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Features
Gabby Gourmet: Fuel Cafe
Fuel Cafe
3455 Ringsby Court, #105
Denver, 80216
303-296-4642
www.fuelcafedenver.com
What a total treat this place is! Fuel Cafe brings great fun and fabulous food to the Taxi building and this area on the edge of the RiNo (River North) Art District off the Platte River bike path.
As you enter, you find a very modern, casual spot with a huge bar and comfortable seating in simple surroundings that say "Welcome." The great-looking bar is the center of the dining room, with more space in another small room to enjoy your meal. High ceilings, wood and a bit of drapery set the funky scene. The patio is perfect when weather permits, but the creative, terrific food is the star.
The dinner menu changes, but you're sure to find several choices that will satisfy. Start with small plates like broccoli rabe bruschetta, divine burrata with torn croutons, smoked scallop salad, or a Pu Pu platter of feta cigars, vegetable dumplings, shrimp toasts, harissa and sweet chile. The housemade pasta is worth the trip. Entrees such as black bass with ice cream, fig jam, and crostini brings bursts of flavors with a unique presentation. Or, when available, go for skirt steak, brick chicken, wild boar short ribs or polenta torta. And do not miss the fabulous desserts.
Fuel is also open for lunch five days a week. Start with the list of sandwiches and salads. The outrageous Cubano is pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard sauce on baguette, the pulled pork brings pork shoulder, lemongrass-caramel, carrot, and radishes on ciabatta, and the Reuben is just plain great. Try the spicy lamb meatballs with hummus rolled on flatbread, the curried chicken salad or the tuna pan bagnat. If the special is the home roasted turkey with melted cheese and chutney on country bread, go for it! Choose divine housemade potato chips or the salad of the day as your side. The soups and salads are equally wonderful.
Cookies, cupcakes, brownies and whoopee pies end this feast. The wine list is excellent, and the service is as great as the food. It's very casual and very special. Fuel up that car with enough gas to get you there - and if you run out, just stay for the next super-leaded dining experience. Dinner is served Thursday through Saturday and lunch is serviced Monday through Friday.
The most fun:
The ambience is funky fun, and the experience a casual treat, while the food is upscale, creative and so original.
Don't miss:
Gnocchi, the Cubano and exciting entrees.
About the chef:
Bob Blair tells a fun story. He was second of eight kids and grew up at the stove. He went to college and says, "Never should have gone to college." His family and friends had suggested culinary school. In college, he instead started cooking in restaurants and opened a small catering company. He worked at the The Greenbriar Inn and then at Parisi, got his college degree, and went back to Parisi.
Then he opened Fuel.
"Fuel has now been open for almost two and a half years, and we were asked to start doing dinner after only being open for five months," he says. "We have survived a terrible economy and we are thriving in what some people say is a terrible location - I disagree."
Guess I do too, as Fuel is great, thriving and very popular.
Hours:
Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 5 - 9 p.m.; Happy Hour Thursday-Friday, 4:30 - 6 p.m.
Pat Miller, the Gabby Gourmet, hosts the Gabby Gourmet Restaurant Show every Saturday from 1 - 3 p.m. on KHOW 630AM. She appears every Wednesday on the 7News at 11AM broadcast with a restaurant segment. The 2010 Gabby Gourmet Restaurant Guide is available everywhere. For more fun and information, go to www.gabbygourmet.com.
Features
Butch & Sassy, my son is in a triad!
Dear Butch & Sassy,
I'm the stereotypical PFLAG mom: my grown son came out as a teenager, and I've marched in Pride parades and consider his partner of 10 years my own son-in-law. I believe that a same-sex relationship is everything a heterosexual relationship is - except when it's not! In the past year, my son and his partner started "seeing" someone else, a third person, who now lives with them. At first I thought it was just a roommate, but they brought the new boyfriend to the Fourth of July BBQ and told us they are now in a "triad." I can't wrap my brain around it - I can't imagine a straight couple doing this. I'm worried about what people will think of gay relationships after seeing this, and I think this new guy is going to tear my son's and son-in-law's relationship apart. Butch and Sassy, can you talk some sense into my son and his husband?
Mommie Dearest
Butch: First and foremost: It's not your son's job to be the poster-boy for Gay America. Homophobes will be bigoted regardless of how your son behaves. That said, your maternal concern is understandable, and maybe even justified. But the fact remains that your son is an adult, capable of making his own decisions. Go ahead and voice your concerns to your son, but don't wedge yourself into the relationship - it's complicated enough as-is.
Sassy: Ay, Mommie, what a shock that must have been! Open relationships are somewhat common, but triads are less so, and usually the "third" doesn't come home to Mom and Dad!
For a lot of people, coming out as gay shatters your old perceptions of what's "normal" in a relationship. I assure you there are weirder arrangements, both gay and straight, than the one your son is in. It's not my place to judge anyone's love, but I'll make a prediction that the bond your son and his husband share is stronger than their bond with this other guy, and he may be a passing phase in their lives. Unless your son explicitly tells you otherwise, it's probably OK to think of him as just a close friend to the couple, and treat him as such.
Dear Butch & Sassy,
I just started seeing a great guy, and last weekend he left me alone in his bed after he got up early for work. As I stepped out of his bed, something fell out from underneath - the best way I can describe it is as a cone-shaped dildo with a long tassel attached to it. When I pushed it back under I found a bunch of stuff that looked like it was for tying up a horse. I put that with the fact that his dog is extremely "friendly," and realized that this guy may be into bestiality. I got the hell out and haven't taken his calls for a few days. I don't consider myself a prude, but sex with animals is just wrong. Am I totally off-base for running away?
Freaked Out in Fort Collins
Butch: So let me get this straight - the dildo "fell out" from under the bed, when you just happened to be alone in the room? Forgive my skepticism that this was an accident. Sounds to me like you went snooping and got more than you bargained for, Nosy Nancy. And because he has a friendly dog, you assume he likes having sex with animals? At least you've got an active imagination. This "great guy" may very well be kinky, but I seriously doubt he's fucking Fido.
Sassy: I actually find your imagination somewhat endearing, Freaked Out, but I am also skeptical that you just happened upon this stuff. And if friendly dogs are a sign of bestiality, there's a lot of kinky shit going on in the suburbs.
The tasseled dildo sounds like a butt-plug with a tail used for pony play, a type of kink involving one partner dressing up in horse-riding equipment like a bridle and reins. That may be unusual, but it involves consenting adult humans, not beloved family pets.
Butch: Since this guy doesn't know why you're not returning his calls, the least you can do is pick up the phone and 'fess up to your snooping. Realistically, you have as much explaining to do as he does. But even if your freak-out ruined the chemistry permanently, you still owe him some closure, because blowing someone off is a dick move.
Sincerely,
B.S.
Butch & Sassy is a weekly advice column by and for the queer community - for those who love, lust and need someone to slap 'em upside the head and state the obvious. Read all of Butch & Sassy's advice on OFCB.
Have a burning question for Butch & Sassy? Send it to butchandsassy@outfrontcolorado.com.