Last week I attended the grand opening of Jiberish on Platte Street in the Lower Highlands.  Jiberish is a Denver based hip-hop and snowboarding apparel company that was founded in 2005.  This flagship, located at 1621 Platte St., Unit F, is the first retail location.  The event was fun featuring a mini fashion show and culminating with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.  While the clothing is not for my demographic this is a very exciting and welcome development for Downtown Denver.  I wish Dave, Pete and Gabe all the best in this new endeavor.

On the evening of Veteran’s Day I attended “A Night in Old Union Station”.  This was a gala to benefit the revival of the former welcome (Mizpah) arch which was originally built in 1906.  Located at 17th & Wynkoop, the arch was removed in 1931 when it was deemed a traffic hazard.  We entered the cavernous waiting room and it surprisingly brought back fond memories of taking the train back to Chicago to visit family in Wisconsin for Christmas ages ago when I was a kid .  Buffet stations and bars were set up in various locations and it was fun mingling about to see the who’s who of guests in attendance.  My favorite part of the evening was when we took the tunnel under the station out to the train tracks where two of the luxury club cars from the former Ski Train cars were open to tour.  Having never been on the Ski Train it was so fun to experience the different rooms, wood paneling and elegant furnishings which made you feel like you were stepping back in time.  It felt like I was in that scene from White Christmas where Danny, Bing, Vera and Rosemary sing “Snow!”.  We ended the evening on the second floor balcony overlooking the main waiting room which was gave us a great vantage point to watch the film that was commissioned for the event.  Denver is very lucky to still have a station like this and I will remember this night for many years to come.

Belatedly I am posting about my experience at this year’s Taste of Colorado which was held in Civic Center Park over Labor Day weekend.  I volunteered on Friday night so I went early to walk around and check things out.  While some elements were still being completed for Saturday, the crowds and energy were fun.

My favorite area as always is the fine dining area and the culinary showcase where they have celebrity chefs doing kitchen demonstrations.  There was a wide variety of music and other performances throughout the evening.  Even though I am a native I still am amazed at how beautiful the park, the fountain and its surrounding buildings are - the dome of the Capitol at dusk was stunning.  I tried chocolate covered bacon and bacon ice cream for the first time, both were interesting.  I also had my first Chicago dog at Mustard’s Last Stand.  Taste was a great way to wrap up a summer that just flew by.

I found out about a fun photo contest that the Four Seasons Private Residences Denver is doing called a “Room With a View”.  They are looking for photos of what makes Downtown Denver unique and special.  All photos submitted are then voted on and the top twenty most popular photos will be entered to win prizes. 

The prizes are pretty impressive and include a $500 gift card to REI, a pool party for 10 on the Four Seasons pool deck (when it opens), a private cooking lesson from acclaimed chef Kevin Taylor, a press box visit to Coors Field and $100 gift cards to the Wynkoop Brewing Company, Breckenridge Brewery, Flying Dog Brewery and the Falling Rock Tap House.  You can enter your photos here.   Good luck!

Last Sunday we attended La Piazza Dell’Arte in Larimer Square.  We had brunch at Rioja and walked around checking out the artists and their work.  Brunch was good, I had their benedict and their Rioja Mary’s still come with the pickled green bean garnish.  Just like last year this event was well attended and all of the work we saw was impressive.

This year my favorite pieces were the classical Italian ones but there was an amazing amount of variety of subjects and styles.  Before brunch the weather was great but afterwards it started sprinkling and then by the time we left it was pouring.  Weather aside (our journey home was quite the adventure with the hail) we had a great time.  The last photo was taken at the loft - I still cannot believe how quickly this weather rolled in.

Denver Restaurant Week 2009 will be February 21 - 27.  The list of participating restaurants is now up on the web.  We have been participating since Denver Restaurant Week started in 2005 and usually go out with friends a couple times and then once for a special romantic dinner.  For 2009 they have a record 198 restaurants that are participating and I am happy to see that all of our favorites have joined again this year.

Keep checking the website as eventually all of the menus will be up which helps you decide which restaurant you will go to.  I highly recommend making reservations as soon as you can because they get completely booked.  I like that a very wide range of cuisines and price points are among the choices - it is up to each restaurant if they will offer lunch or dinner or both.

Last Sunday we had brunch at Bistro Vendome in Larimer Square.  Despite the weather it was packed and the food was as always delicious.  We also wanted to check out all of the holiday garland that was installed the weekend before.  I think it looks (and smells) very festive and was a great way to celebrate the holiday season in Downtown Denver.       

A team of volunteers from the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus (DGMC) make it an annual tradition to spend a Saturday morning in late November hanging hundreds of feet of fresh pine garland that adorn every window and door frame in Larimer Square.  I have always admired how great this part of Larimer looks during the holiday season but did not realize a non-profit group did all of the installation.  I think we just might make this brunch excursion a holiday tradition going forward!  The DGMC has a series of holiday concerts coming up, you can find out more about them here.

One of Lower Downtown’s oldest historic buildings has been restored and reborn as an office building.  The Rocky Mountain Seed Company building at 1321 15th St. is now the headquarters for Johnston Wells Public Relations.  Renovation work just wrapped up and the staff of Johnston Wells moved into their new home on October 6th.  The Rocky Mountain Seed Company had their headquarters and retail store in the building from 1920 until their relocation in 2007.

I have always known the 114 year old building for its bright aquamarine color and the quirky window displays.  I have to admit that the building looks incredible and I think this is a great example of adaptive re-use of a historic structure.  You can see how remarkable the transformation is in the series of photos taken throughout this process.  Johnston Wells has been in Downtown Denver for 37 years and moved from Writers Square which was recently sold to a new out of state owner.  This is certainly a win-win for Downtown and I look forward to the companion building around the corner on Market St. being restored and brought back to life as well.

I started this post two weeks ago but have been so distracted with the economy, traveling and the election I forgot to finish and post it!

A couple of weeks ago on Friday night we grabbed dinner and a show as part of special someone’s birthday celebration.  We had dinner at Osteria Marco in Larimer Square and then saw the late performance of comedian Jim Gaffigan at the Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre at the DCPA.  I was surprised to see that the menu at Osteria had already changed - they did not have the sauteed mushroom antipasti I was hoping for - but the pizza I have posted about before was still good.  Our server presented us with a Lemoncello cocktail instead of dessert which was quite unique.

Seeing comedians at the DCPA is becoming one of my new favorite things.  Previously we had see Kathy Griffin in the same theatre.  Jim Gaffigan, who we have seen many times on Comedy Central, was hilarious and he even did an encore!  Even though our show started at 10:30pm (the first show sold out) I was pleasently surprised to see the theater packed and the throngs of people milling about after the show.  Denver continues to evolve into a real 24/7 city.

On Tuesday we attended the the 21st Annual Uptown Sampler.  We spend a lot of time on 17th in Uptown and have seen signs for it but this was the first year we bought tickets.  We started at Strings and moved our way down 17th.  At each participating restaurant there were “samples” of cuisine that were included with your ticket price and you could then buy wine or cocktails etc. 

Some restaurants had a lot more to offer but overall it was fun walking from place to place and checking everything out.  One huge standout for us was one of the newest eateries on 17th - D Bar Desserts.  Located at 1475 E. 17th Avenue, D Bar Desserts opened in the spring of this year.  Our sample there was an awesome chocolate mousse parfait dessert that was topped with crumbles of chocolate shortbread.  The space itself is very well designed - clean lines, modern, calming and very elegant.  Center stage is the pastry case where you can buy confections a la carte and next to that is a large open display kitchen where we saw desserts being made.  They also have a great patio right on 17th.

What was special about our visit was that the owner and chef, Keegan Gerhard, himself was on the patio serving patrons.  Up until now I had only seen him on Food Network when he was competing in all of those ultimate pastry championship competitions.  If our sample was any indication we are going back as soon as we can to try their food - they serve lunch and dinner as well.  I am so excited to see the culinary scene in Denver taken up to another level!