Row 14 Late Night Happy Hour

Don’t get me wrong… I’m a good, loyal Boulderite.  I love this town and I love the dining scene, but when it comes to late night food, there aren’t many options.  I wish we had kitchens open til midnight or later, and that food trucks could park downtown at night.  But no.  One must venture down to Denver to have such benefits.  So venture to Denver I did…
 to Row 14 Bistro and Wine Bar.
Row 14 is right downtown in The Spire building across from my favorite blue bear at the convention center.  Big bonus right there.  They also have a late night happy hour from 10pm-midnight, so walking in at 11:30 pm I sampled…
The Pickled Seasonal Vegetables.  I order this dish now at every single restaurant I visit that has pickles on the menu.  I’m a big seasonal pickler myself, so I am always interested in comparing professionally made pickles to my homemade pickles.  The beets, turnips, and onions were great. Crisp, balanced, delicious.

Hummus and Grilled Flatbread.  Yes, Please.  This is an ideal late night dish for me because it’s filling and healthy (remember I’m a Boulderite, so, health starts here…), and Row 14 makes a perfectly creamy chickpea hummus.  

Crispy Calamari… let’s just ignore the fact that I only had my handy iPhone with me, so we’re obviously not looking at the most amazing photo here.  But, yum. I scarfed it all down, and washed it down with a unique libation made by up-and-coming mixologist Tyler French.

I told Tyler I like Rye and he crafted something for me that was spirit forward.  I like it strong sometimes.
If Denver weren’t so far away from Boulder, and if I didn’t have to stop at a hotel over night to break up the drive, I’d go more often.  But seriously. Boulder needs to step it up with the late night food offerings.  In the meantime, I’ll enjoy what Denver has to offer.

Baked Apples and Brie with Various Sides

I am always pleased when a hodgepodge of ingredients cleans out the fridge AND creates a meal. This dinner is an example.
I had some brie in the fridge, rye bread in the freezer, and came home with frisee from my CSA with Ollin Farms. I was going to grill some tempeh, but them we realized we were out of cat food (wet food for a treat, not the dry food we leave out all day… don’t want to sound like I neglect my cat). So, we opened some home-canned tuna so Owsley could snack on the juice. As a side note: I did not can the tuna myself, Debbie, my mother-in-common-law, cans it each year and gives us a great supply.
I sliced half of a golden delicious apple and layered it with some brie and Urfa Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (also known as Isot pepper). If you don’t know what Urfa pepper is, you can find out at Savory Spice Shop. Assuming you don’t have any at home… I would crack some fresh black pepper and add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Or, better yet… go to their website and buy some. Why not?

I baked the apple and brie at 350 for just a few minutes until the cheese melted.
Meanwhile, I sauteed 1/2 of a red onion, chopped, in a little olive oil until it softened. Then I transfered it to a small bowl and added a little Tangerine Fig Balsamic Vinegar that I received as a gift. To substitute, I’d add a little honey to some balsamic and mix that in with the onion.
I went back to my pan and added some frisee to wilt it with a clove of minced garlic in some olive oil. Then I plated the meal:
Wilted frisee and chopped tomato with onion balsamic dressing, real fisherman caught and former fisherman’s wife canned tuna, sliced rye, and baked apples with brie.

Turned out to be pretty good, especially for the hodgepodge of ingredients.

Eggs and Sauerkraut on Rye

I am not a big fan of eggs, so I don’t eat them often. But, we were given some homemade sauerkraut and we had rye bread in the house, so I decided to make a sandwich on toasted rye. This is just a fried egg with salt and pepper and some outstanding sauerkraut. It was really good.

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