Chef John Broening, who gained famed for his two revered Denver restaurants, Denver Brasserie Rouge in The Ice House and at Duo in the Highland neighborhood, is returning to kitchen at at Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar at 1512 Curtis St. See the full story at http://www.5280.com/blogs/2013/07/08/breaking-john-broening-heads-le-grand-oyster-bar-bistro.
“We’re putting the Brasserie Rouge band back together,” restaurant owner Robert Thompson told “Westword”. Broening will join Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar as executive chef and also as culinary director of Seasoned Development, Thompson’s restaurant company.
Thompson owns Le Grand, Punch Bowl Social and the Argyll Gastro Pub concept. He co-opened Brasserie Rouge with Leigh Jones in 2003. Broening, now chef and co-owner of Spuntino and formerly the executive chef of Duo and the late Olivéa, headed up the kitchen originally at Brasserie Rouge. Broening’s French cooking skills were not enough to prevent the restaurant closing a year later, though.
“This is not a statement about where Le Grand is but where we’re trying to be,” Thompson told “Westword”. “I don’t believe I’m alone in having always wanted John Broening’s experience, skill-set, and culinary creativity to have a larger stage from which to speak.” Broening will oversee the culinary operations of Le Grand, Argyll (a restaurant in Cherry Creek North that Thompson wants to revive somewhere) and other possible concepts.
Expect lighter fare at Le Grand, Broening says. He notes that Le Grand’s offerings will be more seasonal.
Hollywood comes to Highlands Ranch retirement community
When Elly and Jim Andersen moved to the Wind Crest retirement community five years ago, they didn’t move far from their former house in Cherry Hills, because they didn’t want to move away from family.
The couple is proud of their family legacy — all their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren contribute so much to their lives. But one grandchild in particular is making a splash in the celebrity spotlight. And her work in Hollywood is attracting a new generation of fans and the Highlands Ranch community where she often visits.
AnnaSophia Robb, the 19-year-old actress who has starred in major motion pictures like” Soul Surfer,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Bridge to Terabithia” and “Because of Winn-Dixie” now stars in “The Carrie Diaries.” The weekly television show on The CW is based on the popular HBO series “Sex and the City.” In it, Robb plays teenager Carrie Bradshaw in high school in 1984.
The Andersens love seeing Robb work — they’ve been on set with her as far away as London—but they love it the most when their granddaughter visits them on the Highlands Ranch campus and spends quality time.
As for Robb, well, she’s a huge fan of Wind Crest.
Robb grew up in Colorado not far from where her grandparents lived and was in high school when her grandparents moved to Wind Crest. “My Grandpa would pick me up from school two times a week, and I’d hang out with them before I went to kickboxing,” she says.
She appreciates the pool, the hot tub, going to dinners and brunches on campus, and she wishes they sold the cookies in the marketplace store 24/7. She laughs, “I’d get home from school and miss them,” referring to both the cookies and her grandparents.
But the thing Robb says she appreciates most about Wind Crest is how both her grandparents thrive on campus. “It’s just really convenient. They can go to the gym, join clubs, and my Grandpa can work on his trains. They have everything they need and want at their fingertips,” Robb says.
The model railroad club is one of the most appealing things about Wind Crest to Jim; his outdoor train set is a memory that warms his granddaughter’s heart, and she’s glad he can continue to do what he is so passionate about.
Passionate living runs in the family. While raising her family and helping with her grandchildren, Elly’s lifework has been to give of herself and her time to those she loves. She’s even kept a treasure chest of all the clippings she can find about Robb for the last 10 years, since she began acting in Because of Winn-Dixie.
Elly recalls a fond memory from the set. Cicely Tyson had forgotten a line, and Robb whispered to the actress, “It’s okay, my Grandma forgets things, too.” Elly laughs at what she calls a “sort of backhanded compliment.”
“It’s neat to look back and see how little she was,” Elly says of her granddaughter. The whole family knew she would be an actress when she was just two years old. She was, according to the Andersens, born for the spotlight and with “the prettiest little face.”
Even though their granddaughter lives in New York while working on the show, the Andersens know it won’t be long before they see her again.
AnnaSophia Robb and her grandmother, Elly, during a recent visit to Wind Crest, a retirement community in Highlands Ranch. (Wind Crest photo)
Mike Rowe a Fat Tire drinker
A photo of Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” and huckster for Ford and Viva paper towels, was posted on eBay.
The photo featured Rowe smiling through the lid of a toilet seat autographed by the TV host-producer for a charity. Rowe looked like his usual goofball self, albeit holding a bottle of Fat Tire. The beer produced by Fort Collins-based New Belgium posted the photo on its Twitter account.
Mike Rowe shows off his beer of choice, Fat Tire. (Mike Rowe photo)
Eavesdropping on one woman to another at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club: “Is Mr. Handsome here? (referring to the gorgeous Steve Thomas.)”
“If he’s here, he only improves my game!”
Did you hear that I have a new column, “Mile High Life,” in Colorado Community Media’s 17 weekly newspapers circling Denver? Be sure to like my Facebook page! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m now the social-media liaison for the Mile High Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, so read my latest restaurant news there. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.
Comments are closed.
Leave a comment