Innehållsförteckning för October 2023 från 5280 Magazine

Each year, when 5280’s dining team sends me its list of the best 25 restaurants in Denver, I play a little game. Scanning the feature, I see how many of the eateries I’ve been to, hoping my percentage is higher than the previous year. In 2022, I congratulated myself for having been to 80 percent of the spots on the list. This year, I’ve only been to 56 percent of the dining rooms that food editor Patricia Kaowthumrong and assistant food editor Ethan Pan worked so diligently to select. Although I do hate to lose to myself, the prospect of planning culinary outings to 11 new-to-me restaurants is what makes reading this annual roundup so exciting. It’s also a reminder of how diffuse the local dining scene has become in…

Shinesty, the Denver-based apparel brand known for quirky undies and cheeky party wear, wants the world to take itself less seriously. Its CEO, Chris White, brought that same ethos to the company’s new Highland headquarters, an industrial space with 360-degree city views. Instead of drab cubicles and stuffy conference rooms, he wanted fun spaces for staff members and guests to gather, collaborate, and get inspired—and he wanted Abigail Plantier, founder of local design firm Maximalist, to dream them up. “I wanted to create a space that felt residential but with a fun twist that takes us back to when 1970s party mansions had their moment,” says Plantier, who worked with general contractor Chris Jenkins of X-Colo on the project. Here, she shares the fun design details that, with a little…

The Open Studios Tour has connected the public with local artists for 28 years, but when the event returns this month, it’s going somewhere new: outside the Boulder Bubble. By expanding the tour (free; October 7 to 8, 14 to 15, 21 to 22) to include Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville, and Erie, more artists will be able to host visitors in their actual workspaces rather than having to find temporary accommodations in the People’s Republic. And that means a more authentic experience for everyone. THE PERFECTIONIST He may still zhuzh up the occasional garden, but these days, landscape architect and multidisciplinary artist Dante Ortiz spends most of his time in his airy Folsom Street studio. “Garden building has budgets and clients and parameters,” he says, “but I feel like I can…

There are times when a restaurant persists despite having closed its doors. It becomes a ghost of sorts. Or, in the case of eight-month-old Major Tom, you could say Call’s lingering spirit is more like a long shadow. Located in the space that now houses Major Tom, Call was such a lunch revelation that its bright daytime menu earned it a spot on Bon Appétit’s 10 Best New Restaurants list in 2018. But then, in late 2019, it closed for renovations and never reopened. So when the same hospitality team—Craig Lieberman of 34 Degrees Crisps, executive chef Duncan Holmes, and director of experience Allison Anderson—opened this cosmic-themed bar and restaurant in its place in February 2023, many hoped it would be Call 2.0. Call was definitely a hit, and for…

PRICE KEY Average amount spent on food at dinnertime, per person $ – Less than $20 $$ – $21 to $30 $$$ – $31 to $40 $$$$ – $41 or more CANTINA LOCA LOHI At Cantina Loca, there are no cliff divers, arcades, or caves—features associated with Dana Rodriguez’s latest endeavor. Instead, the casual LoHi bar and restaurant specializes in the straightforward Mexican cuisine and well-made drinks that put the F-bomb-dropping chef on the map long before a table at Casa Bonita became the most coveted reservation in town. While you can also taste Rodriguez’s food at RiNo’s Work & Class and Super Mega Bien, we’ve become partial to nearly two-year-old Cantina Loca for epitomizing the Chihuahua, Mexico–born chef’s culinary range and fiery personality (after all, Loca is her nickname).…

We all know screen time is a scourge, but until recently, it wasn’t the first place police officers looked when investigating a shooting. With youth gun violence on the rise, however, Snapchat and similar platforms can tell the story of how and why a crime occurred. “Conflicts often manifest and are exacerbated on social media,” says Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas. Law enforcement officers aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed that social media is often complicit in shootings. 5280 spoke with Dane Washington Sr., a former gang member who now heads the Park Hill Pirates youth football league and a youth mentorship nonprofit called Kids Above Everything, and Gene Fashaw, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at High Point Academy in Aurora. Both men have tight, trusting relationships with their…

In October 2022, DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero attended a national gathering of large, urban school districts and found himself sitting through mundane briefings and wondering when someone was going to have the nerve to broach the topic of gun violence. When no one did, he spoke up. “After an awkward silence,” Marrero says, “people were like, Huh, he just went there.” Marrero thought he had to: DPS was finding far too many guns in its schools. (In the 2022-’23 school year, DPS found 16 real firearms—and 42 fake guns—on its campuses.) As other districts admitted that they, too, were struggling with guns, Marrero decided DPS would pioneer a new safety plan that could become a national model. 5280 spoke with Marrero about the plan and the problem of guns in…

After the East High School shooting in March, John Bailey called in his connections. The Black community leader and political consultant understands Denverites’ uproar over students’ safety. But he also knows youth gun violence is not new. One problem, as Bailey sees it, is that prevention groups can be unaware of each other’s efforts. So, Bailey hosted three public forums through his Colorado Black Round Table organization. The talks—segments below are from the July 6 meeting—included calls to action for the politicians who attended, including Mayor Johnston. Since then, Johnston has met with various stakeholders, including DPS and DPD, to come up with a cross-departmental plan to address youth gun violence. “Low neighborhood attachment is one of the [top] reasons for youth violence in our community. There’s nothing for kids…

Food editor and assistant food editor While most features that land in 5280 take weeks and weeks of work, our annual rundown of best restaurants is a year-round process. Patricia Kaowthumrong and Ethan Pan dine out month after month and also specifically dined at more than 70 restaurants across the metro area before narrowing down the list to a final 25. “We assembled this roster with close regard for culinary innovation, mission, price, and diversity, among other factors,” Kaowthumrong says. In 2023, the dining duo are eager to recommend eateries in Lakewood and Arvada for the first time, something Kaowthumrong says is “further proof that the best restaurants don’t have to be located in Denver proper.” Kaowthumrong and Pan are both thrilled that this year’s list further represents the cuisines…

President Joe Biden may have created the Camp Hale–Continental Divide National Monument last October, but don’t expect to find Yogi Bear’s Jellystone. “If people are hoping to have a developed, National Park Service–type experience with rangers in flat hats, visitor centers, etc., they will be disappointed,” says David Boyd, a spokesperson with the White River National Forest, which manages the 53,804-acre monument southeast of Minturn. Instead, the area that encompasses Camp Hale (the WWII training grounds for the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division) and a swath of the neighboring Tenmile Range is still unembellished. But that could change. ¶ As part of the designation—the first of Biden’s presidency—the Forest Service must develop a new plan to manage the region’s cultural and natural resources. Chief among them: the trails and backcountry…

To Michael Kimball, ice cream is a canvas for creativity, memories, exploration—and feelings. All of the above inspired the 32-year-old restaurant server turned food stylist to launch Sadboy Creamery in early 2023. “We have music for when we’re sad. We should have ice cream for when we’re sad, too,” he says of the business, which he hopes will raise the spirits of all Denverites—in particular, LGBTQIA+ community members who have faced hardship. Some of Kimball’s names, such as the honey-dew-centric Melon-choly Mint, reflect the theme of his quirky brand, while others, like the frosted-treat-layered Cookie Circus, are nostalgic throwbacks to his childhood. Every iteration starts with Kimball’s scratch-made base: a creamy, scoopable recipe sweetened with blue agave that he spent months perfecting. Preorder pints on his website to pick up…

SUNDAY VINYL Everything about Sunday Vinyl at Union Station feels upbeat, from the records spinning on the turntables to the bubbles selection. Sip a snappy Austrian rosé from Salomon Undhof or the slightly savory 2022 L’Escale Sauvignon Blanc from Vincent Roussely. Need some guidance? Enlist the help of sommelier Clara Klein’s astute palate. 1803 16th St. NOBLE RIOT Intent on debunking the tired myth that wine is all highbrow, RiNo’s Noble Riot stocks its wine bar and shop with grapes that serve as conversation pieces. Like the rest of the list, the sparkling offerings are meant to raise eyebrows. From the Pét-Nat and Weirdo Bubbs Bottle list, look for the Strekov 1075 Créme #6 from Slovakia for notes of pear and marzipan. 1336 27th St. RESTAURANT OLIVIA We appreciate this…

NAYELI LÓPEZ IS TORN ABOUT WHETHER THE THIRD FLOOR OF NORTH HIGH SCHOOL WOULD BE THE SAFEST PLACE TO TAKE COVER DURING A MASS SHOOTING. ON THE ONE HAND, THE 16-YEAR-OLD STUDENT DOUBTS AN ACTIVE SHOOTER WOULD MAKE HIS WAY TO THE TOP FLOOR OF THE SCHOOL BEFORE THE RAMPAGE ENDED. But if an assailant did breach the upper classrooms? López realizes escaping would be tough; it’s a long jump from three stories up. López says these types of survival scenarios pop into her head randomly at school, but for fellow North junior, 16-year-old Veneno Quezada-Montoya, they’re constant. “Every time I’m in school, I always take a mental note of every single exit, every single window that I can find,” he says. Both teens are part of a generation that has…

Denver Health and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital are two of the main trauma centers to which gunshot victims are transported in the metro area, and both recognize that surgery is just one step caregivers can take to save patients. The two medical centers share a 13-year-old program called At-Risk Intervention and Mentoring (AIM) that works to ensure young people (as well as adults) don’t return through their doors with subsequent violence-related injuries. The process unfolds in three steps. STEP 1: THE OR Dr. Catherine Velopulos, a trauma surgeon at University of Colorado Hospital who manages its iteration of AIM, knows that treating bullet wounds isn’t like in the movies, where, as she puts it, “people just sort of sew up the hole and everything’s better.” In real life, bullets…

When I picked up the phone, it was my son’s best friend screaming. He just kept saying Mom, mom, mom. Then he said, Davarie’s been shot. I had the phone on speaker, so when he said it, my daughter, who was standing behind me, screamed. That scared me. So I took the phone off speaker and asked where they were. He said they were at a party, and I was like, What party? He said they were going to take Davarie to the hospital because the ambulance was taking too long. The last thing I said was, Get him to University. I don’t know how I made it from Park Hill to the hospital, but I pulled up right when Davarie’s friends were taking him out of their car. The…

Recognizing that gun deaths come in different forms, Colorado has an Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) and an Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP). Both state entities analyze public health data to identify trends and award grant money to initiatives working to reduce deaths. Despite that 30,000-foot approach, the offices are also headed by directors intimately familiar with their subjects: OSP director Lena Heilmann lost her sister to suicide in 2012, and OGVP director Jonathan McMillan is a former gang member. Each shared insights they’ve gained while trying to save lives. LENA HEILMANN Suicide is not the result of one cause. Some of our highest contributing circumstances for young people include family, relationship stress, interpersonal stress, and school stress. The greatest number of people who die by suicide [in Colorado]…

After everything students experienced at North High School last school year—gun scares and a student killed off campus—Nayeli López marched to the state Capitol with hundreds of kids from the Denver metro area on March 24, two days after the East High shooting, to demand gun reform. When the legislative session ended six weeks later, López was disappointed. Despite all the We hear your voices and appreciate them responses she received from lawmakers, the results were underwhelming. The high school junior believes the politicians’ actions (see “Numbered & Signed”) didn’t go nearly far enough to protect her or her classmates. As such, she plans to continue advocating to prohibit assault weapons, a measure that failed, and she also doesn’t mind being outspoken about the Denver Public Schools Board of Education’s…

GIVEN JUST FOUR MINUTES TO WIN OVER THE AUDIENCE packed into Comedy Works in downtown Denver, Jeremy Cash unleashes a string of one-liners. “I went to a climate change protest over the weekend, but I couldn’t find any parking,” he says, “so I just drove around for 14 hours.” It’s a Tuesday evening in July, and Comedy Works is hosting New Talent Night, which, over the years, has become a weekly tradition. “I don’t have kids,” Cash continues, “but if I ever do, I’m going to home-school them because if they’re going to get bullied, I want to do it.” His allotted time expended, Cash walks offstage to the sound of laughter and deserved applause. More than 200 comedians signed up for the 15 spots available tonight, most, if not all,…

For as long as I can remember, the Denver Nuggets have been an afterthought. In the NBA, teams like the Los Angeles Lakers hoarded all the attention—just because they were, you know, successful. Here in Denver, the Broncos reigned supreme. Heck, even in the Nuggets’ own arena, the Colorado Avalanche have hung more banners in the rafters. So, ever since the team won its first championship in June, I’ve found myself in a bizarro world: The Nuggets are the center of the NBA universe and Denver’s sports culture. As a fan since the ’90s—when Antonio McDyess’ turnaround jump shot was the only thing worth rooting for—I am thrilled by the reversal, but this (hopefully) new normal has also led me into an existential crisis—how will the success we’ve craved for…

As a preteen in the early 2000s, Katie Leigh Jackson painted her bedroom bright yellow and stenciled pink hibiscus flowers all over the walls. “I essentially made my first wallpaper—without the paper,” she says, noting that the DIY decor remained there through her college years at Colorado State University. Today, Jackson points to that childhood project as an early example of her enduring love for wall art. After losing her job as a marketing director in a pandemic-era layoff, she returned to her creative roots, painting nature-inspired scenes that she began to sell as prints via her online art business, Modern Magic. Designing wallpaper patterns seemed like a natural way to expand her offerings, so in spring 2022, she took an online surface-pattern design course. That fall, she launched her…

Ben Goldfarb has only seen a wolf once. It was pooping in a parking lot in Yellowstone National Park. “This glorious animal was just trotting across a square of asphalt,” Goldfarb says, “and stopped to do its business.” It wasn’t the first time he’d seen an animal confront—and fail to navigate—the infrastructure we’ve created in the name of human mobility. The Salida-based environmental journalist spent much of the past decade reporting Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of the Planet. The book, which was published last month, examines the impact dirt double-tracks, four-lane freeways, and continent-spanning interstates can have on species around the world, from the kangaroos orphaned by Tasmania’s narrow highways to the Colorado stretch of I-70 known as the Berlin Wall for wildlife. Goldfarb, who is…

1. PINK LADY Color: Rosy pink and yellowish Best For: Juicing and dehydrating. But save some fresh slices of the ultrafirm, tart beauties, which are ideal for dipping in caramel. They can “go up against the classic Granny Smith,” Schwartz says. 2. JONATHAN Color: Deep crimson Best For: Dehydrating. Schwartz likes to core and cut the slightly acidic, sugar-kissed fruit into rounds or wedges to finish in a food dehydrator. “It makes excellent dried fruit,” Schwartz says of the delicate, yellowish-white flesh. 3. HONEYCRISP Color: Mottled reddish-pink and greenish-yellow Best For: Salads. Boulder’s Oak at Fourteenth makes this robust, baseball - to softball-size fruit the star of its wildly popular kale apple salad, a mix of shredded kale, julienned apples, lemon vinaigrette, candied almonds, Grana Padano cheese, and a dash…

Davarie Armstrong had been a popular student at Denver’s South High School. He was charismatic, smart, and a star player on the school’s football team. In the wake of his death, hundreds attended a vigil held for him at South. “I thought when Davarie passed, and [seeing] how hurt all these kids were, that it was going to spark something in these kids, like, If that can happen to Davarie, it can happen to any of us,” Angel Shabazz says. “But it didn’t. It’s gotten worse.” Shabazz felt like she had to do something, if only to help the growing number of those left behind. In 2021, Shabazz started a support group called A Mother’s Love to assist other local moms who’ve lost children for any reason. The group has…