Bacon & Beer Festival: Fuel Cafe Represents With Unique Treat
Bacon & Beer Festival: Fuel Cafe Represents With Unique Treat
Fuel Cafe also aired on the sweet side at the Denver Bacon & Beer Festival, How does the following sound? Chocolate Cremeux with Candied Bacon, Crème Fraiche, Bacon Peanut Granola and Black Shirt Brewing Beer Jam. I bet you are already googling where to find tickets for next year.
Here’s the scoop from Chef Bob Blair.
Carri: What trends do you notice around bacon and beer in Denver specifically?
Bob: Bacon is everywhere. Almost too much. I like it more as an accompaniment, not the main focus. I like that more chefs in Denver are focusing on butchering whole animals. We have just started with a few goats and pigs, but Denver has some really talented chefs who are showing what they can do with whole animals. Beer is everywhere too. Especially on the heels of the Great American Beer Festival. Sometimes I think there are too many brewers opening, but the demand in Colorado is so big, that they are still having a hard time keeping up with supply.
Carri: What is most unique about the Denver food culture?
Bob: The collaborations between a lot of talented chefs. We are really fortunate to have a big group of chefs that stay connected to each other and support each other. Jeff Osaka from Twelve started our chef’s group almost two years ago, and it is still going strong. Whenever any Denver restaurants have special events or causes that need support, there is an immediate response from all the chefs. We all enjoy supporting each others’ causes, and we really like cooking together.
Bacon & Beer Festival: Fuel Cafe Represents With Unique Treat
Carri: Where do you find inspiration to cook up new menu items?
Bob: New cookbooks, travel, sentimental dishes that remind me of my parents, but mostly my cooks. We change our lunch and dinner menu every month, and within a week of changing to a new menu, I ask my cooks to start coming up with ideas for the next month. We all contribute to the creative process, and it ends up being a stronger more diverse menu. Everyone contributes, even our interns. Did the math last month, and over 5 years of dinner menus, we have cooked almost 900 different dinner menu items. Doesn’t even include the lunch menu where we offer different specials every day too.
Carri: Is anything exciting coming up for your restaurant that we can tell readers? New menu items, cocktails etc.
Bob: You can always find something new at Fuel. From lunch specials to the constantly changing dinner menu, to all the really cool different wines that Aaron Foster, our GM and wine guy brings in. Beer Dinner with Black Shirt Brewing this Monday the 18th. Snail fritters on the dinner menu right now that are really surprising. We are taking suggestions for our New Year’s Dinner now too. We want to do a retrospective menu of some of our favorite menu items from the last 5 years.
For More Chef Talk:
- Jennifer Akina, Owner and Pastry Chef of Leaf & Crumb Talks About Her Beer & Bacon Infused Cupcakes
- Jesse Albertini of Cafe Bar Talks Beer & Bacon
