Tidbites | Week of August 7, 2014

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CAFFEINE CRAWL GIVES A BUZZ THIS WEEKEND 

Just as the Napa Valley does wine tours, Boulder does coffee tours. The fourth annual Colorado Caffeine Crawl, put on by beverage marketing firm The LAB, is taking place in Boulder and Fort Collins Aug. 9 and 10 respectively, and provides coffee fanatics with a delicious and educational guided tour through different coffee shops around town.

The car-free event will have people biking or walking to take in Boulder’s beauty while sampling coffees, teas, chocolate, and yes, alcohol-based coffees with participating shops. This year’s lineup includes The Unseen Bean, The Cup, Ozo Coffee, and Piece, Love and Chocolate among many others.

Tickets are available at www.caffeinecrawl.com for $22-$27 and come with the tour’s schedule program and Crawl souvenirs and goodies. Boulder’s five routes run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. or 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday.

WINE ON TAP 

Both Boulder and Longmont are upping their stock on wine bars.

The freshly-opened Modena Wine Cafe in the Roosevelt Park Apartments building at 600 Longs Peak Ave. in Longmont has 150 international wines available by the glass, ranging from $4-$90, according to Jamison Clark, sommelier and manager of Modena.

Clark describes the cafe as approachable and modern with Napa technology stainless steel wine stations that hold multiple bottles of wine and serve 1-, 2 – or 5 -ounce glasses. Argon is used to keep the bottles fresh and Clark is looking to feature self-service in the future.

The wine cafe also doubles as an organic, free-trade coffee shop and serves small plates including charcuterie, grilled cheese, olive and nut plates, crepes, desserts and more. The coffee house is open daily, while the wine cafe hours are Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. and Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. For more information, visit www.longmontrestaurantwinecafe.com.

In Boulder, the space that used to house Beehive near 10th and Pearl will be taken over by PMG Wine Bar beginning Friday, Aug. 8.

Proprietress Emily Gold has studied wine with the team at Frasca, as well as working for two years in the wine trade in Burgundy, France. PMG will focus on more affordable but lesserknown wines curated by Gold and her team.

On that team will be Chef Salvatore Proia, formerly of The Bitter Bar, who will be crafting a menu of unpretentious fare designed to compliment the wines.

There will also be a full bar available.

PMG will be open Wednesday through Monday, from 4-11 p.m.

MMMM … FREE FISH TACOS 

Former head chef of Boulder’s Jax Fish House and season five’s Top Chef winner, Hosea Rosenberg, is teaming up with the Sea Cuisine company — a lover and provider of seafood and seafood recipes through travel — to hit the road this summer for “The Sea Cuisine Mobile Taco Tour,” coming through Denver Aug. 1-17.

The five-city national taco tour is looking to help spread the love of seafood and to help people learn that by using Sea Cuisine products they can easily cook seafood at home.

Denver is the third city that will serve free original fish tacos created by Rosenberg, like the Spicy Baja Tilapia Tacos using Sea Cuisine Tortilla Crusted Tilapia.

The taco truck stopped at the Denver County Fair and will also be available at Coors Field (Aug. 7), Denver Arts Festival (Aug. 9-10), King Soopers locations (Aug.14-15), Cherry Creek Fresh Market (Aug.16) and City Park Esplanade Fresh Market (Aug.17). For specific times and locations, visit www.seacuisine.com.

— Maalikah Hartley