December 17, 2024 • 35 mins
On today's podcast presented by CONNECT FOR HEALTH COLORADO (Open Enrollment from now until Jan 15th. Get Insurance), Kip & CB recap the week that was.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/stoned-appetit--3077842/support.
- Holiday Party Behavior
- Aspen Recap
- Truffle Oil Hurts My Heart
- Denver loses a hospitality institution
- Get ready for Thursday's pod.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/stoned-appetit--3077842/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
The suppression of the use of marijuana and of the
pauses looking behind it are the most important jobs is talkingnology.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
In nineteenth day the records.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
On marijuana and the Walkington Office and Narconic Division actually
build a small former like this today they built pattern
Welcome ladies and gentlemen, Coloradians and everyone that's mort enough
to listen from the outside. One of the most amazing
plants we've ever discovered. The pott talking, the trippers, the glasshopers,
(00:43):
the hip books, all gathered in secrecy and flying eye
as a country. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen to another
week of Stone Deputite. While I may not sound excited
for the holiday week, I am brutally stoked. I'm just
(01:05):
recording from a public location because I've been working my
tail off this week because i had way too much
fucking fun this weekend and I've got to pay the bills.
See me, how are you, brother?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
I'm right there with you. I'm in the full holiday
cheer mode. Been blasting Christmas tunes at the house. Yeah,
So that's what one thing we're doing every Christmas. Now,
Steph and I are going to get a Christmas record
just to celebrate the season. So he picked up a
new one this past weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
But who'd you get? Because I know we talked about
Motown last week, so I know that you've got a
pretty steep collection. Yeah, what'd you pick up this week?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Fuck?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I need mean to put you on the spot. We can.
I'll go into the ad read and let you think
about it.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But one thing, uh, one thing like that got me
truly in the spirit was holiday parties. This weekend, I
went two of our friends holiday parties, and I think
it's safe to say that Christmas holiday parties are the
most fun parties throughout the entire year. You know, like
Fourth of July parties are fun things like that, But
(02:13):
I mean Christmas Holiday, everybody's just really excited.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
It's the camaraderie of like like minded individuals. It's not like, oh, well,
I got to work next week. Like everybody in America
and most Christian countries or whatever have already mailed it in.
We're starting to see let's circle back in the new
year kinds of emails, and those really started late last
week so that everybody can kind of throw their inhibitions
(02:40):
into the wind and just whip their dick out and
have a big time. It's that time of the year.
Throw your put your dick in the mashed potatoes. It's
that kind of party.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
And I mean everybody, everybody's so damn excited and pumped
up in the season of giving that I think the
booze just flows a lot faster than it normally does.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Man, and does flow, I cannot tell you Jesus. This weekend,
I mean, goodness, gracious, it was a big time. And
so we're gonna recap it all. We're gonna talk about duos, adults,
holiday parties, dues adults of going to Aspen, as well
as we're going to do an end memoriam of a
(03:20):
restaurant that has been a mainstay in the Colorado restaurant
scene for fifteen eighteen years that has decided to shutter
their doors in the new year. But before we do that,
I want to give a shout out to our sponsors,
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whether it's at a Christmas party drinking and falling down
the stairs, maybe you slipped on some ice when at
(04:49):
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Do not go without all right, see me, you had
two Christmas parties? Were they themed? Did you have to
(05:10):
wear festive threads? How much alcohol did you consume? And
did you just wake up drunk? And then go right
back into round two. How did you manipulate the double
dipping of holiday season festivities?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
So the great thing about it was, first of all,
real quick. The record we picked up was Ray Kniff
and the Ray Conniff Singers. It's a it must have
been a mainstay in the slaughter household, so cheery Christmas
songs from Ray Conoff. Had no idea who that guy is.
But anyways, this weekend, so they were both kind of
(05:44):
like birthdays turned into holiday parties. But Friday's Night was
like eighty nineties kind of Christmas spirit, maybe like a
little bit of Aprey Ski vibes thrown in there. So
people really kind of spanned the gamut. There was a
Santa Claus that showed up, you know, I fortunately enough
(06:07):
you were able to share your dicky and uh, you know,
sweater with me. So I showed up.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Uh wait, what did you just call that?
Speaker 1 (06:17):
What's a dicky?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Isn't that I think that's like another term for turtleneck?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Oh really yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Everybody was like, oh, nice dickie you got there, and
I was like, I didn't know what that was.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I've never heard that either. For that's just is that
a regional dialect to those here in the Rocky Mountain region.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I have no idea. We'll have to look into that. Yeah,
something new Chris Dicky. Dicky is like a fox turtle neck.
So maybe maybe I didn't have Dicky, but somebody thought
it was.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, you had the full circumcision, like you could are uncircumcised.
You could tuck that turtle neck down.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
And also, man, turtlenecks are great.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I get yelled at every time I wear that combo
of turtleneck with a V neck sweater that kind of
channels the cousin Eddie. But yeah, definitely definitely looks a
little pedophilia, as I said that very quietly in public.
Definitely looks a little bit interesting.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
And they've definitely gone out style. And because I went
to like four different places this weekend just thinking I
would be able to scoop one and I even like
ventured into the women's sections, but those ones were a
little too big. But anyway, so yeah, so that was
a great theme party. I mean it ran the gambit.
But yeah, we had a little DJ downstairs in the base.
(07:40):
It almost felt like because our friends had this basement
and they decided to like remove the carpet so it's
all just like concrete down there, so it felt like
you were in the basement of like a house in college,
just partying, you know, beers, solo, cups, full bar. So
that was fun that one into the late hours. And
(08:01):
then the next night we went to another theme party
and this one had like a bartender that we had
drinks from. We had to wear cocktail at Tower. But
the coolest thing at this party was that like kind
of like a photo booth thing where you stand in
the middle and like you know, like they have like
a photo thing that tracks you around. Dude, those things
(08:25):
are so much goddamn fun.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I'm gonna have to post the videos because you shared
them with me and our friend group chat. You look
hilarious and one of them you look like Elton John
and then the other one you look like a real
eter because you're flashing like fake money and your hands
are out like you look extra as the best way
to is you look like you were having the best
time of your life. I mean, that's a great accessory
(08:50):
for a party. Like we've heard of photo boots and
you know, of all the other fun little things, but
that was a really cool, kind of like one off
that I haven't seen at a house party before.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Dude, I've never seen it either, And like the best
part about it is like the slow mo action shots
when you're just kind of like messing around, you have
no idea when it's really snapping, yeah, just doing whatever.
It's fucking hysterically.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yours were hysterical. I was cackle laughing and Moe was like,
what are you doing? And I was like, CB sent
this video. I was like watch it, and she was like,
what is he doing with his hands? Because you look
like you're raising the roof like you're trying to get
the audience involved, or you just locked in a big
deal on a house that you were trying to sell.
(09:39):
It was so damn funny.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yeah, So I mean, but that that was just so
much fun, you know, like all your everybody's happy. It's
a season of giving. Everybody's just laughing and having a
good time. So I love Christmas holiday parties or any
type of party around the Christmas time, but I'm more
excited to hear about like Aspen during this time because
(10:01):
I've never I've never been to Aspen during like the
Christmas season, and I imagine like there's got to be
some cool trees or you know, some decorations throughout the town.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Like what was it Like, Okay, Chris, so I may
have maybe poked the hornet's nest, kicked it, fucking hit
it with a stick when talking about the food scene
of Aspen. But let me tell you something about Aspen.
They do everything intentionally perfect. So like we were there
(10:34):
this summer for Food and Wine Classic and it's as easily,
hands down the best experience of our year every year.
But what they did for Winter Skull, which is like
their seventy fifth or seventy third time in a row.
They have all of these festivities going on. They have
a beer festival, they have a soup competition. They have
(10:57):
the Saint Regis and Little Nell and all of those hotels,
the Gants, all of them. They all buy into this
concept of we're going fucking big and so like they
have fireworks. They have people going down the mountain with
torches and then they light up this big tree like
(11:17):
the one you see in Denver's Union Station that's you know,
fifty feet tall, it's the size of a dinosaur. And
they light that puppy up and they bring out Santa
Claus and Miss Claws and all the kids and families
could take pictures with them, and then they have ballerinas
like dancing in the lobbies of this hotel. It's an
(11:38):
unbelievable spectacle. It is the most bougie experience you can
ever have. But for every positive, there is a negative.
And the best way for me to describe it was
I loved seeing everybody dressed up festive, wearing their goloshes,
(11:59):
you know, hats, gloves, all the things funny and funky sweaters.
But it also brings out these people that have unbelievable
amounts of wealth and have the taste of a fucking brick.
It reminds me of like Donald Trump's house in New York,
those photos of him with all the gold bullshit, and
(12:21):
that that's what it is. It's these people with ungodly
amounts of money and like resources, but they have the
taste of a fucking shoe. I could smell truffle oil
on every fucking location, and Boss was not open. Shout
out to Barkley Dodge and the family. They're not going
(12:41):
to be open until January. From my understanding, they had
a little snaff foo at the restaurant. So if you
were planning to go up and taste the Michelin Star experience,
hold your horses until after the holidays. But all the
other experiences, while lavish and fun, when it comes to
the food scene, I think we're just spoiled by our
(13:02):
experiences in June because some of those restaurants just didn't
tickle my pickle, Like they weren't terrible, they just weren't
like revolutionary, like every other part of the experience. And
aspen Asmen itself is miraculous. Everything you look at is
immaculate and wonderful and like boisterous and over and at
(13:26):
the top. And then you get this food menu and
it's like, you know, the smallest things could use salt,
the seafood could have been cooked a little bit better.
And then half of the restaurants that people go to
bat for are fucking chains, you know, like some of
them are Cherry Creek wets. You know, the White House
(13:47):
Tavern is a Hillstone location. You know, Matsuhisa we can
get in Cherry Creek. So there are like but if
you want like truly wonderful dining experiences, you are priced.
You can't invite just the average consumer to come up
there and experience Aspen the you know, unless you have
(14:07):
ungodly amounts of money, and so it's kind of aggravating
when you try to be in the middle area. Like
we were camped with some free me free place to stay,
so we were able to spend a little bit here
and there. But at the same time, I'm not gonna
drop a thousand fucking dollars on a caviar lace dinner
when you can do that in Denver and get the
(14:28):
exact same experience for half the price, like we should
on Veil. But now that Tavernetta's up there, I'm more
excited about going out to dine and Veil, Like if
Bosque is open tickle, you know, me excited as I'm
stoked because they fucking slay it, But not everybody is
going through those steps. It is sexy, it is fun,
(14:52):
it is lavish, and it's one of those things where
you want to post about it so you can look
at what I'm doing, But in reality, it's like, like
it's not comparable to dining in New York City on
any given weekend, and you're still paying twice the price
on just the average like every cocktail starts at twenty
(15:12):
five dollars. The Oysters, even if they're fucking Prince Edward Island,
you know, are twice as much as they are when
you get them from Oyster Bay and Denver. So we're
splitting hairs when we're talking about the quality versus the
cost associated. But you make up for it tenfold in
the experiences you enjoy and have while in Aspen. So
(15:37):
it's kind of like a double edged sword, like you're
paying for it in cocktails, but the experiences that aren't
related to costs are some of the best parts about it. Perusy,
Like we went to a high school concert at the Diangelico.
Shout out to our buddy Garland, Like, who was just
hosting a cool concert where it's high school kids playing
everything from fucking Metallica to Paul Simon. Was just neat
(16:01):
And that's the stuff that really gets you going. The
tree lighting, you didn't have to buy a drink at
the Saint Regis, but if you did, it starts at
thirty dollars, you know. So it's like and not everybody
watches their pocketbook, but for ninety eight percent of the
country who voted based off the cost of eggs, and
that may listen to this podcast or heat our advice
(16:23):
on social media. That's my interpretation. I give Asmen the
City a nine nine and a half on experiences, but
the cuisine and the dining experience outside of food and wine,
I feel like I'm spoiled by going up there and eating.
Kelly Whittaker and Justin Brunson, Tyler Florence, you know, and
(16:46):
Brady Lowe are doing this cool ass pop up where
a ticket is two hundred bucks to do you know,
the dining and the mine or whatever it is, and
you eat to your heart's content, and then you go
up there and winter and you kind of get bent
over barrel Asthen's awesome. The food is just.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Well, it's probably I mean, it's probably a combination of
a bunch of things, but I would imagine it's just
hard for like some kind of local or independent type
restaurant to survive in that city. So you need something
that's like got that backing of a national type chain
or something like that, because I mean, how is a
mom in pop restaurant supposed to operate up there with
(17:27):
those kind of like probably rent and everything else involved.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
You're exactly right. And you know, like, obviously we have
a lot of friends that live up there and we've
had the pleasure of being able to stay with them
in years past, so oftentimes we don't necessarily have to
pay for you know, lodging, so it allows us to splurge.
But it kind of reminds like, that's why you go
to Zaane's tavern for snacks, you know, for wings and
(17:52):
happy hour. Those cheese sticks, excuse me, the cheese sticks.
It's the Philly cheese stick. Egg rolls are fucking awesome,
but those are fifteen bucks. But that's not what everybody
wants to experience when they're an AskMen. They want to
be able to do oysters at Clark's and Martinez.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, and that adds up.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
So I can't in good faith be like, hey, go
enjoy the best dining experiences of Colorado in Aspen when
Bosca is honestly leaps and bounds, you know, exceptional dining,
but not everything else is sometimes they're just going to
bleed you dry because they can't. And they know that
these folks are up here with bookoo cash and it's
(18:37):
like they don't even look at the cost of a
West Coast versus East Coast oyster or even know what
the fuck the average rate is of a fromage and
charcuterie board, whereas somebody like myself, who's a plub. That's
just kind of what I know.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
True, Okay, but how was how is the suit competition?
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Oh those suit coats, So that shout out to the
city of Aspen. The soup competition was free to anybody
that wanted to attend and dine. It was fucking awesome, Chris,
you know, I get my rocks off on a good soup.
My favorite was from also the local happy hour watering bowl,
(19:19):
Meat and Cheese, and then most favorite was from Sway
Thai Food, which is I think the same owners as
Meat and Cheese, but there was like fifteen of them
and they were all just strewn across the Wagner Park,
just like where we were gallivanting eating sharkterie in the summertime.
They do the same thing. And in the middle area
(19:42):
was a tent setup of booze, whether it's beer, whiskey, wine.
And on the other side, closer to like the downtown
walking ball side was the band stage, so like they
really set it up to where it's a full experience,
and so if you live down valley, you're not like
breaking an almond leg to bring the kids up or
(20:03):
to have fun without spending a fortune. Chris, it was
so much fucking fun. They were bigger than shooters, Like,
they weren't ramikens. They were almost like sperm samples or
a urine collection cup. They're about that size. You know,
that's whatever. Yeah, everybody knows that. You know. It was
(20:24):
four els, but I ate. I mean I had a
fucking glass the French onion soup from meat and cheese.
You know, I love a good fresh on you. And
then they had a little piece of bread and then
the cheese melted as soon as it the broth did it.
It was delicious. And then Sway had a tom cow.
(20:45):
There was a few of the seafood spots, one of
which had like a clam chowder loaded with bacon. There
was a white bean with panchetta that was delightful, a
chicken tortilla soup. I mean, it was just a full
gamut and variety, so you kind of got all your
fix where it held us over until we went and
(21:07):
grabbed a slice of pie and went out on the town.
That was awesome. I had a blast, Like I know,
I came out a little guns blazing, and I'm sure
I pissed off some white trash person that loves truffle oil.
But what is this twenty twelve? Why the fuck does
everybody have truffle oil? Like when why can't we put
that in the rear view beer.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I think I don't think people understand truffle oil, Like
it's not like it's not an elevated thing, Like it
doesn't like getting truffle on something doesn't make it better,
and it it's not like something that should be more
expensive or anything. It just it tastes like fake shit.
It's gross.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
I couldn't agree more. And oftentimes it's the locations that
have just the run of the mill, back of house
worker that's not a culinary professional, and they drop it
like it's fucking sesame oil and it just over everything.
You can smell it across a restaurant or a bar,
like some of these fucking hotel bars that are world
(22:07):
renowned have it just on their cashews, and I can
smell it on my fingers because of the pub grub,
and I'm like, oh my god, I want it gone.
It's it's atrocious and it's just it's a thing of
the past and it's literally it's like smoking distill. It
is the best way to describe it. I'm not saying
(22:28):
that you have to go to the high end. Shout
out to Green Dot, dab Logic and seven to ten
and get shaved truffles on top of your French fries.
But just don't do it. Just just leave it as
parmesan fries. Add a little parsley, you know, like why
why does it have to be present? This is it's
an outdated flavor profile and it's artificial as fuck, and
(22:53):
it just kind of reminds you a little bit. It
reminds me back to Trump Towers. It's like the gold
wristbands and things of that nature. But all in all, Man,
Asspen is awesome. I love that town to boot and back.
I would love I will happily go up there anytime.
(23:15):
But I kind of know where to pick my battles
in terms of dining, and that's just my personal opinion.
So I had a blast and Aspen super Shout out
to the Gant, the Gant Hotel. It's approachably priced. The
restaurant that they have available for breakfast at lunch is awesome.
(23:35):
They have free shuttles that'll take you to any of
the mountains for the ski community. So if it's Asspen,
buttermilk or even snow masks, they'll take your ass out there.
They don't give a shit. And the crowd, the crew
is just they're a hoot and holler. Man. I had
we had a blast.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
That's awesome, that's all. I can't wait to go back
up there in June.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yeah, we're definitely not missing it. We're going to make
sure that we cover it properly. I think that we
still speak eloquently enough both with the food scene and
about the food scene that we did not bite the
hand that feeds us. So hopefully we didn't ruffle any
feathers by talking about our personal experiences with the restaurant
(24:15):
community up there and just kind of the tips of
the trade.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Yeah. I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
I mean honest opinion, but I mean, like it doesn't
detract from the greatness that is Aspen.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
There's no things we don't necessarily love.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
No, I couldn't agree more. And to be honest, every
place you go, the service is second to none. Like
they treat you, it's five star service everywhere you go.
It doesn't matter if it's shout out to Wild Blue,
which is a local shop for ladies. It's a boutique,
it's not that overpriced, Like it's not overpriced at all.
(24:52):
And those people go to bat for other local businesses
in the community, just like when you ask a lifty
where to eat and they're like, go to Big Raps
or go to Zay's, you know, et cetera, et cetera,
Like they all kind of row together. No one's like, oh,
go check out the Gucci store, go to Ralph Laren,
Like they all kind of support one another, which is
(25:13):
the same ethos that we try to carry. So shout
out to Zane's, Big Raps, shout out to Boss, shout
out to Origin. I mean, there's a lot of great
local restaurants, but there's also a lot of places that
are just overhyped and overpriced. So I mean you'll find
that everywhere Denver included. Speaking of Denver, Chris, We've got
(25:36):
some sad news for those that didn't see our social
media posts or see Chef Alex Saddell's media posts yesterday.
It's with great sadness that we hear of Fruition restaurant
closing in the Congress Park neighborhood coming in the new year. Yeah,
(26:01):
it hurts my heart, but it kind of goes with
the same methodology that we heard from chefs Dana and
Dave Quiri from Jingjazinski talking about the costs and the
headache that associated with running a restaurant in twenty twenty
four and what is about to come twenty twenty five
with the minimum wage increase in the city of Denver,
(26:23):
and the same conversation that we have with Dana Rodriguez
on Thursday's episode is the city of Denver has priced
out local and independent restaurant tours to where the cost
is not like the juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore.
It just hurts my heart to continue to see mainstays
(26:44):
and staples leaving the industry in the community.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, And you know, the scary thing with that happening
is like what's going to replace them? It's probably going
to be nationally recognized, you know, like.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
That another Barcelona wine bar, but opening up in Congress Park.
And that's the sad thing about it, you know, like
we hear folks like Dana, we hear folks like Jin
say that, yeah, the government's listening, but you know who's
not listening is the commercial real estate landlord that would
rather take you know, zero dollars for eighteen months rather
(27:24):
than give a price break on the square footage because
of the going rate in the community or the cost
of goods you know, to get and the cost of
certain you know, staff, you know how much a cost now,
like Dana talks about it on Thursday, and I don't
want to tip our hand on the episode, but like
if you complain about tortillas being made in house, like,
(27:46):
it's just it's so hard to operate when margins were
already low as they were, and then the city of
Denver is not doing anything to help these local independent proprietors.
And the hospitality industry, as we've seen, has been hurting
since COVID. We've shown that we are one of the
largest industries that employ one of the highest percentages of
(28:11):
folks in the state and in the country, but we
get no reprieve or no assistance, and so it's just
not worth it for restaurant tours anymore to sit here
and grind it out if not lose money. It's just
not worth it. And so it breaks my heart that
we see Alex Saddel close an eighteen year restaurant, you know,
(28:32):
because the juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore. It hurts
my heart.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, yeah, it's sad. Hopefully. I don't know. I don't
know what can change.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
But I mean, I was about to say, we don't.
I don't have an answer, like, I don't know what
could be better. I don't think that the governor or
mayor Mike Johnson could do much. And I mean, but
it seems like we can't catch a break. Whether it's
cost of goods, whether it's you know, tax will, you know,
whatever it may be. It just it's it's a tough
time to be an operator in the city of Denver.
(29:04):
I talked to someone else who said he would rather
be an Aurora or Castle Rock. Put me in Longmont, Avada,
because the folks that are in charge of permitting are
getting you approved by the Health Department. They cost you,
sorry background, baby noise, it just costs forever, and they
(29:24):
make you jump through all these hoops. There's so much
red tape that it's impossible. And the cannabis industry is
in the same camp, Like, do you know how long
it's taken for Cirrus to be able to open their doors?
Karne can't even fucking put a sign outside their door
because of permitting. It's these bullshit regulations that the whole
(29:45):
city everyone's having to go through. That's just hemorrhaging and
ham streaming, hamstringing local business owners. It's killing me. And
I'll tell you what, I'm not going to Mike Johnson's
next inauguration party. That's where I draw the line. I'm
not doing it again. I'm not going to the Christmas
party this year. Show him who's boss exactly. Guess he's
(30:07):
the big dick and Tom Now goodness gracious, I mean
goodness gracious. But yeah, So we sent our love to Alex,
to Jared, to the whole team at Fruition. Y'all were
you know, a flagship location. Y'all carried the water and
the pail for twenty damn near twenty years and creative,
(30:30):
pushing the frontiers of the culinary scene in Colorado. And
we're gonna miss you. And I'm just so sorry to
see it, to hear it, and I feel bad for
the staff as they have another month so they're not
getting let go in the holiday season, but it does
it causes concern for just what the future of the
scene looks like.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
But yeah, definitely, Like if you haven't, if you've never
been to Fruition, I mean, your time is now because
I think like mid January or closer to the end
of January is when they're closing. So try to sneak
in there if you can.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, it definitely is. Chris. We have a guest joining
us on Thursday's podcast, so we're not going to be
doing too much of a deep briefing. We will do.
You and I will do one more episode before Christmas,
but before we get out of here, you and I
are going to go to Run for the Roses this
week for their holiday pop up. For those that don't know,
(31:29):
they're downtown, just a quick jaunt from in the dairy
block underneath the free Market. So if you have friends
or family in town coming for the holidays, take them
to that quiet speakeasy that's turned holiday pop up. And
if anybody's looking to join me out in the bus
of the old town, Ourvada's got two big ass parties,
(31:50):
both at the stock Room at Bluegrass Haravada is there
any other places that we need to go check out
before the holidays or before Christmas? Any tips to folks
that may have family coming in town this weekend.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
I mean, you know, I can't, like, I can't give
it as a tip, but some of those holiday markets
downtown might be fun to check out.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
It's a way to like maybe waste an hour or
something with family, because at certain point, when you have
a lot of family visiting, you're just trying to waste
time and buy yourself, you know, a little a little
bit of stuff to do during the daytime. So I
don't know. That one in Civic Center Park seems like
it's pretty popping. And I think down at Dairy Block
(32:34):
they have kind of like a market that's going on
as well, like little small business owners and stuff selling
their kind of bespoke products or things like that. So
it's always fun and especially around that area, you know,
I think, I don't know, I guess, you know, I
was down at Union Station and they don't seem they
(32:54):
usually have a holiday market, but I haven't seen one
this year. But I know Milk Market and all those
things have some stuff going on.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, And I mean I've been working on Sixteenth Street
Mall with Eat Denver for a couple of weeks now,
and I haven't checked out to see if they still
do that. Chris Kendall Market right there. But you're right,
I forget about the Civic Center Park one. That one's
definitely bustling. So if you're looking for last minute gifts, friends,
family in laws, whatever it may be, that's a great
spot to go to as well. Yeah, I forgot completely
(33:27):
about that. That's a great call, Chris. We're gonna have
so much fun you and I were together for the holidays.
I've got us a ham from our friends over River Bear.
You can buy it on Pine Melon. They ship that
shit right to your door and then you can either
cook it, reheat it, glaze it like we do our
friends in the hospitality industry. Whatever the situation may be,
(33:50):
you and I gonna we're gonna celebrate saying up properly together,
and we're gonna eat well in the process. You ready
to go fucking party?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Yeah, I'm working on Christmas menu to cook at home,
so stay tuned for that.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
It should be pretty damn good.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Ooh, what tell me more? Can we talk about it?
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I'm trying to figure out. We're going through some cookbooks
because I'm gonna do like a whole thing.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
We're gonna have.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Dessert, all that good stuff. I'll probably, I'll probably, we'll
probably break out a nicer wine.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
You know, tis the season.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Y'all's wine collection is extensive and delicious. I love every
time we do group dinners. So we're gonna have a
happy holidays. We hope everyone does as well. Next week,
stay tuned, Chris and I will be doing a end
of year not only resolutions for health and wellness in
January aka white wine instead of red wine, but we'll
(34:49):
also be having some fun with everything else that comes
with the holidays and celebrating New Year's in Colorado. So
stay tuned if you're looking for something to do and
to ring in the new year. But until next episode,
y'all stay high, stay hungry
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Happy holidays, Cheer cheers
The suppression of the use of marijuana and of the
pauses looking behind it are the most important jobs is talkingnology.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
In nineteenth day the records.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
On marijuana and the Walkington Office and Narconic Division actually
build a small former like this today they built pattern
Welcome ladies and gentlemen, Coloradians and everyone that's mort enough
to listen from the outside. One of the most amazing
plants we've ever discovered. The pott talking, the trippers, the glasshopers,
(00:43):
the hip books, all gathered in secrecy and flying eye
as a country. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen to another
week of Stone Deputite. While I may not sound excited
for the holiday week, I am brutally stoked. I'm just
(01:05):
recording from a public location because I've been working my
tail off this week because i had way too much
fucking fun this weekend and I've got to pay the bills.
See me, how are you, brother?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
I'm right there with you. I'm in the full holiday
cheer mode. Been blasting Christmas tunes at the house. Yeah,
So that's what one thing we're doing every Christmas. Now,
Steph and I are going to get a Christmas record
just to celebrate the season. So he picked up a
new one this past weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
But who'd you get? Because I know we talked about
Motown last week, so I know that you've got a
pretty steep collection. Yeah, what'd you pick up this week?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Fuck?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I need mean to put you on the spot. We can.
I'll go into the ad read and let you think
about it.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But one thing, uh, one thing like that got me
truly in the spirit was holiday parties. This weekend, I
went two of our friends holiday parties, and I think
it's safe to say that Christmas holiday parties are the
most fun parties throughout the entire year. You know, like
Fourth of July parties are fun things like that, But
(02:13):
I mean Christmas Holiday, everybody's just really excited.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
It's the camaraderie of like like minded individuals. It's not like, oh, well,
I got to work next week. Like everybody in America
and most Christian countries or whatever have already mailed it in.
We're starting to see let's circle back in the new
year kinds of emails, and those really started late last
week so that everybody can kind of throw their inhibitions
(02:40):
into the wind and just whip their dick out and
have a big time. It's that time of the year.
Throw your put your dick in the mashed potatoes. It's
that kind of party.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
And I mean everybody, everybody's so damn excited and pumped
up in the season of giving that I think the
booze just flows a lot faster than it normally does.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Man, and does flow, I cannot tell you Jesus. This weekend,
I mean, goodness, gracious, it was a big time. And
so we're gonna recap it all. We're gonna talk about duos, adults,
holiday parties, dues adults of going to Aspen, as well
as we're going to do an end memoriam of a
(03:20):
restaurant that has been a mainstay in the Colorado restaurant
scene for fifteen eighteen years that has decided to shutter
their doors in the new year. But before we do that,
I want to give a shout out to our sponsors,
I Connect for Health Colorado. As the end of year
arrives and the new year becometh, now is the time
(03:42):
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(04:25):
healthco dot com and they'll take care of you. It's
from now until January fifteenth is open enrollment season. You've
got to get on it now so that you're not
bankrupt by having a snaff foo. Whether it's on the mountain,
whether it's at a Christmas party drinking and falling down
the stairs, maybe you slipped on some ice when at
(04:49):
a local soup competition, no matter, All of these things
are a little bit foreshadowing. No matter the situation, Connect
for healthco dot com is here for your healthcare needs.
Do not go without all right, see me, you had
two Christmas parties? Were they themed? Did you have to
(05:10):
wear festive threads? How much alcohol did you consume? And
did you just wake up drunk? And then go right
back into round two. How did you manipulate the double
dipping of holiday season festivities?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
So the great thing about it was, first of all,
real quick. The record we picked up was Ray Kniff
and the Ray Conniff Singers. It's a it must have
been a mainstay in the slaughter household, so cheery Christmas
songs from Ray Conoff. Had no idea who that guy is.
But anyways, this weekend, so they were both kind of
(05:44):
like birthdays turned into holiday parties. But Friday's Night was
like eighty nineties kind of Christmas spirit, maybe like a
little bit of Aprey Ski vibes thrown in there. So
people really kind of spanned the gamut. There was a
Santa Claus that showed up, you know, I fortunately enough
(06:07):
you were able to share your dicky and uh, you know,
sweater with me. So I showed up.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Uh wait, what did you just call that?
Speaker 1 (06:17):
What's a dicky?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Isn't that I think that's like another term for turtleneck?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Oh really yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Everybody was like, oh, nice dickie you got there, and
I was like, I didn't know what that was.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I've never heard that either. For that's just is that
a regional dialect to those here in the Rocky Mountain region.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I have no idea. We'll have to look into that. Yeah,
something new Chris Dicky. Dicky is like a fox turtle neck.
So maybe maybe I didn't have Dicky, but somebody thought
it was.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, you had the full circumcision, like you could are uncircumcised.
You could tuck that turtle neck down.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
And also, man, turtlenecks are great.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I get yelled at every time I wear that combo
of turtleneck with a V neck sweater that kind of
channels the cousin Eddie. But yeah, definitely definitely looks a
little pedophilia, as I said that very quietly in public.
Definitely looks a little bit interesting.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
And they've definitely gone out style. And because I went
to like four different places this weekend just thinking I
would be able to scoop one and I even like
ventured into the women's sections, but those ones were a
little too big. But anyway, so yeah, so that was
a great theme party. I mean it ran the gambit.
But yeah, we had a little DJ downstairs in the base.
(07:40):
It almost felt like because our friends had this basement
and they decided to like remove the carpet so it's
all just like concrete down there, so it felt like
you were in the basement of like a house in college,
just partying, you know, beers, solo, cups, full bar. So
that was fun that one into the late hours. And
(08:01):
then the next night we went to another theme party
and this one had like a bartender that we had
drinks from. We had to wear cocktail at Tower. But
the coolest thing at this party was that like kind
of like a photo booth thing where you stand in
the middle and like you know, like they have like
a photo thing that tracks you around. Dude, those things
(08:25):
are so much goddamn fun.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I'm gonna have to post the videos because you shared
them with me and our friend group chat. You look
hilarious and one of them you look like Elton John
and then the other one you look like a real
eter because you're flashing like fake money and your hands
are out like you look extra as the best way
to is you look like you were having the best
time of your life. I mean, that's a great accessory
(08:50):
for a party. Like we've heard of photo boots and
you know, of all the other fun little things, but
that was a really cool, kind of like one off
that I haven't seen at a house party before.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Dude, I've never seen it either, And like the best
part about it is like the slow mo action shots
when you're just kind of like messing around, you have
no idea when it's really snapping, yeah, just doing whatever.
It's fucking hysterically.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yours were hysterical. I was cackle laughing and Moe was like,
what are you doing? And I was like, CB sent
this video. I was like watch it, and she was like,
what is he doing with his hands? Because you look
like you're raising the roof like you're trying to get
the audience involved, or you just locked in a big
deal on a house that you were trying to sell.
(09:39):
It was so damn funny.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yeah, So I mean, but that that was just so
much fun, you know, like all your everybody's happy. It's
a season of giving. Everybody's just laughing and having a
good time. So I love Christmas holiday parties or any
type of party around the Christmas time, but I'm more
excited to hear about like Aspen during this time because
(10:01):
I've never I've never been to Aspen during like the
Christmas season, and I imagine like there's got to be
some cool trees or you know, some decorations throughout the town.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Like what was it Like, Okay, Chris, so I may
have maybe poked the hornet's nest, kicked it, fucking hit
it with a stick when talking about the food scene
of Aspen. But let me tell you something about Aspen.
They do everything intentionally perfect. So like we were there
(10:34):
this summer for Food and Wine Classic and it's as easily,
hands down the best experience of our year every year.
But what they did for Winter Skull, which is like
their seventy fifth or seventy third time in a row.
They have all of these festivities going on. They have
a beer festival, they have a soup competition. They have
(10:57):
the Saint Regis and Little Nell and all of those hotels,
the Gants, all of them. They all buy into this
concept of we're going fucking big and so like they
have fireworks. They have people going down the mountain with
torches and then they light up this big tree like
(11:17):
the one you see in Denver's Union Station that's you know,
fifty feet tall, it's the size of a dinosaur. And
they light that puppy up and they bring out Santa
Claus and Miss Claws and all the kids and families
could take pictures with them, and then they have ballerinas
like dancing in the lobbies of this hotel. It's an
(11:38):
unbelievable spectacle. It is the most bougie experience you can
ever have. But for every positive, there is a negative.
And the best way for me to describe it was
I loved seeing everybody dressed up festive, wearing their goloshes,
(11:59):
you know, hats, gloves, all the things funny and funky sweaters.
But it also brings out these people that have unbelievable
amounts of wealth and have the taste of a fucking brick.
It reminds me of like Donald Trump's house in New York,
those photos of him with all the gold bullshit, and
(12:21):
that that's what it is. It's these people with ungodly
amounts of money and like resources, but they have the
taste of a fucking shoe. I could smell truffle oil
on every fucking location, and Boss was not open. Shout
out to Barkley Dodge and the family. They're not going
(12:41):
to be open until January. From my understanding, they had
a little snaff foo at the restaurant. So if you
were planning to go up and taste the Michelin Star experience,
hold your horses until after the holidays. But all the
other experiences, while lavish and fun, when it comes to
the food scene, I think we're just spoiled by our
(13:02):
experiences in June because some of those restaurants just didn't
tickle my pickle, Like they weren't terrible, they just weren't
like revolutionary, like every other part of the experience. And
aspen Asmen itself is miraculous. Everything you look at is
immaculate and wonderful and like boisterous and over and at
(13:26):
the top. And then you get this food menu and
it's like, you know, the smallest things could use salt,
the seafood could have been cooked a little bit better.
And then half of the restaurants that people go to
bat for are fucking chains, you know, like some of
them are Cherry Creek wets. You know, the White House
(13:47):
Tavern is a Hillstone location. You know, Matsuhisa we can
get in Cherry Creek. So there are like but if
you want like truly wonderful dining experiences, you are priced.
You can't invite just the average consumer to come up
there and experience Aspen the you know, unless you have
(14:07):
ungodly amounts of money, and so it's kind of aggravating
when you try to be in the middle area. Like
we were camped with some free me free place to stay,
so we were able to spend a little bit here
and there. But at the same time, I'm not gonna
drop a thousand fucking dollars on a caviar lace dinner
when you can do that in Denver and get the
(14:28):
exact same experience for half the price, like we should
on Veil. But now that Tavernetta's up there, I'm more
excited about going out to dine and Veil, Like if
Bosque is open tickle, you know, me excited as I'm
stoked because they fucking slay it, But not everybody is
going through those steps. It is sexy, it is fun,
(14:52):
it is lavish, and it's one of those things where
you want to post about it so you can look
at what I'm doing, But in reality, it's like, like
it's not comparable to dining in New York City on
any given weekend, and you're still paying twice the price
on just the average like every cocktail starts at twenty
(15:12):
five dollars. The Oysters, even if they're fucking Prince Edward Island,
you know, are twice as much as they are when
you get them from Oyster Bay and Denver. So we're
splitting hairs when we're talking about the quality versus the
cost associated. But you make up for it tenfold in
the experiences you enjoy and have while in Aspen. So
(15:37):
it's kind of like a double edged sword, like you're
paying for it in cocktails, but the experiences that aren't
related to costs are some of the best parts about it. Perusy,
Like we went to a high school concert at the Diangelico.
Shout out to our buddy Garland, Like, who was just
hosting a cool concert where it's high school kids playing
everything from fucking Metallica to Paul Simon. Was just neat
(16:01):
And that's the stuff that really gets you going. The
tree lighting, you didn't have to buy a drink at
the Saint Regis, but if you did, it starts at
thirty dollars, you know. So it's like and not everybody
watches their pocketbook, but for ninety eight percent of the
country who voted based off the cost of eggs, and
that may listen to this podcast or heat our advice
(16:23):
on social media. That's my interpretation. I give Asmen the
City a nine nine and a half on experiences, but
the cuisine and the dining experience outside of food and wine,
I feel like I'm spoiled by going up there and eating.
Kelly Whittaker and Justin Brunson, Tyler Florence, you know, and
(16:46):
Brady Lowe are doing this cool ass pop up where
a ticket is two hundred bucks to do you know,
the dining and the mine or whatever it is, and
you eat to your heart's content, and then you go
up there and winter and you kind of get bent
over barrel Asthen's awesome. The food is just.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Well, it's probably I mean, it's probably a combination of
a bunch of things, but I would imagine it's just
hard for like some kind of local or independent type
restaurant to survive in that city. So you need something
that's like got that backing of a national type chain
or something like that, because I mean, how is a
mom in pop restaurant supposed to operate up there with
(17:27):
those kind of like probably rent and everything else involved.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
You're exactly right. And you know, like, obviously we have
a lot of friends that live up there and we've
had the pleasure of being able to stay with them
in years past, so oftentimes we don't necessarily have to
pay for you know, lodging, so it allows us to splurge.
But it kind of reminds like, that's why you go
to Zaane's tavern for snacks, you know, for wings and
(17:52):
happy hour. Those cheese sticks, excuse me, the cheese sticks.
It's the Philly cheese stick. Egg rolls are fucking awesome,
but those are fifteen bucks. But that's not what everybody
wants to experience when they're an AskMen. They want to
be able to do oysters at Clark's and Martinez.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, and that adds up.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
So I can't in good faith be like, hey, go
enjoy the best dining experiences of Colorado in Aspen when
Bosca is honestly leaps and bounds, you know, exceptional dining,
but not everything else is sometimes they're just going to
bleed you dry because they can't. And they know that
these folks are up here with bookoo cash and it's
(18:37):
like they don't even look at the cost of a
West Coast versus East Coast oyster or even know what
the fuck the average rate is of a fromage and
charcuterie board, whereas somebody like myself, who's a plub. That's
just kind of what I know.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
True, Okay, but how was how is the suit competition?
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Oh those suit coats, So that shout out to the
city of Aspen. The soup competition was free to anybody
that wanted to attend and dine. It was fucking awesome, Chris,
you know, I get my rocks off on a good soup.
My favorite was from also the local happy hour watering bowl,
(19:19):
Meat and Cheese, and then most favorite was from Sway
Thai Food, which is I think the same owners as
Meat and Cheese, but there was like fifteen of them
and they were all just strewn across the Wagner Park,
just like where we were gallivanting eating sharkterie in the summertime.
They do the same thing. And in the middle area
(19:42):
was a tent setup of booze, whether it's beer, whiskey, wine.
And on the other side, closer to like the downtown
walking ball side was the band stage, so like they
really set it up to where it's a full experience,
and so if you live down valley, you're not like
breaking an almond leg to bring the kids up or
(20:03):
to have fun without spending a fortune. Chris, it was
so much fucking fun. They were bigger than shooters, Like,
they weren't ramikens. They were almost like sperm samples or
a urine collection cup. They're about that size. You know,
that's whatever. Yeah, everybody knows that. You know. It was
(20:24):
four els, but I ate. I mean I had a
fucking glass the French onion soup from meat and cheese.
You know, I love a good fresh on you. And
then they had a little piece of bread and then
the cheese melted as soon as it the broth did it.
It was delicious. And then Sway had a tom cow.
(20:45):
There was a few of the seafood spots, one of
which had like a clam chowder loaded with bacon. There
was a white bean with panchetta that was delightful, a
chicken tortilla soup. I mean, it was just a full
gamut and variety, so you kind of got all your
fix where it held us over until we went and
(21:07):
grabbed a slice of pie and went out on the town.
That was awesome. I had a blast, Like I know,
I came out a little guns blazing, and I'm sure
I pissed off some white trash person that loves truffle oil.
But what is this twenty twelve? Why the fuck does
everybody have truffle oil? Like when why can't we put
that in the rear view beer.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I think I don't think people understand truffle oil, Like
it's not like it's not an elevated thing, Like it
doesn't like getting truffle on something doesn't make it better,
and it it's not like something that should be more
expensive or anything. It just it tastes like fake shit.
It's gross.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
I couldn't agree more. And oftentimes it's the locations that
have just the run of the mill, back of house
worker that's not a culinary professional, and they drop it
like it's fucking sesame oil and it just over everything.
You can smell it across a restaurant or a bar,
like some of these fucking hotel bars that are world
(22:07):
renowned have it just on their cashews, and I can
smell it on my fingers because of the pub grub,
and I'm like, oh my god, I want it gone.
It's it's atrocious and it's just it's a thing of
the past and it's literally it's like smoking distill. It
is the best way to describe it. I'm not saying
(22:28):
that you have to go to the high end. Shout
out to Green Dot, dab Logic and seven to ten
and get shaved truffles on top of your French fries.
But just don't do it. Just just leave it as
parmesan fries. Add a little parsley, you know, like why
why does it have to be present? This is it's
an outdated flavor profile and it's artificial as fuck, and
(22:53):
it just kind of reminds you a little bit. It
reminds me back to Trump Towers. It's like the gold
wristbands and things of that nature. But all in all, Man,
Asspen is awesome. I love that town to boot and back.
I would love I will happily go up there anytime.
(23:15):
But I kind of know where to pick my battles
in terms of dining, and that's just my personal opinion.
So I had a blast and Aspen super Shout out
to the Gant, the Gant Hotel. It's approachably priced. The
restaurant that they have available for breakfast at lunch is awesome.
(23:35):
They have free shuttles that'll take you to any of
the mountains for the ski community. So if it's Asspen,
buttermilk or even snow masks, they'll take your ass out there.
They don't give a shit. And the crowd, the crew
is just they're a hoot and holler. Man. I had
we had a blast.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
That's awesome, that's all. I can't wait to go back
up there in June.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yeah, we're definitely not missing it. We're going to make
sure that we cover it properly. I think that we
still speak eloquently enough both with the food scene and
about the food scene that we did not bite the
hand that feeds us. So hopefully we didn't ruffle any
feathers by talking about our personal experiences with the restaurant
(24:15):
community up there and just kind of the tips of
the trade.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Yeah. I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
I mean honest opinion, but I mean, like it doesn't
detract from the greatness that is Aspen.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
There's no things we don't necessarily love.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
No, I couldn't agree more. And to be honest, every
place you go, the service is second to none. Like
they treat you, it's five star service everywhere you go.
It doesn't matter if it's shout out to Wild Blue,
which is a local shop for ladies. It's a boutique,
it's not that overpriced, Like it's not overpriced at all.
(24:52):
And those people go to bat for other local businesses
in the community, just like when you ask a lifty
where to eat and they're like, go to Big Raps
or go to Zay's, you know, et cetera, et cetera,
Like they all kind of row together. No one's like, oh,
go check out the Gucci store, go to Ralph Laren,
Like they all kind of support one another, which is
(25:13):
the same ethos that we try to carry. So shout
out to Zane's, Big Raps, shout out to Boss, shout
out to Origin. I mean, there's a lot of great
local restaurants, but there's also a lot of places that
are just overhyped and overpriced. So I mean you'll find
that everywhere Denver included. Speaking of Denver, Chris, We've got
(25:36):
some sad news for those that didn't see our social
media posts or see Chef Alex Saddell's media posts yesterday.
It's with great sadness that we hear of Fruition restaurant
closing in the Congress Park neighborhood coming in the new year. Yeah,
(26:01):
it hurts my heart, but it kind of goes with
the same methodology that we heard from chefs Dana and
Dave Quiri from Jingjazinski talking about the costs and the
headache that associated with running a restaurant in twenty twenty
four and what is about to come twenty twenty five
with the minimum wage increase in the city of Denver,
(26:23):
and the same conversation that we have with Dana Rodriguez
on Thursday's episode is the city of Denver has priced
out local and independent restaurant tours to where the cost
is not like the juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore.
It just hurts my heart to continue to see mainstays
(26:44):
and staples leaving the industry in the community.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, And you know, the scary thing with that happening
is like what's going to replace them? It's probably going
to be nationally recognized, you know, like.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
That another Barcelona wine bar, but opening up in Congress Park.
And that's the sad thing about it, you know, like
we hear folks like Dana, we hear folks like Jin
say that, yeah, the government's listening, but you know who's
not listening is the commercial real estate landlord that would
rather take you know, zero dollars for eighteen months rather
(27:24):
than give a price break on the square footage because
of the going rate in the community or the cost
of goods you know, to get and the cost of
certain you know, staff, you know how much a cost now,
like Dana talks about it on Thursday, and I don't
want to tip our hand on the episode, but like
if you complain about tortillas being made in house, like,
(27:46):
it's just it's so hard to operate when margins were
already low as they were, and then the city of
Denver is not doing anything to help these local independent proprietors.
And the hospitality industry, as we've seen, has been hurting
since COVID. We've shown that we are one of the
largest industries that employ one of the highest percentages of
(28:11):
folks in the state and in the country, but we
get no reprieve or no assistance, and so it's just
not worth it for restaurant tours anymore to sit here
and grind it out if not lose money. It's just
not worth it. And so it breaks my heart that
we see Alex Saddel close an eighteen year restaurant, you know,
(28:32):
because the juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore. It hurts
my heart.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, yeah, it's sad. Hopefully. I don't know. I don't
know what can change.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
But I mean, I was about to say, we don't.
I don't have an answer, like, I don't know what
could be better. I don't think that the governor or
mayor Mike Johnson could do much. And I mean, but
it seems like we can't catch a break. Whether it's
cost of goods, whether it's you know, tax will, you know,
whatever it may be. It just it's it's a tough
time to be an operator in the city of Denver.
(29:04):
I talked to someone else who said he would rather
be an Aurora or Castle Rock. Put me in Longmont, Avada,
because the folks that are in charge of permitting are
getting you approved by the Health Department. They cost you,
sorry background, baby noise, it just costs forever, and they
(29:24):
make you jump through all these hoops. There's so much
red tape that it's impossible. And the cannabis industry is
in the same camp, Like, do you know how long
it's taken for Cirrus to be able to open their doors?
Karne can't even fucking put a sign outside their door
because of permitting. It's these bullshit regulations that the whole
(29:45):
city everyone's having to go through. That's just hemorrhaging and
ham streaming, hamstringing local business owners. It's killing me. And
I'll tell you what, I'm not going to Mike Johnson's
next inauguration party. That's where I draw the line. I'm
not doing it again. I'm not going to the Christmas
party this year. Show him who's boss exactly. Guess he's
(30:07):
the big dick and Tom Now goodness gracious, I mean
goodness gracious. But yeah, So we sent our love to Alex,
to Jared, to the whole team at Fruition. Y'all were
you know, a flagship location. Y'all carried the water and
the pail for twenty damn near twenty years and creative,
(30:30):
pushing the frontiers of the culinary scene in Colorado. And
we're gonna miss you. And I'm just so sorry to
see it, to hear it, and I feel bad for
the staff as they have another month so they're not
getting let go in the holiday season, but it does
it causes concern for just what the future of the
scene looks like.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
But yeah, definitely, Like if you haven't, if you've never
been to Fruition, I mean, your time is now because
I think like mid January or closer to the end
of January is when they're closing. So try to sneak
in there if you can.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, it definitely is. Chris. We have a guest joining
us on Thursday's podcast, so we're not going to be
doing too much of a deep briefing. We will do.
You and I will do one more episode before Christmas,
but before we get out of here, you and I
are going to go to Run for the Roses this
week for their holiday pop up. For those that don't know,
(31:29):
they're downtown, just a quick jaunt from in the dairy
block underneath the free Market. So if you have friends
or family in town coming for the holidays, take them
to that quiet speakeasy that's turned holiday pop up. And
if anybody's looking to join me out in the bus
of the old town, Ourvada's got two big ass parties,
(31:50):
both at the stock Room at Bluegrass Haravada is there
any other places that we need to go check out
before the holidays or before Christmas? Any tips to folks
that may have family coming in town this weekend.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
I mean, you know, I can't, like, I can't give
it as a tip, but some of those holiday markets
downtown might be fun to check out.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
It's a way to like maybe waste an hour or
something with family, because at certain point, when you have
a lot of family visiting, you're just trying to waste
time and buy yourself, you know, a little a little
bit of stuff to do during the daytime. So I
don't know. That one in Civic Center Park seems like
it's pretty popping. And I think down at Dairy Block
(32:34):
they have kind of like a market that's going on
as well, like little small business owners and stuff selling
their kind of bespoke products or things like that. So
it's always fun and especially around that area, you know,
I think, I don't know, I guess, you know, I
was down at Union Station and they don't seem they
(32:54):
usually have a holiday market, but I haven't seen one
this year. But I know Milk Market and all those
things have some stuff going on.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, And I mean I've been working on Sixteenth Street
Mall with Eat Denver for a couple of weeks now,
and I haven't checked out to see if they still
do that. Chris Kendall Market right there. But you're right,
I forget about the Civic Center Park one. That one's
definitely bustling. So if you're looking for last minute gifts, friends,
family in laws, whatever it may be, that's a great
spot to go to as well. Yeah, I forgot completely
(33:27):
about that. That's a great call, Chris. We're gonna have
so much fun you and I were together for the holidays.
I've got us a ham from our friends over River Bear.
You can buy it on Pine Melon. They ship that
shit right to your door and then you can either
cook it, reheat it, glaze it like we do our
friends in the hospitality industry. Whatever the situation may be,
(33:50):
you and I gonna we're gonna celebrate saying up properly together,
and we're gonna eat well in the process. You ready
to go fucking party?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Yeah, I'm working on Christmas menu to cook at home,
so stay tuned for that.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
It should be pretty damn good.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Ooh, what tell me more? Can we talk about it?
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I'm trying to figure out. We're going through some cookbooks
because I'm gonna do like a whole thing.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
We're gonna have.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Dessert, all that good stuff. I'll probably, I'll probably, we'll
probably break out a nicer wine.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
You know, tis the season.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Y'all's wine collection is extensive and delicious. I love every
time we do group dinners. So we're gonna have a
happy holidays. We hope everyone does as well. Next week,
stay tuned, Chris and I will be doing a end
of year not only resolutions for health and wellness in
January aka white wine instead of red wine, but we'll
(34:49):
also be having some fun with everything else that comes
with the holidays and celebrating New Year's in Colorado. So
stay tuned if you're looking for something to do and
to ring in the new year. But until next episode,
y'all stay high, stay hungry
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Happy holidays, Cheer cheers
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