How much I love good food is no secret. When I heard that a new restaurant would be opening in the location formerly occupied by Southern Hospitality in Denver I was looking forward to learning more about the new concept. Sorry to JT [Who was a part owner in SH] but Rose & Thorn is literally 1000x better.
Described as latin style street food the upper level of the property houses an upscale dining experience perfect for date night or getting together with family. Ironworks and draperies combine with an amazing lighting design to create the perfect intimate environment right in the heart of the city..
Downstairs the Double Barrel Club showcases a classic speakeasy vibe with Cuban inspiration. With the goal of becoming the home to the largest selection of rum in Denver, the Double Barrel Club is perfect for happy hours, bachelorette parties, or just a low-key place to grab a drink with friends. The full menu is available on both levels but the ambiance is entirely unique.
In addition to the public bar, rum aficionados can join the private rum room with a membership fee of $5,000 annually. The cost includes a bottle of rum and access to the room whenever it is available, providing the perfect solution to business meetings, football parties and beyond.
Back upstairs for dinner I couldn’t wait to try out the Ice Lab. Designed as a feature in the entrance of the restaurant the lab itself is a patented process for high end mixology. Each drink is paired with an option of savory or sweet ice that has been infused to change the flavor profile of the drink as the night continues. Instead of watering down a drink, the Ice Lab creations enhance them.
My pick for the evening was the Aqua Vitae with Rosemary Lemon while Drew tested out the Aqua De Rosa with Raspberry Rose. You can not beat the presentation of these drinks and the flavor was amazing. I am typically a slow drinker so being able to experience the changes in the Aqua Vitae as the ice melted made it feel like each sip was a new drink entirely.
We started off the evening with three sharing plates, Pork Belle Carne Frita, Crab & Piquillo Cheese Dip and Tostone Al Ajillo. With generous portion sizes these three dishes could have easily been a stand alone meal.
Fried and roasted the Pork Belly was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. Big thick pieces made this a rich and flavorful start to the evening. Eating each bite required starting out by cutting from top to bottom with a steak knife, that’s how thick this pork was! The crispiness alongside the full flavor of the pork makes for dish I would order again.
We previously had a neighbor who invited me over for fried plantains so when I saw the Tostone Al Ajillo on the menu I had to give it a try. Double fried each plantain chip was rich in seasoning with a satisfying crisp.
After eating through the first two starters I wasn’t sure if I ‘needed’ the Crab & Piquillo Cheese Dip but it looked so good I had to forge onward. Creamy an served on French Bread crostini’s the dip was much lighter then I expected and I was able to easily eat several without feeling overfull before dinner.
For our mains we chose the Carribean Curry Chicken and Pabellon Arepa to share. Let’s start off with the Carribean Curry Chicken because I could literally talk about it all night.
It’s hard to cook chicken in a way that turns it into fork tender meat but this award winning dish does that and more. The recipe is direct from Chef Jose’s grandmother’s kitchen and he literally doesn’t allow anyone else to prepare it. This dish is a labor of love and it shows. Each batch is marinated, frozen and marinated a second time before it goes into the kitchen for final preparation. What comes out to the table is a holy grail of curry. Every bite was the perfect combination of coconut, spice and smoke.
After having this dish I know I definitely could get along with Chef Jose’s grandmother.
If you’ve never had an Arepa before it’s a bit of a unique experience. Traditional Arepas similar to a pita, using a corn meal wrap to convey the filling into your belly. That said I’ve never had an Arepa like the Pabellon before. The wrap was the perfect thickness and didn’t overpower the rich full bodied taste of the shredded beef inside. Rose & Thorn’s beef recipe is seasoned with 23 herbs and spices making it unlike any meal you’ve ever experienced before. Each Arepa is served with a fresh and bright side salad that includes the resturants signature Sofrito Dressing. With the consistency of ranch, Sofrito is so-so much more. It’s hard to say you really love a salad dressing but in this case, they’ve completely earned that title.
For dessert we wrapped up the meal with Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream served alongside lemon cookies filled with Carmel. While the ice cream itself is not made on location it is made with the chef’s recipe. That recipe is one for chocolate magic. A hint of chili brings a unique taste that is the perfect compliment to the rich smooth chocolate.
I’m excited to see such an innovative menu and creative take entering the Denver restaurant scene. I can’t wait to come back to try out brunch and want to put together a big group to check out their ‘Whole Suckling Pig’ experience. With the ability to serve 12-15 guests the Suckling Pig requires a 2 day notice but if the curry is any indication of why that time is worth it, I can’t wait to check it out myself!
Rose & Thorn is located on 17th & Blake Street. You can visit them online at their website, Facebook or Instagram.
Disclaimer: I was hosted at Rose & Thorn to facilitate this review. All photos, thoughts and opinions are my own.
It’s chile season in Denver and that means road side stands have popped up all over town offering bushels of fresh roasted chiles for a steal. Green chili is a Colorado winter staple and the true ‘Coloradoan’ way to make it is with fresh chiles that you cleaned and froze earlier in the year. In a pinch you can use canned but in my opinion it’s just not the same.
As a Colorado Native buying and cleaning roasted chiles is a fall tradition I love! Moving outside the state it never felt like fall because other areas of the country just don’t have the crops to support the big scale roasting stands we have here. They do sell fresh roasted chiles at Central Market in Texas, but I’m not sure where else you can get them. If you are somewhere else in the US, please comment if you know where to find Chilies in your area!
Shopping at a road side stand means the best deal will be on a full bushel. Sometimes you can buy less, but it’s not as good a value. If you have the space just go for an entire bushel and hand off whatever doesn’t fit in your freezer to neighbors and friends. The stand we went is located off 92nd and Federal (in Federal Heights) and bushels were $40 buy one get one free.
You start off by picking the level of hotness you want in your chile. Since these are fresh less is usually more, unless you really do love extra spicy. We went with one bushel of medium and one bushel of hot. Usually I would actually get a mild chile but at the time there were not any available.
The roaster tosses all your chilies into a propane powered roaster and spins the chilies until they have a nice crispy look. This is when they load them into a big trash bag for you to take home. Pro Tip: Bring a cooler for your car and toss the chilies in there to prevent filling the car with the smell of roasted chilies.
Once home, leave the chilies in the bags overnight to cool. This allows the chiles to ‘sweat’ and will make it easier to remove the skins. The bags will begin to drip so you can either keep them in the cooler or toss them into a sink.
Once you start cleaning you need a large sink, two plastic colanders and a pair of rubber gloves. Chilies are spicy and the capsicum will get into your skin and cuticles. If you don’t use gloves, definitely don’t plan to touch your eyes for a few days!
Turn the sink on low and run the chilies one at a time under the water. The skin will peel off quickly and you can toss it into the first colanders. I then place my clean chilies into the second colander.
If you like heat, leave the caps and seeds on your chiles. If you do not, remove the tops and wash out as many seeds as you can. The spiciness lies in the chile seeds.
Once you have finished the first cleaning round I like to go through the entire batch a second time as I place them into 1 qt freezer bags. I usually count out 20 chilies per bag.
A single bushel produces about 6-8 1 quart bags depending on the size of the chilies. Once everything is sorted and cleaned, lay them flat in the freezer and the chilies will keep for up to a year!
Frozen green chilies are perfect for making Pork Green Chili, breakfast casseroles, chili relleno and more. Do you have a favorite green chili recipe? Leave it in the comments!
Growing up just north of Denver summer the highlight of the season was always heading to the water park owned by the city. As a child I assumed that every town had a local water park for the kids to play at. Once I realized that wasn’t the case it became obvious how lucky my community was to have such an amazing parks and recreation team creating attractions like Water World for us to enjoy.
Water World is a 70 acre park featuring 48 attractions throughout the park. This summer the park celebrates 40 years and of those, I’ve probably experienced 15-20 summers as a park goer.
One of my best friends father’s worked as an EMT at the park during the summer, so as soon as we were old enough to explore on our own we were able to spend long days in the sun getting tan while floating around the lazy river. Once I was a bit older my friends started working at Water World, meaning on their days off we’d again spend hours hauling tubes up hills and snacking on dip’n’dots.
As an adult getting to spend a day at Water World is a special occasion that makes reliving childhood a real and tangible experience.
My favorite way to start the day is by heading directly to the Voyage to the Center of the Earth. This ride opened around the time that I was first allowed to visit Water World by myself with friends. I love the dark tunnels full of animatronic dinosaurs and the surprise of water falls just as you float around the corners of the ride.
After Voyage the next stop is Storm. Storm opened a few years after Voyage and the line is never as long. Fully enclosed, your raft goes through fast-paced twists and turns while water comes from every angle.
When these two rides are through I like to go back to the Thunder Bay for a snack and to reapply sunscreen. Thunder Bay is the large wave pool with a single tidal wave that floods the area every 15 minutes or so. As a child there was a video on PBS that showcased exactly how the wave worked. I honestly can’t remember the details, but I do remember watching the video over and over again so apparently the partnership worked!
Thunder Bay is surrounded by lounge chairs and areas to lay out on a towel for a rest. I like to set up my towel in this area because it’s centrally located. One of the best things about Water World is being able to pack in a picnic for the whole family to enjoy. I like to fill up a cooler with snacks, sodas and water with the plan to pick up lunch at one of the concession stands.
After filling up on treats there is no better time to float the day away in the Lazy River. This is always one of the most popular areas in the park so it might take a while to snag one of the communal tubes floating by.
Following Lazy River I like to head to river country where tube rides for both family rafts and individuals can take up a huge chunk of the day! Each ride requires picking up the corresponding tube at the bottom of the hill and bringing it up to the top to start the ride.
Once my calves are burning from the hills it’s time to head back to Thunder Bay to snag lunch from one of the concession stands. Water World is known for their affordable concessions so it’s easy to feed the whole family for less then $20.
With 72 acres of rides, its nearly impossible to see them all before it’s time to head home but after lunch I like to grab a ride on the Gondola out to the Fun House. With several areas for clowning around in the water the best part about the Fun House is if the Gondola gets drenched on it’s ride in. This is the furthest south area of the park and there are more slides before walking back up towards the rest of the park to call it a day.
I love that this amazing amusement park is just in my own backyard and something I can share with family and friends when they come to visit. Summer just isn’t complete without a trip or two to Water World!
Disclaimer: I received complimentary park tickets to facilitate this review. All writing, photos and opinions are my own.
I am truly a sucker for a good costume party, and when the theme is 1920’s that’s an event that I HAVE to attend. Hosted by Give 5 Productions this summer’s Cottonwood Club extravaganza transports you back in time to to when there were more sequins than belly buttons and an outfit was incomplete without the right hat.
We attended the inaugural Cottonwood Club taking place at the newly renovated Ironworks Denver and I loved how the venue naturally fit the theme of the event. Located just a few blocks from Mile High Stadium this the historic event venue originally opened in the early 1900s as the home of Midwest Steel, one of the regions foremost steel manufacturers. Many of Colorado’s landmarks came to life within these walls, including the Royal Gorge Bridge and Denver’s City and County Building. The building recently underwent major restorations brining it back to life as an art deco inspired event space – perfect for a speakeasy brought to life in 2019.
Put on by Give 5 Productions the Cottonwood Club is more then an event. Each Give 5 extravaganza helps the production house give back 5% to non-profit organizations annually.
Like I said originally, a good costume party is my jam. I ordered my dress for the evening from Rent the Runway. I’ve been a Rent the Runway ‘Pro’ for the last several year’s and I love how easy they make it for me to dress the part for special events. The Pro members provides free shipping and insurance for every order I place, plus a complimentary dress each year for my birthday. For events like this one, renting a dress is perfect because it’s unlikely I will need a 1920s-esque dress to wear again and they dry clean each item before it heads out the door. Full of sequins and lace this is the Like To Party Dress from Nicole Miller.
Once at the party it really did feel like being transported back in time, with the addition of modern lighting and cell phone cameras. Throughout the evening a wide variety of performers took the stage, ranging from the tap dancing Honey Taps to the fusion music stylings of the Black Iris Collective.
Everyone in attendance donned their 1920’s best, making the party even more festive. Themed cocktails brought the speakeasy vibe to life and complimentary snacks served by ‘cigarette’ girls were available throughout the evening.
It was a blast and I’m definitely putting it on my list to attend one of the next events with a group of friends. The June Cottonwood Club is the first of a series of events, the next one coming up on July 26th. Tickets are available online and are limited for each event, making this an exclusive event you want to plan ahead for.
Disclaimer: I received tickets to this event to facilitate this review. All thoughts an opinions are my own. Some links are affiliate links.
