HUNGRY GERALD

HG and BSK were stranded in Denver for a day by a big time snow storm before motoring to New Mexico. There’s always a silver lining. Bob Sweeney, HG and BSK’s gracious host took them to Pete’s Cafe & Steak (514 E. Colfax) for breakfast. Sweeney is a Colorado force for good. The Kenneth Kendal King Foundation, which he heads, supports numerous cultural and charitable organizations (including an innovative new muscular dystrophy center). And, the big guy knows his breakfast vittles. Pete’s Cafe has no connection with the excellent Pete’s Diner except for the fact that they are both located on gritty Colfax Avenue. HG has reported on both down-to-earth eateries. Pete’s Cafe is a very plain, totally unassuming place. The kind of joint you remember from your youth called “Eats” or “Mom’s.” The food is outstanding, Very generous (mammoth) portions served with a smile. HG and BSK had Denver omelettes. These were the real deal. Three egg omelettes folded over fried onions, peppers and chunks of ham. Nestled on top of lush potato and onion home fries. And, now for the best part. All smothered in an incomparable, spicy, hot (but not numbing) green chili sauce. Sorry, New Mexico. This is the green chili sauce for the gods. The gold standard. The perfect breakfast for a frigid, snow day in the Mile High City.

It has always been HG”s belief (shared by SJ) that the breakfast burrito at Pete’s Diner on Denver’s gritty Colfax Avenue was state of the art. A big time, flavorful belly buster.

Well, move over, Pete. HG and BSK lunched on breakfast burritos at the rollicking Tune-Up Cafe on Hickox Street in Santa Fe and this is the new champ. The Tune UP serves a Breakfast Burrito that dreams are made of: Organic, thick cut bacon. Perfectly scrambled eggs. Crisp and not greasy fried potatoes. All wrapped in a tortilla and smothered in possibly the best green chili sauce in all of New Mexico. Yes, HG knows this is an inflammatory statement that may provoke disdain and anger among serious green chili heads. But, Tune-Up’s green chili is extraordinary. Dark. Smokey. Just enough heat to tickle but not bludgeon the tongue. Multi-level flavors.

There’s lots more on the menu. Salvadoran pupusas. Mediterranean pasta. Burgers of local, non-biotic-injected beef (served on a brioche bun with garlic mayonnaise). Flatiron steak. And, a long list of Mexican specialties ranging from fish tacos to enchiladas, chicken mole and tamales. You can accompany it all with fairly priced wine. Open all day (seven days a week) from breakfast to brunch, lunch and dinner. Very casual atmosphere, Friendly service. Affordable prices. But, the cooking is serious. Real talent elevates comfort food to new levels.

HG has come late to the party. Tune-Up has been discovered. Guy Fien of Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” visited and did a program (you can see the segment here).

Do not miss the two Pete’s Kitchens on gritty Colfax Avenue. The original Pete’s Kitchen on Colfax and Race stays open 24 hours a day and draws — to say the least — a varied crowd. Hookers (and their business agents); cops, criminals, rock musicians, lawyers, bankers. Everyone. Specialties are a breakfast burrito (preposterously large) and a very good feta cheese omelet (a bow to the founder’s Greek origins). Pete’s Breakfast Burrito contains eggs, onions, fried potatoes; bacon, ham or sausage. It is generously smothered in tangy green chile with big chunks of pork shoulder. This is a meal for the day. Eat one on Monday. Dine again on Tuesday. (SJ would like to add that these breakfast burritos exert a powerful grip on one’s memory. This had led to SJ experimenting for many fruitless hours to reproduce Pete’s exact ratio of crunchy home fries to eggs and so forth. This left SJ with only one option which has been to beg unwary Denverites heading to NYC to please bring him a Pete’s Kitchen Breakfast Burrito. Offer still stands!)

The other Pete’s is on the same side of the street (south) but further west. It’s a small place that features giant omelets (with some creative ingredients) and the best pancakes you will ever taste. (You can also try the Satire Lounge, owned by Pete’s and adjacent to the Race Street location. Pleasant Mexican food).

If fine dining is your taste, Denver has great spots like Fruition and the Japanese fusion great, Bones, but for classic and authentic diner food with a Western twist, the Pete’s can’t be beat.

When HG and BSK ran their small (but high powered) Denver public relations firm, HG dined almost every day at the Denver location of the Palm steak house chain. This wasn’t just a restaurant. It was a business club where the town’s top lawyers, bankers, politicos, real estate developers, political consultants (and PR guys) gathered to do business, schmooze and network. Kingpin of the room was Steve Farber, lawyer, lobbyist, Democratic Party fund raiser and a guy who was involved in just about everything happening in Colorado. Steve would always stop at HG’s table so he and HG could exchange compliments on the elegance of each other’s garb. Like the original Palm on Second Avenue and 44th Street in New York, the Denver Palm was decorated with caricatures of local notables. There was a nice, flattering caricature of HG in a prominent position. HG always sat beneath it. Impressed potential clients.

There was some good lunch food. Sliced sirloin on a tasty bed of greens. Salmon fillet in a lemon butter sauce. Crab cakes. A traditional Reuben. There was also avoidable, overcooked pasta. And, a surprise (which HG mentioned in an earlier post), excellent little neck clams on the half shell. Haven’t been there in a while and wonder if they’ve painted over HG to make room for a new generation of movers and shakers.

When in Denver HG always dines at Bones, an Asian fusion noodle restaurant in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. HG counsel: Sit at the bar and watch the five person crew do magic.

Small plates are outstanding: slightly fiery shishito peppers (with a real Madrid taste); escargot pot stickers in a slightly sweet Thai chili sauce; Korean barbecued pork ribs on a bed of Kimchi; crab spring rolls; steamed buns with a choice of suckling pig or pork belly. HG usually follows some starters with noodles. There’s a choice of soba, ramen and rice noodles with appropriate additions like chicken, pork or lobster. Some very nice evening specials (last week HG had plump, browned sea scallops resting on a delightful, first-of-the-season sweet corn melange). There are inventive salads and a nicely priced sake and wine list. Dessert is soft ice cream. Lush flavors change nightly. Service is friendly and efficient. Bones proprietor, Christopher is an elegant, stylish and personable guy who brings a touch of class to this lively bistro that is much favored by Denver’s hip, young fashionables.