Fried rice is so suburban...

King's Land Dim Sum from Denver.com

Yes, Denver's Barnum neighborhood borders a boulevard of pho, for as far as the eye can see. And it's awesome. But, there is more to Federal than Pho.

Did you know that we are lucky enough to have a number of really great authentic dim sum places nearby too? Because we do. And, since moving to Barnum I've discovered a world of Chinese food beyond fried rice and Kung Pao. 

If you've never had dim sum, I encourage you to find a culinary adventure buddy and make a weekend brunch date. Though some restaurants serve dim sum all day, it's more common to find it on weekends around lunch time.

It's an experience, not just a style of food. After being seated at a table and given tea, folks will bring carts around to your table and offer you little dishes of dumplings and rolls -- little adorable packets of deliciousness. You may not know what is in the dumplings. It doesn't matter. Don't worry. Just say yes to about two dishes per person. Get a variety. Then, share amongst yourselves and have fun figuring out which are your favorites. 

Where to start? Star Kitchen at Mississippi and Federal has won a bunch of awards, but King's Land at Yuma and Alameda (a few blocks East of Federal) has won my heart. Since drinking tea and eating dumplings is now my favorite thing to do on Sunday mornings, perhaps I'll see you there.

PS. The carts don't have prices listed at King's Land, but you can expect to drop about $10-$15 per person if you bring a hearty appetite. Not too bad, even if you're on a budget.

No More Dumpsters for Us

It's not just Denver -- Vail has dumpster divers too! Aww...

Later this year, Denver is exchanging our dumpsters in the Barnum neighborhood for individual trashcans, in an effort to increase recycling participation while decreasing illegal dumping and general alley grossness. While part of me will be sad to see the dumpsters go (the part of me that never has to remember what day "trash day" is), the rest of me is pretty excited to not have to smell my neighbors' cumulative garbage 5 feet from my backyard barbeques all summer.  Win!

Here's a link to the Denver Post article.
And, here's a link to an editorial too.

On a thoroughly unrelated note, I stumbled upon a brief article in Live Urban Real Estate that speculates about the Barnum neighborhood becoming "The Next Hot 'Hood in Denver." From the title alone, I got the best mental image of the seductive lure of our pho is wafting into the noses of realtors and the shapely accents of our architectural details catching the lecherous eye of an ambitious broker. But seriously, can we please not do the thing the Highlands did where we force out lower income residents and all the great ethnic food? Pretty please? Our neighborhood has character and diversity. Let's keep those things!

West Side Winning

Our two neighborhood microbreweries, Wit's End and Strange, both won awards this weekend at the World Beer Cup! Wit's End is an easy walk to the East of Barnum at 2nd and Bryant. Strange is slightly more of a hike to the North East of Barnum at 13th and Zuni. Congratulations to both! You certainly deserve it. And, thanks for bringing such delicious beer to the West side 'hoods.

Read more about it in the Denver Business Journal.

Awesome Barnum Mural

I always love seeing fresh murals on the sides of the shops on Federal, but this one was so dang stunning I had to park and snap a few photos. Nicely done, Kings Destroy and other-artist-whose-handwriting-I-can't-read. One more reason to <3 Barnum.

 

Farmers Markets and CSAs

Ahh, forsythias and daffodils: spring is official. 

And speaking of spring and awesome vegetation, wouldn't Knox Court be the perfect place for a farmer's market? How can we make that happen? Anyone? Well, I'll let you guys figure that out. But, in the meantime, here are the closest summer farmers markets:

Denver Urban Homesteaders
(2nd and Santa Fe, appx 3 miles)

Broadway Farmer's Market
(Ellsworth and Lincoln, appx. 4 miles)

Belmar
(Wadsworth and Alameda, appx 2.5 miles).
Note: The Belmar Farmer's Market only has one or two produce stands. It's really more like a weekly festival than an actual farmer's market.

And, if you are in the market for a CSA share this season, here are a couple of nearby farms that offer shares. A word of warning: a farm can only grow so much produce in a season, so shares do sell out somewhat early on many farms: i.e., they're probably already sold out.

Ubuntu Farm, Revision International (somewhere in Westwood)
Two Hands Farm (18th and Wadsworth)

Or, lastly, do you just really want to grow your own? I do love having a giant kitchen garden in my yard. But, if you'd rather not devote your yard to sprawling zucchini, we totes have a community garden in Barnum. I'll dig around (Ha! Get it? Dig around? Garden pun!) for more info and post about it soon!

Do you know of a local CSA you'd like added to the list? Have you found a great farmer's market nearby? Would you like to review any of the above? Leave a comment or send us an email.