rlm

So where is Miss Mongo anyway? Burnt out from that massive blog he "wowed" us with a couple of weeks ago? 7:30 is fine for me too.

I'll tip 50% at places I plan on returning to solo, not because I'm "apologizing for taking up space," but because they definitely will remember you and treat you very well from that point forward. A nice reciprocal relationship. Besides, I grew up poor but can afford to leave nice tips now, so why not reward people who are working very hard at an often thankless job?

Okay, now that it's summer and the dozen gloomy days in a row seem to be over, I'd like some tips on good places for ice cream in CO (other than the usual suspects such as Marble Slab, Cold Stone, Baskin Robbins, or Dairy Queen). There is one new place in Louisville I've tried that is independently owned--Sweet Buddy Roo's--and I had a fantastic chocolate and marshmallow sundae there. It is unfortunately hidden back in the shopping center on McCaslin near the Home Depot and the old movie theatre. I really hope they make a go of it. I only found out about them from reading an article in the "hometown" newspaper. They were mentioned in the Daily Camera too: Sweet Buddy Roo's Specialty Chocolates and Ice Cream, 1156 W. Dillon Road, Suite 4, Louisville, opened last month offering East Coast-style wicked-good ice cream sundaes, shakes and malts.

Thanks for bringing this up, Tarka. I frequently dine alone at lunch and I'm occasionally treated poorly (on the first trip at least--if you tip well anyway and treat everyone with the utmost respect, they will remember you and give you stellar service on return trips). I know that restaurants need to turn tables and are concerned with revenues, but would they rather have a solo diner who arrives at opening when the restaurant is not busy, orders an expensive appetizer, an entree on the upper end, and possibly dessert, tipping at least 50% due to the fact they are occupying the table solo OR two diners who arrive without a reservation when the restaurant is filling up, order the cheapest sandwiches on the menu, and talk and talk and talk and talk, leaving a 10% tip on what was already a small tab??? Are there lots of solo diners who are worthless tippers and therefore all of us are stereotyped? I would think a solo diner would be preferred since they do not get lost in conversations with tablemates, don't have to wait for other people to peruse the menu and make up their minds, don't have to split the check and make sure everyone is chipping in enough on the tip, and don't occupy the table as long as larger groups.

Really disappointed with a recent visit to Juanita's in Boulder. Maybe we didn't order their specialties. The salsa had a nice bite, but the entrees were unremarkable. Reminded me of Tom's Tavern next door (not offensive but nothing special). Should have walked over to West End and tried their "church picnic deviled eggs" instead.

There is certainly no mistaking The Kitchen for Adega. I like it for what it is--a place to hang out at the bar while a breeze is coming through, have a tasty drink, and nibble on some cheese or dessert. Their food is indeed a little plain, but I can't live on blow-out-the-back-of-my-head green chile alone. Okay, maybe I can. Oh, and I am jealous of that 19 states in 3 weeks thing. You must post about more of your meals & experiences.

On my way back from inhaling a million sublime corn cups at Jack-N-Grill, I noticed a bunch of places on Federal that I haven't seen mentioned here in any detail. Anyone have the scoop on El Mercadito, La Nortena Bakery, Las Palmas, or El Padrino? Any specialties/must-order items? What about Las Delicias downtown on 19th? Ooh, another place to get my Mexican Coca Cola fix! Thank you, katzenjammy. Will have to check that out.

I used to live near one of these in Austin and still get inhuman cravings for their deep fried pickles (of all things). Why did the CO location close? Thanks for the report. Glad you liked Cap. Grille.

Niman Ranch beef grilled with whatever spices/herbs strike my fancy on that day (garlic pepper, cayenne, parsley) along with a bit of Worcestershire and liquid smoke. Topped with melted Swiss cheese goodness followed by raw diced red onions or carmelized yellow/white onions; Claussen dill pickles or homemade spicy bread-and-butter pickles; crispy bacon; avocado slices; ketchup; and either spicy brown, stone ground, or horseradish mustard. Mmmmmmm.

Good-n-greasy fried tacos can be had at Mexico City on Lawrence close to Coors Field. It's a hole-in-the-wall bar one of my co-workers recommended. He said he can only endorse the tacos though and not any of the other items, although a couple of people seemed to enjoy the rellenos with green chile. He found out about it from the owners of Brewery Bar II (who have a fairly decent spicy green chile of their own). I had one steak, one chicken, and one beef taco, all with avocado slices on top. Their salsa is in a squeeze bottle (?!). Stopped by La Popular on the way back and picked up one red chile and one green chile tamale for later (turns out they are pretty good on their own even without my friend's homemade green chile poured on top).

Put me down for two for the Dalat dinner. Yes, congrats to Fred! Where can we get these magical cookies @ retail? Colestove, when are you going to post about your New Mexico trip?

No CFS on this trip. In between announcements for a block of radio programming sponsored by the Emporia Livestock Sales Company (?!) and songs with charming lyrics such as, "You can take the girl out of the honky tonk, but you can't take the honky tonk out of the girl," I heard an ad for a place in Colby called the Deep Rock Cafe that featured the magic word "pie." Unfortunately, they did not have any pies with real meringue and their fries were frozen rather than fresh cut. Good BLT with pickles and only a whisper of mayo so I left a 125% tip (I always figure a server stuck in a rural area can really use the beer money). In a very non-egullet-esque manner, I neglected to eat dinner two evenings in a row. Since I was staying at my cousin's, I was dependent upon the contents of her refrigerator which consisted of various snow cone syrups, Duracell batteries, unwrapped cooked chicken pieces, Kraft powdered parmesan cheese product, Folgers "coffee," Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Pace Mild Picante Sauce, Vlasic Dill Pickle Chips, Kraft Mayonnaise, Del Monte Ketchup, Plains Milk, a pitcher of sweet tea, Head Country BBQ Sauce, 18 eggs, a block of Velveeta, 2 tomatoes, and Shedd's Country Crock. This was very depressing and I wanted to arrange a culinary intervention for her. Since this is a Mexican thread, I can tell you I ate at the Tex-Mex chain El Chico in OK. Passable combination fajitas. I don't think there are any of these in CO. Is the Ajuaa in Broomfield even open yet? Looks like it's going in where the Quizno's used to be before it was seized for non-payment of taxes, but I couldn't tell from the road if it was open or not.

If anyone missed it, a recent Husted column in the Denver Post says that Zengo is now open for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Curious if the menu is different...

I ate at the Boulder Ajuaa about four years ago with a co-worker that recommended it. It wasn't flat-out horrible--just boring. I never returned. I plan on checking out the Flatirons location since it is the only Mexican eatery super-close to us, so hopefully the revamped menu has more sizzle. I am off to the Land of a Thousand Red Lobsters for the next few days, so please send thoughts of good food my way as I am driving across scenic Kansas stopping at Big Wong in Colby for faux Chinese or Montana Mike's in Hays for an eleven dollar steak meal.

I am now in love with their Costillas (Mexican Ribs). It's one of the few items that rated a "10" on the heat scale on their menu. (I wonder...can you ask for the green chile poured over any of the other items instead of the red sauce?) Though not as hot as Santiago's green chile, theirs was very flavorful. Tender ribs were served with "country" potatoes, beans, hot tortillas, and a huge amount of green chile. It's difficult to cut the meat off of the bone without splashing your knife into the chile pool, so don't wear anything white if you order this dish. I was intrigued by their name-sake dish, which was pronounced to be a "manly" meal where they throw a bunch of stuff into a huge tortilla and smother it with "who knows what." Anyone tried this? I love that they have Mexican Cokes made with real sugar cane. Service is extremely friendly and helpful. Prices are a bargain (my ribs were just $8.95). I never would have "just driven by" this place if I didn't know to hunt for it from this list, so thank you.

Elway's steakhouse isn't open yet, is it? It's supposed to be in the old Canyon Cafe space near Cherry Creek Mall. It's listed on opentable.com, but says it's not available for online reservations until after October 10th. I chuckled that the entertainment is listed as being live music featuring the "80's to today's upbeat ballads." What, pray tell, is an upbeat ballad?

Mongo, I cannot stand "snobby" service and I've never encountered it at Adega. Granted, I've never been there without having wine & I've only been three times, but I don't get the feeling that it's a "wine geeks" only type of place.

$69 for tasting menu per person (food only). $45 for the wine pairings per person. With tax that's about $250 + 20% tip or more = around $300 min. You will be stuffed. I only had a $2.00 sandwich from a street vendor at 11 am that day plus a glass of wine @ Cap. Grille's lounge about three hours before our dinnertime. Still stuffed. It's deceptive since they bring everything out in small portions. You can order items off of the regular menu for less. However, I am so enamored with the tasting menu I can't even contemplate the regular offerings. Perhaps someone else can help you with the price points on the regular menu.

Tasting menu has already changed at Adega since jshufelt’s visit. Our two previous trips were near opening in the early evening, but this time we had a late dinner. The service was still good over-all, but had approached perfection before. Food was unbelievable (still my favorite in Denver). If I could get out of there for less than $300, I’d be there more frequently. Our line-up (with links to descriptions of the wines): Amuse Bouche - Chicken Terrine Arugula Vichyssoise Brioche Crisp, Heirloom Relish 2002 Chateau Haut Rian, Bordeaux Sec, France Our main server wasn’t quite as polished and kept going on about the “VEEEK-UH-ZAYZ” on the tasting menu before we realized he meant the Vichyssoise. Small mound of diced heirloom tomatoes with a brioche crisp balanced across the top like a sea-saw. The neon green pureed potato and leek concoction was poured into the bowl at our table. I’m not a big fan of cold soups like this and gazpacho, but the Sauv Blanc/Semillon blend served with it was a perfect sipper for a June evening. Baby Lettuce and Frisee Small Pickles, Chilled Poached Pike, Boiled Egg Dressing 2002 St. Innocent “Shea Vineyard” Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley, Oregon The flavor of the dressing and sweet pickles reminded me of my mom’s deviled eggs (which I love, so that’s certainly not a slam to the chef’s gourmet sensibilities). This tied with the next two courses for being the best of the bunch. Butter Braised Halibut Cheeks Parsnip Mash, Grapes, Sweet Shallot, Parsley 2001 Kooyong Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia Wow. I can’t find the words for this. Succulent. Another server wisely brought by spoons for us since the halibut was sitting in a foamy pool of goodness that was no match for a fork. Who would’ve thought that grapes would work perfectly in this? Amazing. Roast Squab Foie Gras-Fig Ravioli, Rosemary-Riesling Jus, Mint 2000 Heinrich “Pannobile” Zwiegelt/Blaufrankish, Burgenland, Austria Meaty-tasting with a brown jus. My palate did not detect the mint. Tiny, bony portion of poultry with two dreamy ravioli stuffed with foie gras. I can die happy now. I think this is the first Austrian wine I’ve ever had. Certainly the first Austrian red. The young sommelier on duty (not Chris Farnum) indicated the grapes are akin to Pinot Noir and said he’d visited the Heinrich’s winery in Austria and it is “very high tech.” Gratte-Paille Cheese Course Honey Glazed Carrots, Currant Paste 2002 Alfred Gino Bertolla, “Domaine du Granit” Moulin-a-Vent, Beaujolais, France I’d never had Gratte-Paille before (think Brie meets L’Explorateur). Yet again, the chef blew my mind by pairing a cheese with items that didn’t sound all that fabulous (Carrots?! Currant?!), but it worked. How do they work this voodoo magic? My only real quibble is we had our cheese course on the table for five minutes and the accompanying wine had still not been poured. We had to alert another server walking by. When you’re paying an extra 45 bucks a head for Wine Pairings, you’d like them to all be served with the courses. Crème Fraiche Risotto Pudding Vanilla Cookies, Macerated Cherries 2003 Marenca “Pignoto” Brachetto d’Acqui, Piedmont The red sparkling wine (which reminded us of Lindemans Kriek) and the cherries made this work. The risotto base was not sweet on its own.

In nearby Carbondale, Chef Mark Fischer of the excellent Six89 opened Phat Thai just down the street.

I nabbed a picnic table outside @ Santiago's and it wasn't too bad, although it would have been fun to eat at one of the stools in the ordering area and take in the sounds of Mexican rap music (too crowded though). Ah, so Rezzo is Italian. I just spied it while driving around gawking in a post-hot-green-chile haze. Still speaking of Lafayette, has anyone been to their wine festival that is coming up again in June? Go or Pass?

Hey, afoodnut, I finally tried Santiago's in Lafayette. Thank you for the recommendation! I had the gooey cheese enchiladas smothered with the hot green chile. OH MY GOD. That was EXACTLY what I get in the mood for from time to time. The parking lot was...uh...entertaining to navigate and I'll have to remember to bring silverware next time (cutting enchiladas with plastic utensils in a styrofoam container requires more skill than I apparently have). Ephrains was discussed before & the one on 63rd is on my list to try, but what about the other places nearby in Lafayette like Casa Alvarez or Rezzo? Any good?

Good places for cheese: 1. Boulder Cheese Company at 1731 15th Street across the street from Liquor Mart. They have a cave-aged Gruyere. 2. Marczyk Fine Foods at 17th Ave and Clarkson in Denver. 3. Cook's Fresh Market on Belleview in Greenwood Village just south of Denver. 4. New Wild Oats flagship store in Superior off of Hwy 36. 5. Whole Foods. They do not just have "healthy" foods. You can buy triple-cream cheeses here too.

Wow. Thanks for the detailed post, jshufelt. I've only been to Adega twice (once more than Sting), but now I am reminded why I should return soon. I want to check out Chef Moscatello's new place in Cherry Creek, Mirepoix, first though.

The issue with Wine Spectator's cover story "Great Dining in Las Vegas" that features Picasso is dated April 30, 2004. Picasso was rated 96 on food, 94 on wine, 95 on service, 97 on ambience (with an overall average of 95). It out-scored Piero Selvaggio Valentino, Aqua, Aureole, Le Cirque, Renoir, Bradley Ogden, Nobhill, 808, and Osteria del Circo.