Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2015 i 5280 Magazine

Several weeks ago, our family drove to Winter Park Resort for our first ski trip of the season. We had signed up our boys, seven and five, for lessons, and while they were learning about hockey stops and parallel turns, my wife and I headed o_ on our own. For a warm-up, we descended Lower Hughes, a run that frequently includes a racecourse. As it turned out, Winter Park was hosting a slalom event that day, and as I eased my way down the hill, I could see the racers ripping through the gates. For a brief moment, my personal mantra—DON’T FALL!—was replaced by the thought of Mikaela Shiffrin, the wunderkind from Vail who took home the slalom gold a year ago at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Shiffrin,…

As with any large-scale international event—especially one with live TV broadcasts to 750 million global viewers—police will be on high alert. Beyond the backpack checkpoints and FBI surveillance cameras around Vail and Beaver Creek, authorities are implementing the “See something, say something” motto. More than 2,500 event volunteers have been trained to spot and report suspicious behavior during the event. Although Vail police chief Dwight Henninger insists the operation is “not very James Bond–ish,” Vail has installed 21 new cameras to bolster the FBI surveillance and will use the town’s police gym as a command post to monitor the action.…

In 2013, Jeff Macco, co-founder of Denver app development company App It Ventures, lost his top two software developers within two weeks of each other. “Everything blew up in my face because I couldn’t find the talent to replace them,” Macco says. So in May of that year, he started SeedPaths, which trains disadvantaged young people to be developers via a twomonth boot camp, then places them with companies. The goal is to improve the prospects of low-income young adults while addressing the state’s tech talent gap (and make a profit, too). Seed-Paths uses proceeds from its placement division (and federal grants) to cover the training—80 percent of students don’t pay a dime. Of the 30 who graduated from the first three classes, 24 found jobs within 90 days, at…

FOR JUSTIN CUCCI, one man’s trash isn’t just another man’s treasure—it’s an entirely new restaurant interior. The chef and restaurateur behind Linger and Root Down stalks eBay and Craigslist for assorted bits to use as design elements in his future projects. He stows his finds— whether they’re 30 pink locker doors or 100 bowling balls—in three warehouses around town. Consider it hoarding with a purpose, one that Denverites will see on display in Ophelia’s, a new bar and music venue at 20th and Lawrence streets slated to open March 1. As Cucci readied to launch the space in the historic Kopper’s Hotel and Saloon (also a former adult bookstore and peep show), we took a walk through the miscellany-jammed storage rooms to glimpse his design mind at work. 100 X-RAY…

MUSIC Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton FEB. 6-FEB. 7 Absorb the quirky darkness of Tim Burton through soundtracks from his myriad films, as played by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Composed by his longtime friend Danny Elfman, who has scored all but two of Burton’s major releases, the songs range from comical (Edward Scissorhands) to sinister (The Nightmare Before Christmas). In the background, projections of big-screen clips, along with Burton’s original drawings and story boards, will provide context for Elfman’s dramatic melodies. Fri 7:30 p.m.; Sat 2:30 p.m. Boettcher Concert Hall, 1000 14th St., 303-623-7876. $22-$84. Wale FEB. 2 As a vocalist, Wale manages to fit into the worlds of both underground rap and pop music. His go-go- infused sound helped the emcee gain notoriety in his…

Euclid Hall 13 17 14TH ST., 3 03-595-4255, EUCLIDHALL.COM When it comes to a good beer bar, size doesn’t matter. This is certainly the case at Euclid Hall, where a glance at the list of 15 draft beers might leave you thinking it’s a bit, well, inferior to joints that tout 75 tap handles. But Euclid Hall has actually done you a favor by keeping things simple. A dedicated home brewer with degrees in biology and chemistry, bar manager Chris Sage maintains an expertly curated tap list, which means there’s no need to scan pages of brews worrying you might select a dud—because there are no duds at this Lo Do mainstay. An autumn trip to Euclid revealed everything from in-town favorites such as Great Divide’s Fresh Hop and Avery’s…

Mercantile Dining & Provision UNION STATION, 1701 WYNKOOP ST., 720-460- 3733, MERCANTILEDENVER.COM Like the trains and buses just beyond its doors, Union Station’s five-month-old Mercantile is a restaurant in perpetual motion. From the seasonal menu, which shifts from small bites and sandwiches during lunch to farm-fresh plates at dinner, to the rotating cocktail menu, no visit is ever the same. Foodies will appreciate the four-top counter spot near the bar that allows diners to peer into the kitchen, where they’ll see executive chef Alex Seidel’s creations coming to life: house-made Burrata and pork pâté, Fruition Farms ricotta gnocchi, and family-style dishes such as the Creek stone rib-eye. But our favorite perch is at the concrete-topped bar. Scoot a stool close and opt for the Drinker’s Choice: Simply tell the talented…

What was it like for Williams & Graham to be named one of the 50 best bars in the world by Drinks International magazine? The fact that a Denver bar got recognized in the top 50 is pretty insane. It’s even more insane that it’s our bar. [Kenyon owns W&G.] For a place that is not in a major city to get into that top 50 means that a lot of people have been to your bar because none of the 350 worldwide judges can vote on a spot they haven’t been to. The odds are stacked against any small city. It’s more of a nod to Denver than W&G. How’d you get started bartending? I’m a third-generation bartender. My brother and I grew up in my father’s bar in…

GUARD AND GRACE 1801 California St. guardandgrace.com For more on our ratings, visit 5280.com/ratings. THE DRAW A multi-textured dining room, upscale service, and a menu of steak-house classics alongside more inventive options. THE DRAWBACK Given the price, many customers will expect perfection, which the restaurant has not yet achieved. DON’T MISS The Groni cocktail with Lambrusco; chilled lobster; oak-grilled carrots; Mexican sandwich; side-by-side tasting of three grades of beef; shishito peppers; au gratin potatoes; Kit Kat dessert; toffee cake DETAILS Entrées at dinner, $16 to $60. Complimentary valet parking. Open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Saturday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations encouraged. WHEN I MOVED TO DENVER eight years ago, a seven-ounce, 28-day-aged Manhattan cut New York strip was…

It might seem out of place at a ramen shop, but tiramisu is Tokio chef and owner Miki Hashimoto’s favorite after-dinner sweet; he couldn’t leave it o_ the menu. At his seven-month-old downtown eatery, pastry chef Moeko Shibuya created a Japanese take on the dessert that replaces the traditional coffee flavor with a refreshing hit of green tea. Both the sponge cake and the mascarpone are infused with green tea liqueur and tea that is imported from an esteemed factory in Shizuoka in southern Japan (where Hashimoto is from). The result: bites of airy, not-too-sweet cake that will satisfy your dessert craving and cleanse your palate. Make sure to ask for two forks. 2907 Huron St., Unit 103, 720-639-2911, mytokio.com…

KELLY BASTONE With the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships returning to Colorado this month, 5280 contributing writer Kelly Bastone thought now was the perfect time to profile 19-year-old skiing phenom Mikaela Shiffrin (“Fast Lane To Glory,” page 52). “Winning an Olympic gold medal might seem like the ultimate victory,” Bastone says, “but for Mikaela, it’s only the beginning.” Even for Bastone, it was easy to forget that Shiffrin is just getting started. “She’s so articulate and poised,” the writer says. “You get tricked into thinking she’s decades older than she is.” Bastone’s work has also been published in Outside and Runner’s World. AARON COLUSSI Boulder-based photographer Aaron Colussi had already visited many of the bars he shot for “Cheers!” (page 44) outside of work, but he still learned a new…

PREY FOR GOLD Rarely in the world of extreme sports does a track, park, or, in this case, ski run last longer than a season or two before elite athletes demand a tougher challenge. Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey course is an exception— it’s outlasted an entire generation of skiers. When the resort hosts the first FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on U.S. soil in 16 years this month (February 2 to 15), it’ll be on the same Birds of Prey that debuted in 1997 World Cup races. Designed by Swiss Olympic gold medalist Bernhard Russi, the course replaced the three-and-a-half-mile-long 1989 World Championship Centennial run, which by the late ’90s no longer challenged competitors whose speeds and skills had evolved beyond what the terrain offered. The result of Russi’s…

RESUMÉ NAME: Louie Psihoyos AGE: 57 OCCUPATION: Filmmaker; photographer; executive director of the Oceanic Preservation Society in Boulder Your first movie, The Cove, was a huge success. Are you concerned about Racing Extinction living up to expectations? A lot of filmmakers told me not to bother making a second film. They always suck. It’s going to be impossible for people not to compare Racing Extinction with The Cove, but I think Racing Extinction is going to be more engaging. The Cove was hard for people to watch; it turns out people don’t like to see real-life horror. This new film is more exciting. More uplifting. I know it sounds like a depressing topic, but it’s another eco-thriller. Why is sticking to that genre, the ecothriller, so important? Documentaries that just…

The holiday hustle has ceased, the cold has set in, and it’s officially the best part of ski season—all good reasons to spoil yourself with the Four Seasons’ new spa treatment especially for the Centennial State’s active population. The Evergreen Massage pairs evergreen essential oil with heated bamboo “energy healing sticks” to create a musclemending, deep-tissue massage. Before you shake your head at “energy healing sticks,” consider: The redemptive bamboo rods have been used for centuries to help repair overtaxed bodies. “Many ancient cultures used bamboo in spiritual and healing rituals,” says LizBeth Peter (pictured), senior massage therapist at Four Seasons Hotel Denver. “We use warm, smooth bamboo stalks in a variety of sizes, lengths, and shapes to artfully massage tension from tight muscles.” The service (50 or 80 minutes;…

SPLURGE If the flame of a candle can’t adequately express your burning desire, Crested Butte Nordic Center has a solution: a torch. Its Magic Meadows Yurt Dinners, every Saturday through March 21, feature a torch-lit, one-mile ski or snowshoe route that ends with a five-course meal and music under a domed tent. $75 per person; cbnordic.org Apologies to Billy Idol, but the whitest of weddings occurs on Valentine’s Day at Loveland Ski Area, which will host its 24th annual Mountaintop Matrimony mass wedding at the top of lift number two. You may kiss the bride on the way down to Loveland Basin (though that’s probably not safe), where cake awaits. $63 (two-for-one lift ticket); skiloveland.com There’s more than one way to get your heart pumping this month—like Cupid’s Undie Run…

First, an admission: I’m a bandwagon old fashioned drinker. A few years ago, I became hooked on the series Mad Men. The show’s protagonist— Don Draper, a smooth-talking, chain-smoking ad man with a mysterious past—swills old fashioneds like water. Fueled by a gigantic lapse in logic, I began mixing Draper’s drink at home for a semiregular nightcap thinking I’d somehow also inherit a bit of his suaveness. What I got was not a lesson in being cool, but rather an education in what makes a good cocktail. With three ingredients—bourbon or rye, bitters, and sugar—an old fashioned is, technically speaking, a simple drink. That doesn’t mean, however, it’s easy to execute; with so few ingredients, there’s no room to hide. A killer old fashioned is eminently balanced: The whiskey shouldn’t…

GABOR’S 1984–2012 With its vinyl red booths, cheap pitchers, baskets of fries, and killer jukebox that boasted everything from indie rock icons to jazz maestros, Gabor’s was, as one regular remembers, “where every great Cap Hill coming-of age story started.” B-52’S 2000–2006 A bizarre two-story marriage of dance club, sports bar, and pool hall, B-52’s is perhaps best remembered for what it became after its sudden shutdown in 2006: The Real World Denver house. ROCK BAR 2006–2012 A gritty dance spot on the bottom floor of an even grittier East Colfax motel, Rock Bar helped redefine “dirty dancing” for the Mile High City and laid down the foundation for a new wave of bars along this stretch. RACKHOUSE PUB 2009–2014 Don’t panic; it’s not gone for good. Last year, this bastion of local craft…

À Côté 2239 W. 30TH AVE.,303-477-1111, ZCU ISI N EONLINE.COM While the wine and spirit list at cozy little À Côté—French for “next door” (in this case, next door to sibling restaurant Z Cuisine)—spans the globe, almost all the specialty cocktails are anchored by Colorado spirits. À Côté pays particular attention to liqueurs from Golden’s Golden Moon Distillery, one of the only spirit makers in the country to distill its crème de violette—a key ingredient in the aviation, a classic gin drink—from actual violets. But then, we’d expect nothing less from chef-owner Patrick DuPays’ farm-to-table eatery, which was founded on the principle of eating locally. Between the expansive absinthe menu (two are from Colorado), wainscoting, over-the-top chandeliers, gold lettering on the windows, and French films, this chic sidekick might appear…

1 Make a simple syrup: Bring ¼ cup water to a boil and add ½ cup Savory’s Black Onyx Chocolate Sugar. Stir until dissolved and cool. Once room temperature, place ½ ounce of the simple syrup, 2 to 3 splashes angostura bitters, and 1 brandied or maraschino cherry in a chilled old fashioned glass. Muddle. 2 Add ½ ounce freshly squeezed orange juice, 2 ounces whiskey (preferably rye), and a few ice cubes. Gently stir. 3 Garnish with an orange twist and a brandied or maraschino cherry. Sip and repeat.…

WITH NEW MICRO- AND NANOBREWERIES opening seemingly every week, it’s an extraordinary time to be a beer drinker in Colorado. And, in many cases, small-scale is better when it comes to craft brewing. At the forefront of this trend is Jamie Wells, owner and head brewer of one of the smallest operations in the state, the eponymous J Wells Brewery. Wells has impressed serious suds lovers with a variety of big, British-style bitters and by using water that mimics the mineral makeup of H20 from Burton-upon-Trent, England. His tap list also includes a number of hop-forward beers such as Hop Haze, Wells’ flagship IPA, which delivers massive hops flavor balanced with a dose of malty sweetness. We caught up with the Boulder brewer to talk about what’s on tap. 5280:…

6 People who were out of the country when editorial assistant Mary Clare Fischer called to factcheck the information and quotes in “Fast Lane To Glory” (page 52): skier Mikaela Shiffrin, plus her mom, dad, brother, boyfriend, and coach. (International calls be damned.) 2 5280 editorial employees who were rushed to the emergency room during the production of this issue. Both are doing just _ ne now. 1 The number of times senior editor Kasey Cordell was almost run over by a car during the November snow storm while on a reporting trip for “Cheers!” (page 44). 7 Days the 5280 staff lost from its typical monthlong production cycle for this issue, thanks to Christmas and New Year’s. (Don’t most people want to take vacations?)…

Eagle County is about to get crowded. For 14 days this month, 150,000 people— roughly three times the county’s population—are expected to descend upon Vail and Beaver Creek for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. From February 2 to 15, 700 ski racers from 70 countries will compete in this biennial contest, which hasn’t been held in the United States since 1999 (when it was also at Vail and Beaver Creek). This time, all of the races will take place at Beaver Creek, with most ceremonies held in Vail Village. To prepare for the influx, Eagle County spent four and a half years and $58 million morphing into a world skiing stage second only to the Olympic Games. Here’s how. WIRED Vail facilitated a $7.2 million improvement of cellular…

If a spa day doesn’t fit into your schedule during this short month, bring the indulgence home with products from Sunnyside’s 10-month-old R.L. Linden & Co. Step one: Brew up Linden & Co.’s Ms. Tilly Rosalie’s Beauty Tea, a rose, hibiscus, and linden loose-leaf mixture that creates a heavenly scented facial steam and a tart cup of tea. Step two: Coat your face with the Bee Charmer refining cacao-honey mask—a moisturizing concoction stuffed with antioxidants and made with local honey and cacao from Ritual Chocolate. Step three: Wait 15 to 20 minutes. Step four: Wash face. Sip tea. Nibble a little Ritual chocolate. Sigh. lindenbeauty.com…

5280: How do single Denverites meet? NICOLE I recently tried Tinder. It’s just a giant joke. I was propositioned for three separate threesomes. JOEY Tinder is sort of like drunk texting. NICOLE I haven’t had much luck at the bars, either. JOEY They get pretty sloppy. I meet a lot of people through sports. I play volleyball three times a week. I play kickball. If you’re active, you’re going to meet active people. NICOLE A lot of the men here are transplants. They come to Colorado with the idea of adventure, so they go skiing all the time, they go hiking, they do all these things, which is fabulous. But they don’t really need a girl because they have their bros. And Tinder. JOEY I moved here when I was…

As a younger man, I had the very self-satisfied impression that drinking alone was a retrograde activity, something for drunks and degenerates and the friendless. It didn’t take long for the cruel circumstances of the real world to disabuse me of my pretensions. After a particularly bad day, I did what any 23-year-old with an affinity for drinks would do: I headed to one of midtown Manhattan’s dive bars and got suitably hammered. By myself. It was a valuable learning experience. After recovering from that monster hangover, I resolved not to drink alone ever again. And then, years later, my longtime girlfriend and I broke up. I moved in with buddies who had strange work schedules, and often I’d find myself wandering to my neighborhood bar, solo, for drinks after…

Over time, as the editor of four bar feature stories, the one-woman bartender in a Belfast bar, and a solo diner when I moved to Colorado three months before my fiancé arrived, I’ve spent a lot of hours on my own in bars. The upside, though, is that drinking alone gives you the opportunity to appreciate the little things that get lost in the company of others. Like the things that make a good bar. Not a sports bar or a dance club—I’m talking about the kind of spot you turn to for refuge or for celebration. A bar is a funny thing in that it serves dual purposes for drinkers: Some are there for laughter, others for solitude. But if you botch any of the little things, you’ll ruin…

Bartenders slinging craft cocktails and chefs growing their own seasonal ingredients have primed our city for the next wave of locally made goods: Independent designers, artisans, and creators—collectively described as “makers”—are filling studios and workshops across Denver and cranking out beautiful, practical, handmade products. This craft revolution is right at home in the Mile High City, where it’s easier—and hipper—than ever to buy local goods. Need an introduction? We tracked down 10 of the city’s finest craftspeople. Their handmade products—ranging from handsome wood furniture to all-natural soaps—are proof the “small-batch” label isn’t just relegated to the kitchen anymore. HIM CLOTHING On a small table in his dining room, Hugh Hartigan gently sets out a series of neckties, bow ties, and pocket squares. The pieces are impressive for their thoughtful color…

WHEN THE WORKDAY comes to a close, I often opt for a quick bite—something small to carry me over to a late dinner. One of the best spots to find this kind of snack is the five-month-old BSide in Uptown, whose menu leans on simple variations of comfort food. I jokingly refer to the happy hour menu as the “after-school special.” That’s when the eatery presents a lineup of $4 and $5 dishes reminiscent of eats that might have been waiting at home when you got o_ the bus: smashed, fried bologna sandwiches with American cheese, mustard, and pickles; grilled cheese with Gouda and peppered bacon; plates of assorted pickles. It’s the BSide’s icebox chicken, however, that keeps me coming back. OUR FAVORITES Happy hour prices Icebox Chicken $4 Smashed…

Symbol Guide Indicates a restaurant featured in 5280 for the first time (though not necessarily a restaurant that has just opened). Indicates inclusion in our annual list of Denver’s best restaurants released each October. These selections are at the discretion of 5280 editors and critics and are subject to change. Indicates inclusion in our annual list of Denver’s best new restaurants released each March. These selections are at the discretion of 5280 editors and critics and are subject to change. THE DOLLAR SYMBOLS included in each listing indicate how much you can expect to pay for an average dinner entrée: $ Average entrée under $10. $$ Average entrée $11–$15. $$$ Average entrée $16–$25. $$$$ Average entrée $26 and higher. A ACE EAT SERVE $$ UPTOWN AREA / ASIAN / Josh…