Alexander McQueen’s Final Show
Armand Limnander of the New York Times Style Magazine was recently invited to view some of the last pieces that Alexander McQueen had been working on before his death. For fifteen minutes, in a grand Paris drawing room, Alexander McQueen came back to life. The short commentary features a slideshow of McQueen’s final collection.
Says Limnander, “Artworks by Jean Fouquet, Sandro Boticelli, Stephan Lochner, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes and Hieronymus Bosch were captured digitally and transferred onto red, gold and silver dresses embellished with ornate embroideries. At this point, not much more can be said about the brilliance of McQueen’s work.”
Alexander McQueen's last collection. Photograph: Catwalking.com
Tessa McKillop
In my former life, I remember a good gal pal of mine purchasing one of those new Volkswagen Beetles… and then, within an instant, they were to be found all over the city. Well, I spotted my first Tessa McKillop at Design After Dark back in January and I’ve been seeing them with some frequency ever since….. and reading about them, too.
Highly crafted, McKillop’s large-scale, black-and-white portraits (often confused for photographs) are full of emotion. They’re much too striking not to be experienced in person. I highly suggest stopping by Sputnik on S. Broadway while you can to see them for yourself. Next thing you know, you’ll be spotting them all over town, too.
Oscar Feast!
My friend Nancy is visiting from out of town for the weekend and so on Saturday night Alastair and I decided to take her to our very favorite Denver restaurant, Potager (see Alastair’s very favorable review here). It was, and it pains me to say this, a little disappointing. The appetizers — wilted savory greens, spinach and mushroom toast — were both fantastic. The main courses, however, not so much. The shellfish stew was more broth with scallops and mussels than it was stew as I understand the term, all topped off with a saffron aioli, which proceeded to disintegrate into unappetizing floating clumps in the broth. I like mayonnaise in pretty much any form but this was distinctly unappetizing. Nancy and Alastair both got the roast chicken and while the bird itself was well cooked, the jumble of accompaniments just didn’t work that well, and seemed to be different from what usually comes with the chicken. This time: arugula, dried apples(?), pine nuts, olives, and about fifteen other things. One got the impression that Potager might have been trying to clean out its fridge. The flourless chocolate cake, however, was divine. And the service, as always, was fantastic.
Alastair's Sardine Toast with my Canadian Flag Cocktail Napkins and Grandmother's Monogram Plates
But after a disappointing dinner Alastair and I felt duty-bound to prepare something pretty fantastic for the out-of-towner, especially as we were going to be settling in for a long night of Oscar-watching chez moi. And a veritable feast it was! We began with Alastair’s signature sardine toast: sardines, lemon, mustard, minced onion, oil, and butter, all combined and then toasted on a baguette. Delicious.
Caesar Salad with PLENTY of Anchovies
Loyal DOD readers may recall that Alastair and I have ordered a number of disappointing Caesar salads of late, so I decided it was time to make it right. I used my grandmother’s recipe for the dressing (as well as her bowl), fried my own croutons (pictured below) and Alastair brought over plenty of anchovies. It was all topped off by some grated parmesan, and I have to say it was pretty amazing. Tangy and salty and crunchy and thoroughly unhealthy, the croutons particularly. I think it was seeing the amount of butter and oil I used that might have given Nancy a heart attack, not the croutons themselves.
Homemade Croutons cooked in a gallon of oil and pound of butter
English Cucumber
We finished the meal with a delicious pasta salad prepared by Alastair: shrimp, dill, and English cucumbers, all tossed with perfectly cooked shell pasta and a tangy lemony dressing. Unfortunately my pictures of this scrumptious concoction all came out blurry. Maybe a consequence of all the wine we had consumed by that point?
On to the Oscars: We began eating and drinking and watching at 4:00 as E! began its red carpet coverage. I always find these things a little bit painful as the hosts bend over backwards to ingratiate themselves with the celebrities. Though we were grateful it wasn’t Joan and Melissa Rivers, Ryan Seacrest wasn’t much of an improvement. I just felt embarrassed for him. That said, he was leagues better than the horrendous Kathy Ireland, Sherri Shepherd, and Jess Cagle, who were hosting ABC’s half-hour coverage before the show actually began. Ireland, looking far too skinny, was, in a word, wooden. And yet absurdly peppy at the same time!!!! All inflection seemed to be thoroughly rehearsed. Please take her away and never let her do this again!
The awards went to the predicted winners. There weren’t really any surprises. We all cheered for Kathryn Bigelow as much for the fact that she beat out her ex-husband, James Cameron as for her being the first woman to win an Oscar for directing. Suck it, Jimmy! And I loved Sandra Bullock’s remarkably gracious acceptance speech, as she wittily acknowledged the other actresses in her category, gave a shout-out to mothers, and spoke about her own mother’s influence, particularly her insistence that no person, regardless of race, religion, color, class, or sexual orientation, is better than anyone else. I am also very much a fan of the format where each best actor/actress nominee gets a little speech delivered by someone who knows them. Many were quite touching.
As for dress, the real reason to watch, it was the general consensus of the room that the following looked horrible: Vera Farmiga (even though we love her); SJP (who fiddled with her neckline the whole night and seemed to have bathed in bronzer); Charlize Theron (who has to really work to look bad); Zoe Saldana (were those ornamental cabbages on her dress?); Kate Winslet (great from the waist up but otherwise seemed to be wearing separates, not a dress; maybe a twinset?); and Miley Cyrus. We were fans of the sartorial choices of Sandra Bullock, Rachel McAdams (Canadian!), Queen Latifah (all hail the Queen!), Carey Mulligan (hair, not dress), Julianne Moore, Helen Mirren, and Oprah Winfrey. George Clooney’s hair was horrendous and his attitude even worse. And finally, James Cameron’s wife needs to investigate the power of food; not only is it tasty, it also covers up your jutting collar bone!
The Gaucho
You may have read my past posts (here, and here) regarding my obsession with Capitol Hill apartments and more specifically the unrelated names often given to them. Well, I’ve made little progress finding out why the trend is so prevalent in Denver, especially when compared to the other cities I’ve lived in. However, that’s not going to stop me from continuing to share these little gems with all of you. I’ve also decided to make the experience a lot more fun for everyone. Introducing the Gaucho, located at E. 12th Avenue and Clarkson.
Gaucho, 1201 Clarkson
Don’t be fooled, the Gaucho is an apartment building, not a church.
Gaucho Signage
The gaucho… a romantic image of the past, represented freedom from colonial control… the dusty boots, poncho, his bandy legs, and an untamed spirit. Massive estancias. I present to you the Gaucho, re-imagined:
The Gaucho: Reimagined
Deluxe Burger: Love in a Bun
Last night Blake and I joined a few of our best gal pals to try out Deluxe Burger, the newly opened joint venture between chef Dylan Moore (of the restaurant Deluxe and neighboring bar Delite) and mid-century furniture outlet Mod Livin’ on East Colfax Avenue. The place was jumping!
With their use of bold color, large-scale George Nelson bubble lamps, and customized furniture they’ve transformed a dreary former liquor store into a gourmet, chef-driven burger joint were everything on the menu is made in-house, including the ketchup, mustard, pickles, and fries.
In addition to standard burgers, made with Angus beef, ground free-range chicken, and ground ahi tuna, the concise menu offers up a number of “signature burgers” without being over-whelming. These include a BBQ Burger, the Spicy Tuna Burger, and a Truffle Burger. Nothing knocked the seven of us off of our chairs (well, perhaps the Diet Coke that Blake ordered in a bottle he had never seen before…. and Blake’s had a lot of Diet Coke), but we were all very pleased with our choices… enough so that most of us will return to try out more of the menu.
The Denver Burger
I had the Denver Burger, which came with sautéed Anaheim chilies, onions, pico, cheddar cheese, and smoked jalapeno aioli. It was a great tasting burger. I personally wanted to experience a little more spice or smoke considering all the ingredients the burger was topped with. Blake enjoyed his Basil BLT Chicken Burger, and the Truffle Burger with shiitake mushrooms and truffled swiss cheese was a hit.
One thing that we all generally agreed upon was that the fries could use some fine-tuning. Now, you’re not going to be able to please everyone. For instance, Blake likes his fries thinner (shocking!) and crispy. In fact, I think he was so upset that he ate most if not all of the accompanying ketchup… and Blake don’t eat ketchup! Is it ketchup if it doesn’t come out of a bottle? That’s another discussion… I like the crispy thin fries, but I also really enjoy a thicker cut steak fry like my mother made in the Fry Daddy. Let’s face it… I love my potatoes. It’s the Irish blood in me body.
Deluxe Tuna Burger and Truffle & Parm Fries
Deluxe offers “Fat Fries” (do fries make you fat?) that fall closer to my personal preference. We all felt that the hand cut fries with fresh thyme and garlic could have been crispier… it wasn’t that they were underdone, but maybe they needed another toss in the oil. Oddly enough the truffle and parm fries had more of the crisp everyone was after. Perhaps it was the addition of the parmesan?
One member of our team had the homemade tomato soup topped with fresh basil…. I think he enjoyed it! Another had the Orangecicle Shake which I now wish I had ordered.
Home Made Tomato Soup w/ Fresh Basil
When ordering I asked the cashier whether the Denver Burger was messy, she told me that “all of our burgers are messy” and when it came to eating them, it was recommended that we leave the burger inside the half-wrapper that they serve it in. This did make it easier to eat, but some of those juices still escaped from our clutches. That said, we were all very impressed by how well the Kaiser buns held up and tasted!
All I know is that my meal got me through the rest of the evening which involved some heavy drinking… I woke up this morning feeling great and looking fabulous. Thanks Deluxe Burger!
Burger Juice!
Next on our list of burger joints, H-Burger in the Sugar Cube building on the 16th Street Mall. Stay tuned.
Goldfrapp “Rocket”
Goldfrapp can do no wrong in my book. Their 80s-inspired forthcoming release, Head First (out March 23 in the U.S.), will be the London duo’s fifth album. I’ve heard the first single “Rocket,” (Van Halen, anyone?) but now comes the video, directed by Kim Gehrig. In it, the lovely Alison Goldfrapp plays a truck driver sending an ex into space. Watch it at MSN.
Back Off Denver Drivers!
Alastair and I have long noted a trend among Denver drivers: they don’t pay attention to pedestrians. This is probably because there aren’t all that many pedestrians in this car-centric culture, even as many Coloradans pursue exercise in any number of other ways. This is one of Alastair’s biggest pet peeves because he walks to work. I notice because I am a runner, sometimes through Cheesman or Wash Park, but more frequently along city streets and sidewalks. Just yesterday I was heading along Seventh Avenue at a decent clip and was just about to cross the street at Josephine when a car whips around the corner and cuts me off at a green light, my green light. For future reference Denver drivers, this means that a pedestrian has the right of way:
My Right of Way, Not Yours!
Yes, this particular driver was on her cell phone and that probably contributed to her inability to see that she had almost run me down. But the greater problem is that Denver drivers do not seem to realize that while pedestrians may often be confined to the sidewalk, in order to get from sidewalk to sidewalk, we, too, must cross the street (or alley; don’t even get me started on how drivers don’t check before emerging from one of Denver’s alleys). The roads belong to all of us!
I used to live in a big city with crazy traffic, a city whose drivers have a bad reputation, but it was also a city of pedestrians, millions of them, and so drivers also knew that there could always be other people using the roads, and they were often ready for us. Not so in Denver.
SVU Lesbian Kiss Fakeout!
DOD readers may recall Alastair’s preview post (below, via YouTube) of tonight’s episode of Law and Order: SVU in which Kathy Griffin plays lesbian activist Babs Duffy and hits on Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). In the preview clip she doesn’t just hit on her, she kisses her. Well, I’m watching the episode right now and the kiss has been edited out. It’s clear in the aired episode that a kiss was what Griffin was after — and so the episode plays on in the same manner as the version with the kiss — but the woman-on-woman action has been deleted. Come on, NBC, we can handle it! And the rest of nation should be able to handle it, too.
Naomi Campbell… Wanted.
The abusive super model, who once snapped after losing a pair of designer jeans, is once again wanted for questioning after allegedly slapping and punching her driver. I guess the five days of community service and anger-management program weren’t enough for her…
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