eat! drink! shop!: Evergreen

By Doug Wagner, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 1, 2008 at 3 p.m.

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Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Tribal belly dancer Elizabeth Ostteen co-owns the Marrakech dance studio and boutique.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

A flight of wines is pictured on the railing beside the outdoor dining area at Creekside Cellars Winery & Italian Cafe.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

The Little Bear saloon and restaurant has live music six days a week.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

An oil painting by Jennifer Yoswa hangs at Stoneheart Gallery.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Purses made from old albums and their covers are available at Sweetwater/Skintique. Some are autographed.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Ostteen's dance garb includes jewelry from around the world.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

An antipasto platter is on the menu at Creekside, along with an array of focaccia sandwiches.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Oil paintings by Jennifer Yoswa

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Boldly colored and patterned boots are the star of the show at Rock'n U Ranch.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

A hand-turned wood bowl, made of wood recovered from the Yangtze River, is part of the eclectic collection at Alpine Gifts and Collectibles.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Will Morrison, left, 17, of Kittredge, and Ben Harris, 19, of Evergreen, work on a song while having lunch at the Ice House. Spring water flows down the exposed rock that serves as the back wall.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Kids clothing is a specialty at Sweetwater Boutique and Skintique Mountain Skin Retreat.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Road signs cover the walls of the Little Bear, along with an exhaustive collection of license plates.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

High-end flip-flops are on hand at Aspen's consignment shop, which also carries purses, tops, pants, dresses and shoes.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

The Tin Star Cafe & Donut Hause serves only barbecue and pastries.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol @ The Rocky

Saigon Landing offers a lengthy menu of complex Vietnamese dishes and gets all the details right.

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In Evergreen, they've cast out mediocrity.

On some fateful day, there must have been a town meeting (probably held in a corner of the Little Bear Saloon) at which it was decided that shop owners wouldn't take on too much - they'd pick just one or two niches each and fill every square inch of them. And then the sheriff saddled up and rode the jacks-of-all-trades right out of town. (Don't worry - there was plenty of room in the American marketplace for their inexpert goods and services.)

The legacy of that bold stand can be found in the perpetually packed soup shop (Da Kind), the organic bakery that's mastered the macaroon (Whispering Weeds) and the exotic-imports store where silk saris go for about what you'd pay for the silk itself (Marrakech).

Craving authentic Peruvian food? Pull up a chair at La Taberneta. Need a baby gift that's the height of luxury? Skintique & Sweetwater Boutique is your place.

And did we mention that the mountain-and-stream setting is sheer genius? And that the rustically preserved buildings and the well-worn boardwalk evoke the Old West as well as anything on Deadwood?

Yes, if you want something done well, go to Evergreen.

Belly dancing flourishes in the mountains

While the fat planks of the boardwalk below teem with tourists and townfolk, chances are a certain artist is hunkered over choreography or drilling the heck out of a new combination in the studio above Marrakech.

Elizabeth Ostteen, who co- owns the belly-dance studio and boutique with husband Ocean, is also a tribal belly dancer extraordinaire, and the dual demands of art and commerce add up to some intense stretches of activity.

The payoff is that she's reached the level where she's invited to perform around the country, and the annual show that her Tribe Marrakech troupe hosts in Golden - Elevation - has become one of the biggest draws on the national circuit.

But since when has there been a national belly-dancing circuit? Wherefore this soaring interest in belly dancing?

Ostteen says Miles Copeland's Bellydance Superstars seem to have started it all. In 2003, they secured a stage at the Lollapalooza festival, and a trend was born.

Since then, she's seen belly-dance audiences go from curious and a little intimidated to captivated and a little uproarious.

"They've really welcomed it as a mainstream art form," she says.

It's to the point where Tribe Marrakech hosts three or four standing-room-only shows a year at Golden's Buffalo Rose (next up is the Summertime Sideshow Circus, July 19 and 20).

She's also seen an exponential increase in the sizes of her tribal- dance classes, which are offered in Golden at Marrakech's sister store, Paprika, as well.

And judging by a performance by her Marrakech Express student troupe at the April Elevation show, she's been wildly successful at passing along what she knows.

Oh, in case you're wondering what tribal means in the belly- dance sense, Ostteen says it's a style connected to villages where women have traditionally danced improvisationally and communally - with and for one another - rather than for an audience.

Cabaret-style belly dancing, on the other hand - the kind you see at Moroccan restaurants - is very much audience-oriented.

If you still don't get it, you'll just have to see for yourself, which - lucky for all of us - is becoming easier and easier to do.

* 28045 Highway 74; 303-679- 2814, evergreentribalarts.com

Creekside Cellars Winery & Italian Cafe

In a community full of artists of one type or another, the winemakers at Creekside manage to stand out. Their wines have won too many awards to rattle off (though their servers are pretty good at it), and for only a dollar a taste at the bar, you can be your own judging panel. Just be sure your palate is especially clean before introducing it to the perfect sweetness of the Lakehaus 10 Year Tawny Port - you don't want a single taste bud to miss out on this masterpiece.

Don't miss: the array of focaccia sandwiches. The cafe serves lunch only, and it's packed on weekends, so go early.

* 28036 Highway 74; 303-674-5460, creeksidecellars.net

Alpine Gifts and Collectibles

The specialty here is things you never knew existed: glaze-painted giraffe- themed place settings, impressionistic glass orbs depicting the planets, bowls made of wood recovered from the Yangtze River, Dracula snow globes where the "snow" is really bats, towering nutcrackers bearing the likenesses of Darth Vader and Da Vinci. It's like a Ripley's museum where the exhibits are for sale.

Don't miss: the Bethlehem Village ($350).

* 28135 Highway 74; 303-670-2122

Rock'n U Ranch

They've made a mighty fine art of Western glam at Rock'n U Ranch, and as much as we like the rhinestone belts, the undisputed stars of this art show are the boots. They range in degree of exoticism from goatskin to caiman and in price from $179 to $1,100, and there's no color or pattern too showy to emblazon these babies. These boots were made for gawkin'.

Don't miss: the pair of pink deerskins sporting a skull and crossbones ($249).

* 27975 Highway 74; 303-674-8294, rocknu ranch.com

The Ice House

Opening onto a common area next to the Little Bear, this is a great place to sit in inviting old armchairs, watch natural spring water trickle down the rock face that serves as the back wall and eavesdrop on the acts next door - all for the price of a generous cup of house-roasted coffee. With huge, dark slabs of wood everywhere, this site that once housed the Old Evergreen Hotel was obviously rebuilt with lots of love after it burned in 1997. Special kudos for the rest- room, where you still have to pull a chain attached to an overhead tank when everything's said and done. This may be the best spot in the metro area to duck in out of the modern world.

Don't miss: the lunch menu of panini, wraps, salads and sandwiches.

* 28065 Highway 74; 303-670-0433

Silver Arrow

Every Southwestern-style piece is a prize here, be it a Mexican tile table or turquoise jewelry made by American Indians. Blankets, rugs, masks, vases, wood carvings, silver - it all radiates character, and it's all gorgeous.

Don't miss: Robyn Hanna's Spirit Horses, made of fabric, feathers, tree limbs and pine cones.

* 28159 Highway 74; 303-670-0552, mysilver arrow.com

Skintique & Sweetwater Boutique

Mom and baby both get pampered at this boutique/"skin retreat." As for the baby, you'll have a hard time telling his bottom from one of the silky Little Giraffe blankets. Mom's face is likely to be pretty soft, too, and generally relaxed, after a facial and a massage. Waxes and body treatments are also available, along with home-decor items and accessories, jewelry and cowgirl wear.

Don't miss: the jean-jacket embellishing service.

* 28186 Highway 74, Unit 5; 303-670-1180

Stoneheart Gallery

To our eye, owner Mark Anthony King has great taste. Stop in at his gallery in any given month and you'll find a compelling, vibrant mix of works by artists with roots in Colorado. Among the treasures displayed to dazzling effect during a recent visit were eye-popping poppies by painter Cynthia Reid and irresistible long-legged bronzes by Lorri Acott-Fowler.

Don't miss: King is likely to have an artist on hand for Evergreen's monthly Last Friday Gallery Walk (5 to 8 p.m.), and if you're really lucky, you'll find wine and a tray of smoked shad at the front counter. Like we said, great taste.

* 28005 Highway 74; 303-670-0565, stoneheartgallery.com

Saigon Landing

How this Vietnamese restaurant offers such a voluminous menu and pays so much attention to detail is a mystery that, if you're smart, will take you some time to solve. If you're thorough in your work, you'll be back every month to try the crispy crepes, the house-specialty five-spice lamb chops, the garlic king crab, the lobster in black bean sauce and the grilled frog legs. The ingredients scream fresh - maybe loudest in the papaya salad - and you'll marvel at the underlying flavor of expertise that's part of every perfectly melded creation.

Don't miss: Try anything that's stuffed - squid, quail, even chicken wings. The flavors are way too complex to go into here, but just trust us.

* 28080 Douglas Park Road; 303-674-5421, saigonlanding.com

Parking

Street parking is free, and there's a pay lot in the middle of town that charges only on weekends, though even then it's not hard to find a place that will validate your ticket.

Tin Star Cafe & Donut Haus

If you're one of those people who, when you overdo it, you follow Julia Child's advice and overdo it right, this is the menu for you: barbecue and a doughnut (or apple fritter). That's all you can get here, and when you're done, you couldn't possibly want more. Since you're overdoing it, go for the Pile o' Pig - a wondrous pork-shoulder sandwich that comes with the coleslaw built right in, which adds a great vinegary tang a la the Carolinas.

Don't miss: the apple fritters - the least sugary, most satisfying you'll ever wolf down.

* 28025 Highway 74; 303-679-1155

Aspen's

The deals at this consignment shop are so good that it's never had to run an ad. After all, with a selection of handbags by the likes of Prada, Gucci, Coach, Chanel and Ferragamo priced at about a tenth of their original cost, the word of mouth is bound to be deafening. The shop also carries tops, pants, dresses and shoes with labels that run the gamut from Old Navy to Ralph Lauren. Best of all, there are deck chairs for dads right outside.

Don't miss: the sea of jeans, from Guess ($18) to Burberry ($59).

* 4600 Plettner Lane; 303-670-6061

The Little Bear

On a Saturday afternoon, a visitor to Evergreen is likely to get the impression that the music never stops at this 37-year-old, license-plate-bedecked institution of a saloon. It gets rolling at noon, and it'll be Sunday before it's all over. And while every day can't be Saturday, there's at least some music here - local, national or international - every day but Monday. As for those denials of rumored Johnny Depp sightings, if you were the proprietor and wanted to keep such a prized customer happy, what would you tell the press?

Don't miss: Buffalo Steak Night ($8) on Tuesdays.

* 28075 Highway 74; 303-674-9991, littlebearsaloon.com

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