Boycott Zeal Food for Enthusiasts

Zeal- Food for Enthusiasts, a not-quite one year old establishment, has just fired their second executive chef in ten months. First time restauranteur Wayde Jester has, according to comment from his staff, refused to listen to advice from veterans in the industry and has preferred to run a place where people are fired for not fitting in with the “love will see us through” front of the house philosophy that has formed a cult of sorts in the management.

Front of the house issues have been apparent from the start, which is expected when one has no experience and tries to play restauranteur without listening to and following the advice of industry professionals who have worked hard and done this all before. But, the back of the house was originally staffed with professional chefs with experience at OAK at Fourteenth, L’atelier, Frasca, and Jax, to name a few successful restaurant models here in town.

The most recent shift has brought A Bolder Table to the decision to boycott Zeal. Their executive chef, Sean Smith, had poured everything he had into running that kitchen and was called in for a meeting on his day off to be blind-sided and fired, effective immediately, with no severance, for doing a great job and working incredibly hard, but not leaving the kitchen to socialize with Zeal’s guests. I’m sorry folks, but chefs usually don’t socialize- they run the kitchen and make your dining experience possible with the help of the front of the house staff being there to touch tables and mingle with diners. Wayde Jester fired a chef with no one next in line to be trained in Sean’s duties. He then lied to the staff about the staff change, and is refusing to repay the former chef for out of pocket restaurant expenses incurred while employed. Staff moral is very low and each and every employee has reached out to Sean in tears, outrage, or just plain disbelief.

The “love is all we need” facade will only last so long. Showing zero love to one of the most hard working and important employees of their establishment is the antithesis to who they say they are. A number of employees have been put on probation for “bad attitudes,” a number have quit, and people continue to be fired. There is almost no one present besides the owner who has been there since it opened in December 2013. If you’re in the restaurant industry, you’ll recognize this as a red flag. If you’re not, you can probably see the difficulties ahead for the fledgling establishment, especially in a small town. So, I can no longer support Zeal with compliments and accolades. Instead, I’m eager to see the next place that opens in their current space.

*Disclaimer- Sean Smith is connected to A Bolder Table, so we are not just passionate about the issue, but know all of the unfortunate details.

The Worst Thing I’ve Tasted- The Paleo Diet is Ridiculous.

The first bite I had of this “Shortbread Sandie” Gluten Free, Dairy Free, High Protein, Low Sugar, Vegan, Almond Flour “Cookie” was without a doubt the worst bite of “food” I’d had in a while. In fact, I woke up this morning wondering if perhaps I had been a bit overly zealous in my abhorrence of Paleo foods last night, so I just took another bite before sitting down to write, and this “cookie” is in fact disgusting. It’s so disgusting that it inspired me to jot down my thoughts on this bullshit Paleo Diet sweeping our humble little town of Boulder.

This cookie is made to look like a cookie. But there’s nothing “cookie” going on here. The ingredient list is Almonds, Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil, Agave, Walnuts, Coconut, Cocoa Nibs, Vanilla Extract, Baking Soda, and Sea Salt. There’s a whopping 317 calories and 29 grams of fat in one cookie, so this is not the type of cookie mom made at home that you’d eat 3 or 4 and giggle with guilty pleasure. This cookie, besides being disgusting, is loaded with fat and calories.

Oh, but they’re GOOD fat and calories you Paleo brain-washed people say. Someone actually funded this company and somehow they’re actually selling this crap and probably making a profit off of really gross snacks. The Paleo eating craze has swept Boulder and I really don’t understand how such an intelligent community could be acting so foolishly. Avoiding all foods not present during our paleo phase in evolution is ridiculous, and even more so when you then try to make something that looks like a modern day food item out of those limited ingredients. This is essentially a processed food. It’s a pre-made, packaged food item.  I don’t see you people out there hunting and foraging to supply your Paleo needs. We’re past that. We’re a hyper modern society that can research health and the human body and we’ve essentially concluded that Paleo diets are a silly fad, so why continue on this path, friends?

As humans evolved, became sedentary, developed agriculture and communities, we started eating grains, legumes, dairy products, and every fruit and vegetable under the sun.  In our modern society of the 365 days of summer in the produce section of the supermarket, we can make anything to eat at any time without ever thinking about seasonality of products. Does it make Paleo dieters feel mentally stronger somehow because they are constantly resisting urges to eat real cookies that actually taste good so they’ll spend money on something that sucks but feign satisfaction because they indulged in a cookie? Our Paleo ancestors weren’t eating agave sickly sweet sweeteners. They weren’t eating baking soda. Walnuts, almonds, and coconut probably weren’t all found in the same regions where Paleo people lived. So why does putting all that together make it a tempting treat to someone on a super restrictive diet?

There’s nothing indulgent in a gluten free, low sodium, no cholesterol, dairy free, soy free, corn free, grain free, no preservative, agave-sweetened not-good-tasting cookie. Why not just have a handful of roasted almonds?

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Dinner at Nathan’s

When a classically trained chef/baker/chocolatier invites you to dinner at his place, just say yes.  It’s that simple. Nathan Miller hosted a little soiree and I did not leave hungry.  There was food for nibbling, lots of wine, beer, brie, bread, cheese and charcuterie.  Then Nathan’s roommate made some proscuitto goat cheese flatbread.

Nathan had started a meat sauce with onions, peppers, carrots, and tomatoes that he let simmer for a while before serving us.

Pasta with a chunky sauce that brought my taste buds back to living in Spain with my host mom.  She made a sauce like this.  Nathan topped our bowls with celery, fresh herbs, spinach, olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Homemade goodness.

Now, we all know Nathan is the mastermind baker for The Tasterie Truck and owner/chocolatier of Nathan Miller Chocolate.  That means dessert was bound to be good.

He started to make a dry caramel sauce, which apparently is made more quickly than traditional caramel.  I’ve never made caramel sauce, so I saddled up next to the chef for a little Q&A while he worked.

There’s definitely butter in caramel sauce.

Grapefruit topped with vanilla ice cream, graham crackers, and caramel sauce. Yes please, and Thank You!