You chowed down with a vengeance on Turkey Day; this week, so you might want to lighten things up with liquid lunches and vegan fare. Not feeling the need to hold back? No judging: We also have pizza and brunch specials.
Read about it all below, then keep reading for more events in the first few weeks of December.
Monday, November 30
After a long Monday staring at your screens (every Monday is Cyber Monday in 2020), reward yourself (and your kid, who's been suffering through remote learning for months now) by getting pizza from Mici Handcrafted Italian. The best part about doing takeout from one of the five fast-casual locations, other than not having to cook, is your offspring's momentary happiness and your support of a locally owned restaurant. From Monday, November 30, through Sunday, December 6, enter code HOPEKIDS into your online order and Mici will donate 20 percent of the sale to nonprofit organization HopeKids, which supports children facing life-threatening medical conditions. Plus, you'll get a free kid's pizza kit, so your bambino can become a pizzaiolo in training.
Tuesday, December 1
Have a vegan on your holiday shopping list? Be nice by giving them something fun, foodie, local and plant-based. Tuesday, December 1, marks the first day of the Colorado Springs Holiday Vegan Market, which has migrated online this year. Tune in to the Colorado Springs Vegan Events Facebook page at 6 p.m. to meet some of the vendors, including restaurants and food producers Azteca Tamales, Let Thy Food (dips and dressings), Four Cookie Dudes, Nooch Vegan Market, Peaceful Rebel (cheese), Colorado Springs Vegan Cooking Academy and more, plus vendors selling vegan home goods, botanicals, clothing and jewelry. Shop online through Tuesday, December 15.
Thursday, December 3
The distillery making the best labels in Denver (as well as some pretty good booze, too) is offering a class in conjunction with the maker of one of the most unusual ales in town. On Thursday, December 3, Jeff Johnson of Mythology Distillery will join the folks at Briar Common Brewery & Eatery (makers of Sour Seoul, a sour chile ale) for a virtual cocktail and beer class. Email [email protected] to order the class kit for $20, which comes with a Crowler of Das Bueno lager plus enough spirits to make two Negronis. You'll pick up your kit at Briar Common, 2298 Clay Street, between noon Tuesday, December 1, and noon Thursday, December 3. Then join in on Zoom from 6 to 7 p.m., when you'll learn how to mix a perfectly bitter pink drink and get an earful about Briar Common's brews while you drink.
Friday, December 4
Kick off the weekend with a kick at the Block Distilling Co., 2990 Larimer Street, which is launching its second batch of bourbon on Friday, December 4, alongside a brunch from the team at Work & Class and Super Mega Bien. Pre-order on the Block's website before Tuesday, November 30, and you can choose a bottle of bourbon (either the adorable 375-mL or the full-sized 750-mL), plus entrees like fried chicken and waffles with whiskey maple syrup; shrimp ceviche; cheddar cheese lamb sausage with green chile scrambled eggs; a vegetarian breakfast burrito; and more. Depending on your selections, you'll pony up $50 to $91 dollars. Seatings are available at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Friday, December 4, through Sunday, December 6.
New apéritif maker Atost has only been making its range of easy-drinking beverages for about a month, but it's already rolling out a seasonal special: Woods. Atost makes all of its products with infusions of herbs, citrus and other botanicals, but Woods gets an added layer of complexity from spending four months in Laws whiskey barrels. This one captures the best aspects of whiskey, but without the boozy burn, according to founders Kyle and Cindy Pressman. Woods goes on sale to the public this Friday, December 4, on Atost's website, and bottles can be shipped or picked up at the production facility at 15810 West Sixth Avenue Frontage Road in Golden. Only 200 bottles were made, so this is a rare treat, but if you miss out, you can still purchase bottles of Roots, Bloom and Citrus, Atost's standard lineup. (And a tip for those in the know: Sign up for the Pressman's newsletter on the website's home page and you'll get early access to Woods and other special releases.)
Keep reading to plan ahead:
Saturday, December 5
We're not generally big fans of giving away your personal information to a sweepstakes sponsor, but when the prize is a real, live reindeer delivering beer to your house and the contest benefits nonprofit organization Food Bank of the Rockies, we're all in. Denver residents who enter by Wednesday, December 2, on Breckenridge Brewery's website will be in the running to receive a special "reinbeer" delivery of a mini-keg of Breck's Christmas Ale on December 5 or 6. And for every entry, the brewery is donating one meal to Food Bank of the Rockies. Residents of Cascade, Colorado — home of Colorado's stuck-in-time North Pole amusement park — are also eligible to enter and almost certainly have a greater chance at winning.
Saturday, December 5, marks the first of a trio of online holiday cooking classes from the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council (CHAC). The free classes, dubbed A Fiesta of Food, will be streamed live on Zoom from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Saturday through December 19. This week's installment tackles the rosca de reyes, an enriched, spiced bread that hides a tiny doll representing the baby Jesus; astute (or bilingual) diners will recognize this as similar to king cake, which is often served as part of Mardi Gras celebrations prior to Lent. December 12 brings a lesson in making a vegan red posole with mushrooms; on December 19, you'll learn to make a decidedly carnivorous bison posole. Visit CHAC's website for Zoom links, recipes and complete class descriptions.
Barquentine Brewing and Edgewater Public Market are hosting a holiday toy drive for Denver kids in need on Saturday, December 5. Pull up in the parking lot at 5505 West 20th Avenue in Edgewater between 1 and 6 p.m. and drop off a new, unwrapped toy (suggested value $20 to $30) for children up to age eighteen. The drive is designed to capture fun stuff, so no size-specific gifts (only Scrooges give packs of new underwear, anyway); see the event website for gift suggestions. While you're there, nab a table outside and order a brew or two from Barquentine; the brewery is donating 20 percent of all its sales during the event to the Denver Dream Center, which is helping distribute the toys.
Tuesday, December 8
You know what Tuesday means: tacos! And you know what December 8 means: It's Colorado Gives Day! The two (happily) collide on Tuesday, December 8, when theater company Su Teatro offers free drive-through tacos at its theater, 721 South Santa Fe Drive. Show up from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for lunch or 5 to 6:30 p.m. for dinner to nab what is perhaps the perfect handheld food. And while Su Teatro is providing free tacos to all, its goal is to raise $15,000 through donations and matches that will replace a portion of lost revenue because of COVID restrictions in 2020 — so don't be a pinche pendejo: Donate to the cause on Colorado Gives Day's website before December 8 or make your donation in person.
The Rosenberg family — Lauren Feder Rosenberg and Hosea Rosenberg (co-founders of Sophie's Neighborhood), Sophie and the unnamed, hairiest Rosenberg — want you to do your holiday shopping in the ’hood.
Gaelle Pet Photography
Chef Hosea Rosenberg is the proud papa of two restaurants (Boulder's Blackbelly and Santo), but his real love is his daughter, Sophie, who was diagnosed early this year with MCTO, a skeletal disorder so rare that only thirty people in the world have been diagnosed with it. So Rosenberg co-founded Sophie's Neighborhood, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research on an effective treatment or cure. From Thursday, December 10, through Saturday, December 12, the organization is hosting an online auction with items that are perfect for gift giving (or keeping): one-on-one cooking lessons with Rosenberg and other Top Chef alumni; booze packages (including high-end bottles of wine); cookware; local meat; and more (including ski apparel, art and getaways). Visit the auction website (or text "Sophie" to 243725) to preview the catalogue; new items will be added until the auction begins.
Hanukkah begins Thursday, December 10, and because the only sure things this year have been COVID, taxes and political incompetence, we urge you to plan ahead by pre-ordering the carbiest, sugariest, most comforting Hanukkah sweets you can find, immediately. Visit the Staenberg-Loup Jewish Community Center's (JCC) website now to place your order for a pint of Bob's Babka, an olive oil ice cream with chunks of babka (a sweet, eggy, yeasted holiday bread) swirled in. High Point Creamery is producing the pints, which go for $10 each (includes tax and credit card fees) and will be available for pickup on December 10. Walk-up sales won't be offered this year, so make sure you get your order in promptly. Both locations of Olive & Finch (1552 East 17th Avenue and 3390 East First Avenue) are offering Hanukkah cookie kits for the family that come with a dozen sugar cookies, five different colored frostings, decorations and a tote bag. Order your kit on the cafe's website (mention "JCC Denver" at checkout, and 10 percent will be donated to the JCC), and pick up your haul between Tuesday, December 8, and Thursday, December 10.
All three locations of Rosenberg's (the bagelries at 725 East 26th Avenue in Denver and 2501 Dallas Street in Aurora and Rosenberg's Kosher at 942 South Monaco Parkway) are busily gearing up for the Festival of Lights, and will be accepting pre-orders for latkes and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) from Monday, November 30, through 5 p.m. Monday, December 7. Latkes ($18 per half-dozen) come with applesauce and sour cream and can be picked up at either bagel shop (but not Rosenberg's Kosher) on December 11 through 13 and December 15 through 18. (While you're there, pick up vibrantly decorated Hanukkah cookies!) Sufganiyot are $3 each and can be retrieved at Rosenberg's Bagels on the above dates, plus Rosenberg's Kosher on December 10, 11, 13 and 18. Pre-order based on your pick-up location. For either bagel shop, visit Rosenberg's catering page (it's yellow) and for Rosenberg's Kosher, make sure you're ordering from the blue page.
Know of an event or activity that belongs here? Send information to [email protected].
