October 24 , 2007
“Health food makes me sick." - Calvin Trillin
I’M IN ONE OF THEM MOODS, Lord knows what’s going to come out of me today.
Chama Restaurant at Belmar finally closed. After me begging them to close ever since they opened. The food was WAY over-priced, As in ten bucks for 1/8 ounces of beef with some foo foo in it and called “a beef burrito”. Owner Sean Yontz never returns tele calls or emails, not mine anyway. Maybe cuz he’s too busy cooking somewhere else.
No linen napkins cuz they wanted to be a “neighborhood” eatery. Not at those prices for so little food and such bad service. The margaritas were good, tho. Ta ta.
The stupidly designed emogene patisserie et café at Belmar also closed. Imagine. The place was always dark, the door was on the backside, the signage was not visible and the owners couldn’t figure out why there was no business. Course if and when you found the inside, you’d have to mortgage your house and mother-in-law to cover the cost of a salad and a brownie. Their store in Cherry Creek also closed. The very talented chef partner Troy Guard left the nest and doing his own thing. Speaking of The Cuda…never mind.
In spite of these two closings, Belmar continues to thrive more and more every day. What a terrific place to shop and dine and a maavelous place to live. I luv the row houses. Maybe I could get a raise from JTP (Jody The Pub) and afford one of them $400,000+ places to buy. Course if I took G with me I’d need three of ‘em, One for me and G, one for G’s clothes, and one for our six grandkids. A tenant (who’s nameless at the moment) is planning to occupy the Chama space. A hint: if it happens, it’s gonna be terrific.
Periodically I read about new additions to the dictionary but never changes. So why not? I wanna change spelling of the possessive form of the word, “nine”. I think “ninth” is stupid. It should be nineth, right? Ninety is correct, not ninty. I hate that word. Never use it. I also don’t like the word, “method”. I spell it meathod. It sounds better. That’s just the way my fingers work. Mea-thod.
Wedding gifts should be sent after the event. If the food is lousy, they get a lousy gift. It’s like paying a lot for a lousy meal. Besides, the bride and groom don’t want to spend their wedding night opening gifts; they have other things they would rather do. Many don’t open gifts til they come back from their honeymoon anyway, so you’ve got plenty of time to select the appropriate gift and mail it. Or send a check. Figure what the meal should cost, add the gratuity, forget the tax cuz the Guv ain’t entitled and doesn’t need it, and send the happy couple a check. If you’re lucky they’ll break up before you get around to sending the check and you can save the dough.
I’m thinking about buying the little strip center that sits between the New York Deli News (7105 E. Hampden Ave, 306/759-4741) and the newly opened Glacier Ice Cream (7155 E. Hampden Ave, 303/300-6661; www.glacierhomemadeicecream.com) just a few doors east. I’d build a house, sell all the cars and live a happy life walking to every meal. I’d have to figure out how to earn a few bucks cuz the social security checks won’t cover three meals a day, three snacks a day and five or ten desserts a day. G won’t be overjoyed, so it may be a choice of her or the deli and the gelato store. I’m thinking, I’m thinking. OK, bad idea. Good idea, just ain’t gonna happen. Gotta preserve happiness in Paradise.
Y’all know how terrific the grub is at New York Deli News. It’s been almost 13 years since I wrote a full column about them, nothing’s changed. Al’s getting older, still skinnier than a rail. Three things I hate. Old men, skinny men, and old, skinny men. Tory still looks terrific as she did when they opened. Why don’t women age? G’s just the same. People ask me why I’m going to dinner with my daughter. I hate that. Anyway, the pastrami is still the best around and the corned beef, when it’s fatty (the ONLY way to eat corned beef) is unbelievable. Have an egg cream. Yeah, no egg and no cream, but it’s maavelous.
Anywho, a few doors east is the newest Glacier Ice Cream & Gelato store. Oh, my. 2-die-4 is not adequate. How about the ultimate in gelato and ice cream? Remember that gelato has less butterfat and less air than ice cream, so it’s creamier and softer and richer-tasting. Less fattening also, but who cares about that? It’s the taste, and this is IT! I prefer good gelato to ice cream. Even their ice cream has lots less air in it than almost every other ice cream maker, so go for whatever. My “usual” is a scoop of chocolate mousse gelato and a scoop of Bing cherry ice cream. The problem is deciding which one goes on top. This place will blow your mind. It’s too bad that they didn’t get the summer business they were expecting, but so far, it seems to be packed every nite about closing time. You don’t want to know how I know. Check out their website for a list of store and the hundreds of flavors they make. I couldn’t decide whether the gelato I had for breakfast was as good as the gelato I had for dinner. And that was the first day they opened. Check out the Double Dark Chocolate Ice Cream.
Café Star’s top toque Rebecca Weitzman is leaving down for the Big Apple (where did that stupid name come from? Never called that when I lived in NYC.) She will be sous chef (as in numero two-o) at Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain. When G and I ate there last year, I thought the maitre ‘d was the second most obnoxious man I’d ever met, the place was ultra noisy, the food was mostly good, tho my duck had been cooked for forty days and forty nites at 1800 degrees. Prices were reasonable. Flay’s real claim to fame is that he's married to actress Stephanie March. Rebecca worked for Flay in New York before coming to Colorado, and we all wish her well.
Nick’s got new buggers. Ah, yes. Nick Andurlakis, of Nick’s Café fame, has a terrific new bugger, with more fat and more flavor then ever before. Still the lowest prices in town. Located on the cliff at 777 ½ Simms Street in Lakewood, serving breakfast and lunch. If you’re not into a plain half pounder, he’s still making the 1960’s Denver fav, the Rocky Bilt Bugger. This is also the best gyros in town, even if you can’t pronounce it. (jī'rō, jē'-, yē'-) . Just ask for the lamb, beef and onions stuff, G and I had Sunday breakfast there a couple of weeks ago. She went crazy over the homegrown tomatoes he served with her terrific sausage and eggs. If the guy would only get a new bun and some desserts…
Bubble and Squeak
A great trivia question: what was Leroy and Forrest Raffel famous for? Hear tell the best pork tenderloin (deep fried, Iowa style) is at Sweetwater Station up north in Broomfield ...y’all know the only good thing to come out of Iowa is an empty Greyhound bus. The good thing about Iowa is that they got the Missouri River on the West and the Mighty Mississippi on the East. Keeps them Iowonians from leaving the state… My new favorite W in town is Ben at Fleming’s. A nice and knowledgeable guy. If you’re into fine wines, they pour 100 of ‘em by the glass. Steak’s perty darn good too… G and I luv IHOP, often having Sunday breakfast there. Two negatives: they no longer serve their fab potato pancakes, guess I was the only guy who liked ‘em, and they have the worst bugger in town. Really sucks… If you ain’t been to one of the area Jimmy John’s you’re missing out on the best subs in town. A yummy tuna sangie for three bucks and change? Double meat for a buck extra. Can’t beat it. I’m at the new one at Wads and Colfax in Lakewood.
Cya.
In his real life Jay Fox is a CPA. He offers all kinds of good tax planning advice, financial calculators and the latest in tax news at his website: www.jayfoxcpa.com. He just writes this column for the money.