After finishing up in Salt Lake City there was no way I was going to go directly home when there were a bunch of places in Colorado. I took a short morning flight from the brand new Salt Lake City Airport (it had opened the day before) to Denver. After arriving and visiting a friend who was working at DIA, I went to get a car and headed out to start my journey. My first stop was one of my favorite Triple D places. Whenever I have time in Denver I have to go visit a great place in the small town of Brighton. "Lauer Krauts" is a small place that features fresh baked sandwiches called Kraut Burgers. They are stuffed rolls and delicious. They also have stuffed rolls with sausage and hot dogs, soups, salads and German Potato Salad. The owner, Robin has become a good friend so it's always great to see and visit with her. As she came out of the kitchen to say hello she brought me and a new product she had just created, a savory roll that looked like a cinnamon roll. The roll was stuffed with meat and sauerkraut then topped with a honey mustard sauce they make in the restaurant. As I ate, we caught up on her business and my travels. She told me that she had been recently been on two more Triple D shows! The first was a revisit on Guy's Triple D Nation and then just two weeks prior to my visit she was part of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives: Take Out Edition. That where the roll she made for me to try came from. On the Take Out show she had Guy make a Cinnamon Roll and Guy asked why there was not roll with the Sauerkraut and she took that and ran. She also gave me one of the new Lauer Kraut t-shirts that have their log on the front and the Triple D Nation logo on one sleeve and the Triple D logo on the other. It was a great visit, I always love seeing Robin. Lauer Krauts is a must!
From Brighton I headed to Longmont, about 40 minutes away. Longmont has the feel of a Western town and they were just getting ready for a Restaurant Week promotion. This was the first that I had seen part of the main road being closed out for outdoor seating and it seemed very well done. I went to a place called "The Roost". The have a big bar area and several rooms of indoor dining and also have some out seating in the alley next to the entrance. I was given a seat in the back "indoor" patio area. I decided to try a starter and chose the Beet and Cheese salad. It was very tasty, chinks of beets mixed in oils and spices with pan seared spinach and chunks of goat cheese. The sweetness of the beets along with the creamy goat cheese was excellent.
From the Roost I headed to a place on the other side of Longmont. "The Post Brewing Company" is in an old Pizza Hut building but what they do is miles better than any pizza place! They feature hand crafted beer and chicken. I was seated in a booth in the main dining area (they also have a large outdoor patio) and as I looked over the menu I sawt hey have deviled eggs and that was it for me! As I waited, the owner and chef Jake came over to sign my book and we talked about the show. He has two other locations and he told me prior to their episode airing the location I was at was not doing as well as the others and since all three are doing better than ever! I call that the Triple D Effect! The Eggs were great! Eggs stuffed with a mild horseradish yolk mixture with marinated celery topped with crispy chicken skin (that's what sold me!). Before I left Jake came back and made me a honorary member of the Chicken Crew and gave me a hat only the staff has! As Carl, the Grounds Keeper (played by Bill Murray) in the movie "Caddyshack" said "So I have that going for me and that's good!"
After heading back into the Denver area and checking into my hotel I headed out to track down a food truck. "Areyto Puerto Rican Food Truck" was parked in front of the Green Mountain Beer Company in Lakewood. Sometimes trucks are tough to locate but Areyto keeps a very informative website making it easy to find them. The owners were really friendly and we chatted a few minutes after I ordered. I decided to try a few items, first I got an Alcapurria, which was a deep fried green banana stuffed with beef, aciote, and taro. Then I tried the Empandillia, which is like and Empanada with ground beef stuffed in a pastry flour pocket and also tried the rice and peas (black beans). All were really good. I decided to try one of the drinks from the beer company and tried the Blueberry Spiked Seltzer, which was really good and had a nice fruit flavor. It was a good first day in Colorado
My second day in Colorado was a day of a lot of driving. I headed out from the hotel to Boulder, home of the University of Colorado. This is very much a college town, you see the black gold colors all over the town. My first stop was in a small strip mall. "Alloy Thai Cuisine" is a small place and seemed even smaller with many of the tables taken out for social distancing. As you enter the Guy poster is just inside the front door. I was greeted by the hostess and seated at a small table on the back wall. I looked over the menu and two items jumped out at me; the Duck Wontons and the Pot Stickers. After short wait my meal came out. The Pot Stickers were very traditional and filled with pork. They came with a soy based sauce and a very spicy red sauce. The Duck Wontons were very much like a traditional Crab Rangoon with diced duck in the cream filling. Both were very good. I was able to get my book signed by my waitress who also served Guy on their episode. I really enjoyed my time at Alloy.
From Alloy I headed a few miles across town to an area that had been made into a pedestrian mall with shops, restaurants and bars. "Zoe Ma Ma" was open just for carry out, although they had a small area of picnic tables in front of the order window. They feature Chinese meals and Dim Sum. I decided to try a few a few of the Dim Sum items. I chose the Pork filled bun, the Pearl Meatball and a Pot Sticker. The bun was very good, filed with pork and a sweet sauce. The meatball was made of pork and water chestnuts, wrapped in rice. The pot sticker was traditional. They were all very good. It's a shame that they couldn't open up but that the world of the pandemic!
I had one more Boulder place to try. Just a few miles on the other side of town is "Audrey Jane's Pizza Garage". Audrey's is in a little shopping area and has an indoor seating area but was closed due to the pandemic. They had a carryout area created by raising their garage style doors. They also had a few picnic tables in front. I really liked it that they sell pizza by the slice! I decided to try a slice of what they call Green Mountain. The pizza was topped with mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta cheese, spinach, green olives and garlic. The slice was massive, I think 4 slices would equal a 24 inch pizza! The pizza was very tasty, I really liked the olives and the crust was the best part, it was awesome! My order was delivered by Audrey Jane, herself and she signed my book!
The last time I did a Triple D trip in Colorado I focused on all the places in Colorado Springs and as I planned this trip I just totally forgot that there was one place in the "Springs" I was not able to get to as it was a food truck not open. I didn't even remember about it until I arrived in Denver and looked it up. The website showed they they still operate the truck (I was later told, it was closed for the season) but they also have a "Brick and Mortar" or restaurant, so I decided that I should make the trip to try it out. The traffic was pretty heavy on the way south from Boulder to Colorado Springs, due to massive construction on Interstate 25. After a 2 hour drive I arrived at "Pig Latin Cocina" a funky place in a strip mall on the east side of the Springs. Due to the pandemic they had no inside seating but they do have a funky patio with very neat art and a lot of socially distanced tables. I went in to order and took a table just outside their front door. I ordered a Shrimp Street Taco and Pork Belly Chicharrons. The taco was very good with three large shrimp. The Chicharrons were delicious, meaty and tasty! I noticed that this is a popular place for he younger crowd, as I was probably the oldest one there by about 20 years!
After a night in I headed out to go to my last few places on the trip. "Just BE Kitchen" is a small place that features a Vegan and Gluten Free menu. They have a little courtyard in the parking lot, you can't even get in without ringing the doorbell! I was seated at a small table next to the door and had to scan the barcode to get the menu. After talking to my server about the show and what Guy had I decided to try one of the items Guy had what they call Cozy. A chicken and dumpling dish with chicken, vegan dumplings, carrots and other vegies in a red broth. The meal came pretty quickly and was presented in an huge soup bowl. I wasn't sure how I'd like it because I don't normally eat vegan or non-gluten but this was very good. The chicken pieces were large and tasty and the dumplings were very good! Just BE is doing everything non touch so I even had to get my bill by scanning the bill barcode nd paying over their website over the phone, now that was a first.
After getting my book signed I headed out to next place just a few miles away in an area that is home to about 5 or 6 other Triple D places. "Il Porcellino Salumi" might be described as a butcher shop as they feature their own cured meats and feature sandwiches, salads and meats. They are more a shop than restaurant and I decided to try the Charcuterie sampler platter which I had to carry out and try in the car. There wee 4 types of meats and a small marinated carrot based salad. The meats were sliced very thin (as Guy would say "so thin there's just one side!"). The meats were good and the vinegar based salad was nice, too.
After getting my book signed I was off to my last place on this Colorado trip. Just a few miles away in the town of Wheat Ridge, "Grammy's Italian Goodies" is both a restaurant and bakery. They feature a huge menu of Italian meals and also have Italian cakes, cookies and pastries. They have a small indoor seating area which was closed due to the pandemic although they made a large outdoor patio with numerous covered tables. After several minutes trying to decide what to get I chose the cheese ravioli. I was told as it was my first time their I would get a complimentary order of garlic knots. I found a table and was shortly served the garlic knots. This order could feed a family of 6! The roll sized knots were topped with garlic butter and parmesan they were good and filling!, I was soon served the ravioli and the three large ravioli were filled with ricotta and topped with a meatball and tomato sauce. Grammy's meals are huge, I knew that I had just ordered both my lunch and dinner! I really enjoyed the ravioli, it was really good (not as good as my grandma's, but to be honest no one can make them that good!). Before leaving Grammy came out to sign my book, It was n honor to meet her!
Grammy's was my last place on this Colorado trip and combined with the trip to Salt lake I was able to get to a lot of great places. I am very fortunate to be able to do this and meet a lot of great people. As I headed home my Triple D count was at 793.
