RheinHaus bringing beer, brats and bocce ball to town
Game halls will be one of the next big things in the restaurant world, according to the newly released 2015 Food Trends Index from the restaurant-andhospitality consultant AF&Co., which cites a Bavarian beer hall coming to Denver this spring as a prime example.
The RheinHaus will be located at 14th and Market streets, and feature two bocce courts on each of its two floors in the 14,000square-foot space. When the RheinHaus opened in Seattle last year, it was a surprise hit, with chef Pete
making homemade sausages like bockwurst for crowds that sometimes hit 2,000 a night.
“People love to have something to do while they’re drinking beer, and you can hold a sausage in your hand while playing bocce,” said Deming Mac
co-owner with James
They chose to bringRheinHaus toDenver because of their experiences in town. “The energy is really up and coming, with a lot of small tech companies and young peoplewanting to be part of that,” said Maclise. “It’s a cool, laidback vibe.”
The AF&Co report says millennials spent more than $90 billion on food service this year, and restaurants are competing to land their dollars. Denver has become theNo. 1 destination city for millennials, according to the Brookings Institution.
RheinHaus is expected to open in May or June.
Lunch hour in RiNo
The RiNo arts district isn’t fringed with office buildings, like the 16th Street Mall, but restaurants such asAcorn and in The Source artisan
are bustling with lunch-hour crowds.
Now another RiNo restaurant, Cart-Driver, is open for lunch. Located in the same reclaimed shipping container complex that housesWork & Class, tpizza shop Cart-Driver opened in July. Business has been so good that its adding more hours and food options.
Cart-Driver is open daily from noon to midnight, serving up tasty favorites likewood-fired pizzas, fresh oysters and campfire vanilla soft-serve. The new hours allowCart-Driver to also offer an afternoon community hour for people to imbibe Prosecco— a sparkling Italianwhitewine — along with local brews and Italian spritzes. It’s added amarket case filled with newitems like deepdish Sicilian-style pizza slices, premium charcuterie and Italian flatbreads.
Cart-Driver is located at 2500 Larimer St., 303-2923553.
Winter rum drinks
Now that the holidays are just around the corner, the mountain town of Crested Butte is transforming into a festive ski town garlanded with evergreens and festive lights. Local rum producer
plans to celebrate the season with winter rum cocktails like theMontanyaWassail and the Hottanya in its recently expanded downtown space.
This fall, it added two copper stills and four fermentation tanks in the tasting room, which means customers can sip cocktails whilewatching rumbeing made. Montanya’s rums have won 18 gold and silver medals and two “Best in Class” awards in international competitions.
Other newinventions include an expanded culinary programthat focuses on appetizers and small plates made with ingredients sourced in Colorado, and a line of house-made bitters and artisan rum truffles. The bitters use Montanya rum as a base to infuse flavors like pineapple habanero, winter peach, fig and grapefruit. The dark-chocolate truffles are made withMontanya Oro rum, and rolled in coconut, Dutch chocolate, red chile or hazelnut.
If this news has triggered your thirst for winter rum cocktails, you can find recipes at montanyarum.com.
Montanya Distillers is located at 212 Elk Ave. in Crested Butte; 970-7993206.
Thankful for beans
About 30 million greenbean casseroles will show up on Thanksgiving tables across America, according to Del Monte, amain provider of green beans. The company decided to have some fun with this, and reports that their “beancounters” asked 1,500 Americans to rate their fondness for this classic Thanksgiving side dish.
Coloradomade thetop20 list of states with the highest concentration of people who love green-bean casseroles. It’s in eighth position, with 71 percent of people passionate about it, followed byCalifornia, at 69 percent.
The top three states are Kentucky (78 percent), Wisconsin (77 percent), and Missouri (76 percent).
And the top five ingredients Americans most love in their green-bean casseroles are bacon (37 per- cent), cheese (19 percent), mushrooms (15 percent), and almonds (8 percent).
If you haven’t yet chosen your recipe, Colorado State University offers a healthy version of the Thanksgiving classic, courtesy of the Kendall AndersonNutrition Center. You can find it online at chhs.colostate.edu/ news/item/?ID=152036.