Changing area gets nod from foodie website

Thrillist.com, the Internet commentator on all things food-related, has chosen RiNo, Denver’s Riverfront North neighborhood, as one of the 18 Best Food Neighborhoods in America.

While RiNo as a destination dining ‘hood is fairly new and continually growing, its foodie scene lacks historical reference to call upon, unlike other neighborhoods in New Orleans, Boston, Charleston, Chicago and San Francisco, which are also on the list.

Here’s what Thrillist said about RiNo, “Once upon a time, this was a neighborhood Denverites would go to if they wanted to have a nice night out … and then get mugged afterwards. Now? It’s practically swarming with hot restaurants and breweries. Part of that is due to The Source, an enormous 20,000-square-foot artisan food market that houses one of Denver’s best restaurants (Acorn), coffee roasters (Boxcar), breweries (Crooked Stave) and plenty more.

“Four other exemplary craft breweries have taprooms in the neighborhood as well, including the Utah-transplant Epic Brewing, which knows (its) way around a sour. For food, Work & Class serves up shared plates of delicious Latin/American food, Cart-Driver is the tiny, high-quality pizza joint every neighborhood deserves, and Los Chingones is the Mexican food outpost of one of Denver’s finest restaurateurs. And for something you likely won’t find in any other city, Infinite Monkey Theorem cans (its) own wine and has an expansive space to drink it in.”

See the other 17 picks by clicking here.

Old-school steakhouses

Thrillist also lauded seven old-school steakhouses in Colorado.

I still get misty-eyed over Emil-Lene’s Sirloin House in Aurora, which closed last spring, but this is an admirable list of steakhouses that get less mention than Elway’s, Mortons, Del Frisco’s, Shanahan’s, et al:

1. The Broker Restaurant, 821 17th St. (Remember the shrimp bowl?)2. Mickey’s Top Sirloin, 6950 Broadway3. The Buckhorn Exchange, 1000 Osage St., where what you’re eating glares down at you in its taxidermy form.4. The Summit Steakhouse, 2700 S. Havana St., Aurora. We used to live within walking distance of this place where American Furniture Warehouse honcho Jake Jabs often bellied up and belted out songs at the piano bar.5. Columbine Steak House & Lounge, 300 Federal Blvd.6. Charco Broiler, 1716 E. Mulberry St., Fort Collins.7. Bastien’s Restaurant, 3503 E. Colfax Ave., home of the sugar steak.

Panzano dish honored

With all the dinners and dining going on at New York City’s revered James Beard House this year, Panzano Chef Elise Wiggins’ braised lamb croquette was one of the 15 favorite dishes of the year, as noted on The Beard House official blog.

Wiggins, along with other chick chefs, whipped up the winning dish during the Denver Women Chefs Rules Beard House dinner in September.

And although the fave dish is not currently on the Panzano menu, the similar crochetta di cinghiale is. The crochetta is a wild boar croquette over marbled potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips and capers sauteed with salsa verde and demi glaze.

Here’s what the Beard blog said about Wiggins’ winning way:

“The dish was all about balance: the rustic comfort of braised lamb shank tucked within in a refined tuile, the crunchy package collapsing around the tender slow-cooked meat.”Wiggins told Thrillist all credit goes to a local producer: `The lamb that I love to use is from Triple M Bar Ranch (just east of Pueblo). The farmers and lamb ranchers work together so there’s no food waste. When all the best melons are picked, they bring in the lambs to eat up whatever is left over. Just like the old saying, you are what you eat, and that diet makes these lambs the most delicious in the world.”

See the rest of the Beard House picks here.

Web readers tout DIA

Although the airport may not be anyone’s favorite place to be this week, Premier Traveler readers have dubbed Denver International Airport the best airport in North America.

“This honor could be attributed to a number of factors, from the plethora of stimulating art exhibitions to the eco-friendly solar energy panels, and from the friendly volunteer ambassadors to the cleanliness in every corner of the hub and the friendliness throughout,” according to www.premiertravelerusa.com. “Regardless, with more than 52 million people traveling through DIA each year, the airport is definitely doing something right.”

CBS4’s Castro headed to NYC

CBS4 posted a note about reporter Valerie Castro leaving Denver for the bright lights of The Big Apple on the station’s Facebook page on Dec. 18.

“Hard to believe, but Valerie Castro came to us as an intern nine years ago. Next week, she’s off to CBS New York. To send her off right on this ‪#‎ThrowbackThursday, we compiled a few bits from her resume reel that got her started back in 2005. Good luck, Val!”

Overheard

Eavesdropping on a post office clerk and a customer shipping a Christmas package:Customer: “How much will it cost to get it there by Friday (two days)?”Clerk: “Fifty-five dollars.”

Customer: “What will $ 10 do?”

Clerk (jokingly, we think): “Get the package halfway there.”

Penny Parker’s “Mile High Life” column gives insights into the best events, restaurants, businesses, parties and people throughout the metro area. Parker also writes for Blacktie-Colorado.com. You can subscribe and read her columns (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) at www.blacktie-colorado.com/pennyparker. She can be reached at penny@blacktie-llc.com or at 303-619-5209.

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