Film, Food and Flowers: The Sustainable Food Film Series at the Denver Botanic Garden

In spite of my general lack of posting over the past year, I just recently passed the milestone in the food-blogging world of having a blog in pretty much continuous publication for a period of five years. What this means is that I am an old man now not only in my real people age but in blog age as well, which is measured in weeks and months.  What this also means is that people have surely moved on. Surely they care less than ever before-- if that were even possible-- about what the hell an aging man and his aging blog have to say about the food in their city. Yet people still contact senile old me to participate in, or promote their events. Surprising? Yes. Frightening? Also yes. I can't even get my new mobile telephone to make calls anymore, much less string together coherent thoughts on the internet (though that was never a pre-requisite for having a blog). Plus these new phones are so big and heavy.

It is rare that I take people up on their offers for publicity in exchange for something free. In part because I don't want to feel obliged to write about it, or worse, meet some sort of deadline. But mostly I'm just a nice guy and don't want to hurt the attendance at a given event or restaurant. 

Yet here I am writing about an event that I was recently asked to attend: The Chipotle Sustainable Food Film Series at the Denver Botanic Gardens--sponsored by that locally bred burrito monopoly we all love (just admit it-- you like it too). If you have read my past posts on film and food, you would know that I love to sneak in food to the movies, and the foil-wrapped burrito is my number one choice. Furthermore, the Film Series costs five U.S. dollars, which seems like a fair market value of advertising space on my blog these days. Lastly, I am a card-carrying Friends and Family member of the Botanic Gardens.  So even if the association with me actually might hurt their image in the long run, I couldn't resist the invitation.

The night went pretty much like I expected. I got a burrito and sat down to watch an interesting film. Pretty much like every other movie I watch in the theater but this time I didn't have to sneak my burrito in and I got to eat it with the lights on.

The film series is fun weekday distraction and a wild deal for $5 a ticket that includes your burrito with all the fixings. Plus anytime you have an excuse to spend some time at the Botanic Gardens I think you ought to go. It really is a unique urban oasis. And as for the films? There is still one date left in November. Get on over if you haven't.

http://www.botanicgardens.org/chipotle-sustainable-food-film-series

The Beef King: The Queen of Denver Beef

I just had one of those birthdays that people tend to think of as ominously important. A gateway into middle age. The path that leads up the hill that we inevitably all go over if we are lucky. I insisted that there be no party. Instead I asked for and received a 48-hour pass from home duties and child-rearing, and went on a two-day relentless food-and-drink-hopping tour of Denver's finest with my two greatest childhood friends from Chicago (and, of course, Brian). That would be a story for another day-- if I could only weave the hazy memories into a coherent tale.

But I digress. As I clearly and repeatedly insisted on not having a party, my loving wife decided to--you guessed it-- throw me a party. A surprise one no less. If there is something I like even less than a party, it is being surprised, but nevertheless it was a great time and it not a party as much as it was a gathering of our 10 or 12 closest friends. Part of the reason it was so great was that she arranged for a woman who calls herself the Beef King to supply a home-cooked Chicago-style spread.

The Italian Beef sandwich, as I have written about many times before, is a food that I have hunted down all over Denver much like my beloved tacos al pastor. If you have still never tried it, and you like great food with meat, then you ought to seek one out. The Beef King version is a juicy and worthy homestyle take that easily puts itself in the running for best Beef in the city of Denver. That might not be saying too much if you compare it with the best beefs of Chi-town, but the Beef King delivers a solid beef experience that will not disappoint any Windy City ex-pat. See you yourself:

Tender and thin beef. Perfect bread (from Le Trompeau no less) that easily handles a good soaking of beef jus. Beautiful giardiniera with just the right spice. Tasty to the last soggy, beef-slurping bite.

I seriously only have like ten friends. So there were a lot of leftovers. Despite the surprise, I can't think of many better ways to celebrate entering one's 5th decade of life on earth than to have a seemingly endless supply of Italian Beef in your slow cooker on the kitchen counter. Or maybe that is the worst way to do it if you hope for another four or five decades. But whose counting? Happy birthday to me.

Get your Beef King on by hitting up the Queen herself on the Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beefkingdenver