Last week I traveled to Denver, CO for a work related trip. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and was pleasantly impressed by the city. From the network of community & urban gardens, trails, pedestrian bridges, and other bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, to the amazing selection of microbrews and restaurants. Considering how difficult it is to find good, scrumptious food while on the road, I’ve decided to expand the scope of my “seasonal culinary journey” to include my culinary and food system experiences in other parts of North America.

Saturday morning, I woke up early to attend a field trip of Denver Urban Gardens (D.U.G.). Below are a few pictures from 2 different sites: Atlantis Community Inc. (a community center in Denver for people with disabilities) and Fairmont School. Unfortunately, the weekend prior, Denver had its first frost of the winter season, so all the beautiful vegetables, except for a few winter greens, died.

Atlantis Community Inc.

Fairmont School, Denver

Winter Greens, Fairmont School, Denver

After spending some time exploring the local Denver food system, I had the opportunity to try several delicious microbrews. My favorite included: Avery Double IPA, Avery Dougana, Great Divide Brown Ale, and Russian River Damnation. For more information, check out the beer page. I highly recommend grabbing a beer or two at the Falling Rock Tap House. They have over 50 regional microbrew beers on tap.

Sunday, I made it out to Denver just in time to grab lunch at The Kitchen, a fabulous restaurant in Boulder, CO that features locally produced produce and meat. Each day, the staff updates a large blackboard with information about growers and producers in the region that provide the restaurant with ingredients. The Kitchen is quite expensive for dinner, but decently priced for lunch. I recommend the portabello mushroom sandwich – delicious.

Other great restaurants I tried while in Denver include: Lola, Osteria Marco, Sushi Sasa and the Wazee Super Club. Everything I ordered was delicious. Try the roasted vegetable chile rellenos at Lola, the beet salad and mushroom panini at Osteria, the dragon roll at Sushi Sasha, and a pizza with sun dried tomatoes, pesto, and chicken at Wazee Super Club.

For more information about The Kitchen and other great restaurants, check out the restaurant page.