food fest
August 29, 2010 A little rewind:
Saturday, I stopped at the Cherry Creek farmer’s market for the last time before we move. :( I’ll definitely miss seeing Maddy’s smiling face every week!! She and her boyfriend are the owners of the Love Grown Foods granola company that I talk about all.of.the.time. If I don’t make my own granola, this is all I eat.
Maddy puts so much love + work into the company it’s amazing. If you’re in Colorado, you can find this granola at King Soopers and some Natural Grocers. It make me miss my granola bar company!! They have 2 new flavors coming out and all of their granola is now gluten free! They’re using certified gluten free oats, which is just awesome.
Onto Sunday:
Why oh why have we never eaten here??? It’s about a 3/4m walk from our house and freaking delicious. Maybe it’s a good thing we waited so long. It’s completely indulgent but oh so amazing.
Lucile’s is only open for breakfast + lunch. On the weekend there are ALWAYS people outside and the wait is on average 45min. Nuts!
Look at the lovelies that came out for birthday brunch :) Pat + Nat!
The lighting inside was not in my favor, but I tried to take a few photos to show you anyway. :)
First up. Beignets. Yeah….no words can explain the deliciousness that was going on here. Airy, sweet fried dough covered in powdered sugar.
Next up. Biscuits. Again…I’m at a loss for words. It was like no biscuit I’ve ever had. It was like biscuit cake. Oh my word.
I got the veggi eggs benedict, which came with delicious local poached eggs, an english muffin, tomato, spinach and avocado. I got the hollandaise on the side because I typically don’t like the flavor. The sides were potatoes and grits. Honestly, the best of both I’ve ever had.
Pat was pumped. Such a fun brunch with the family for Chris’s bday :)
We came home and practically passed out from all of the butter consumption, mmmmm. However, I ran a few errands and then packed up the kitchen with Chris. We’re about 2/3 of the way done with it. Definitely the hardest part of packing! I managed to make it out for a walk/run at Wash Park too. One of my last :( verrrrry sad about leaving the park!
My feet felt great. I ran about 1.25 miles [split up in about 4 intervals] total and walked about 2.25.
I found my stride today!!! I didn’t know I was looking for it, until I actually found it. It felt completely natural, strong + comfortable. Different from the other times I’ve run in my VFF’s. My feet were flying and felt great. It was hard to stop to walk, but I still don’t want to overdo it.
I kept the orange dress!! I was supposed to wear this at the Healthy Living Summit, but life had other plans. It was so nice to go out to a nice dinner. It was actually a gift from my parents for our anniversary, that we still really hadn’t celebrated. We weren’t together for our anniversary this year, and the summer just flew by, so we decided to wait and save it for Chris’s birthday weekend.
Love pockets in dresses!
I even accessorized with a necklace. I’m learning, slowly!
Off to dinner at Rioja – hiiiighly recommend!!! :)
Probably the best pinot noir we’ve ever had. We split a half bottle.
There was a guy with a HUGE bread basket circling the restaurant offering the most amazing bread you can imagine.
This was lavender sourdough. I know it sounds sort of odd, but I’ll just tell you it was 110% completely amazing. Chris had a fennel + orange roll and a kalamata olive baguette. I also had a salted rosemary + goat cheese biscuit. All of the bread was fabulous. However, the lavender sourdough stole the show.
The restaurant lighting was very dim!
Watermelon salad, with red + yellow melon and 2 crazy delicious sauces.
This was house-made ricotta gnocci, that was browned to perfection. I savored each + every little bite. The house-made cheese on top was also fabulous with a pesto sauce underneath everything. Out of this world.
I can’t even tell you how enticing the dessert menu looked. However, we had froyo on the brain.
Pomegranate/Strawberry + Peanut Butter topped with almonds. We grabbed this from Kuulture. Fabulous!! The peanut butter was extremely flavorful and creamy. I also loved the pom/strawb.
Chris went with a plain serving of the pom/strawb, but I fancied it up with a candle + a song :)
We are pooooooped and stuffed!!! Goooodnight!
<3
Ashley
Restaurants
Reader Comments (55)
Love that dress. Pockets in dresses are the best! Looks like it was a good time. :)
Glad Chris is doing better. Love your dress!
You look beautiful in that dress :)
Looks like a lot of good food :)
That dress is gorgeous, you look stunning!
So does all the food of course :P
You look so beautiful in that dress :)!
That dress looks gorgeous on you, Ashley! You certainly had a busy/awesome weekend. Also, I'm incredibly jealous because I reallllllly want to try that froyo stuff. ALSO beignets are one of my favorites :)
What a weekend! That dinner looks great (the bread!!) and very special.
The orange dress looks fabulous! And I also am a huge fan of pockets in dresses.
This sounds like an ideal day. That breakfast menu looks out of this world! I'm coveting those biscuits! Glad the day was perfect and I hope Chris enjoyed it all. Sounds like a wonderful dinner and what a great way to end it on a sweet note. ;)
The dress it totally cute--I love how the belt contrast the color!
I am not really a biscuit person, but that one might convert me!
What a beautiful dress! I love that they used certified gluten free oats - do they have a website? I would love to order from them!! I'm going to check it out.
Fantastic eats this weekend! Not enough restaurants serve really good bread - why is that?!
The orange dress is gorgeous on you - good decision :).
LOVE that dress! I love pockets on dresses...to the point that even my wedding dress had pockets!
i didn't realize they had a lucile's in denver...i love the one up in boulder in the old house...amazing. seriously makes me miss texas and being so close to louisiana :)
Rioja has been on my list of places to eat since we moved here! Now I might have to...for the bread basket alone!
What an amazing weekend!
And a beautiful dress. I LOVE pockets. :D
xo
Kris
That dress is super fun! Pockets are totally the most awesome idea for dresses! Good luvk with the move, you're almost there!
Happy Belated Birthday Chris! Looks like it was a GOOD time!
Ashley, that dress is absolutely stunning on you. :) Love it.
Mmm! We'll have to hit those places up on our next trip to CO...which I hope is soon!! Your dress is so cute on you. And if it makes you feel any better, I totally gave up on accessorizing. I would buy things and then literally never wear them (or take them off about 5 minutes after I put them on). My husband can feel free to go buy me some little princess-cut earrings, but other than that and my wedding ring I'm good. :)
What an amazing day full of amazing food. The Benedict looks fabulous!
Cute dress! Looks like a fun weekend! That ricotta gnocchi looks amazing.
I've REALLY been missing my 'home' market back in Cola! Once you fall in love with a market, its hard to find another one that measures up!
I made ricotta gnocchi last night! It turned out great, but I didn't brown it as much as the restaurant did, I will have to try that with the leftovers!
Love your dress!
You are a stunning beauty in the red dress! Well, not just in the red dress but what a fabulous color on you. :)
I love pockets in dresses too!! Agreed, Rioja is a great place to eat. I loved the sourdough too. I also really enjoyed their dessert wine selection!
Cute dress! The dinner (and breakfast) look really good. If I go out to Colorado, I definitely want to try that place out. Yum
Love that dress. It's a great color on you.
awww what a GREAT weekend! happy belated to chris :) you guys make such a gorgeous couple and he's very lucky to have a girl who looks like a hot mama in that orange dress :)
I'm just going to add to the choir of people going on about that dress - you look so beautiful! I'm so glad you and Chris got a well deserved weekend of good food, friends and hopefully some relaxation!
Looks like a really great wknd, filled with wonderful food! i love the orange dress and your right pockets in dresses are great! x
oh my. that restaurant looks sooo delicious.
It really was. Thanks so much :)
Thanks Nienke!!! It was a nice weekend...finally!
Aw, thank you so much Julie!! :)
I'm still thinking about that bread!!!!!
Thanks Dorry ;)
You look so cute in that dress! That color looks very good on you! I love pockets too -- I always need them!
That biscuit looks like the most delicious biscuit on earth!!!
What?? Wow..impressive!!! Ugh..I'm pretty sure it was browned in butter. Ahhhhh sooo amazing!!! And thanks ;)
Hahaha..yeah, I really want to try and get a little better at it. I'm very particular though and think I will actually wear the few items I buy...we'll see anyways :) Yes, gifts from the huz are always welcomed!!
Thanks so much Allie!! It was a great weekend :)
You must goooooo!!!!
OH yes....yes they do and in Longmont + Ft. Collins!! You'll have to try the Denver one if you like bloody mary's...I'm not a big fan but hear they're great and I know the Boulder location doesn't have alcohol. :)
Oooooh, a wedding dress with pockets!!
I agree and have NO idea. So many times I can tell it was previously frozen. Yuck.
Thanks!! I love the belt part too ;)
Thanks so much Lauren. We both enjoyed the whole day!
Aw, thanks Freya!! :)
Wicked cute dress!
You are gorgeous!!! Love the dress!
And all the food looks amazing. Looks like a great birthday celebration for Chris.
That dress is SUPER cute! Happy Birthday Chris! And thanks for the advice about the chews. Can't wait to try some.
What a wonderful, food-coma filled weekend. There's nothing better than good food with great family and friends :)