ODE TO THE HONEY BEE
BRU Handbuilt Ales and Eats founder, executive chef and brewmaster Ian Clark loves honey. He loves it so much that he’s sharing the harvest from his own backyard beehive in this month’s BRU beer dinner, “An ode to the honey bee,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10. The dinner will begin with a warm honey and beer boba tea, followed by a honey-rubbed ricotta salata with citrus-cranberry jelly, sweet herbs and a grit cracker paired with BRU’s 5290 saison, made with tangerines.
The main course will feature a honeybaked Colorado ham with sea island red peas, honeybourbon cherry sauce, wood roasted vegetables and beer vinegar paired with Obitus American Brown Ale, which features dates and caramelized sugar.
Finally, if your sweet tooth has yet to be satisfied, the dinner will conclude with sourdough doughnuts with beezel-orange curd and bruleed whipped honey paired with Beezel Belgian-style Golden Ale infused with honey, black pepper and bitter orange peel. Seating for the $35 per person dinner is limited, call 720-638-5193 for reservations.
MORE MASTERPIECE
One of Denver’s most highly celebrated delis is taking on the downtown crowds.
Masterpiece Delicatessen, which has a Lower Highland location that routinely features a packed dining room and half-hour waits for sandwiches, will start serving from 1710 Sherman St., two blocks from Denver’s downtown proper. It will occupy the first floor in one of Denver’s most, well, unique-looking buildings, the silver metal 13-story building with a concentric diamond pattern on the outside.
Masterpiece, now five years old, is known for its pastrami, Cubano, ahi tuna and egg salad sandwiches. Its website is www.masterpiecedeli.com, and its daily specials are posted on its Twitter account, @MasterpieceDeli.
BETTER COOKING FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Boulder’s Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts is hosting a variety of one-day workshops leading up to the holidays, covering both traditional areas and non-traditional, Boulder-style subjects. Making homemade holiday candy, holiday cookies and brunch for a large group represent the traditional classes; maintaining the paleo diet during the holidays and preparing vegetarian feasts cover the non-traditional courses.
One-day classes at Escoffier are typically 5:30–9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. weekends. The full list of classes can be seen on the school’s Eventbrite page, http://homecookboulder.eventbrite.com, and classes range from $75 to $95.
SPARKLING THROUGH THE SNOW
The annual “Bubbles” sparkling wine dinner returns to Q’s Restaurant with a fivecourse food and sparkling wine pairing dinner at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.
Chef/Proprietor John Platt and Chef Shawn Murrell “will be pulling out all the corks” for the dinner, a press release from the restaurant says.
It will include a jeroboam of Gloria Ferrer Brut, the press release says, a statement that calls for some explanation. Jeroboam, of course, was the first king of Israel sometime in the 900s B.C. — or, relevant to this situation, it’s also a bottle size equal to three liters, or four standard bottles. Gloria Ferrer is a vineyard in California, and Brut is a style of sparkling wine. The cost for the five-course dinner is $75; reservations can be made by calling 303-442-4880.
BRAZILIAN BAKERY
The Lafayette Marketplace on South Boulder Road has, over the past six months, become a pretty hoppin’ place.
First there was Front Range Brewing Company, which opened in the retail plaza at the end of June. More recently, Lafayette Homebrew Supply opened in September and specializes in bulk grain and Colorado-grown products. The plaza also features favorites like the Unseen Bean, Herbal Wellness, Thai Kitchen and Bistro 503 — which moved into its location in the Lafayette Marketplace shortly before Front Range opened.
And now yet another much-loved business is celebrating its kind-of-recent opening, as Juliana’s Bakery and Cakery will hold an open house 5-9 p.m. Dec. 5 at its location, Suite 1300 in the Marketplace, which is located at 400 W. South Boulder Road. Juliana’s isn’t just any bakery, either.
Owned by baker Juliana Starzyk, Juliana’s draws on Starzyk’s Brazilian heritage and emphasizes “colorful, exotic and delicious flavors,” the bakery’s website says.
Juliana’s opened in its current location Aug. 17; it was formerly called Sweet Family Secrets and was located in Westminster.
The open house will feature music from Peruvian acoustic guitarist Alfredo Muro and alcohol from Garnish Mobile Bartending.
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