Denver Foodie Feedup

Tonight I was invited to the Denver Foodie Feedup, an event hosted by Nescafe Dolce Gusto. They are hosting 8 of these events across the country and was thrilled to be invited to Denver's.....especially because it was held at Root Down, one ofmy Denver favorites! It was also tons of fun to meet other Denver bloggers.

Chef Daniel Asher, who I had the pleasure to meet at the Flavors of Denver Culinary Gala a few weeks ago, talked with us about his philosophy for food, which includes an emphasis about the importance of knowing where food comes from. He actually gets food at Root Down from 44 vendors and uses 55 vendors for Linger, focusing on local growers and ranchers when possible.

We got to try a great sampling of Root Down's menu, including my favorite, the Devils on Horseback. These are date and goat cheese stuffed peppadew peppers, wrapped

in Serrano ham with a smoked paprika-cherry gastrique. I learned that the intensely flavore

d peppadew peppers for this dish are actually exclusively grown in South Africa, that the soil where the peppers are grown actually shape the flavor of the pepper. I also loved the Colorado lamb sliders, the sweet potato falafel, and the butternut-ricotta gnocchi.

We sampled the entire dessert menu, which included banana creme brulee pie, almond fluffernutter, apple and butternut squash cheesecake with ginger anglaise, black tea reduction, and walnut ice cream, and, my favorite, the croissant bread pudding with whiskey butter sauce and sour cream ice cream.

Alongside the many desserts, we sampled the star of the night, the coffee and tea of the Dolce Gusto. The Dolce Gusto is a single serve coffee maker that whips up hot or cold drinks using capsules of coffee, milk, or tea. It actually makes restaurant quality drinks - the pressure of the machine is equal to the pressure used at coffee shops like Starbucks. They actually have 5 different designs that make the same product. I tried the skinny latte and the iced peach tea. Both were delicious. They also had a caramel latte, hot chocolate, cafe mocha, and caramel latte.

I have a surprise for you, my readers....I have a Dolce Gusto to give to one of you. The first of you to comment on my post will get one in the mail very soon! Just tell me the first drink you plan to try with your Dolce Gusto and I will have one sent off to you!

* NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto invited me to this event. We received wine, delicious food, and we were all surprised with our own NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Coffee Maker (and one for our readers!). All opinions are my own.