Denver in March

Day 1

Breakfast at Snooze

Our flight arrived on time last evening after an uneventful plane ride. The taxi ride, more nerve-wrecking than the flight thanks to the tail-gaining tendencies of our driver, also proved to be routine with a safe arrival at our hotel, the Grand Hyatt, in downtown Denver. The last chore of the day was to locate a cafe close enough to walk to for breakfast the next morning. Mission accomplished by 11:00p.m.

Snooze was the cafe of choice by both of us and proved to be an easy walk at less than a mile away from our hotel under sunny Denver skies. Their specialties were listed as pancakes and Benedicts of all kinds. Much to my surprise we both chose the same non-specialty menu item, their house-made granola (famous for all the ginger bits and grains other than oats) over Greek yogurt and a grapefruit brûlée with a side of toast. Their coffee was excellent and we were gifted with a pumpkin pancake covered with candied pecans and ginger butter as a temptation for a return trip to Snooze.

We continued to walk north of our hotel to the RiNo district of Denver. RiNo stands for River North Art District and consists of large warehouses having been repurposed into enclaves of craft eateries, breweries, galleries and more. The Source is one of these warehouses and consisted of several restaurants, a sour ale brewery by the name of Broken Stave, a delightful charcuterie and spice store called Mondo Market and one of the best bakeries we have found to date, Babette's Bakery. We bought a loaf of Sourdough Polenta Bread at Babette's, a charcuterie and cheese board at Mondo Market and carried them to the Broken Stave for lunch.
Memories were certainly made as we feasted on these special items (Jamon Serrano, Robiola Bosina, barely Buzzed coffee coated cheese, Modern Gingham Apple Chai Preserves, Spanish Cocktail nuts and Candied Walnuts).

Breads at Babette's Bakery

My Version of Multigrain Bread from Stomping Ground Cafe in Campus Town

                                            “I've heard it said that when you
                                       die you enter a room of bright light, and
                           that you can smell bread baking just around the corner.”
                                  ― Rick Bass, The Hermit's Story: Stories




Stomping Grounds Cafe in Campus Town serves a Tomato Basil Bisque with three lovely chunks of Multigrain Bread. I always enjoy the soup but absolutely adore the bread. It's one thing to eat good bread in a cafe, but so much better to make your own and have all the experiences associated with that task.

Multigrain Breads with a loaf of Sunflower Sesame Bread in foreground

With Fremont fed and raring to go this morning, I decided it was time to try to replicate the bread served at Stomping Grounds. I used the Multigran Struan recipe in Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book, using 3 ounces of cooked steel cut oats and 3 ounces of cooked millet with the rest of ingredients called for in the "Soaker". Ten ounces of Fremont served as the "Biga" (along with an additional 6 ounces of bread flour) and I followed the list of "Final Dough" ingredients, adding an extra Tablespoon of honey, 1/2 cup 8 grain cereal and 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans. I might consider using whole wheat flour for the additional 6 ounces added with the sourdough the next time I make these loaves. Otherwise, I think I'll leave well enough alone and enjoy this bread as is.