Thursday, September 5, 2013

the cultivate food festival: a photo essay


I've gotten a bit behind in my postings, but here are some photos from the Cultivate Food & Music Festival which was held in Denver's City Park a few weekends ago. We took the kids to the event, but they only last a few hours because it was excruiatingly hot outside. Wanting to check it out a little bit more, I walked over again when the boys were taking their naps. 
Like last year, the Artisan's tent was packed with terrific small-batch good including: pickles, bloody mary mix, cake baubles, caramels, doughnuts and lemonade infused with locally grown peaches(delicious!). At the Chef's tent I caught a live-demonstration with Amanda Freitag and there was music from the wonderful Allen Stone and Blitzen Trapper, who I hadn't heard of until the festival but I'm really into now. Unfortunately I missed Air Dubai, a local band from Denver, but I'll try and catch one of their shows around town.
The festival is sponsored by Chipotle, so we were able to taste dishes that will hopefully make it onto future menus. Included in our sampling was a rice bowl with tofu and green chili and esquites, a bowl packed with pickled red onion, roasted corn, salsa verde, cabbage, cotija cheese and tortilla strips. The festival also has an educational message - one that promotes using fresh, high quality ingreidents that are responsibly sourced. There's an extensive kids area too, so if you've got little ones you should definitely check it out next year...












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6 comments:

  1. I wish we could have gone this year! We went last year when it was in October and it was SOOO cold. I think it was snowing a bit. Funny that it was so hot this year. They can't win!

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    1. That's so funny- I was there last year too (no kids because it was freezing) and this year it was an absolute shvitz-fest (hot). But it's such a great event- and there are only three Cultivate festivals in the country - and I'm so glad one of them is in Denver (obviously because they originated here). We should make plans for next year! Maybe the weather will be just right!

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  2. I was going to say the same thing as Dulcie. We went last year and it was freezing. This year was so hot! Maybe they should have it in September. We still had a great time. The artisan tent is wonderful because of all the local vendors!! I hope that Chipotle puts some of those items on the menu here in Colorado, which is where their business started and grew. Nice pics!

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    1. I agree, September would be perfect! It's such an awesome season in Colorado (these past few 97+ days not withstanding). You're right Robin, an awesome part of the festival is that artisan's tent. It's how I found out about several local businesses last year. I wrote to Chipotle and they might put the Southeast Asian tofu bowl on the menu (there are meat options too), but will likely keep the esquites as a special events item...which means I'll have to stock up on them next year! Thanks for your comment. Maybe we will all meet up next year :)

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  3. So happy to hear that you love Blitzen Trapper - they have an amazing sound, for sure. Did you try any of the Real Dill's habañero horseradish pickles? Sad I couldn't make it this year. There were so many great Colorado gems represented! Awesome post and photos...

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    1. Hi there! Thanks for your comment. Yes, I'm so glad I found out about BT. They do have an awesome sound. No, I haven't tried the habañero horseradish pickles! That sounds amazing! I just picked up The Real Dill's Bloody Mary mix at Hazel & Dewey and that is pretty awesome. Thanks for the compliment...I'm heading over to your site right now!

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