Venezuelan Arepas at El Caribe

With the cool air of fall blowing through and only one short month of market season left for Denver, I thought I would re-visit the "farmer's" market scene one more time this year. As you may have also noticed, many of these so-called farmer's markets have been overrun with food vendors over the years. In spite of this the Sunday East High School market has managed to keep quite a few actual farmers around. That being said, I wanted to mention not so much the great organic fruit I buy weekly from Elea Farms, but rather the phenomenal Venezuelan food I get around the corner.

Apparently in Denver good Venezuelan food is only to be found in the most unexpected of places. Actually, it is only found in two places that I know of: Golden and at the Cherry Creek and East High/ City Park Farmer's Market. I am of course referring to one of the greatest little food stands around: El Caribe.

El Caribe serves Venezuelan-style arepas and nothing more. On Sunday they can be found on the East side of the half-circle East High market right across the street from Tattered Cover on Colfax (and under the blinding orange sheen of the Deluxe truck which I'm glad to see has found yet another place to park).

There are several options of handmade mostly organic (and all gluten-free) arepas to be had at El Caribe, but I always go with the classic: El Pabellon. Filled with shredded beef, beans, plantain and cheese--and squirted with a generous dose of their homemade guasacaca sauce--it is a sweet and savory, hearty and moist sandwich. It is a great Sunday morning breakfast, though really I would eat this all day if I had that kind of access.

Igor and Beckie make some mean arepas and are apparently planning a food truck (of course they are). And while the Denver food truck scene has been glamorized by so many established restaurants getting in the game, it will be good to see some more street-tested veterans that have paid their dues cooking on camp stoves out in the elements get some wheels. Hopefully we'll be seeing more and more of El Caribe in the months and years to come.

Follow them on their blog to watch the food truck evolve. Visit them on their website. Check them out on UrbanSpoon.