve only beer and wine, but since you don't have to go through security to reach Cherry Creek, that shouldn't be a problem.