For most of us, we visit the grocery store or a restaurant, choose what we want, pay, and leave—and think little about where the food that we consumed or that’s stashed in our kitchen comes from. But the local food movement is trying to change all that, by getting us to think, even just a little bit, about some of the food that we’re eating, how far it took to get to us, and who grew it—using what add-ons, too.

Why Go Local with Food?

In general, there are several advantages to trying to make more local food decisions. For example, you can cut down on the use of fossil fuels in general: Food that’s produced closer to you takes fewer resources to get to you. And by supporting local food, you’re supporting your neighbors, too. What else is important? This graphic explains it.

The post How To Make More Local Food Choices appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

We are on a foodie fest this month. It may be the Holidays, it may just be that we want to pack in a few extra treats before we restart our New Year’s Resolutions. Whatever it is, this month we have food on the mind.

Which brings us to today’s big news. Marckyks Fine Foods has announced that it is the beginning of Truffle Season in Denver. This comes not twice, but just ONCE a year.

There is absolutely nothing like the pure delightful flavor of a real truffle. Not a truffle oil, or truffle salt.. but a real truffle.

Add it to your favorite dish, your favorite appetizer, or feature it in some way at your Holiday get together and be the absolute HIT of the party.

They are scheduling two pick up times, one around Christmas and one around New Years. You get to pick from different truffles including Fresh Black Truffles (domestic), Fresh White Truffles (domestic), Fresh Burgundy (Italy), Fresh Perigord Black Winter (France), or Fresh Alba White (Italy).

Not sure which ones to pick, check in with the experts at Marczyks and they can help guide you down your path of culinary adventure.

And don’t forget one of the favorite holiday uses for truffles… desserts. Mixed with chocolate a truffle takes delicious to an entirely new level.

Have we tempted you enough… Visit Marczyks Website to learn more.

The post Truffles arrive at Marczyks appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

Rosenberg’s Bagels and Deli

Our New York Clients have few complaints when they move to Denver. They rave about the lack of traffic. They cheer the 300+ days of sunshine and amazing Colorado weather. The share how they enjoy being able to see the sky when they walk downtown, how they have room to walk downtown, and their love of our Rocky Mountain Backyard for skiing and hiking. They most certainly tell us how they can afford to buy HUGE condos and lofts in our Downtown for prices that might not even purchase a parking space in New York.

They even rave to their friends back home how our restaurants are on par (or better) than those that are worshipped in the big apple… with one exception.

All the New Yorkers who have relocated for Denver have been sobbing about missing their New York Bagels. It is one consistent complaint about Denver that East Coasters seem to be in agreement on. Some say it is the water, some say it is the altitude, others simply believe it is a magical essence in New York that can’t be duplicated. Whatever the reason, for as long as I can remember my New York friends have taken trips back home with a clear checklist to eat bagels every day they are there and, if possible, come back with a stack of Bagel goodness in their carry on.

Well, New York Transplants, I have good news for you.

One Denverite felt the same way you did and decided to do something about it. With a belief that the water constitution was the key ingredient Rosenberg’s Bagels has opened their doors to bring the New York Bagel to Five Points. They apparently have found a way to duplicate the water by adding/removing minerals (we don’t know exactly) to be able to bake fresh and delicious New York Bagels here.

It doesn’t stop there. They also are offering all the great things New Yorkers are used to. You have your multiple types of lox and fishes, your salted meats, your egg salad. I didn’t see chopped liver when I stopped in, but maybe it was just an off day.

Either way, the line on a recent weekend stretched through the hallway and out the door, easily over a half an hour. It looks like someone has cracked the bagel code.

I ordered an everything bagel with Scottish Salmon, cream cheese, and the traditional garnishes. It was delicious, although I have to say I’m more of a Norwegian salmon person. But I had to try their saltiest version to see.

Now it’s your turn. Visit Rosenberg’s Bagels and come back to comment on what you think.

This might just be a reason to give Five Points another look. The neighborhood is booming, and one bagel spot like this is reason enough to want to be close by. Then you can walk over to beat the crowds by being there when they open.

Welcome to Denver Rosenbergs! Visit them at https://www.facebook.com/Rosenbergsbagels

Real Estate in Five Points

Rosenberg’s Bagels

725 East 26th Ave
Denver, Colorado

(720) 440-9880

Menu: https://rosenbergsbagels.com/

The post A New York Bagel in Denver! appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

One of the most common questions we get is… Who has the best pizza in Denver.

So we thought we would let our Denver Urban Fans provide their feedback on this very important question.

Cheers and enjoy your slices.

The post Denver’s Best Pizza Poll appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

The Tenth Anniversary means TWO Restaurant Weeks for 2014

The first thing you should do when you read this headline is go directly to Open Table and grab a reservation at your favorite Restaurant Week participating eatery for any date between August 23rd and the 29th because for the first time ever we have a second Restaurant Week.

Sure, we already had restaurant week in the Spring BUT this year is special. This year instead of one long two week eating celebration there are two different weeks.

The Summer 2014 Restaurant week is just a bit higher, with Denver’s top restaurants will offer multi course dinners for the tasty price of $30 per person. This is a light increase from the previous $52.80 for two (or $26.40 for one).

This year there are MORE than 300 restaurants participating, which as reported by the Denver Restaurant Week site, makes it the largest such even in the country.

I think the nation just needs to understand that we Denverites love our food.   What people are beginning to understand is just how great our local Denver chefs and restaurants stack up against the best names in the country.

So here is our DenverUrban quick guide to find a reservation before they all disappear.

1. Visit this Restaurant Week Open Table page
2. Book a Reservation
3. Repeat as many days available between August 23rd – 29th
4. Enjoy your dinners
5. Come back here and comment on your favorites

So Denver, which restaurant do you think is  the top table to score during restaurant week?

The post Denver’s Second Restaurant Week is August 23rd – 29th appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

Don’t forget the Transit

Sure, we keep talking about all the great restaurants opening up in the New Denver Union Station terminal.  But the real heart of Union Station is the transit.

Denver Union Station is the hub for the entire Light Rail System. From this central location at the Newly renovated Terminal and the awesome Union Station Neighborhood being developed Denver residents can travel throughout our city.  One of the most exciting elements of our rail system is the new East Corridor access line underway that will carry travelers to and from Denver International Airport.

The DIA line is the one I am most excited about.  Once that is open the days of guessing how much time it will take to get to the airport, dealing with traffic (which gets worse every year), parking, parking fees, and all those annoying commuting elements will be replaced by a train timetable and the ability to sit and relax on the train.

The benefits of our new transit hub at Denver Union Station don’t stop with the light rail.  Denver Union Station is also the hub of national rail lines and local shuttle and bus transportation options.  This morning when taking some photos inside the new terminal I checked to see where today’s travelers might be going.

Two options were taking off today out of Union Station via the Amtrak schedule. The first was the California Zephyr that begins in Chicago before arriving in Denver and then continues on to Glenwood Springs and finishes in Emeryville (San Francisco).  Today’s train was Westbound.

The other scheduled trip was a bus departing for Vail.  That means there IS a way to get up to at least one of our amazing ski resorts without driving.  I’m hoping the list of options keeps growing.

Most of us are already familiar with the local 16th street shuttle and a new shuttle line along 18th is being added.

As more and more transit continues to grow, as the RTD lines are extended, and as national Rail continues to evolve the location at Union Station is bound to become an even more attractive amenity for downtown residents.

And as you can see from the images below, the new terminal is AMAZING and offers great restaurants for dining, bars for celebrating, and hotels for guest to stay and enjoy our downtown.

Who else is excited to consider the new Denver Union Station and the light rail to DIA as the the first stop on their vacation?

Valuable Links

• Union Station Neighborhood
• Riverfront Park
• LoHi / Lower Highland
• LoDo
• Light Rail Friendly Homes
• Top Trending Neighborhoods

The post All Aboard! A Sneak Peek inside the New Denver Union Station Terminal appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

Denver Union Station’s Newest Restaurant

Yesterday was an exciting day.  Making last minute dinner plans in our active city often means playing detective in finding a seat (or two) at any of our awesome Downtown Denver restaurants.  While we aren’t yet like New York where reservations can be consumed weeks in advance, it certainly is busy enough that a last minute search on a Thursday night at prime time can be tough.

I was more than pleasantly surprised when a new name, one that I recognized from our previous posts, appeared in the available list.  That new name was Stoic and Genuine, the newest addition to the Denver Union Station and Crawford Hotel offering.

Score!

We grabbed ourselves a reservation and raced over early hoping for a nice spot at the bar to relax before dinner.  Unfortunately, while we were fortunate to snag a reservation by the time we arrived it appeared the rest of Denver had heard as well.  It was packed with the energy and excitement of Denver residents checking out the new hotspot in town.

One of the owners was there appeared and kindly introduced herself and we spent a few minutes waiting to spring on any vacating bar seats.  However, there was no signs that anyone would be giving up a spot at this hot spot anytime soon.  With 30 minutes we decided to adjourn to the nearby Cruise Room for a retro and cool pre dinner cocktail.

A Denver Urban Bump (a good thing) to the Cruise Room for staying classy.  We didn’t mind spending some time there waiting for our Stoic and Genuine reservation one bit.  For those of you who haven’t been the the CR for some time it still is a great gem of the city.

We wrapped up at the Cruise Room and returned for on time for our reservation to find they were ready for us.  I mention this because it was only their second day of being open to the public, they were packed, and still they were running right on schedule.  Opening week for all restaurants should go so well.

The place is amazing from a design and architecture standpoint.  There is a great mix of old and new with some custom iron and wood pieces adorning the walls, ceilings, lighting, and more being paired with the historic structural elements such as columns and small finishes.  There is a huge bar seating area with open glass to view the ocean delights on one side and a large social (filled with laughter and smiles) bar opposite serving up spirits and vino.  The ceiling are high, the energy is fun, and you can even watch the Union Station fountain light show outside via the windows.  This place is cool!

Now on to the food.  We saw oysters flying out of the seafood bar and to almost every table, clearly one of the most popular items on the menu along with a series of crudo dishes such as Big Eye Tune with jalapeño and friend avocado (yum on the avocado folks).  We tried some crudo and the soft shell crab which comes with a corn soup creation that was delicious.

Another popular items our server recommended, which we didn’t try, was the lobster roll.  I think 25% of the people eating last night had a lobster roll delivered to their table.  I would have tried it but you have a tough time getting me to eat anything cooked when I can have raw.  After all, we don’t have an ocean next door so when the opportunity is there I say go for the freshest item you can.

Which is why I ordered the Uni salad appetizer as well.  The Uni was fresh and tasty, and lately it has been impossible to find it at any of the area sushi restaurants (believe me I try weekly) but sadly there just wasn’t enough of it.  But keep in mind I’m a purist, and I am sure the salad with a little Uni combination is probably what the majority would prefer.  I would much rather have a pure bite with a touch of lemon, so I’ll just have to wait for the Uni return at my local Sushi spots.

Last, but not least would be the dessert menu which had a ton of favorites including the Whoopie Pie that our server recommended.  I did not try it but my friend has a pregnant wife waiting at home and was smart enough to order her one to go.  Whatever was in the desserts it certainly was a hit.  The table next to us had desserts all around at a table of 6 and they were consumed in a flash of forks and smiles.

Needless to say, I’ll be back.  The place is so warm and inviting that Stoic & Genuine is good for a full dinner or just a quick drink and oyster tray happy hour.  Wonderful.

Now I can’t wait to see the new Crawford hotel.  From the restaurant the second floor hallway and room doors is visible, which means those guests will have a tough time resisting the draw of the great ambiance and energy of S & G below.  If Stoic and Genuine is any indication of the overall Crawford Hotel experience I am guessing this will be the new hot spot destination for Denver.

Dana Crawford was even there with friends, enjoying the great food in a hotel named in her honor.  The gentleman at the table next to us shared that he and a group were enjoying a nights stay in the Crawford.  Color me jealous.

Alright Denver Urban fans, this is your Union Station Update.  Let me know if you go to check it out and any favorite items on the menu.

Congrats to the great team at Stoic and Genuine and the Crawford Hotel.  This might just change our best oysters in Denver poll so make sure to vote after you give Stoic & Genuine their turn shucking ocean treats for you too.

The post Stoic & Genuine Brings the Ocean to Denver Union Station appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

The post Best Breakfast in Denver appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

Denver loves it’s beer.  That might be one reason why we are seeing such a huge growth in our Denver Craft Brewing Industry.  For our clients who ask the question of which Denver Brewery is the best we wanted to open it up to our Denver Urban audience.  You Decide!

If you haven’t tried all these great brew pubs and want to visit these Breweries to sample for yourself  you can visit this page for a Denver Craft Brewer List of Addresses, phone numbers, and websites.  But don’t forget to come back and share your feedback so others know which breweries to visit first.

The post Who are Denver’s BEST Craft Brewers / Breweries appeared first on Denver Urban Living.

Snooze Union Station Arrives July 12th 2014

That’s right, in just a couple months one of Denver’s Favorite Breakfast Destinations will be part of history on Saturday July 12th, the official door opening of Denver Union Station.  The 12h is the opening of the Union Station building itself and will be the first time many will get to experience all the new restaurant and food concepts for our commuting and traveling downtown residents.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited.  There are so many great restaurants going into Union Station but this article is about how the day should start.  That means talking about Snooze!

Snooze opened it’s first location not too far from Union Station, at the existing Ballpark location, on April 2nd, 2006.  I wasn’t fortunate enough to eat there on the opening day, but I am pretty sure it was the opening month.   The biggest compliment is to say I’ve been going back ever since.  The food is amazing, with a mix of sweet and savory.  Word traveled quickly about their amazing pancakes and my friends and I often enjoyed a flight (of pancakes) as part of our group dining ritual.  I like to mix it up so sharing some of the Snooze cakes always comp;ements any of my favorites such as the Sandwich I Am egg deliciousness on an Udi’s soft pretzel roll or the Breakfast Pot Pie with Snooze’s homemade rosemary sausage gravy, a flaky puff pastry, and an egg on top.

Truth be told I probably have ordered, enjoyed, and raved about every item on the menu.  Some people love the variety of Benedict, some the spuds, and some the sweets… but let there be no doubt that everyone leaves happy.   The staff is amazing, friendly and helpful.  The decor is a cool and, in my opinion, the perfect tip of the hat to retro.  About the only thing one can complain about might be the wait.  But fear not, you have free coffee and can order a delicious bloody mary, mimosa, or special cocktail while you catch up with your friends and wait.   On  a Saturday or Sunday plan on more than one cocktail.  Food this good means a lot of people want to eat there too so you gotta (you just gotta) expect a line.

But who knows, maybe one more downtown location will spread the crowds.

Who am I kidding, this place is too good and Denver is growing too fast.  The lines will continue.

The New Snooze Union Station Details

Okay Snooze Fans, here’s the scoop on the new location shared with me by their very helpful and wonderful Rebecca Long.    As I mentioned Snooze Union Station will be opening on Saturday July 12th and it will be roughly 1700  square feet.  For those who want to try to picture how big this is you can plan on seating for about 70 inside and when the patio is open the total seating will be about 120.

That’s right, I did say Patio… and this one will be serving food.  Summer time weekends should most definitely include some Snooze outdoor patio bloodys and breakfast gatherings.   Snooze will be connected to the main terminal so all you commuters out there should plan to leave home a little early so you can enjoy some Snooze deliciousness to power up for you day.

Snooze Hiring New Snoozers for Union Station Location

There are going to be some management staff moving around so you might see a familiar face and they will be hiring new snoozers.  You heard that right, new snoozers apply now.  So if you want to work for a great company and team Rebecca shared with us the details about the Union Station hiring opportunities.  Here are those details:

Open Interview hiring for all positions:

Wednesday May 28th and Thursday May 29th from 10:0am-6:00pm
Friday May 30th and Saturday May 31st from 8:00am-3:00pm

Interviews Hosted at:
Snooze Grand Mothership
2262 Larimer Street
Denver, CO 80205

Email with questions:
Snoozer@Snoozeatery.com

Snooze, Denver Born and Expanding Fast

Sure, the food is amazing, the people are nice, but that’s not the only reason Snooze has grown not only in Colorado but also in San Diego California and Phoenix Arizona.   That extra something is that they care.

They care about their employees, their customers and their community.  Their motto is “Snooze is passionate about our food. We serve tasty and responsible food with a fun twist.   We put a lot of thought into the food we source and are proud of what we serve our guests” and they deliver on it.

On the community involvement Rebecca shared…

We aim to become an integral part of the community and a great neighbor in any community that we join. We donate 1% of our total sales to our community partners as well as local schools and sustainability or education projects. We try to look a few miles from our front door and ask ourselves how can we make an impact? What can we do to make a positive difference using pancakes and breakfast as our vehicle! At the ballpark location we often volunteer at the Rescue Mission or donate food etc. We love working with Urban Peak and have conducted mock interviews for their kids who are about to look for jobs etc.

Kudos to Snooze and Congratulations on the new Union Station location.  I’ve been writing about Snooze since my first Pineapple Upside Down Pancake at theurbanbrain.com and it is a subject I can always rave about.

Of course, the other thing I love to rave about is sustainable living and since this magical date of July 12th also celebrates the launch of Union Station I’m doing a very happy dance.  Commuters riding light rail, car optional lifestyles, and Snooze pancakes.

It’s going to be a pretty good day!

Cheers Denver and Happy Breakfast to you!  Oh, and here’s a YouTube video from Denver Rail Fan showing the new station on the outside. You have to wait to see the inside.

Helpful Links

• Union Station Opening Day Event
• RTD Union Station Website
• Snooze Website
• Best Denver Breakfast Reader Poll
• The Urban Brain in Denver
• Want to enjoy Snooze Ballpark, here are condos for sale in the BallPark Neighborhood
• Want to enjoy Snooze Union Station, here are condos for sale in Riverfront Park and Union Station

The post Snooze Union Station Opening July 12th 2014 & Opportunities to Join Their Team appeared first on Denver Urban Living.