Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I bet the shiitake farm was a cool experience;
I had no idea that fricassée essentially means poultry in a stewed preparation with creamy sauce....cool!

Growing up my fathers' chicken fricassée was done with capers, mushrooms and a dark-thick asparagus sauce....served over rice.
mmmm.... miss papas cookn'

Hate to say this, but Chipotle's is WAY overrated! Everytime I get a burrito it always packed with too much rice and not enough meat and veggies! And the ingredients aren't really flavorful and don't come together when eating.

Alexholyk - Agreed. I came upon this article while looking up all of the chains that started in Colorado, and it really is pretty crazy. Chipotle, Qdoba, Einstein Bros, Noodles, Quiznos, Smashburger, Tokyo Joe's (you'll see about this one), etc. I love the denver food scene. Recently there was an article in a local mag about the top 100 dishes in the city, and I'm writing a blog about eating every one of them and my review of each:

www.musteatdenver.com

jko

THANKS YOU SE!!! While I was living in Denver, I kept wanting it to get some national recognition for... something or other, I didn't really know. But now, living in NY, you totally hit the nail on the head with some of these (although you might mention the ubiquity of Panera and all the independent restaurants with brand name-quality style in Denver AND Boulder...). I miss it all - and Greystone Meadery is the greatest! I second the notion that Colorado deserves some dedicated food blogging!

My mother has been gluten free for as long as I can remember, and she would always make millet growing up. One trick she taught me now that I am cooking on my own, is to use millet flour instead of regular flour to dredge chicken and fish with before pan-frying. It actually creates a much crispier finish than regular flour, and even though I am not gluten free, I have stuck with it! Try it with this Lightly Fried Tilapia with Caper Brown Butter and you'll see what I mean!

I read that millet was what poor rice farmers could afford to eat in Japan, if they could afford even to eat that. I didn't realize it was still looked down upon.

The only millet I've ever had was millet jelly, a chewy Japanese candy wrapped with an edible rice wrapper and came with a little toy. I didn't know it was readily available. While it is grown in the Midwest, I wonder if it's available where I am in the Midwest/Northeast. I'd love to check it out. Thanks for the article and recipe.

"Truly good tofu, however, is made fresh that day, still warm, silky on the spoon, and something else entirely than what you have in your head."

I'm not sure about that, gluten free girl! Packaged tofu is what everyone has access to, and it's delicious when cooked properly. And not all delicious tofu is silky - some of it is firm, some fried, some stinky b/c it's been fermented....all wonderful-tasting! And not all tofu is warm - some of it is ice cold and served in a pudding. Geez - feel like I need a Venn diagram :)

Great post, though. I love experimenting w/ grains b/c it's an easy way to experience different textures.

thanks for singing it's praises!

Unfortunately, the best pie in Brian's repetoire hasn't been on the menu in a long time: the clams casino -- the bacon bianca with littlenecks in shell. Yeah, yeah, it'd be easier to eat if the clams weren't in the shell, but then they wouldn't release their essence to the top of the pie, which is what made it so fantastic. Here's the version Bourdain had when he came:

http://www.extramsg.com/albums/album600/boudain_at_apizza_25.sized.jpg

Yay, Denver food. I am also puzzled at the failure to mention Tokyo Joe's or Thai Basil. But really excited that Pablo's Coffee got a (small) mention. Check 'em out, they make the BEST coffee ever!

I am popping down to Denver this weekend and no trip there would be complete without breakfast at Snooze. And maybe a second breakfast at Mona's.

Denver is THE PLACE for breakfasts!

I love Chipotle's burrito bowl with rice, chicken, black beans, extra pico, cheese and sour cream.

Although your fast-casual list doesn't include Tokyo Joe's, I'm a big fan (even after working at one for almost three years). It's like the Chipotle of Japanese food.

I can only hope their plans include eventual nationwide expansion, because I miss my combo bowl, half rice half noodles, with broccoli and teriyaki sauce.