BLACKBELLY MARKET TO OPEN THIS WEEK
Since winning Bravo’s Top Chef Season Five, Hosea Rosenberg has kept busy. From manning his food truck Darth Tater, serving as executive chef of Jax Fish House Boulder for six years, to running Blackbelly Catering, Rosenberg has gained foodie fans who are anticipating the grand opening of his new Boulder restaurant, Blackbelly Market, on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
The new restaurant will include a dining room for full-service lunch and dinner, a bar with a cocktail menu designed by award-winning mixologist Michael Cerretani, a full butcher shop for fine meats and an allday grab-and-go market for food on the go.
Most products are sourced locally and/or prepared in-house, but Rosenberg is willing to go out of state for specialties like artisan grits.
“The most important thing for us is the flavor,” Rosenberg says.
That’s why he’s shipping in genuine New Mexico hatch chilis for Blackbelly’s green chili, not using their local faux counterparts.
“The hatch chili is the champagne of peppers,” Hosenberg says.
Rosenberg also says the deli can get you almost anything in the exotic meat department within 72 hours.
Blackbelly Market will be located in East Boulder at 1606 Conestoga St., a bit farther from Boulder’s foodie central, but part of a cluster of eateries like Pica’s Mexican Taqueria, BRU Handbuilt Ales & Eats and Fate Brewing Co., helping shape up a new culinary center in the east part of town.
— Nadia Mishkin
OFFICIALLY THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE SANDWICH
Since New York is already struggling with inequality issues ranging from police issues, to a housing crunch, to proposed separate entrances to apartment buildings for “the poors,” one restaurant decided to take things to the next level with a $214 grilled cheese sandwich.
The restaurant, Serendipity III, was already known for its outrageously expensive plates, and holds several Guinness World Records; one for the most expensive dessert, “The Golden Opulence Sundae,” which is priced at $1,000 dollars, and the other for the most expensive hamburger, “Le Burger Extravagant,” which costs $295.
So in context, a $214 grilled cheese almost seems like a bargain.
What makes this sandwich so special? Let’s start with the cheese. In the south of Italy there is a breed of cow called the Podolica cow. There are only about 25,000 of these special cows in the world. They are raised on free-range farms and graze on the finest grasses; fennel, licorice, juniper, laurel bay and wild strawberries. This diet is said to infuse their milk with a delectable taste, making the cheese they produce one of the rarest gourmet cheese in the world. This rare cheese is encased by French Pullman Champagne Bread, made with Dom Perignon champagne and smothered with white truffle butter. After being toasted crisp in a panini maker, the edges of the sandwich are painted with 24k edible gold.
The deluxe grilled cheese is accompanied by a dipping bowl of South African Lobster Tomato Bisque — made with the lobster tails and tomatoes shipped in from Italy. It is topped off with crème fraîche and truffle oil.
The sandwich was created by chef Joe Calderone, and must be ordered 48 hours in advance. What’s the point of Serendipity III’s extraordinary plates and unfathomably priced menu items? Owner Stephen Bruce simply has a taste for the astonishing, but he also donates many of the profits of his outrageously priced expensive menu items to local charities.
—Nadia Mishkin
TASTE OF ARVADA
Eaten everywhere in Boulder twice already? Well then hit the old, dusty trail on down to Arvada.
Thursday, Nov. 13 will be the city’s annual “Taste of Arvada” event, where attendees can sample local restaurants and get a “taste” of local businesses.
More than 50 restaurants will be providing menu items to the public for testers of their best food and drink for your taste buds’ delight. Some of the participating locales include: Fire & Ice Bistro, which serves unique concept custom designed cocktails, nitro-frozen cocktails and “adult milkshakes;” Yak & Yeti Restaurant and Brewpub, serving Indian food and handcrafted beers; La Patisserie Bakery, serving scratch-made pastries; and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, which serves everything from traditional tacos to the bacon and egg-filled “pancake taco.” The APEX Center is located at 13150 W. 72nd Ave., in Arvada. General admission is from 6-8 p.m., and there will be an exclusive VIP experience from 5-6 p.m. There are various ticket options including advance, adult, children 6-12 years old, family pack and VIP, which can all be purchased at www.arvadachamber.org or by calling 303-424-0313.
— Nadia Mishkin
