Denver Kitchen Notebook
An in-depth look at some of our favorite dishes (and beer) from our time on the ground in Denver.
Kofta Bi Tahini
At Safta, Chef Josh Gordon adapts recipes derived from Israel’s vast culinary landscape. “When we start looking for a new dish, it’s definitely something that’s going to be rooted in tradition,” says Gordon. “We try to stay true to the fact that Safta means grandmother. Anything on our menu is homey, but elevated.” For instance, he always serves a seasonally-driven kofta bi tahini—a Lebanese-Palestinian dish traditionally made with baked lamb meatballs smothered in tahini. Gordon makes his winter version with a freshly ground wagyu-black angus hybrid that’s seasoned with a custom madras spice blend from New York spice company, La Boîte. The meat is mixed with ground onions, parsley, and a pullman loaf panade, then shaped into six-ounce patties. After they’re fired in the wood-burning oven, the juicy meatballs are layered with crispy potatoes, seared onions, and raw leeks. The meat and vegetables are smothered in a tangy, creamy herbed tahini that’s packed with dill, cilantro, parsley, garlic, and lemon, and then thrown back into the oven so the sizzling ingredients can meld together. Finished with fresh herbs, the tender kofta sings with addictive brightness.
Root Veg Reuben
Although Chefs Dave Grant and Rocky Hunter have been vegans for decades, that hasn’t stopped them from making Reubens. “Everywhere I’ve worked, I’ve put a Reuben sandwich on the menu,” says Grant. Taking loose inspiration from Noma’s celery root shawarma, the Gladys co-owners chose spiralized celery root as their “protein,” which they oil-poach and fry. “It hits all the same notes as a meat analogue, but eats lighter, with cleaner flavors,” says Grant. After it’s cooked through and tender, the celery root is stored in a marinade of beets, pastrami seasoning (think, peppercorns, coriander, and mustard seeds), garlic, and lots of apple cider vinegar. The “pastrami” is seared on the flat top with crunchy, house-fermented sauerkraut. It’s all sandwiched with two slices of griddled marble rye that are smeared with a punchy horseradish sauce made from silken tofu, apple cider vinegar, and emulsified with neutral oil for a custardy texture. Stacked high, cut on the bias, and served on a paper-lined tray, the Gladys pastrami sandwich resonates with both vegans and meat-eaters alike. “It’s a great jumping off point for our menu,” Grant says. “People will come and get it two or three times before trying our other dishes.”
Stjordalsol
Head Brewer Jan Chodkowski of craft brewery Our Mutual Friend (OMF) loves the beer culture in Denver. “We're able to put up a wide breadth of styles at our taproom, and people are willing to try them,” says Chodkowski. So when he and his friend, Josh Cody of the Colorado Malt Company, traveled to Stjørdal, Norway in 2017 to try Stjørdalsøl, a dark, extremely smoky beer that’s made to drink on Christmas Eve, the pair knew they wanted to try it out in Denver. Chodkowski and Cody learned from Stjørdal’s farmhouse brewers (known locally as såinnhuslag), using local barley. Instead of drying it in a kiln, they smoke the malt over a perforated alderwood firebox and turn it by hand. “All of the color and flavor comes from this one process of simultaneously kilning and smoking the malt,” Chodkowski says. “If you were to pick it up, it's kind of speckled. But by the time you clean up the malt, mill it, and mash it, the wort comes out jet-black.” Poured on tap and packaged in 16-ounce cans, OMF’s nutty and hearty Stjørdalsøl fills your palate with a cloud of smoke.
Funky Breakfast Sandwich
For Bakers Allison Declercq and Colton Steiner of the wood-fired bakery, Funky Flame, the best way to start a busy weekend is by eating a breakfast sandwich on their Sunnyside apartment balcony. “It hits all the texture points,” says Declercq. “The salt, fat, acid… It’s just flavor on point on your taste buds without feeling super heavy.” So they created their own, using extra sourdough starter to create blue cornmeal-dusted English muffins. Declercq and Steiner start by dropping a handful of Swiss cheese into a pan, covering it with one side of a split English muffin. The other half gets a thick layer of white miso and roasted garlic “special sauce,” and is stacked with a house-made breakfast sausage patty made from Niman Ranch pork. It’s topped with an over-medium egg and pickled red onions, then sandwiched with the English muffin top, now crusted with a crispy, jagged-edged frico. “We’re not trying to make things that are showing off—we try to make the best food that people understand and want to eat weekly,” says Steiner. “There are cool, chef-y elements, but at the end of the day, it’s sausage, egg, cheese, and pickled onions on an English muffin.”
