Taste 2017

Greeley’s Guide to

Dining & Drinks

PG. 3 - 5 LOCAL RESTAURANT FEATURES

PG. 10 MONEY SAVING COUPONS

2017

PG. 11-13 RESTAURANT MAP AND DIRECTORY

©2015 Golden Corral Corporation

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$ 79

7

$ 49 2

TASTE 2017

“Standouts are The Grill’s Buffalo Wings, slow-smoked over oak wood with five sauces ranging from sweet Asian Thai to spicy Habanero BBQ.”

“The first thing you should know about Grand Lake’s 16th St. Tavern is that it isn’t in Grand Lake.”

The Grill at Westlake 2118 35th Avenue, Greeley 970-673-8774 thegrillatwestlake.com

Grand Lake’s 16th St. Tavern 915 16th Street, Greeley 970-352-9198 grandlakebrewing.com

With 15 big screen TVs and great viewing from just about anywhere in the restaurant, The Grill at Westlake is a fun spot to cheer on your favorite sports team. There’s lots of elbow room for friends and family to get rowdy in the cheering section and friendly, attentive waitstaff are knowledgeable about the menu, checking in regularly to make sure your table is stocked with what you’d like to satisfy hunger. Food offerings are well-thought out and skillfully prepared.

Chef Phil Drake began his cooking career at age 13 and after spending time in corporate kitchens around the country, Drake brings a wide range of people-pleasers to the taste experience at The Grill.

Whether you’re in the mood for a Certified Angus burger prepared from beef locally sourced in Greeley through JBS, a bowl of succulent chili, a smorgasbord of sandwiches, wraps or a salad — or if grazing through a tableful of munchies suits you better — the menu is studded with menu stars. Standouts are The Grill’s Buffalo Wings, slow-smoked over oak wood with five sauces ranging from sweet Asian Thai to spicy Habanero BBQ. Fried pickles in a light, dilled tempura batter are provocatively salty with fantastic crunch. The Rib Platter is meaty and tender, cooked slow and low. Pepper rubbed and smoked for 4 to 5 hours at 200 degrees, the ribs are then stacked in a pan, covered with beer to mellow out the pepper and baked for another few hours. Finished on the broiler with a savory honey BBQ sauce, the method promises deep, juicy flavor that’s a finger-lickin’ must do. In the TASTE 2017

mood for Mexican? The Grill brings you chicken, fish and steak tacos. Pork chops, grilled chicken, steaks, salmon, fish & chips and even Mushroom Marsala meatloaf round out the menu. There’s something that fits the comfort food ticket for everyone.

The Grill offers game day specials on wings, Happy Hour everyday from 3 to 6 pm and daily specials, as well as seasonal holiday brunch and special menus designed around events. Catering is available for office meetings and gatherings ranging from the intimate to weddings and event planning.

The small storefront faces south on 16th Street, across from a beautiful, green swath of park-like property, the University of Northern Colorado. The second thing is it is a tavern, in the best sense of the word. It is a tavern that doesn’t try to be cool. There are no gimmicks, no frills, no beer jokes. But it is related to Grand Lake, the tiny historic town located at the headwaters of the Colorado River.

Grand Lake Brewery began in 2002 as a three barrel system brewery and has grown to a 15 barrel system since then. Still located in Grand Lake, the award-winning brewery culls hops and grains from all over the world and its beers are available in liquor stores and on tap across the state, including twelve stores in Northern Colorado.

fully loaded glass of something to wash it down.

The citrusy White Cap Wheat is one option or if you can handle the pairing, try the pulled pork with one of the hoppier amber beers like the Rocky Mountain Red Ale or Stumpjumper IPA. It’ll help cut the spice.

Long and dark, Grand Lake’s 16th St. Tavern is a comfortable room. A projector and TV often tune to the sporting event of the moment, but the screen rolls up when not in use. Families, students, college professors and townies mingle, creating a subtle buzz. You can go to watch TV, but more than anything, the tavern is about conversation. The place gets packed to the walls on Tuesday’s for Trivia night, but the staff are attentive and friendly.

Reliable tap standards are the Wooly BoogerNut Brown Ale, Plaid Bastard Strong Scotch Ale and Stumpjumper IPA. Check what’s rotating seasonally.

The menu is loaded with sandwiches, salads, wraps and fun creations like the Cavatappi Macn-cheese, but hands down the star is the Wooly Burger. It’s a classic “All American” cheeseburger loaded with the essentials, then slathered with an intense Brown Ale sauce that won’t let you put it down. It comes with a side of Kettle Chips that are lightly salted and peppered.

A warning: beware of anything with pulled pork.

Tender, juicy and flavorful isn’t the problem. The pork is really spicy, so make sure you’ve got a 3

TRUE “GRAIN TO GLASS” PRODUCTION. GENUINELY AUTHENTIC HANDMADE SPIRITS. REAL SPIRITS. MADE RIGHT IN GREELEY. Handmade spirits and cocktails, for the

Visit Syntax Spirits in downtown Greeleyfor a tasting and distillery tour.

Synner in you.

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$

625 3rd St., Unit C, Greeley 970-352-5466 Open 4pm Wed-Fri Noon on weekends

LUNCH SPECIAL!

Monday – Friday 11 am – 2 pm

VOTED BEST BURGER IN GREELEY! GREAT PLACE TO HANG OUT WITH YOUR FRIENDS Live Music • Karaoke • Pool Tables • Big Screen TV • Darts Happy Hour Mon-Fri 3-6 (All Day on Sunday)

5750 W 10TH ST, GREELEY (970) 356-5285 4

“It’s as if you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole into Alice’s Wonderland.”

Syntax Spirits 625 3rd Street, Unit C, Greeley, CO 80631 970-352-5466 syntaxspirits.com It’s a chilly night and the parking lot outside the warehouses off 3rd Street and 6th Avenue in Greeley is sprinkled with a few cars. Next door to Syntax Spirits, welcoming strands of lights invite guests into Wiley Roots Brewing.

In warmer weather, Syntax’s garage doors open onto a patio, lush with flower pots and enticing garden chairs in which to sit, sip and ponder how a stark industrial area can possibly trick you into believing you are somewhere else. Tonight, those doors are closed. But if you wander around the corner, you’ll find a small, nondescript metal door to enter the distillery.

It is a world dominated by animals and super humans. The cavernous space is dim, with much of the light coming from glowing red and green bulbs and the occasional rickety looking lamp.

Overhead, white banners depict an ethereal woman striking various athletic poses. On top of the corrugated metal bar sits a large marmalade cat named King Gustav. His likeness has been captured in cartoon by pinball artisit, Greg Freres, gracing a row of backlit bottles containing Big Cat White Whiskey and Syntax Bourbon, a gold medal winner at the 2015 United Kingdom Wizards of Whiskey. Gustav’s White Whiskey is also a multiple award winner.

house-distilled Class V Vodka, Big Cat Whiskey, Powder White Rum, Perky Pepper Vodka, Devious Vanilla Vodka, Syntax Bourbon or Tiny Batch infusions. All are from locally sourced natural grains and fresh produce. The liquors are smooth, full of distinctive flavor elements, polished and professional. All regular bottled distilled products are for sale, and are available in various sizes, including gift basket samplers.

Some Tiny Batches can be custom ordered.

Join others at the distillery for Sunday potlucks, and bring a dish to compliment your favorite beverage off the creatively worded menu.

With the vast drink options, it’s open season on culinary inventiveness, or you can choose from the Nibbles and Snacks Syntax offers, with NoCo cheese plates, hummus or olives and pickled veggie offerings.

As a distillery, according to Colorado State law, Syntax can only use alcohol it makes in its cocktails. Some require infusions, prepared in Mason jars; these “Tiny Batches” take from two weeks to two months, depending on what raw ingredient is being infused.

On site Syntax beverages are prepared with TASTE 2017

“It’s a bit like an election ballot, but you can eat the results.”

Stuft: A Burger Bar 819 9th Street, Greeley Greeley - (970) 978-4687 stuftburgerbar.com Burger chain giant, Burger King, dropped their 40-year old tagline, “Have It Your Way,” back in 2014, in part recognizing that it’s difficult to go to a drive-through expecting to fully customize your burger.

But the “Have It Your Way” concept has been applied with creative abandon by burger market newcomer, Stuft — A Burger Bar, with shops in Fort Collins, Windsor and Greeley.

After being seated, grab a pencil and fill in the bubbles on the form. Mark your preference for a ground beef patty, grilled chicken or Vegan Veggie burger. Select from nine cheeses, ranging from deli standards to Basil Tomato Goat Cheese and Feta. Move down to Toppings, with choices of veggies, fire roasted chili pepper, fresh spinach, pickle chips and assorted variations of the onion family. Options for peanut butter and jelly make an appearance. Spring the extra .99 cents for Applewood or Sweet & Spicy Bacon, fried egg, guacamole, or the sun-dried tomatoes.

Don’t miss the topper of Brew #2 Onion Strings.

Succulent and tender, the crisp batter clings to the strings thanks to a sweet amber craft beer, a collaboration between Verboten Brewery and Stuft. Order a pint from the tap for the perfect flavor pairing.

Your decision making isn’t over yet. Next, choose a sauce and the bun you’d like to contain your artistry. Sauces run from expected to inventively wild. The brainchild of Executive Chef Billy Charters, try the red pepper pesto mayo and chipotle ketchup. Buns range from shiny brioche, TASTE 2017

a pretzel bun, lettuce bed or glazed donut — for the adventurous spirits. There are also suggested burger creations.

Chef Billy won the Colorado Burger Battle last year with his chorizo slider with aged white cheddar, topped by a poached quail egg. The winning design, elevating the burger from fast food into the gourmet arena, perched the in-house ground chorizo patty on a cauliflower croquette with sweet corn succotash. His recipe creations, whether for competitions or to serve to guests at the three gourmet burger restaurants, all take the basic concepts of a meat, a starch and a side — and then place everything between a bun. Chef puts it simply: “I make things I think will taste good.”You’ll most likely agree with him, and even more so, if you are your burger’s designer.

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The refrigerator door stood wide open and I lingered in front of it, evaluating options.There was a salty-sweet, teriyaki-grilled salmon fillet I could pair with a still-perky cucumber and tomato salad. Another choice was a chicken breast, enveloped in some sort of yellow sauce — was it curry or Arroz con Pollo? I couldn't remember.

And then there was half a burrito tucked into its styrofoam nest, iceberg lettuce curling and a bit wilty, but the green chile salsa had been fabulous and hot.

Oh, the decisions we have to make in life: what to have for lunch from the refrigerator spoils.

Not spoils as in, “If I eat this microbial load of Staphylococcus aureus, E-coli, Salmonella and Camphylobacter, what happens next will ruin thoughts of eating leftovers for a very long time afterward,” but rather the sort of spoils one typically associates with treasure hunting. At our house, leftovers rank with gold nuggets in the “I want it” category. We label them and if you are caught stealing the remainders of a meal meant for someone who has previously laid claim, woe

betide you. You might discover that your precious spaghetti and meatballs — the meal you've been salivating over for days — has been swiped by a fellow housemate.

Businesses use analyses of how people eat their food to help determine personalities.

I was curious about other people's leftover habits, so I surfed the Internet for leftover etiquette, but found little. There were multiple articles about what our eating habits

THE INNOVATOR: The Innovator is part dreamer, part action figure.

Because she has so much on her plate and in her refrigerator, dinner will be late but it will be creative and tasty. There are many uses to which she believes a leftover can be put and she is pleased to present concoctions scrambled together from many previous meals, often topped with a fried egg, which demonstrates her global point of view. She does not appreciate leftovers being eaten simply for elimination of product, but prefers reinvention and rejuvenation. This leftover user is a good employee for urban renewal companies who seek the ultimate in creativity without a specific deadline.

ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR: The Professor makes great play of packaging up his leftovers, assuring that no sandwich is topsy-turvy and the sauce is in the container right side up. Presentation is key, but remembering to take leftovers to work or transfer them from car to refrigerator is haphazard. Because his mind is so often elsewhere, he tends to be a creative dreamer. Reality and common sense is not a deterrent. If you are hunting for an inventor, this is your man.

THE PURER THAN THOU: “Lips that have touched leftovers shall not touch mine,” is Purer’s mantra. She needs food now, the faster the better, and freshness is not negotiable. Because Purer tends towards wastefulness, she is singleminded and often on the leadership fast track until higher-ups realize that longevity is not her goal. Purer is a job jumper, loyalty not being a strong suit because she needs excitement and the raw tingle of winning.

If your company is looking for a boost and quick turnaround, this person is your best bet. Just don’t expect her to stick around after the job is done.

THE BOTTOM FEEDER: This diner intends to eat whatever he saves from a meal, regardless of how far from the expiration date the food has strayed.

Meticulous about his work, but only when he wants to be and when he gets around to doing it, he is less of a team player, more of a coach. He is frequently under the weather, most likely because of his dietary habits, so tends to miss days. He will pour on the speed and work like a maniac to catch up, so if you’re looking for someone with great productivity, this is one not to miss.

say about our personalities. You wouldn't think this is the subject of deep and considered analysis, but evidently, whether you eat slowly or are a sandwich snarfer has a lot to do with what sort of employee you will be, as well as friend, parent, community citizen and lover.

These studies, prepared by food behaviorists, can tell if we're competitive workers or if we're a team player who likes to combine the efforts of others for a job

well done. How we order off a menu can assist a prospective employer determine whether we'd be a good fit in their organization. At a restaurant, are you a waffler and peruser? Or do you make a choice without even opening the menu? Do you eat popcorn one kernel at a time or by the handful?

Beware, because the Food Shrinks will be weighing judgment. The Meyer Briggs test has nothing in comparison to the breadth of personality defects that can be detected based on how we stick a fork into our mouths. Who cares if the Color Coders determine you're a Yellow? There's so much more that can be known about someone who cuts all their meat at once.

It seems there are a lot of people with time on their hands observing how other people eat. But what they really should be looking at is what happens to the leftovers once dinner is over and everyone has gone to bed. How leftovers are handled is the true mark of personality.

Award-winning author Emily Kemme. Follow her on her blog, Feeding the Famished, www.facebook.com/EmilyKemme, or on Twitter @EmFeedsYou . Life inspired. Vodka tempered.

THE HOARDER: Do you need an employee to watch every penny in the till? The Hoarder is the one! No lettuce leaf nor soggy slice of cantaloupe will be discarded. Is there a quarter cup of sauce left in the pot? This one will scoop it and tuck it away in a plastic storage container. Detractors are an inability to see the bigger picture, including being farsighted enough to purchase enough containers with matching lids to hold it all. This employee excels at the bottom line, but with the build up of refrigerator inventory may not have enough customers to make it productive. Ben Franklin may have decreed “a penny saved is a penny earned,” but if it goes to rot in bulk, it will be more of “penny wise, pound foolish.”

THE SALAD QUEEN: This type of leftover user has a creative bent with a limited palette. Anything goes when combining foods with lettuce. Thrifty, but unlike the Hoarder, will actually eat what she forages in the refrigerator.

She is a team-builder, encouraging onlookers to join in and build their own salads from the findings. Environmentally conscious, she wants a business model aware of its global footprint, actively composting scraps on site. She is farsighted and a planner.

THE DOG HOUSE: This leftover user has aspects derived from many of the others, except he does not put many of his ideas to use. This stems from lack of self-confidence and makes him a follower. He is agreeable enough and will save food scraps, but does not have the creativity necessary to use them, nor does he truly care much. The bigger picture is daunting and he is often a traditionalist, resisting change. When reminded that there are leftovers available to eat for lunch, he often will suggest feeding the scraps to the dogs. He does love animals and this is his saving grace. It is evidence that he is part of the human race.

THE SHARER: The Sharer is a carer, best suited for service industries and healthcare. The Sharer will give you the shirt off his back and the leftover steak off his plate because he doesn’t care what comes next. He is certain there will be another meal to enjoy; one meal is much like the other.

Lighthearted and generally happy, he is the office cheerleader, ready to lend a shoulder to cry on or give you his three-day-old dried out sandwich.

He doesn’t need it; he can subsist on air and the smiles he invokes from others.

Bonus Question: How do leftovers rate at your house? Are they high enough to merit driving to the office or school to deliver them to their intended recipient, much as you would do for a mislaid cellphone or homework assignment? Or if forgotten, do they go in the trash?

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TASTE 2017

Chicken With Olives Lemon and Sage

Olives are not only good for making olive oil. Braising them with chicken, lemon juice and wine releases their buttery flavors and their brine tenderizes the chicken as it simmers. This recipe pairs two: the salty black Kalamata and the meaty green Castelvetrano. The combination is luscious and easy to prepare.

3 1/2 - 4 lbs bone-in chicken pieces (breasts, thighs), patted dry 1 large onion, diced 7 large garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1 cup low-salt chicken broth 1 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives 1/2 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives 4 T unsalted butter, divided

2 T olive oil (depending on cooking temperature) 8 large sage leaves, sliced in chiffonade, plus several left whole for garnish salt and pepper Serves 4.

STEP 1: Lightly salt and pepper chicken pieces.

STEP 2: In large, heavy skillet, warm 3 T butter and olive oil until froth from butter subsides. Brown chicken on both sides until skin is deeply colored. Remove chicken to clean bowl.

STEP 3: Add garlic and sautĂŠ for 30 seconds until it releases its essence. If skillet is dry, add 2 T more olive oil. Add onions to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until golden but not crisped.

STEP 4: Add chicken broth, wine and olives to skillet and bring to boil. Return chicken pieces to skillet, along with juices collected in bowl. Lower heat, add sliced sage strips and simmer covered for 50 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and pulls away from the bones.

STEP 5: Swirl in remaining tablespoon butter. Salt and pepper to taste.

STEP 6: Serve chicken in warmed, shallow bowls. Soak up the buttery sauce with mini pasta shells, rice, mashed potatoes or couscous nestled up to the chicken. Garnish with remaining sage leaves.

DINING

Award-winning author Emily Kemme writes about human nature, illuminating the everyday in a way that highlights its brilliance. Follow her on her blog, Feeding the Famished, www.facebook.com/EmilyKemme, or on Twitter @EmFeedsYou . Life inspired. Vodka tempered.

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FOOD & MEMORY

The Meals That Shape Our Lives hy is it that some memories of meals you’ve enjoyed in life stand out in striking Kodachrome, while others fade to dingy gray, or can’t be remembered at all? There are thousands of meals I can recall, film reels of them, but they appear in a sepia blur, the end of the film rattling and flapping as the reel goes round and round on the projector. These are nourishments without any meaningful connection or a defining essence.

In the days before the Instagram-Your-Every-Bite craze, photos of food were scarce, often a curiosity to be admired in professional cookbooks. Back before I became confident with a camera, as we dug into a luscious meal somewhere or other, I would remember, usually several bites in, to ask my husband to photograph a pretty presentation on a plate. “Great idea,” he would chuckle, “but you reminded me too late. I’ve already eaten it.”

We have plenty of photos of plates scraped clean from those days, memories of food remnants, I like to think of them.

But there are some meals I can see, they’re brightly defined — and can even smell — if I think back on them and I’ve often wondered what the connection to food and memory is, what triggers it and what it means.

The term, “Proust’s madeleine,” is about the life epiphany sparked by a spoonful of tea containing crumbs of a madeleine cookie. Those cookie

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crumbs in the literary masterpiece, “Remembrance of Things Past” summon author Marcel Proust’s narrator’s involuntary memory of a cookie fed to him by his Aunt Leonie.

to keep and what to chuck, smell plays a part in processing emotions, associating smells with memories. Chicken soup reminds me of both my mom’s and grandma’s houses.

We all have our own “madeleines,” and according to Nobel laureate and Behavioral economics founder, Daniel Kahneman, in his 2010 TEDTalk, “The riddle of experience vs. memory,” they are encapsulated in life moments three seconds long.

Kahneman calculates that a life contains 600 million such moments, which breaks down to about 600,000 each month. Most you don’t remember.

The moments you collect are culled by what he calls our “remembering self,” who, as opposed to our “experiencing self,” is our internal storyteller, “[t]he one that keeps score, and maintains the story of our life. . ..” Experiences that are unique and different from the everyday, particularly when on vacation or in new surroundings are more likely to turn into one of those three-second memory sound bites.

Similarly, both Fatima Groom’s and Michelle Medina Jones’ memories connected to food involve their grandmothers.

From a purely scientific standpoint, this occurs in our limbic system, when the hippocampus, the part of the brain that converts short term to long term memories, acquires input from the olfactory bulb in your nose. To make this easy to understand, when the smell of homemade chicken soup hits my nose, it travels through my first cranial nerve, the olfactory nerve. Because it’s linked to the amygdala, the brain structure in the limbic system that regulates emotion, deciding what

Fatima’s grandma’s house in Ecuador had a distinctive, fresh-out-of-the-oven smell whenever she went to her house for dinner. “Grandma smelled sweet — almost caramelized,” Fatima says. “She was a very determined woman, very strong for that era in Ecuadorean society, but also very sweet and caring.”

While Fatima wishes she would have learned to cook from her grandmother, she “can almost hear her grandmother’s strong words of support when she bakes pre-made Pillsbury bread.” Now Fatima’s eight year old daughter wants to learn how to bake and cook, and Fatima, who was never all that interested — she tried a couple of times, becoming discouraged when she became too dirty with eggs and flour — is determined to learn how so she can teach those skills to her daughter.

Michelle Medina Jones’ parents both grew up in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, where the families have deep roots. Michelle spent summers there visiting her grandparents, Rose and Agapito Olivas, in the tiny town of San Luis, the oldest town in

Colorado, where they tended a huge garden.

“They planted corn, onions, carrots, turnips, sweet peas, potatoes, pretty much anything that could grow in the hardscrabble soil and cool climate of one of the highest valleys in the states,” Michelle told me. Rose was also a very good cook — she made everything, jams, chokecherry wine, canned veggies, empanadas — and she did all this from a tiny kitchen.

Similarly, the foods that stand out in a bubble of memory for me describe where I came from — the heritage, history and people — I believe all define what I wanted to be when I was growing up and who I am today.

One of my earliest food memories is of a softboiled egg in a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. I was eight, my sister five and our jet-lagged parents, all too happy to stay in bed under a lofty duvet for another hour to get a bit more sleep, had rehearsed us on how to order our breakfast in German.

“Ein Ei, bitte, toast und orangesaft,” my sister Michelle and I repeated like automatons. Being of German heritage on both sides, we wanted to get it right when we relayed the order to the waitress and we stood in the hallway outside our parents’ door, practicing it before we dared head downstairs to the restaurant.

As we sat in our chairs at the table in the dining room, crisply laid out with white linen and orderly

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One of M ichelle’s Rose’s fondes garden t memo , pullin ries is g in the g up th oing in world, e to her G sweete washin randm s t g , m t ost per hem u eating a n f ect car der th them u r e o nd ts h and he r siblin er a big cott and pump, a n gs love onwoo d and te d tree. d mun nder s c h S h weet p ing on Spanis eas an the pro e h for fa d l i the fre fic va bean piece o sh “ha s. Her g f land b a ran s,” in the Sangre shadow dparents’ sma de Cris ll of the to Mou remind beautif ntain r Michel ul ange w le of th a simp ill alwa em, an le, yet ys d how rich Hispan they liv ic herit life. Commun ed ity, and age roo and pe t t e h d them eir opl to the defines e of the San l a nd Luis Va how M ll ichelle lives he ey, and it r life to day.

silverware, early morning sunlight illuminated our purpose. We were of German heritage and we believed we ought to know how to order breakfast in German.

The waitress approached the table, and for one heart-pounding moment I can still feel the freezing chill that ran down my spine as I told my eight-year-old self, “Get it right!”

“Good morning,” she greeted us in German-accented English, her intent no different from what we might have encountered at home in Colorado.

“What would you like to eat this morning?”

Deflated, we muttered our order in halting German, but it wasn’t quite the same. And yet, whenever I soft-boil an egg, I still recall the firm white and runny, sun-filled yolk of that perfectly presented egg, the pristine dining room, the steady purposefulness of the waitstaff around us.

It was the first time we had ever been in a restaurant without our parents and for me, it heralded the beginnings of life as an adult. And that icy chill resurfaces whenever I’m under pressure to perform, to demonstrate that I know what I’m talking about.

Fast forward several years. I will never forget the marvel of a frozen lemon stuffed with icily bouffant lemon chiffon in a Paris cafe with my Grandma Gerda, or the afternoon before that where I strolled the streets of the French capital, baguette

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under my armpit á la Parisienne, bag of red cherries bursting with juice grasped in my hand. After a morning of sight-seeing, we picnicked on bread, cheese and cherries in our hotel room. I can feel the crackle and stretch of that bread even today, the sharpness of the cheese, cherries impossibly tart and sweet depending on how close you bit to the pit. Traveling through Europe with my grandmother, visiting places important to her previous life there, was a special experience. She and I had designed the itinerary together.

As we shared an impromptu picnic in a Paris hotel, teenaged mischievousness overcame me, or possibly the knowledge that I was alone with my adored grandmother, away from my familiar world. Leaning over the railing of our balcony I spit cherry pits down on workmen in the street below while my grandmother sat in the room behind me laughing, and no doubt recalling her own childhood. Growing up in pre-WWII Vienna, she experienced a restrained childhood, one of protocol and rules based upon whom you were or were not. She probably was never permitted to spit out a cherry pit.

Later that evening we were invited to dinner by the young desk clerk who had taken a liking to us.

Guillamette, thin as a rail and glorious with curly red-hair, elegant in a way only a French woman can be, cooked us dinner in her flat, half the size of our hotel room. I remember stark white walls and sparse furnishings, as if all that was important was

the table. She roasted a chicken, un poulet, with black feet that remained on its body even while in the oven. In spite of my horror, dinner was divine. I promised myself that when I grew up, I would live and cook exactly like Guillamette, entertaining at leisure no matter the size of my living quarters.

I remember a martini at my husband’s first medical school reunion. It was my first martini; I had decided that I was now a grownup and should drink what grownups do. That conical shaped glass, housing a dirty martini brimming with more olive juice than vodka, was a salty way to edge in to adulthood, a place with jobs and responsibilities. I can still see the red brick walls of a nameless LoDo restaurant, vibrant with life and the excitement for what was to come next. I don’t remember what I ate that night; it was the glass that was a window into the future.

And then suddenly, we were in Mount Vernon, Iowa visiting our son at college to watch him run cross-country meets, in a landlocked town of 4,500 where 1,200 of the population were students at his school. There was one place to find a decent meal, almost a diner, whose offerings varied based on what might be rummaged up in the market in Iowa City, 30 miles off, or from surrounding farms.

You could purchase a bottle of wine at the wine bar next door and carry it in a brown paper bag into the restaurant to be uncorked. The cafe had one restroom, hence no liquor license. One night, sharing a perfectly crisped oyster po’boy at the Lincoln

Cafe, lightly sauced with a piquant remoulade, I wondered how we had lucked out with this gold nugget. The plump oyster meat released briny juice when you bit into it, only to be reabsorbed into the delicate batter encasing its treasure.

When I think back on those four years they are bittersweet, knowing that once our son graduated from college he would leave that contained world and move on to bigger things. Meals would no longer be shared at that little diner and I often wonder if I’ll visit it again.

Memories of meals shape our purpose in life. I use food memories not simply as a trigger to recall a few, fleeting seconds of pleasure, but to put them to task as a barometer of measuring how I am doing, to determine if I’m making headway on the goals I’ve set for myself. They are a measure of how I stand related to my life models, and associated with foods enjoyed in the past, often decades ago, show how memory and emotion can define and direct our future.

Award-winning author Emily Kemme writes about human nature, illuminating the everyday in a way that highlights its brilliance. Follow her on her blog, Feeding the Famished, https://www.facebook.com/ EmilyKemme, or on Twitter @EmFeedsYou .

Life inspired. Vodka tempered.

By Emily Kemme 9

You haven’t had a donut until you’ve had a

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3035 23rd Ave., Greeley, CO 2 Greeley Locations • 921 30th Avenue • 4318 Centerplace Drive

10

(970) 330-1014 TASTE 2017

directory

F St.

GREELEY

5th St. t.

W. 4th S

4

85

10th St.

23rd Ave.

16th St. t. hS 16t W.

8

3

20th St.

1 o

6

W. 29th St.

2

8th Ave.

85

17th Ave.

re

Se

rv

47th Ave.

9 34

12

ir

47th Ave.

35th Ave.

W. 20th St.

16th St.

11th Ave.

11

10th Ave.

5

rd .

59th Ave.

13th St.

9th Ave.

34

W. 10th St.

2 riverS PkWy

BUS

9th St.

10

BUS

7

N. 14th Ave.

35th Ave.

83rd Ave.

71St Ave.

MAP

1

Butter’s

2170 35th Ave.

Greeley

(970) 330-8099

2

Golden Corral

3035 23rd Ave.

Greeley

(970) 330-1014

3

Hunan Chinese Restaurant

2028 35th Ave

Greeley

(970) 330-0755

4

Key Largo Lounge

3621 W 10th St #8

Greeley

(970) 346-1198

5

Outsiders

5750 W 10th St

Greeley

(970) 356-5285

6

Red’s Dogs & Donuts

2608 11th Ave.

Greeley

(970) 353 2400

7

Syntax Spiriritd Distillery & Cocktail Bar

325 3rd St.

Greeley

(970) 352-5466

8

The Grill at Westlake

2118 35th Ave.

Greeley

(970) 673-8774

9

Village Inn

4318 Centerplace Dr.

Greeley

(970) 353-5187

10 Village Inn

921 30th Ave

Greeley

(970) 356-5449

11 Wing Shack

1815 65th Ave.

Greeley

(970) 356-4651

12 Wing Shack

2704 8th Ave.

Garden City

(970) 356-7900

TASTE 2017

11

R E S TA U R A N T D I R E C T O R Y

GREELEY

Cafe Panache 821 10th St

Daruma Noodles 1702 8th Ave

JB’s Drive-In 2501 8th Ave

Noodles & Co 4318 W 9th Street Rd

3 Margaritas Greeley 2297 Greeley Mall

Cancun 5415 W. 11th St.

Del Taco 2913 S 23rd Ave

Jager Bar & Pizzeria 822 9th St

Noodles & Co 4650 Centerplace Dr

A&W Restaurants 2804 W 10th St

Canton Garden 1330 8th Ave

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit 2331 23rd Ave

Jalapeno Express 2092 Greeley Mall

Old Chicago 2349 W 29th St

Alberto’s 2605 W 11th Street Rd

Carl’s Jr 2555 11th Ave

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit 6628 W 10th St

Jimmy John’s 2644 11th Ave # B

Alberto’s Express 5750 W 10th St # A

Carl’s Jr 720 10th St

Dollar Fifty A Scoop & Up 3531 W 10th St

Jimmy John’s 4629 Centerplace Dr

Olive Garden Italian Restaurant 2285 Greeley Mall Greeley, CO 80631

Ambrosia Asian Bistro 3636 W 10th St

Cattlemen’s Steak House 2600 W 11th Street Rd

Domino’s 2412 8th Ave

Kenny’s Steak House 3502 W 10th St

Outback Restaurant & Pub 7309 W 4th St

Domino’s 3521 W 10th St

Key Largo Lounge 3621 W 10th St # 8

Outriders Bar & Grill 5750 W. 10th St.

Dugout 2509 11th Ave

KFC 2413 8th Ave # 169

Panda Buffet 2672 11th Ave # B

Empire Pizza 2700 8th Ave

KFC 2804 W 10th St # 490

Panda Express 4542 Centerplace Dr

Egg & I 2305 W 27th St # 509a

Kress Cinema & Lounge 817 8th Ave

Panera Bread 4533 Centerplace Dr

Applebee’s 4100 W 10th St Arby’s 3010 W 10th St Barnstormer Restaurant 600 Airport Rd Bear Country Saloon 802 9th St # 102 Big City Burrito 2622 11th Ave Blackjack Pizza 3810 W 10th St # A3 Blackjack Pizza 814 16th St Bogey’s Pub & Grill 2200 Clubhouse Dr Brix Taphouse 813 8th Ave Broken Plow Brewery 4731 W 10th St # G Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar 4711 29th St # A

Cazadores 2140 35th Ave Cheba Hut 1645 8th Ave Chick-Fil-A 4555 Centerplace Dr Chili’s Grill & Bar 3840 W 10th St Chipotle Mexican Grill 807 17th St # A Chop House 804 8th St Chuck E Cheese’s 2309 Greeley Mall Cisnero’s 1619 8th Ave Cold Stone Creamery 4626 Centerplace Dr # 118 Contemporary Cook 5750 W 10th St # B Corleone Inc 900 23rd Ave

Bulldog Deli 1815 65th Ave.

Coyote’s 5250 W 9th Street Dr

Burger King 2435 35th Ave

Crabtree Brewing 2961 29th St

Burger King 2726 W 10th St

Cranford Cove Tea Tavern 823 10th St.

Burger King 6710 W 10th St

Cruisers 1020 28th Ave # 109b

Burger King 920 47th Ave

Culver’s 3502 29th St

Butters 2170 35th Ave.

D P Dough 911 16th St

Cables Pub & Grill 1923 59th Ave # 105 Cafe Mexicali 4629 Centerplace Dr # 125 12

Egg & I 3830 W 10th St # C1 Einstein Bros Bagels 2045 10th Ave The Charro 2109 9th St El Cielo 3636 W 10th St El Pueblito Mexican 2435 W 10th St Fat Shack 1635 8th Ave. Fat Albert’s Food & Drink 1717 23rd Ave Fonta’s Pizza Restaurant 2400 8th Ave Golden Corral Buffet & Grill 3035 S 23rd Ave

La Cafeteria 2760 8th Ave La Fiesta 2319 8th Ave. La Mariposa Restaurant 3055 65th Ave LC Oriental 1105 26th Ave Little Caesars Pizza 3487 W 10th St Lucky Fins 4530 Centerplace Dr Mad Cow 800 9th St Main Moon Chinese Kitchen 4626 Centerplace Dr

Honeybaked Ham 3766 W 10th St # B

McDonald’s 2440 8th Ave Greeley, CO 80631 McDonald’s 2520 47th Ave

Human Bean 2610 W 10th St

McDonald’s 2912 W 10th St

Human Bean 3665 W 10th St

McDonald’s 6901 W 10th St

Dairy Queen 3190 W 10th St

Hunan Chinese Restaurant 2028 35th Ave # A

Mokugyo Tea Garden LLC 2358 44th Avenue Ct

Dairy Queen 4401 Centerplace Dr

IHOP Restaurant 2701 W 29th St

Najah African Restaurant 811 10th St.

Grabos 802 9th St # 102

Papa John’s Pizza 2644 11th Ave # A Papa John’s Pizza 4731 W 10th St # A Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’Bake 2800 W 10th St Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’Bake 6628 W 10th St # A Paragon Family Restaurant 2725 W 10th St Patrick’s Irish Pub 907 8th Ave. Pellegrini Restaurant 2400 W 17th St Pho Duy 3000 S 23rd Ave. #10 Pizza Hut 2439 W 10th St Pizza Hut 4637 29th St # 2 Pollo Feliz 2621 8th Ave Pollo Feliz 921 36th Ave Qdoba Mexican Grill 2527 11th Ave Qdoba Mexican Grill 4626 Centerplace Dr Ranch Restaurant 714 6th St TASTE 2017

R E S TA U R A N T D I R E C T O R Y

Rancho Alegre 2523 8th Ave

Stuff A Burger Bar 819 9th St

Thai One 2541 11th Ave

Zoe’s 715 10th St.

LASALLE

Red’s Dogs & Donuts 2608 11th Ave.

SUBWAY 1011 9th Ave

The Grill at Westlake 2118 35th Ave

EVANS

Armadillo LaSalle 111 S 1st St

Chili Thai 3623 23rd Ave

Don Juan Mexican Restaurant 106 2nd Ave

The Blue Mug 2030 35th Ave.

Double Clutch Cafe 675 31st St

Farmer’s Inn 100 S 2nd St

The Blue Mug 1923 59th Ave.

Eden Pho 3230 23rd Ave. Evans

Human Bean 100 S 2nd St

Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery 610 9th St

Human Bean 3310 23rd Ave

SUBWAY 218 N 2nd St # A

Lit’l Bit Bar & Grill 3620 35th Ave

GARDEN CITY

Little Caesars Pizza 3230 23rd Ave # 322

Wing Shack (970) 356-7900 2704 8th Ave

Red Lobster 2885 S 23rd Ave Red Robin Gourmet Burgers 4514 Centerplace Dr Right Coast Pizza 811 8th St.

SUBWAY 1020 28th Ave # 109a SUBWAY 1923 59th Ave # 155 SUBWAY 2000 35th Ave # C SUBWAY 2045 10th Ave

The Blue Mug 807 17th St.

Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant 825 9th St

SUBWAY 4626 Centerplace Dr # 148

Roasty’s Cafe 920 8th Ave

SUBWAY 4835 W 10th St # C

Tokyo Bowl & Grill 3107 66th Avenue Ct

Rodeo Bar & Grill 510 25th St

SUBWAY 725 25th St # B

Tokyo Joe’s 4552 Centerplace Dr # 240

Roma 5750 W 10th St # C

Sushi 1 3820 W 10th St # B13

Top Buffet 2410 10th Ave

Roma Downtown 728 16th St

Syntax Spirits 625 C 3rd St.

Village Inn 4318 Centerplace Dr

Taco Bell 2045 10th Ave

Village Inn 921 30th Ave

Palomino Mexican Restaurant 3390 23rd Ave

Taco Bell 2450 8th Ave

WeldWerks Brewing Co. 508 8th Ave

Panaderia La Mexicana 2918 11th Ave

Wendy’s 2333 8th Ave

Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake 3217 23rd Ave. Evans

Royal Nepal 908 8th Ave Rudy’s BBQ 2473 W. 28th St. Rumi’s House Of Kabob 1116 9th St Santeramo’s Pizza House 1229 10th Ave Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant 701 11th Ave Silver Mine Subs 2515 11th Ave

Taco Bell 3503 W 10th St Taco Bell 4638 Centerplace Dr Taco John’s 2508 11th Ave Tacos Y Salsas 1923 9th St Taqueria Los Comales 505 14th Ave

Wendy’s 3267 W 10th St Wendy’s 4644 Centerplace Dr Wiley Roots Brewing Co 625 3rd St # D

McDonald’s 3201 23rd Ave New Plantation 3520 11th Ave

Roma 3625 23rd Ave Schwartz’s Kraut Burger Kitchen 820 39th St Sonic Drive-In 3300 23rd Ave

Taqueria Los Gallitos 2401 W 10th St

Wing Shack (970) 356-4651 1815 65th Ave

Taste Of Philly 829 16th St

Winchell’s 1503 8th Ave.

SUBWAY 3250 23rd Ave

Starbucks 2030 35th Ave # D

Tavern At St Michael’s Square 2918 67th Ave # 102

Wonderful Inn 3605 W 10th St

Starbucks 2604 11th Ave

TCBY 4530 Centerplace Dr.

Wyler’s Pub & Grill 2385 W 27th St # 513

Tamales from Heaven 3219 23rd Ave.

Starbucks 4320 W 9th Street Rd

Teriyaki Planet West 6628 W 10th St

Yolk 801 9th St

Kersey Pizza 104 Hill St

Starbucks 4629 Centerplace Dr

Teriyaki Planet East 808 23rd Ave

Your Place Coffee 2308 W. 17th St.

Kersey Pool Hall 427 1st St

Steak ‘n Shake 4214 Centerplace Dr

Texas Roadhouse 2451 W 28th St

16th St. Tavern 915 16th St.

New Kersey Inn 106 Hill St

Silver Mine Subs 3820 W 10th St # B7 Sonic Drive-In 5920 W 10th St

TASTE 2017

Spicy Thai 3230 23rd Ave

KERSEY

13

ORANGE CHICKEN THE HEALTHY WAY

Most restaurant versions of Orange Peel Chicken are often deep-fried, or if not that, then coated in flour and sautéed in oil until it drips with it. But there’s a way to create a healthy version of Orange Chicken at home. It’s a neat trick I’ve learned from an out-ofprint Szechuan cookbook, The Good Food of Szechwan by Robert A. Delfs, called “velveting.” The idea behind this is that meat, which here is chicken, is coated in a mixture of egg whites, rice wine and salt. You can use cornstarch but it’s not necessary — and when left out, you’ll also drop calories from the finished dish. What you end up with are tender, lightly browned pieces of meat without any protein shreds in the sauce. If you like, think of it as self-encasement. The chicken pieces stay juicy with-out the fatty buildup, and have an almost velvet texture. I think you won’t find an enor-mous difference in flavor from fried restaurant versions.

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced into 1” pieces 1 egg, separating yolk and white (discard yolk or save for another use) 1 T low-salt soy sauce 1 T rice wine 1/3 cup fresh orange juice, strained 2 T minced garlic 2 scallions, sliced into 1/4” pieces 1 cup East-West Zesty Orange Sauce Note: East-West Zesty Orange sauce is available on Amazon or at many large grocery chains. I’ve seen it in small, neighborhood markets, too. It’s sweet, tangy and with 200 mg sodium per tablespoon, it has a relatively low salt content.

1 T chili sauce, such as Sambal Oelek 6 T canola oil, divided peel of one orange, half in 1/2 inch strips, the rest in 1 inch strips 1 5-ounce clamshell fresh baby spinach leaves 1/4 cup low-salt chicken broth sesame seeds Serves 2. Can be easily doubled.

STEP 1: Place egg white in medium bowl. Add rice wine and soy sauce. Stir to combine. Add diced chicken and stir to coat. Velvet chicken for 10-30 minutes.

STEP 2: Heat 2 T canola oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drain chicken and discard egg white mixture. Lower heat to medium and stir fry chicken in oil until it turns white and is slightly browned.

Remove chicken to paper towel lined plate to drain.

STEP 3: Mix orange juice, East-West Zesty Orange Sauce and Sambal Oelek in mixing cup.

STEP 4: Add 2 T oil to skillet and warm on medium-low heat. Add garlic and orange peels to skil-let and cook for 30 seconds until garlic releases its essence.

STEP 5: Return chicken to skillet along with sauce and coat with sauce mixture. Cook over low heat for 5-7 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened slight-ly. Remove larger strips of orange peel before serving.

Award-winning author Emily Kemme writes about human nature, illuminating the eve-ryday in a way that highlights its brilliance. Follow her on her blog, Feeding the Fam-ished, www.facebook.com/EmilyKemme, or on Twitter @EmFeedsYou . Life inspired. Vodka tempered.

While chicken is simmering in sauce, warm 2 T oil in large skillet. Add fresh spinach and chicken broth to another skillet, stirring to coat. Cover with tight fitting lid and steam spinach over medium heat for 3 minutes, or until wilted.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Traditional Chinese Cuisine

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TASTE 2017

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CENTERPLACE SHOPPING AREA JUST SOUTH OF KOHLS 970-353-5187 TASTE 2017