Denver Eats: Quiero Arepas

I have a new obsession. And its called arepas. For the past couple of years I've seen the Quiero Arepas Truck a few places around Denver but it wasnt until two weeks ago at the Pearl Street Farmers Market that I actually decided to sample the goods. I then proceeded to go 3 times in 4 days.And then an additional two times this past week. For those who dont know, Arepas are a type of Venezuelan sandwich that is made using a home made grilled corn based flat bread that is out of this world. Everything on their menu is gluteon free and fresh and the service is amazing! Check out what I ordered below.

Reina Pepiada: An amazing take on chicken salad. Delicious rotisserie chicken mixed with avocado and light mayo and their signature avocado citrus dressing (it comes standard on all areapas). My favorite thing on the menu, hands down.
La Orginal: A mix of black beans, sweet plantains and avocado (pictured above). Black beans arent my fav but the plantains were the best ive ever tasted. 
La Queso: A mix of avocado, sweet plantains, and big huge slices of fresh mozzarella and shredded american cheese. Super refreshing and amazing when topped with cholula. The mozzerlla chunks are big enough that they stay nice and cold (as fresh motz should always be) even on top of the tasty sweet roasted plantains.
Refescos: A drink made of fresh squeezed guava, passion fruit, and orange juices (pictured above). They call it "heaven on your lips" and they arent lying. Its refreshing without being overly sweet or tart, tastes wholly natural and is served in a tall glass over lots of crushed ice.

Denver Eats: Tag Burger Bar

My mom has always said that the main reason she could never become a vegetarian is because of cheeseburgers. At first, I thought this was sort of odd. I mean, think of all the other orgasmic meat based dishes. Short ribs. Bacon wrapped dates. Scallops with fois gras. My opinion instantly changed when I saw an episode of "The best thing I ever ate" that was based around burgers. I had a total epiphany on just how much I really love and appreciate a good burger (case in point: I've had 4 burgers since Saturday night, oops). So imagine my pure and utter elation when Tag, one of my favorite places in Denver, decided to open a burger bar. To say that I'm obsessed would be an understatement. Everything on the menu has exceeded my expectations, including items I never thought I'd like. Check out what I've eaten below!

• Fried Pickles with Spicy Ranch- Fried pickles are currently experiencing a wave of popularity. And with good reason. It's a combination made in heaven. Tags version of are the knife and fork variety, long semi sweet speers covered in a light breading then dipped in tangy homemade ranch. Perfect for sharing with the table. YUM.
• Crispy Brussels Sprouts- Confession: I never had brussel sprouts till last year. Since then I have become kind of obsessed with them, especially those of the fried variety. These are flash fried so they dont have a coat of breading, they are just crispy and delicious. They are very filling so dont plan sharing!
• Duck Fat Fries with Tag Spice- These are hands down one of the best things I've ever eaten in Denver. Although they are something that I wouldnt normally order I decided to take the plunge and order them after seeing Tony Bourdain (my idol) rave about the wonder of duck fat fries. They are incredible. Sweet, salty, spicy, crispy, and utterly orgasmic when ordered with a side of tag sauce for dipping. They are also super cheap, costing only $2.50 for a super larger portion.
• Truffle Parm Fries- I've always loved truffle but for many it can be overwhelming. The good thing about tags truffle fries is that they are not coated in truffle oil. The are simple a serving of their classic french fries which are then sprinkled with truffle aoli and shaved Parmesan. Yum. 
• Old School Russets- Just their normal fries, although they should not be over looked. They are shoe string, cripsy and delicious and always cooked to pure fried perfection.
• The Old School- This is tags standard issue burger. It may seem boring in comparison to some of the rest, but it is truely amazing. Covered in american cheese, tag sauce (a spin on thousand island), and grilled onions and pickles its perfect for those who just perfect to keep it classic.
• The Colorado Proud- This burger is probably my favorite on the menu. I've had it with beef, lamb, and buffalo patties and each time it was delicious. Its topped with all local ingredients including haystack goat cheese, honey, and spicy green chilis. A winning combination. 
• The Menage a Trois- I have to say, I was pretty surprised at how much I liked this burger. It comes in second place for my favorite menu item, which is odd considering I'm usually pretty wary about mustard and this one comes with a huge dollop of grey poupon. The other ingredients making up the three some? French onion "soup onions" and mounds of gruyere. Mouth party.
• Apple Pie Milkshake- This shake is literally vanilla ice cream, milk, and a whole slice of apple pie blended together. It tastes like cinnamon toast crunch milk. Order the $4 kids size to top off your meal. Trust me.
• Black Rose- The only alcoholic beverage I ever order here. Its borrowed from Tag and is seriously incredible. A cool spin on sangria, it has rose, vodka, and blackberry puree. It's delicious and incredibly refeshing and I never can get away with just ordering one.

Denver Eats: Pinches Tacos

It's no secret that tacos are my favorite food in the world. Generally I prefer the basic San Antonio no frill style of tacos but Pinches has totally impressed me with their fun and unique take on Tex Mex. I mean, whats not to love about a place that advertises it self with the three magic words of "Tequila, Whiskey, and Tacos"? I've been three times and have tried almost everything on the menu and have yet to be disappointed. Here are the highlights:

• Queso a la plancha: This is their signature vegetarian taco which can be seen in the middle of the picture above. It is a combination of grilled cheese, tomatillo salsa and avocado cream. Every time I have gone and asked for recommendations the servers have always listed this little gem first. It seems kind of boring but it really is out of this world delicious.
• Carnitas: I'm not a pork fan and had never even really experienced carnitas until my friends boyfriend convinced me to try this taco which is pictured on the left. O.M.G. It is 100% my favorite thing on the menu. Its crispy, flavorful (without tasting too pig like) and has just the right amount of spice. Insane.
• Lengua: The tongue taco. I have never tried tongue so I decided to go for it. It was good, it tasted alot like pot roast. Sadly, I could only have a couple of bites before I got weirded  out and had to put in down.
• Shrimp and Scallop: Pictured on the right, the shrimp and scallop taco is perfect if you are looking for something light. It didnt have that much scallop in it but it was incredibly spicy and the vegetables were very crisp making it an ideal choice for when we were sitting outside in the 80 degree heat.
• Crispy chicken skins: Chicken skin is one of my vices. I know it seems gross but its really actually pretty amazing. This fried skins (just like pork rinds) are the perfect bar snack. They are $3 during happy hour and come with a very tangy lime dipping sauce. They are not chewy what so ever so anyone who has issues with eating weird textured stuff should not have an issue. Incredible
• The Paloma: an amazing cocktail make with grapefruit juice and tequila. Only $3 during happy hour. The ratio of grapefruit to tequila is total perfection

Snowy-Southern Saturday

This snow the past weekend could not have come at a more perfect time. After a whirl wind 5 day New York tip followed by a weekend of 65 + degree temperatures in Denver (Read: getting day drunk and eating  4 dinners) and an insanely busy work week I was a zombie. The snowy weather helped facilitate my hibernation and I couldnt have been happier. I woke up feeling awesome and well rested on Saturday morning which allowed me to start the day off with what could possible be the best thing on Earth: BREAKFAST TACOS

Now for those of you who grew up in the land of dunkin donuts and egg mcmuffins here is a little break down: The term "breakfast tacos" is really more of a blanket term. Upon hearing it you would simply think tacos with egg and bacon that are eaten sometime before noon. This is soooo not the case. Some of my favorite "breakfast tacos" have made of brisket and fried avocado and have been eaten at 1:30 pm on the way back from ranch parties where I slept for approximatly 30 mins on a random surface before high tailing it back to San Antonio. Breakfast tacos arent so much a food as they are an insitutionI dont expect most people to understand this. It is a concept that is quintessentially Texan. Texans dont brunch. They taco. Everyone has their "special place" which they will swear has the BEST TACOS EVER. This is not a love to be messed with.  I have gotten into legit, full on fights with people about which San Antonio establishment has the best bean and cheese (Taco Taco vs. Cristans...as if its even a question).  

When my girlfriends and I are home for the holidays we dont even text each with our arrival plans. We just text each other "tacos" .  You know how in "Eat, Pray, Love" Liz Gilbert struggles with what her "word" is? Well, this Liz knows her word. And it's tacos.

While Denver has an amazing brunch scene its no surprise that it has a serious lacking of breakfast tacos. So imagine my delight and surprise when my friend Emily alerted me to the fact that two CU graduates from Austin, Texas had just opened a taco place a mere 5 blocks from my house. CU?? AUSTIN?? TACOS?? like I could stay away.

This said taco establishment is called Moontower Tacos .While taco joints in San Antonio tend to be more traditional, Austin is known for their unique, fun, and delicious spins on Tex Mex and this influence can be seen all through out the menu. It took us a bit of time to narrow down exactly what we wanted but eventually we decided to split the queso and each get two tacos. Belen, being a vegetarian  decided to build her own breakfast tacos, while I opted for the Jimbob and the dogfather (pictured above).

All I have to say is....HOLY AMAZE BALLS. The queso was delicious, creamy (gross word, sorry), and with a kick of spice from the crunchy green peppers mixed in. The queso normally comes with guacamole and pico de gaio but since Belen hates avocado and I hate cilantro we skipped this part. It was still delicious and a far departure from the bowl of melted cheddar that most Denver establishments give you when you order queso. As good as the queso was, the tacos were definitely the star of the meal. I started with the Jimbob which is a magic concoction of brisket, egg, smashed potatoes,cheese and house-made BBQ sauce. I was a little apprehensive about ordering this because I am a huge brisket snob. I've had way too many experiences ordering "brisket" only to get a pile of chewy, over sauced, tasteless meat. Not so was the case here. The brisket was true Texas style: lean, smokey, and cut to just the right amount of thickness. I chose to get the BBQ sauce on the side because as delicious as it is its not usually my condiment of choice unless I'm at a true smoke house. I tasted the BBQ sauce and it was pretty good (very sweet) but I was more intrigued by Moontowers other sauces. I decided to top the Jimbob with a little bit of jalapeno ranch which sounds weird but proved to be really tasty. 

After the Jimbob it was time to tackle the Dogfather. The Dogfather isnt really something I would typically order. I tend to prefer beef to chicken and I'm not a huge fan of "sweet" breakfast options like french toast and waffles. Since "chicken and waffles" are currently experiencing their 15 minutes of fame (see here for proof) I decided to be trendy and give it a go.When I ordered it I assumed it would just be chicken tenders wrapped in a small ego waffle. Not.the.case. As you can tell from the picture above, the Dogfather isn't really a taco. It's a full on plate of chicken and waffles. I was presented with a waffle the width of a small dinner plate that had the thickness of two iphones stacked on top of one another (yes, I measured) that was then topped with three breaded chicken tenders, three slices of bacon, and sides of franks hot sauce, apple butter, maple syrup, and candied jalepenos for toppings. So large was this plate that when it was served to me they automatically brought me a to go box, which was a good thing since I was not even able to take one bite after eating the Jimbob and the queso. So I packed this baby up and ate it a couple of hours later. The verdict? Deep fried paradise. I'll admit it wasn't the easiest thing to eat. Right off the bat I ditched half of the waffle. It was good but just too much for me. It was hard for me to decide what toppings to use and what combinations to make (a bite with apple butter, chicken, and jalapeno? or with waffle, bacon, and syrup?) but every different component was delicious.  The chicken was crispy but not over fried. The bacon was honestly cooked to such perfection that I don't think I'll ever be able to go back there without just ordering a side of it. The candied jalapenos and apple butter were so delicious that I actually wound up saving some and using it on a biscuit I made for breakfast the following day. One of the best things about this "taco" was the price: $3.25. Amazing.