Nibbles, March 17

John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 17, 2006 at midnight

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Eatery update

The owners of Junz, Parker's Japanese-French eatery, recently opened J'shabu Restaurant at 2680 S. Havana St. in Aurora. The eatery specializes in shabu-shabu, the do-it-yourself Japanese meal where diners cook beef, seafood and vegetables by dipping it in savory broth at the table. . . . Swing Thai, the local Asian eatery has opened its third location at 4366 Tennyson St. . . . The Denver Restaurant Week special - a multi-course meal for two for $52.80 - will be offered every Sunday through the year at Highland's Garden Café and Strings. . . . Each item on chef Olav Peterson's menu at the new Euro, 231 Milwaukee St., is half price for dinner through March 31. . . . Tortugas, the island-oriented seafood eatery at 218 Coffman St. in Longmont is closed until May due to a recent fire. . . . Two industry veterans are opening Jimmy and Drew's, a Jewish-American deli, in April at 2855 28th St. in Boulder. The team is Jarrett Eggers. former head food guy at the Pepsi Center, and Andrew Marx, former head chef at the Greenbriar Inn. . . . It's a relief to note that Goose Gossage's Old School Burgers has opened a second outlet at 901 W. Hampden Ave. in Englewood dishing fresh, cooked-to-order Angus burgers and hand-cut fries. The eatery's original location is 18695 E. Stage Run Road in Parker. . . . In the where-are-they-now? category, acclaimed chef Charles Dale, late of Aspen's Range, Renaissance and Rustique, now runs Dale's Kitchen, purveyor of Stock-in-a-Box, all-natural cooking stocks for restaurant kitchens.

On the menu

At Saverino, 2191 Arapahoe St., red snapper baked in paper with shallots, capers, black olives, white wine and tomato sauce sided with sautéed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes ($21.50).

Culinary calendar

Some of Denver's top toques, including Zengo's John Calloway, are cooking at the fifth annual Chefs Up Front dinner Saturday at the Colorado Convention Center. Cost: $175. Proceeds benefit Operation Frontline. Reservations: 303-892-8480. . . . Luca D'Italia hosts a winemaker dinner Tuesday with Martin Foradori of Italy's J. Hoffstatter winery. Menu includes crispy polenta and wild mushroom ragu, speck ham and a poached duck egg. Cost: $75. Reservations: 303-832-6600. . . . Chimney Park Bistro in Windsor presents an Amador Foothill winemaker dinner Tuesday. Chef Florian Wehrli's menu includes lobster and truffle sausage. Cost: $70. Reservations: 970-686-1477. . . . The lineup is set for the 24th annual Aspen Food & Wine Classic. Seminars include Real Creole with Emeril Lagasse (10 a.m. June 16); Two Ingredients, Ten Ways with Jose Andres (2 p.m. June 17), and the Classic Cook-Off with Sissy Biggers (10:30 a.m. June 18). Details: www.foodandwine.com/classic.

Tasty Web site

Claire Walter, author of the very handy Culinary Colorado (Fulcrum), also maintains a Dining Diary detailing her diverse restaurant meals at www.culinary-colorado.com/dining.htm. Her recent travels have taken her to Proto's Pizzeria, Victory American Grill, Remington's at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch in Avon, Nine75 and The Kitchen.

Bread of the week

Monkey Bean Coffee and Bistro, 2470 Broadway, so matches the image of the bohemian café that it could be a movie set with its oddly matched chairs and tables. There always seems to be a young urbanite tapping a laptop on each of the communal tables. I'd heard great things about the baked goods emerging from a kitchen that also produces ricotta pancakes, soups and sandwiches. I give a big thumbs-up to the soft, peanut butter brownies and chocolate- and coconut-chewy magic bars as well as the "Monkey Balls" that wrap chocolate-crowned peanut butter around a crispy center. Especially delightful were the crunchy, mini-biscotti in diverse flavors .

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