Denver Hotel Magazine Spring 2013

S U M M E R 201 3
G AT E W AY T O C O L O R A D O
HOTEL
MAGAZINE
TIM ALLEN
Denver’s Home-Grown Handyman
’ROUND THE RINK
With Roller Derby All-Stars
RIOJA RULES
Chef Jennifer Jasinski
Handles The Heat
WORD OF MOUTH
Spinning The Yarns Of
Colorado History
LONG LIVE THE OXFORD
A Historic Beacon of Hospitality
MAD SCIENCE!
The Great Urban
Wine Experiment
WHO, WHAT & WHERE
Denver’s Hottest Spots
All photos courtesy Rioja
Besting the Best Of
This Wolfgang Puck acolyte brings home boatloads of
accolades from culinary critics the country over —
all the while running things behind the kitchen doors
at three top Mile High restaurants.
BY DAVE MUSCARI
I loved the city of Denver. Its
size was perfect, with tons
of arts and music and a
great outdoors community.
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T
he story goes something
like this: A prestigious chef
starts her career in the family
kitchen, cooking out of necessity.
Growing up in a one-parent
household, she was one of three
children, two girls and one boy;
all took turns preparing meals.
Over time, the youngest stood
out, fine-tuning her repertoire
until she ruled the roost and
cooked all the family meals. So
begins the culinary legend of
Jennifer Jasinski.
Since those salad days in
Southern California, Chef Jen, as
she’s known, has made quite a
reputation both in Colorado and
nationally. In 2011, Jasinski was a
James Beard Foundation Award
semifinalist. She was a finalist
last year and again this year
competing against top chefs in
Austin, Houston and Cave Creek,
Arizona. At an awards ceremony
in May, Jasinski will learn if she
will be named best chef in the
Southwest.
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I have had the same
philosophy I always
had since moving here,
which is to buy the best
product you can. If it
happens to be local,
that’s even better.
Rioja picnic appetizer with artisan meats, warm pine nut–crusted goat cheese,
Italian mountain Gorgonzola, olives, truffle fennel salad, orange confit and almonds.
Previous spread: Four-cheese
pea ravioli with morels, spring
peas and garlic purée.
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Back in 2004, she took the
plunge, along with business
partner Beth Gruitch, and
opened Rioja (1431 Larimer
St.), a lovely Mediterraneaninfluenced restaurant just
a few blocks from the city’s
Performing Arts District. Later,
the pair purchased Bistro
Vendôme (1420 Larimer St.),
and four years later, opened
Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen (1317
14th St.). These days, all three
restaurants enjoy critical acclaim,
making routine appearances on
“best of” lists all over the city.
This is to say nothing of
Jasinski’s stellar reputation within
the culinary community itself.
Author and PBS television host
Christy Rost counts herself a big
fan. “There are several [Colorado
chefs] that just do amazing work,”
she told the magazine. “One of
Grilled Colorado peaches, cabrales
crostini and PX sherry reduction.
them is Jennifer Jasinski. She’s
cooked at the Snowmass Festival —
that’s when I first met her. She is a
supercreative and wonderful chef,
besides being a really nice lady.”
After some food service
training in high school and a
gig at a local Taco Bell, Jasinski
got serious. She studied at
Santa Barbara City College in
her hometown, then moved to
New York City, enrolling in the
Culinary Institute of America.
She waited tables on campus. She
worked at the venerable Rainbow
Room on weekends. When she
graduated, she signed on fulltime at the landmark restaurant
and was exposed to top culinary
figures including the legendary
Wolfgang Puck.
In time, Jasinski tired of
the sizzling pace in New York
and returned to her home
Seared Muscovy duck breast, baklava with stuffed dates, crispy
phyllo, saffron Manchego risotto and citrus honey reduction.
state armed with an ambitious
job-hunting strategy: apply
for positions at L.A.’s top 10
restaurants. She landed a gig
at the Hotel Bel Air where,
coincidentally, Puck was
consulting. They soon renewed
their acquaintance, and for the
next decade Puck took Jasinski
under his culinary wing. She
says he treated her well during
a time when the industry wasn’t
exactly flooded with female chefs.
She traveled across America
helping Puck develop and open
a series of restaurants. Her
credits include an assortment
of positions at restaurants:
Postrio in San Francisco; Spago
in Chicago and Las Vegas; and
Granita in Malibu.
In 2000, Jasinski landed at
Denver’s Panzano. Colorado
Springs native Gruitch was the
restaurant’s general manager at
the time, and the pair became
fast friends. In time, the two
women helped turn the Italian
ristorante into a lights-out
destination, which paved the way
for them to open their own place.
The rest is history.
At Rioja, Jasinski’s signature
Denver restaurant, sample
homemade pastas include
saffron-rapini ravioli, artichoke
tortelloni and Spanish octopus
farfalle. The menu boasts
inspired entrees such as grilled
tea-brined Snake River sturgeon;
tender Colorado lamb; panroasted venison; and smoked
Duroc pork tenderloin. Pastries
are also creatively delicious,
especially the white and black
cheesecake, beignets, a chocolatecaramel napoleon and handmade
ice creams and sorbets.
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Take Jen’s Bites Home!
Jennifer Jasinski’s devoted fans can read all about her
exquisite cuisine in precise fashion. The chef released her
first book in 2012. The 182-page hardcover cookbook, The
Perfect Bite, is a stunningly photographed trip through some
of her signature recipes. The magnificent cover shot of her
artichoke and white-truffle tortelloni sets a perfect tone for
the rich portfolio of text and pictures inside. The recipes
for her signature dishes and tasting menu are elaborately
detailed, but even seasoned home chefs might find them
challenging to replicate. However, it is beautifully written, and
a feast of images to enjoy over a glass of wine
The superbusy chef carved out time to write the book but
its publication proved difficult. After months of excuses from
a dodgy publisher, Jasinski ultimately published the book
herself, only to be plagued
by a year of problems
that trapped the book in
customs. The book finally
arrived and is now available
at local bookstores such
as The Tattered Cover in
Denver and at Peppercorn
in Boulder, which specializes
in home, kitchen and
bath accessories. It is
also available for $35 at
riojadenver.com.
Clockwise from top left: seared sea
scallops; Loca Hot cocktail; beignets.
Pomeginger cocktail.
Denver Hotel Magazine checked
in with the ultrabusy chef to chat
about her influences, cuisine
philosophies and being married
to another local top chef, Max
MacKissock, a James Beard
Foundation Award semifinalist
this year.
DHM: After years of traveling and
opening restaurants with Wolfgang
Puck, you made a conscious decision to
put down roots in Denver. What about it
appealed to you?
JJ: I loved the city of Denver. Its
size was perfect, with tons of arts
and music and a great outdoors
community. I also felt, at the time,
that there was room to grow as a
chef and restaurateur.
DHM: Are you still in touch with
Wolfgang?
JJ: We see each other maybe
once a year at a special event or
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something. He was in town a few
years ago and made a special
effort to stop by Rioja and eat.
DHM: Your three restaurants all
feature different types of cuisine. How
does the variety help keep you on your
game?
JJ: It’s an avenue to really do
almost everything and anything
we want…we have a venue for it. If
I think of something that does not
fit into Rioja’s menu, it probably
would fit somewhere else.
DHM: We hear so much about the
farm-to-table emphasis in restaurants
these days. In an area such as Denver
that is a bit geographically isolated,
how does that work for you?
JJ: I have had the same
philosophy I always had since
moving here, which is to buy
the best product you can. If it
happens to be local, that’s even
Tortelloni stuffed with goat cheese and artichoke mousse in
artichoke broth, truffle essence, queso de mano cheese, chervil.
better. But if I feel that Liberty
Farms ducks are the best (which I
do), I do not just buy from a local
source just to be local. As produce
goes, we have tons of great stuff
for four to five months out of
the year, and I buy as much as
possible during that time.
DHM: You have been both a James
Beard Foundation Award finalist and
semifinalist. That’s rock-star stuff. How
do designations like that impact a
chef’s career?
JJ: It is awesome to be recognized
by the James Beard Foundation.
It is great that people around
the country have heard of what
we do…. It makes me feel great.
Everyone likes to be noticed. I
think notoriety can help any
career because more people are
likely to try out your restaurant.
DHM: Congratulations on your
recent marriage to Max MacKissock,
executive chef at the Squeaky Bean.
Two cooks in one family: How does that
work? Do you critique each other’s
cuisine in helpful ways?
JJ: Max and I really help each
other with food and flavors. We
are so different in our cooking
style, it is great to get another
very different perspective. I feel
that since we have been together,
I have gotten better as a chef and
grown more than I would have if
we had not been together.
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