🥞 Long live Pete’s Kitchen

June 2, 2022

The Most Delicious News Bites In Denver

I hope you’ve had breakfast, because things are about to get tasty.

🐌 Colorado restaurants crushing the sustainability game: A big congratulations to Denver and Boulder County recipients of the “Snail of Approval” award from Slow Food USA 👏 This honor recognizes restaurants that are raising the bar in local sourcing, environmental impact, cultural connection, and community involvement. Winners include:

Comal Heritage Food Incubator (Denver)
Somebody People (Denver)
Apple Blossom (Denver)
Coperta (Denver)
Blackbelly Market (Boulder)
24 Carrot Bistro (Erie)
Fortuna Chocolate (Boulder)

See all the winners.

🍳 Long live Pete’s Kitchen: Check out this recent profile from 5280 on my favorite late-night diner in Denver, Pete’s Kitchen, about why the grandson of original founder Pete Contos has relocated to Colorado to ensure the family legacy lives on.

🥪 NOLA food fame to pop up in Boulder … for one day only. In 2017, foodies everywhere knew the name Mason Hereford after “Bon Appétit” named his New Orleans sandwich shop, Turkey and the Wolf, the best new restaurant in America. The hype has hardly faded, and now, Hereford is taking over Pizzeria Locale Boulder for a one-night popup on July 13. Reserve a spot right now (’cause they probably won’t last long).

🌮 Hello, food festival season: It’s the most wonderful time of the year for us food freaks. June is jam-packed with all-you-can-eat food festivals, ranging from barbecue to Greek eats to two dueling taco fests (Westword’s Tacolandia this weekend and DiningOut’s Top Taco on June 23). Here’s a list of just some summer foodie events to save room for. See you there!

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More News You Should Know

🚰 Does your water have lead in it? Turns out Denver landlords are not required to disclose if your home has lead service pipes. Fortunately, Denver Water offers an interactive map to help you find out. [Denver Post; Denver Water]

☕ Starbucks challenges unionization: Last month, baristas at the Starbucks on East Colfax and Milwaukee Street unanimously voted to unionize. Now, Starbucks is filing to have those results overturned, claiming that employees violated laws around organizing by intimidating customers and anti-union employees. Union organizers say it’s a tactic to stall bargaining. [Denverite]

💰 City Council wants to save you money on diapers: Following the lead of state legislature last month, Denver is poised to waive its 4.81% sales tax on child and adult diapers. The final vote on the ordinance is scheduled for June 27, but so far, all of city council has expressed support. [Westword]

🛏️ Officials aim to continue housing the unsheltered in hotels: On Tuesday, we shared a story about downtown residents demanding that the city end its program renting rooms at a local hotel for at-risk unhoused people, citing safety and sanitation concerns. Despite the pushback, a council committee moved to extend the program’s contract, passing the issue to the full council for approval. [Denverite; CO Politics]

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If You Can’t Beat I-70 Traffic, Learn To Love It

“Don’t we all have to deal with the same things if the Eisenhower Tunnel closes? We’re all stuck together. And there’s not much we can do about it, except share the experience and hope for the best.” — Alejandro Brown

Alejandro Brown started the I-70 Things Instagram account a few years ago when he was stuck in ski traffic … on I-70. At first, the platform was a frivolous way to commiserate with other Coloradans creeping along Floyd Hill, but now it’s become something of a public service tool where more than 200,000 account followers can find weather and road condition updates, or share information about carpooling.

Take me to the pod!

Local Chatter: More On Alternative Lawns 🌱

In Monday’s newsletter, I shared some tips about swapping out your traditional bluegrass lawn for some native prairie plants and all the benefits that come with it.

Reader Barry R. wrote in with some additional advice:

“We recently planted red creeping thyme, which I read butterflies love, requires little water, and ‘snuffs’ out weeds.”

Reader Ben R. was just grateful to have some light shed on the subject:

“Loved the discussion on removing grass from lawns, I get bugged seeing people water their lawns in the desert here.”

🗣️ Have thoughts on something we’ve covered on the podcast or in the newsletter? You can always write in to Denver@CityCast.fm, or call and leave a voicemail at 720-500-5418.