TODAY IS THE SADDEST DAY OF MY DINING LIFE

April 4, 2005

 “ Remember you’re all alone in the kitchen, and no one can see you”. – Julia Child 

 

I WAS TALKING TO JOHN MENCHES in Akron, Ohio. John is the great grandson of Charles Menches, who along with Charles’ brother Frank, was one of the founders of the bugger. I told him that I’d been planning for six months to visit Akron for the First National Hamburger Festival scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, 2005. “I hate to be the one to tell you”, he said, “but the event was cancelled.” I couldn’t believe my ears! “Bu bu bu bu” I stuttered. “What happened?” I asked. “The fella who was promoting the event and doing all the work got really sick and it was decided to postpone the event until 2006.” Well, I thought, that’s really not canceling, but I was heart-broken. I wanted to say that I hoped the promoter didn’t get sick from eating a bugger, like maybe at one of the Menches Bros. Family restaurants, but I was nice. But just that once. Oh, my. I am still feeling chest pains from the news. Right here along the left side, Stan. So I guess my side-trip to Seymour, Wisconsin to visit the Hamburger Hall of Fame is out too. John told me that Seymour holds a big parade and festival the first weekend of August. This year it will be held Saturday, August 6th. I may go. I’m too sad right now to even think about it.    

 

ON A LESS SAD NOTE, I’m going to start including in this column my thought for the day. These are those things that kinda bother me and cause me to fret. So I thought I’d share my concerns with you. Here’s the first one. 

 

Thought For The Day – Do stale donuts have fewer calories than fresh donuts? I would think something has to disappear along with the flavor and freshness.   

 

ANYONE BEEN BUYING BREADS AT KING STOOPERS lately? They’ve been turning out some bad product lately, and no one at King Stoopers cares. Try one of the new onion sangie rolls. Cardboard tastes better. No, I’m wrong; it is cardboard. Bad cardboard. You know the only thing worse than a King Stoopers Bakery? Two King Stoopers Bakeries. LOL. Ha ha. Ceptin’ Store 31 where they’re nice and they luv me and I luv them. But them other stores…and no one cares. Yeah, try and get someone in their corporate bakery to talk to you. Down hill every day.   

 

FROM THE WHAT’S HAPPENING department. The finest Philly cheese steak joint in the world has opened right here in Colorful Colorado. I-25 south to Exit 193, East not quite a mile to Oswego Street, turn left into the shopping center and head for the Conoco station. Yeah, yeah, the Conoco station. Inside is Gerald and Cheryl Topper’s Unbelievable Eatery. (11802 Oswego St, 303/662-0641). I don’t do Philly cheese steaks, but this is different. Real rib-eye steaks grilled not zapped in a microwave. Hoagie rolls flown in from Philadelphia cuz, according to Gerry, no one here produces a true crusty roll with a soft inside. And if you ain’t into cheese steaks, he’s got hand-packed buggers, tuna sangies, and this weird Italian sausage sangie with mayo. Yeah, well, you can have marinara sauce if you want, but you gotta try it with the mayo. And there’s a dozen other sangies to tempt your tummy. If you wanna know something about this deliteful, funny man who cooks and runs the store, check out his website, www.toppersbazaar.com. The restaurant menu isn’t up there yet, but I suspect it will soon. Cuz the UI is getting slammed every day at lunch. Call him for restaurant hours and for take out. You’re in for a treat, albeit the website or eating there and watching. 

 

FOX’S RAMBLINGS. Waddaya think about Mayor Hickenlooper’s taking the lead in the no-smoking effort at the state level after vetoing Denver’s proposed ban. I agree that it needs to be a statewide ban, but Denver’s banning smoking in all restaurants would have made it lots easier for the legislature to pass a bill. Cuz I know it would have been a huge success. More diners eating and less smoke. What more can a hungry man ask for? His second boo boo was not communicating to his trustees about his plans before they spent a half million bucks remodeling Cherry Cricket (a great buggery, by the way) to accommodate non-smokers. Shame shame, Mr. Mayor. But I do like most of your eateries.  Do I dare suggest misspelling his name? Would Hickenpooper be timely? Or tacky? 

 

Sean Kelly is at it again, changing things around. Sure wish that guy would decide what he wants to do when he grows up. His new eatery, Something Else (1313 E. 6th Ave, 303/831-1992) is now re-opened with more seats and a new feel; Wonder if he’ll close this place, retire again and then open (pardon the pun) something else. But Sean is still one of Denver’s finest chefs, so I hope this time is the charm.  

 

Speaking of weirdness among chefs, Frank Bonanno has lost his mind. Currently he has two great stores, Mizuna (225 E. 7 Ave, 303/832-4778; www.mizunadenver.com),  and Luca d’Italia (711 Grant St, 303/832-6600). These are two of Denver’s Top Ten on anyone’s list. I can’t decide which one I like better. But they are right next door to each other where he can keep a close eye on both. Now he is opening a third store at 1700 Vine Street, to be called Milagro. Good luck, Frank. You’ll need it. Buy lotsa sneakers. 

 

More on the great ones. The Scottsdale-based folks who own Bloom (1 Flatiron Circle, 720/887-2800) and a dozen or so other extremely well-run restaurants, have now opened North (190 Clayton St, 720/941-7700; www.foxrestaurantconcepts.com). This Northern Eye-talian eatery is hot, hot and hotter still. And that’s a good hot. Located next to the Marriott in Cherry Creek, if you haven’t visited this area, you’re in for a treat. Lots of fine dining, upscale shopping and a fun environment. For a minute there I thought I was talking about Belmar in Lakewood. Vehry similar. Vehry nice. How’s that for a segue?  www.belmarcolorado.com.

 

LOL. John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News paid belly, reported a while back that,  “Ocean Journey will become the Downtown Aquarium with a new restaurant centered on a 100,000 gallon fish tank.” Now there is No Way on this Earth that I will place my derriere on top of any fish tank. Uh uh!  Are you kidding? This cute tush ain’t going anywhere near a 100,000 gallons of water! Yeah, right, load that aquarium with some pariah or sharks or whatever, and gee, we’re sure sorry mister that the floor broke and fell into the water. With you. Yeah, might just as well set my butt onto a land mine and drop that certifiable loony, Anna Nicole Smith on my head. 

 

CCGS. Sometimes I read my own notes and I get tickled at myown writing.There’s these two “ladies”, Kanaka Karen, the Kosmokrator and Sophrosyne Susan, the Schoenabatist, who have formed the Golden Bridge Club.  But they don’t play bridge. No, no. That would be what one might expect. No, they’re not engineers interested in rebuilding some of Colorado’s most dangerous weapons: highway bridges. Uh Uh. What they do is they meet in a bar next to a bridge. Got it? I think their current fav is the bridge next to Bridgewater Grill in the newly renovated Golden Hotel. If so, they sure picked a goodie cuz the grub is great and the hotel is gorgeous.    

 

Cya. 

 

NMMNG Jay Fox’s column can be viewed at his website, www.jayfoxcpa.com, along with the past two plus year’s of dining columns. You will also find all kinds of good tax planning advice, financial calculators and the latest in tax news. In his real life Jay is a CPA. He just writes this column for the money.