A new salad restaurant concept recently signed a lease for their second Colorado location which is planned to open later this year in LoDo.  Choppers Custom Salads, based out of the DTC, will open in a 2,300 SF location at the base of the 1755 Blake development.  You will be able to pick one of four types of lettuce (romaine, iceberg, spring mix & spinach) and up to four ingredients (“choppables”) which will then be chopped up (it would appear by a mezzaluna) and served with one of twenty dressings. 

They charge $5.50 for a small and $6.50 for a large with extra ingredients and some “choppables” costing more.  They also have featured salads like “The Colorado Cobb”, “The Ninja”, and “The Chopper”.  I think it is great that LoDo is getting a new fast casual dining option for its many employees and residents.  I will be interested to see how it stands up to Mad Greens and Green Fine Salad Company.  Location wise they will have the salad market cornered for the foreseeable future.

H Burger CO will hold their grand opening on February 10th.  When I first posted about this new restaurant back in October, the name on the liquor license application and on their window sign was H Burger Lounge.  They have a website up now and you can get a preview of their menu here.  Their home page says they open on the 8th, but on Facebook they just posted that it will be the 10th.  I think the Chinois Chicken Salad, Sweet & Spicy Wings and Truffle-Parm Fries all look good - they will have a full bar as well.

On Saturday night we were guests at a wine tasting presented by Yelp at Lala’s Wine Bar + Pizzeria located at 410 E. 7th Avenue in Capitol Hill.  We have frequented Lala’s (previously Sparrow) since they opened.  We have been for brunch, dinner and most recently their late happy hour.  The same team that operates Govnr’s Park Tavern around the corner opened Lala’s in September of 2008.  I have enjoyed witnessing their progression over the past year into a fun place that is often packed and serves good food at reasonable prices.

The room quickly filled up but there was never too long of a wait at the bar or the two wine tasting stations.  Our first passed appetizer that we sampled was “Roaring 40’s blue cheese and strawberries wrapped with a chive” which was a nice way to begin.  We tried the Lunetta Prosecco from Italy as our first wine.  It was clean, fresh and something I would serve at a brunch or party at home.  Next we tried the Matua Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand which was hands down my favorite - it was more on the fruity side (grapefruit and grass with good acidity) than others I have tried.

Next we sat down at the bar to sample a new cocktail called “For the love of Root” which was smooth and not too sweet.  Root is a new liqueur that is only available in Philadelphia - they brought in a couple of cases for the event.   They combined muddled orange, cardamom seeds, lemon zest and Root with splash of soda and served it on the rocks.  As the evening progressed we got to try “Crispy Speck topped with sweet potato puree, toasted pepitas and balsamic drizzle” and “Smoked salmon stuffed pinwheels with arugula pesto mascarpone with black sea salt.”

We also tried the Delas Cote du Rhone from France, Filus Malbec from Argentina and Mas de la Dame Grenache Syrah from France.  For dessert there was an assortment of bite sized truffles; Ancho chili cocoa, amaretto cookie crumb and lavender sugar (totally awesome).  They have a large front patio and the weather was nice enough to hang out and enjoy our wine.  We had a great time and it was fun to experience Lala’s in a party atmosphere like this.