More Asian Food in Denver

Before I get into my second Asian meal in Denver, I want to show you what I left in Los Angeles (photo above), and what I came to in Denver (photo below). The reason why the LA sky is so gunky is due to the fires that raged for over a week in various parts of the county. OK, the sky is always somewhat hazy in LA, but never like what you see in the photo above.

So it was a welcome respite to see the gem blue skies and snow-capped Rocky Mountains as the plane descended into Denver. Just take a look - can you believe it? It's absolutely gorgeous.

But this is a food blog, not something brought to you by the National Air Health Board (<--not a real organization). On my second night in Denver, I met up with my old college friend Janecke. I also emailed another college friend, Chris, but he informed me that, as the head sports photographer for the Rocky Mountain News, and this being Game One of the World Series, and with the Colorado Rockies playing in said World Series, he was kind of busy that night. Clearly I don't follow sports (!!). But I did hear that Colorado got slammed and lost the World Series.

Janecke, who has lived in Denver for a few years now, took me to a cute little neighborhood called Wash Park ("Wash" being short for Washington). Among the adorable cafes, shops and bakeries was an Asian small-plates restaurant called Izakaya Den. Since the place came highly recommended by Janecke, we went.

We ordered some wine, because I'd had sake the night before and was not feelin' it that night. The place has a very good selection of wines and sakes, plus a menu of sake cocktails to boot. We started with the Miso Japanese Eggplant, which was cooked perfectly and just kind of melted in your mouth. Very reminiscent of a childhood favorite that my mom used to make.

We also shared the crab salad, above, which we managed to devour before I remembered to take the photo - hence the sad photo above. It was actually a panzanella salad with cubed croutons, Colorado goat cheese, fresh lump crab, spring lettuce leaves and a few pears. And it was FABULOUS. I almost felt guilty that I ate the majority of this dish, but Janecke, being a good friend and all, didn't mind. This is the kind of dish that brings out the gluttony in all of us, so maybe you should order your own if you ever go to Izakaya Den.

We then had the beef rolls (pictured toward the top of this entry) and the hoison duck crostini (above). The beef rolls were simple but delicious: thinly sliced beef wrapped around al-dented vegetables. The duck crostini was a wonder: crispy pieces of bread topped with juicy, moist duck meat just ever-so-slightly spiced with hoison sauce and topped with crispy somethingorothers (I think it was some sort of root vegetable). Excellent.

For dessert, we shared a chocolate mousse. Normally there's nothing interesting about chocolate mousse, but this one hid a little special secret. At the base of the mousse was a thick-cut, crispy, lightly-salted potato chip. Yes, a potato chip. And you know what? It was the perfect balance to the rich, dark chocolate. I think the restaurant could take the same dish and plate it differently and make it that much better, but flavor-wise, it was all there.

So the only question left to answer is: What will I try on my next trip to Denver? If you're going to say Rocky Mountain Oysters, you can forget about it. I like almost everything, but those...I don't think I could stomach.

Sushi in Denver

Who would have guessed that one can find very good sushi in Denver? Nothing against Colorado but it's easy to assume that any state not bordered by an ocean wouldn't compete against, say, California for fresh, clear-eyed, raw fish. After eating at Bara sushi in the DTC (Denver Tech Center) area of town, I stand corrected.

Since I was dining solo, I really wanted a sushi restaurant where I could cozy up to the bar, order the sushi piece by piece and hopefully have some good conversation with the chef. In Bara, I got it all plus more. Jason, the sushi chef at Bara, was friendly and funny and very good with his knife.

He made suggestions on the freshest offerings of the day (as any good sushi chef should), so I kind of just let him give me whatever he thought was best. I had yellowtail, salmon, halibut, Hokkaido scallops (not pictured - was so good I ate it before I took a photo!), shrimp, albacore (also not pictured, same reason) and unagi.

Everything was excellent, and the cold sake was smooth and chilly - just the way I like it. I wasn't even distracted by the television playing the first of the World Series games; it was Colorado versus the Red Socks and Colorado got their butts kicked, 13-1. OUCH. Lucky for me, most sports fans were at home watching the game, so Bara was relatively quiet that night.

Since I will be flying out to Denver every other month or so, I will definitely make Bara my regular sushi place there. It's minutes from all of the hotels in the area, the food is great and the atmosphere is relaxing and cozy. They also have a good number of cooked Japanese dishes, so maybe next time I'll try a few of those.

Thanks to Jason (shown here, looking tough with his knife) for his excellent sushi choices and good conversation!

QuickTake: Baked Rainbow Trout

Inspired by my cooking lesson in Italy (courtesy of Stephan), I made this simple and rustic trout dish upon my return. I simply salt and peppered some trout fillets, sliced some potatoes and trimmed a few asparagus spears and then sprinkled it all with a few herbs and put them all on a sheet pan to bake for about 20 minutes (at 350). A quick drizzle of very good extra virgin olive oil over the whole lot and it was ready to eat. Delicious.

Off to Denver, But Let Me Leave You With...

What did I do the first day back from Italy? I went to Z's Sushi, of course! I've blogged about this place a few times, so I'll just leave you with a couple of photos. Above is a little albacore "special" that one of the sushi chefs put together for us, and below is little wieners that somehow remind me of my childhood. They are like Japanese hot dogs, and served with a little mayo and ketchup. We usually never order these, but decided to on a whim and they were really good.

Well I'm off to Denver for business and will hopefully have some great Colorado food to blog about when I return!

Italy: The Finale!

It was a fun trip but it had to end eventually, as all good things do. So, without any further ado, here are the last remaining photos from our last days in Venice. Of all the places we visited in Italy, I know that Venice is the one that I would go back to again and again. I'll stick to writing long captions for the photos versus a cohesive story...just too much to cover here!

These guys are crazy. Do they have any idea that pigeons are like the rats of the bird world? They're loaded with mites and all kinds of diseases, yet these men welcome them with open arms - literally. I like eating wild pigeons, but I generally stay far away from this type. Ew.

Sandra and I stumbled upon a fantastic restaurant on La Giudecca island called Ristorante Riviera and had one of the most memorable meals either of us have ever had. We shared two appetizers, including the one above. Hands-down the best dish I had in Italy. This is an octopus carpaccio, and it was perfection on a plate. Paper thin slices of octopus, drizzled with what tasted like a shallot/Dijon/balsamic/olive oil vinaigrette. I am going to try very hard to replicate this at home.

Our second appetizer was the baccala with polenta. This, too, was excellent, though I prefer baccala with crostini to balance out that creamy texture. No worries, though, since we had plenty of bread at the table.

Sandra ordered the farro penne with ricotta insalata and green cauliflower. She loved it and said it was loaded with rich, hearty flavors. Oh, I should not that Ristorante Riviera is run by a female chef (Monica) and the front-of-the-house guy Luca. I think they are a married couple. It's very unusual to have a female chef and a male host in Italy, so that's just another thing that makes this place so special.

I ordered the anchovy and onion spaghetti. It was AMAZING. The anchovy was clearly ground up into a paste then tossed with the spaghetti. The onions just melted into the pasta - they were that soft and delicate. I'd say this was my favorite pasta dish that I had in Italy.

For dessert, we shared the almond cake with pear sorbet and caramel drizzle. Again, another fabulous dish. This was our one, big splurge meal, and it was worth every Euro. The total, including two carafes of one (one of which they gave us, on the house, for some unknown reason) came to 50 Euros each. Not too terribly bad, considering what I've paid for less-than-stellar meals at numerous Los Angeles restaurants. Kudos to Monica and Luca for their fantastic restaurant!

You have to love the gondola "drivers." Apparently not just anyone can own and operate a gondola; it has to run in your family and be passed down from generation to generation. Oh, and there are no female gondola operators. Something to do with tradition, I heard.

This is another view from our hotel balcony. We had a canal on one side, then this lovely garden on the other. This was the back yard of a private home, so people in Venice do have grass and trees with all the water.

This is a close-up of the detail on one of the churches in San Marco square in Venice. The square itself is packed with tourists almost year-round, but it's still easy to appreciate the architecture and art of this famous area.

After days of pasta and paninis, we were ready for something a little lighter. We found a nice little seafood place near the main square (I didn't write the name down, though) and had a mixed fish grill. The fish was deboned at our table, and drizzled with a touch of good olive oil. It was exactly what we needed after our two-week carb fest.

Of course we justified ordering this rich and decadent nut cake for dessert since we had such a light dinner (ha). The light pastry was piled high with walnuts and sprinkled with powdered sugar. YUM.

Here's a close-up of a gondola. Pretty plushy seats, no? But for $120 for a short ride, you shouldn't expect anything less (we opted for the water buses instead, which were much cheaper and just as fun).

We visited the island of Murano, in Venice, which is famous for its handcrafted glass works. This chandelier is one piece of blown glass - can you believe it?

Here is another amazing piece at one of Murano's many glass galleries. I didn't bother checking the price on these...I'm sure they are quite expensive!

Well, that about wraps it up for my trip to Italy. I'll leave you with a shot from one of the restaurants near our hotel - how cute is this? I can honestly say that I will never forget all the great memories of this fabulous vacation to one of the world's most beautiful countries. Until next time...

A Quick Break from Italy: I FINALLY GOT ONE!!

Yes, I finally bought a KitchenAid Stand Mixer!!! Thanks to the fine folks at Amazon.com, it should be here on Monday.

I can't wait to bake up a storm now that I don't have to wrangle with my cheap hand mixer any longer. Time to raid my cookbooks and get bakin'!

Italy: Venice (a.k.a. Part 7)

This is the second to last posting about Italy, so those of you who may be tired of this whole Italian vacation can check back in a couple of days for things non-Italian. Well, unless I hit an Italian restaurant, which I may very well do...

After saying goodbye to Isabella and Malte, Sandra and I headed up to Venice via the train. Even though I've seen numerous pictures of this city on water, I truly was amazed when I arrived. Literally a city on water...literally. And so beautiful and quiet and lovely. I'm not sure I can do the place justice with my words, so I'll stick with long captions and hope that they somehow capture the essence of this spectacular city.

Everyone takes water buses around Venice. Of course they are not really buses but that's what people call them. We bought a two-day pass and were able to take these to wherever we wanted to go within Venice. We stayed on La Giudecca island and visited many other "islands" around Venice during our stay.

Breakfast almost always consisted of a croissant and an espresso for us. These were flaky, golden and buttery-liscious. Mine is the one filled with jam (the one with the bite).

Just one of many restaurants that have patios over the water. Talk about romantic, right? Sandra and I joked that the city had a somewhat depressing effect on us since we're both single. But it's hard to get too bummed in a place like this.

The gondolas are all lined up and ready to take your money. When we realized that the charge for a quick gondola ride is about $120, we decided to stick with the water buses. Looking at them was enough. And cheaper.

Here's the little, narrow alley that lead to our hotel. Venice is full of these 4-foot-wide alleyways.

Another view of one of the numerous smaller canals that crisscross the Grand Canal.

Here's one view from our hotel room in Venice. This guy was a resident, just going out for groceries in his little boat. Venetians are lucky people.

Here's the courtyard in front of our hotel. Rustic, quaint and perfect for a little rest outdoors.

Sandra and I decided to have lunch at this cafe because the proprietor, a man named Elio, insisted we do (he kind of grabbed us as we were walking by). He took this picture with his shaky hands (God bless him, he was so adorable!). His restaurant was called Ristorante Ca Dolfin.

Elio's pizza was the best I had in Italy. Crispy crust, ripe tomatoes, just the right amount of cheese.

Sandra had the seafood pasta, which Elio says is the best entree he offers. It was incredibly good.

And here's Elio himself, standing in wait for passersby so he can grab then and drag them into his restaurant (I kid!). He was quite a character, actually. If you are ever in Venice, check out his place.

Italy: Craziness in Florence (a.k.a. Part 6)

I hope you are not yet tired of reading about my Italy trip; I promise there are only a couple more part to go. I mentioned before that I would be writing about the "bulging sack of crazy" that is Florence, so today I bring you that story.

Take a look: Florence is stunningly beautiful, no? The famous duomo in the center of the city, the breathtaking view from the lookout high above the city...you'd think you were in heaven. Well, you're not, and as soon as you hit the streets of this capital city, you'll realize that. The driving here is INSANE. Tiny little cars, racing at the speed of light, horns blaring, people screaming, street signs that are so small you need Superman vision in order to read them - it's like a Calgon moment that never ends. The only fun part is listening to the Italians yelling out of the window of their cars. "Che voi!!" they'd shout. The literal translation of "che voi" is "what do you want?" but a more accurate translation would be "WTF??"

I think we drove around for 50 minutes trying to find parking. The thing about Florence is that there is a lot of parking, if you are a resident. So we'd drive around, find what we thought was a public lot, only to find that it was a) for residents only or b) had a time limit of one hour. So frustrating!! Eventually we managed to find a public lot at the train station, which was a good thing because we were all cursing Florence and all its smoggy, loud, trafficky glory and we almost turned around and went back to the country.

OK, so that was my Florence rant. Now I can shift to the positive aspects of this city, because it's not ALL bad. The architecture is beautiful and the leather market offers inexpensive, quality, hand-made leather goods (I went a little nuts and bought two handbags and a wallet). There is a wonderful old bridge full of shops and cafes, and I even found a collection of padlocks on the street where people had written their name + partner's name + an anniversary date on the locks. The main city square, with the famous dome church, is right out of a storybook. The shopping is wonderful, and the people are friendly.

We spent most of the day just walking around, shopping and, well, eating of course. We found a cute little cafe and got our afternoon espresso and four little fruit tarts - one for each of us. It was the perfect snack and we were ready for more walking and shopping after that. I love the cafe culture of Italy. Everyone takes a few minutes a day to sit (or stand) with a cup of espresso and a sweet treat. Talk about a mental-health break that we Americans could use.

Later that evening, we met my parents for dinner. No, my mom and dad do not live in Italy. But they just happened to be in the middle of their own Italian vacation (yes I knew this before I left and we planned to meet). While I was doing the Florence/Tuscany/Venice trip, they were doing the Rome/Florence/Umbria trip. So one night, and one night only, we were in the same city.

We picked them up (on foot) at their hotel, which was right in the main square of Florence, then we walked over to Pizzeria Forno a Legna, a restaurant recommended by Giacomo. We got a nice, covered table outside and enjoyed some really fantastic food. I opted for a basic tomato/basil/garlic pasta and the usual Vin Santo and biscotti for dessert. My dad had a seafood pasta, and I think my mom had ravioli, but for some reason I forgot to take photos of their food. In any case, everyone enjoyed their meal tremendously and it was a really nice night out.

Afterward, we all walked around the city for a while, then it was off to our relative sleeping places. For my parents, it was their hotel; for Isabella and Malte, it was the country house for one last night before they headed back to Germany; and for me and Sandra, it was Giacomo's Florence apartment, where we'd sleep one night before heading off to Venice the following day.

Stay tuned for our adventures in Venice, my absolute favorite part of the trip!