Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2025 i 5280 Magazine

When deputy editor Spencer Campbell began doling out assignments for this issue’s “Find Your Calm” (page 52), I eagerly raised my hand to visit an off-the-grid guest ranch turned creative escape east of Carbondale with my husband. I’m currently blessed with two young children, a clingy dog, the world’s loudest cat, and a magazine staff to care for—and honestly, I couldn’t wait to get away from all of them (sorry, fam!). Beyul Retreat’s rustic-chic cabins looked cozy, and the hot tub and sauna were enticing. But the biggest draw was what was missing: not just Wi-Fi, but cell service. I printed out some crosswords, packed a cooler with charcuterie, and, as we merged onto I-70, declared myself unreachable for the next 48 hours. Relieved of my usual obligations, I expected…

When Cortney Lane Stell was the gallery director at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in the early 2000s, her days looked exactly how you’d expect: hanging paintings on white walls in a cavernous space where footsteps echoed too loudly. “I love those galleries because you can contemplate art without distraction,” Stell says, “but white cubes don’t let you view that art within context.” In 2015, Stell became the founding executive director of Black Cube, a nonprofit museum now known for showcasing contemporary works at unconventional venues. It’s installed pieces in bus terminals, at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and in the middle of the San Luis Valley. “When you place art in unique places, it encourages people to be more curious,” Stell says. This month, Black Cube’s 10th anniversary…

“There’s a very long story behind those beans,” the server at Whittier’s Point Easy said when I asked about the Fremont beans siding a pork chop entrée on the menu. Supposedly, she explained, a small number of the beans were discovered in a clay pot in a cave dwelling in Utah, and a handful were given to a farmer who cultivated enough to sell. Overcome with curiosity, I ordered the dish, and when it arrived, the beans were Jack-and-the-beanstalk huge, purplish, and nearly spherical, plumped from hours of cooking. The interiors were almost meaty and the flavor was bold and earthy. These were no ordinary baked beans. But was the tale true? Point Easy’s executive chef, Reuben Tomlins, wanted to think so. “My rep from our food supplier told me…

PRICE KEY Average Entrée $ under $15 $$ $16 to $20 $$$ $21 to $30 $$$$ $31 and higher SYMBOL KEY Indicates a restaurant featured in 5280 for the first time (though not necessarily a restaurant that has just opened). Indicates inclusion in 5280’s 2024 list of Denver’s best restaurants. These selections are at the discretion of 5280 editors and are subject to change. A5 STEAKHOUSE $$$$ LoDo/Steak House This rarified chophouse by the team behind Tap & Burger features a range of specialty steaks, eclectic sides with Asian influence, and draft cocktails. Never pass up the beef tartare katsu sando and the chickpea fries to start your meal. Reservations accepted. 1600 15th St., 303-623-0534. Dinner ABEJAS $$$$ Golden/Seasonal Enjoy seasonal new American plates at this community restaurant. The ever-changing menu features farm-fresh produce, sustainable fish, and organic…

“I’m attuned to things that are both newsworthy and visual,” Theo Stroomer says. So when the Denver photographer heard about tumbleweeds swallowing houses on Colorado’s Eastern Plains, he began monitoring social media and local news feeds to find out when and where the winds gathered and deposited the dried plants. “Then I started going down the rabbit hole of the culture—the role of the tumbleweed in American life,” Stroomer says. His curiosity led him to a tumbleweed Christmas tree in Arizona, a New Mexico kitchen where he tasted tumbleweed soup (“It wasn’t that distinctive”), and the Colorado State University Weed Research Laboratory. There, professor Todd Gaines, who served as the expert source for Stroomer’s photo essay “Blowin’ In The Wind” (page 64), studies the species’ incredible resilience. “Tumbleweeds are great…

While working a Texas trail race in 2022, U.S. counterterrorism expert turned paramedic Mike Piet was approached to join a volunteer medical mission to Ukraine, where he treated civilians displaced by the war. Two subsequent trips made clear to Piet that Ukrainian soldiers lacked advanced front-line trauma education. He relocated to Erie later that year and, in 2023, co-founded Força Ukraine, a nonprofit that trains Ukrainian soldiers to treat complex blast injuries from heavy artillery, land mines, and explosive drones. Before Piet sets out this month on his eighth mission to Ukraine, we asked him about the challenges the soldiers are facing and the dangers his team—which includes five other Colorado-based medics—experiences on the ground. 5280: Was it difficult to recruit volunteers for Força? Mike Piet: In Colorado, there’s an interest…

Dana Rodriguez’s story has become Denver legend, at least to those in the restaurant world. Here’s the four-sentence recap, in case you haven’t heard about the chef-restaurateur’s rise: A single mom leaves Mexico in 1998 to give her three daughters a better life in the United States. After getting ghosted for a job at Casa Bonita (foreshadowing!), she’s hired as a dishwasher at Panzano, where her hard work and talent turn chef Jennifer Jasinski’s head. Jasinski goes on to open Rioja, where Rodriguez rises through the ranks. She eventually ascends to executive chef at Jasinski’s Bistro Vendôme before opening her own RiNo restaurants, Work & Class and Super Mega Bien—and, oh, earning six James Beard Award nominations along the way. Rodriguez’s experience bears repeating, especially with aggressive U.S. Immigration and…

In September 2012, Curt Hammerly barely survived a bike accident that resulted in seven broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken neck, and a ruptured kidney, liver, and spleen. Countless hours spent on the couch during his monthslong recovery led the then-IT technician to sign up for a class at the Boulder Potters’ Guild, where he learned the basics of working with clay. “I just needed a way to blow off steam,” he says. “I never imagined it would be this wild a ride.” Now 38, Hammerly started his own studio, Hammerly Ceramics, in 2016. He uses software to create intricate, 3D-printed molds that allow for a level of minute detail and geometric precision rarely found in ceramics. His popular Triweave mug, for example, calls to mind a labyrinthine M.C.…

Koya Nyangi once told Colorado Public Radio that fashion has been with her since the womb. So after the native of Nairobi, Kenya, moved to Denver in 2018, she naturally set off for the city’s boutiques to understand what her new neighbors wear. The answer: nothing African. She discovered why two years later. Before starting Let Me Show You Different, which helps Africa-based brands reach U.S. markets, Nyangi surveyed shoppers at FlatIron Crossing mall in Broomfield to gain insight about locals’ perceptions of African style. Overwhelmingly, respondents cited vibrant, colorful tribal prints. “Yes,” Nyangi says, “and also there’s more.” To show Denverites the breadth of the continent, in 2023 Nyangi founded the African Creators Festival, a weekendlong event that showcases the work of African artists—in fashion, fine art, music, and…

Preservation Society Chefs often take the long view, pickling and preserving bountiful produce during harvest season to reduce waste and let guests relive the taste of summer year-round. The proof? Jake Linzinmeir, co-owner of Jovanina’s Broken Italian in LoDo, once bought an entire pallet of foraged chanterelles because “the price was just too good.” He and his staff spent a day preserving the delicate mushrooms to top hearty pastas and pizzas long past the growing season. The chef keeps a formidable crock of giardiniera—carrot, celery, garlic, and other veggies held in stasis through the alchemy of salt, vinegar, and olive oil—on hand to add crunch and zing to mortadella sandwiches. Olathe sweet corn goes into jars with Fresno chiles and rice wine vinegar. “We use this all winter long, mostly…

In her Denver home this past fall, Chelsea Anderson held her iPhone to her face and declared that she was the “best babysitter in the whole world.” She looked bored, unimpressed, and remarkably like the sort of high-school-age gal parents would hire to watch over their brood for a date night. Only, she was 32, with a husband and a mortgage, and she hadn’t babysat in more than a decade—at least not professionally. Blond with blue, downturned eyes, Anderson moved a piece of chewing gum to the other side of her mouth, which was shellacked in a dark pink lip gloss, and offered proof of her prowess to her roughly 40 TikTok followers: “You got some kids who don’t want to put on their PJs? You gotta have a PJ…