In Spain, revelers eat 12 grapes on New Year’s Eve, hoping to inspire good luck throughout the next year. We wanted to bring some of that New Year good luck to local sippers with a grape cocktail fashioned by the folks at Amaro Drinkery Italia, the modern cocktail lounge nestled between Arugula Bar e Ristorante and Tangerine.

While Challenging Elements is usually all about food, we opted for a cocktail challenge in celebration of the fast-impending New Year and its bubbles and brouhaha. Offering Champagne to any bartender or mixologist would be like giving salt to a chef. So, we went for the next best thing: grapes.

Christian Renault, “The Frenchman,” grew up working the bar in his family’s French restaurant back east, leaving at 16 to tour with the Grateful Dead. These days he tends bar in Arugula and Amaro. I ask him if he prefers the term “mixologist.”

“Well, let’s just say I don’t subscribe to titles,” he says.

Which, at first, made me a little nervous. If one thing can be said for the recent artisan cocktail movement it’s that drinkers benefit from the re-popularization of carefully crafted concoctions. Amaro’s specialty drink list includes Negroni, Amaretto sour, lots of local brands, house-made sour and the Tipsy Garden, including sauvignon blanc, Belvedere pink grapefruit vodka, fresh muddled arugula, lemon and soda. All of which are positive indications of Amaro’s aptitude.

Then Renault brought out what he calls The Grape Escape, a name I instantly loved due to its puniness. Renault muddles Leopold’s gin (a local) and shavings of ginger with white grape juice and a handful of white grapes and ice. He shakes and pours, making the martini glass glow with a light, opaque green. The Grape Escape is a lovely little drink: crisp and cool and not at all a drink you’d associate with the holidays. But it does remind me of winter and it goes down smooth, so I don’t mind. There is balance and depth. While gin is not my booze of choice, Renault ensures the sweetness of the grapes and spice of the ginger mellow out the juniper in the gin.

“The grape has pretty easy, simple flavors. Vodka would have been too plain, and you probably wouldn’t even be able to taste it. The gin brings something to it,” he said. “It’s very easy to drink, and it appeals to both men and women.”

It all makes me begin to think, who needs bubbles?

You can try out The Grape Escape at Amaro Drinkery Italia through January. Amaro is located at the northwest corner of 28th and Iris at 2785 Iris Ave. in Boulder. Find details at arugularistorante.com/amaro

The post Challenging Elements: Grapes appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Openings/Closings

Happy closed its doors and reopened as simply The Bitter Bar. According to a release, the bar will serve the same cocktails by the same mixologists, with the addition of “delicious, straight forward, American bar food and decadent, intelligent, well-made desserts.” /Azitra, an Indian restaurant, opened at FlatIron Crossing in Broomfield. /Your Place or Vine, a wine bar offering wines by the glass, craft beers and Mediterranean-inspired small plates opened in Prospect, Longmont. /Another small plates restaurant, Riffs Urban Fare, opened in Boulder in the former Book End Café space on the Pearl Street Mall. /Minglewood opened in east Boulder. The owners describe it as high-end deli during the day and a bar at night.

News

Colorado brewers made a great showing at the Great American Beer Festival, including a win for Upslope Pumpkin Ale, by Upslope Brewing of Boulder. /Café Aion was included in Esquire’s “Where to Eat in Colorado Right Now,” list. /Owners of The Kitchen were lauded by Entrepreneur magazine for their leadership in the farm-to-table movement. /Visit Denver announced that Denver Restaurant Week will remain two weeks long, with the 2012 dates of Feb. 25–March 9.

Best of the Month

Not so much eats as drinks—the Fire in the Sky and Seedy Southpaw cocktails at Amaro in Boulder impressed. Order alongside an excellent cheese or salumi platter, or order up some braised Long Farm pork shoulder with polenta. /Killer crispy tacos at Agave in Boulder. Really, anything with their tortillas is good. /Mouthwatering lamb sag and vegetable biryani at Flavor of India in Longmont. Super-juicy turkey burger at Larkburger in Arvada. /Caramel custard frozen yogurt with a fresh grind of sea salt at Smart Cow in Arvada. /And choco-bliss with a cup of drinking chocolate at Piece, Love and Chocolate in Boulder.

Events

Restaurants are accepting reservations for First Bite Boulder, Nov. 11–19. /Café Aion is offering two more Sunday night wine dinners Nov. 13 and Dec. 18 featuring five courses of tapas paired with wines from Spain, Morocco and the Mediterranean. /Zoe Ma Ma in Boulder will offer the Lucky 8 Dinner, a special eight-course meal limited to eight guests on a monthly basis. The next dinner is November 12.

Have food news? Have a dish pick? Email editorial@yellowscene.com.

The post Eatery News Nov. ’11 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Openings/Closings

Pearl Street Steak Room opened early this month in a small space behind Tahona Tequila Bar. /Bombay Bistro owners opened a second restaurant in Vancouver, BC, and plan to rebrand Bombay Bistro to match the new restaurant’s lounge vibe. /The latest in the self-serve yogurt trend, Boom Yoghurt Bar opened at 3303 30th St. in Boulder, offering fresh and frozen yogurt as well as cottage cheese and many toppings. /The Butterball plant in Longmont will close by the end of the year. /Snooze opened its fifth Colorado restaurant on Pearl St. in late September.

News

Google acquired Zagat, causing some foodies to worry that the venerable restaurant ratings service will begin to look more like Yelp than Michelin. /Mike O’Shay’s Restaurant and Ale House in Longmont marks its 30th anniversary this month. /Culinary Connectors began offering walking dining tours of downtown Boulder. /Foodie Registry (foodieregistry.com), a wedding registry for restaurant gift certificates, launched in Denver. Boulder-based Conscious Coffee took the national Roaster of the Year award. /The Kitchen launched The Kitchen Community this month; each Monday, proceeds from kids meals sold at The Kitchen [Next Door] will be donated to school garden projects in the BVSD. /Bryan Dayton, owner of Oak at Fourteenth, took first place in the national GQ Bombay Sapphire cocktail competition and will be featured on the cover of GQ. /Denver ranked No. 13 on Travel + Leisure’s America’s Best Cities for Foodies list. /And The Sink was featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Colunching, a Paris-based startup, launched its food-based networking program in Boulder this month: colunching.com.

Best of the Month

Buffalo dumplings and a Kona coffee cocktail at Tastes on the Terrace at the Flagstaff House. /A fabulous duck taco with goat cheese and apple butter at Tahona in Boulder. /The raw wrap with rainbow chard and cashew ricotta at Leaf in Boulder.

Events

Flagstaff House Restaurant officially celebrates its 40th year with an Anniversary Gala Oct. 16, with a menu by many of the area’s favorite chefs. Reservations required. Proceeds will benefit the Davis Phinney Foundation. flagstaffhouse.com. /Amaro will host its inaugural wine dinner Oct. 25 with wines from Alpha Zeta winery. /Oct. 28 and 29, HUSH Concepts will host Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg and mixologist James Lee for a two-night-only “pop-up” restaurant. Reservations at hushdenver.com. Rumor has it, the two are working on a permanent restaurant concept together. /First Bite Boulder set this year’s dates for Nov. 11-19. /Café Aion will host three Sunday night dinners this fall; with only 15 seats by reservation only, the evenings will be an opportunity to chat and engage with wine director Kenny Rowe and chef Dakota Soifer.

The post Eatery News: October 2011 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Last week, I had the excellent opportunity to sample some killer cocktails from Amaro Drinkery Italia, the little sister to Alec Schuler’s Arugula in Boulder.  The food menu is small plates similar to what you might find next door, but with a simpler palate; lovely cheese plates and salumi platters cozy up next to fresh salads or portions of braised pork, spare ribs and poached sausages.

And while the food is easily as good as that served just a few feet away at Arugula, the real draw here are the cocktails.  Mixologists Dante and Bianca have been given free reign behind the bar and have come up with an extensive menu of seasonal specialties as well as their own twist on perennial favorites.  The Fire in the Sky is a must-try, as theatrical as it is tasty.  If you’re uncertain what to order, don’t worry; Dante and Bianca are there to help, to educate, and to encourage you to try something new and different.  And with no cocktails ringing up at more than $12, you won’t feel like you’ve been pressured to order the most expensive thing on the menu just because it’s hip.

Next week, on October 16th, you too can get a taste of this hip little spot as some of Boulder’s top mixologists, including Bianca Huggins (Amaro) and Greg Van Wagner (Oak At Fourteenth), will be shaking it up to see who can mix up the best Amari and 303 cocktails.  As the mixologists compete, guests will be able to enjoy small bites and cocktail samples from the contestants, and ultimately decide the winner.

The Mixology Contest benefits The School Food Project, a local project dedicated to getting healthy foods in schools. Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 at the door.

The post Mixology Contest at Amaro appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Openings/Closings

Tres Pupusas, a favorite at the Boulder County Farmer’s Market, opened a brick-and-mortar cafe at 2825 Wilderness Place, Suite 500 in Boulder. /The salad slinger, Mad Greens, recently opened a new location at 2341 Clover Basin Dr. in Longmont. /Briggs Station—Colorado Grille opened at 51 Erie Parkway in Erie. /Alfalfa’s Market opened on Earth Day at its original location at 1651 Broadway in Boulder. /Five Guys Burger and Fries, the Chicago burger chain Obama and Biden famously visited in the Windy City, has opened an outlet on The Hill at 1143 13th St. /Alec Schuler of Arugula is opening two new restaurants this year next to his
original space: Tangerine will open for breakfast and lunch and Amaro will be an extension of Arugula offering hand-crafted cocktails in a lounge setting. Both are set to open in June. /Georgia Boys BBQ, currently a sack-lunch delivery service, is looking for a permanent retail location in Boulder County. They hope to open by June. /In Centennial, construction started in April on the state’s first Steak ‘n Shake. (Who do those Centennial folks know? First Ikea, now Steak ‘n Shake…) /Smiling Moose Deli plans to open a new store in Boulder. /FlatIron Crossing has a few new food outlets including The Dessert Stand cupcake cart, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, frozen yogurt store Red Mango and Street Legal Burgers to be operated by the owners of Street Legal Pizza. /StrEat Chefs, the mobile food offering from Hosea Rosenberg, is officially putting the AirStream in the garage, citing problems with regulations for food trucks in Boulder. The chef hopes to open a new restaurant in Boulder by the end of the year. /The long-awaited K2 Coffee opened on Wells Street in downtown Erie.

News

Too late to save StrEat Chefs, Boulder officials announced new rules for mobile food trucks, allowing them to sell from the city’s rights-of-way in industrial zone districts, or as part of an organized special event. Reportedly because of objections from brick-and-mortar restaurants, food trucks would still not be allowed to operate downtown. /The Pub at Boulder Beer Co. is now open on Saturdays from noon to 8pm. /Boulder institution Lucile’s has opened an outpost in Littleton, so our South Metro friends can learn the beauty of the biscuits as well. /Executive chef Kevin Kidd and beverage manager Evan Faber of SALT will headline the 20th annual Colorado Mountain Winefest in Palisade this September.

Kudos

Café Aion’s chef Dakota Soifer offered Bon Appetite magazine a recipe for warm potato and tuna salad for their feature on using canned tuna. /Frasca and Denver’s Fruition both earned a spot on Grub Street New York’s list of 100 best pastas in the country.

Events

Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg and Black Cat chef Eric Skokan—and two kid assistants—will participate in an Iron Chef-style competition at ZisBoomBah’s Pick Chow! Kid’s Cook-off 1pm May 30 during the Boulder Creek Festival. pcaa.zisboombah.com /The Big Eat, May 22 at Union Station in Denver, features food and drink from some of Denver’s best independent restaurants and breweries. $20 for entry and food; drinks and games extra. eatdenver.com/community/bigea /The Colorado Winefest Denver will be held at The Shops at Northfield Stapleton, June 10 and June 11, and will offer tastes from many of Colorado’s wineries and local restaurants. ColoradoWineFest.com /The second annual Boulder SourFest—featuring more than 80 sour ales—will take place on June 11 at Avery Brewing in Boulder. Tickets are $45 and will be capped at 450. averybrewing.com /A sign at 10th Ave. and Hwy. 287 in Broomfield announces that the space will be home to a new Broomfield farmer’s market beginning in June. /Niwot’s Colterra unveiled its “Tastes of Summer” happy hour in its patio gardens 4–6:30pm daily with cocktails and small plates.

An Aurora couple will get free Smashburgers for a year after having their wedding reception at the joint. Would you make that deal? E-mail foodie@yellowscene.com.

The post Eatery News: May 2011 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.