[scrollGallery id=1 start=0 autoScroll=false thumbsdown=true]

BLACKTIE-COLORADO.COM

Have you ever eaten steak on a spoon? For most, the answer is likely no. The reason is likely that even the best of steaks usually need a knife to cut them. For Coohills Restaurant, and proprietors Tom and Diane Coohill, their Snake River Farms Wagyu strip steak is tender enough that you can eat it off of a spoon, and that is just what all of the happy patrons of Penny Parker’s Evening of Decadent Delights event did. From the fancy hors d’oeuvres on spoons to the various other mouthwatering concoctions served on Tuesday night, the evening was a success, especially for those who love food.

The servers carefully moved throughout the crowded bar before dinner to serve trays of champagne and bite sized delights to get everyone ready for the main course. Smiles and excitement filled the room as the sun set on this beautiful spring evening. But the best was yet to come with a meal waiting to be served, created by chefs selected from some of the best restaurants around Denver. The eight course meal had portions from restaurants including Restaurant Kelly Liken, Cholon, Charcoal, Ambria, Trillium, Elway’s Downtown, Aria and Opus. If that list does not get the taste buds into full excitement, it is hard to say what will.

The event was not just a high calorie celebration of food and drink. Sense of Security benefited from the patrons generous bids at the silent auction and donations to the cause. A live air jordan 1 femmes auction included items from the Curtis Hotel, Infinite Monkey Theorem Wine, the Denver Zoo, Le Grand Bistro and Fancy to Fantasy Catered Affairs. All of the generous companies that donated goods for auction and the patrons that purchased them helped Sense of Security fulfill their goal of helping women diagnosed with breast cancer have support in their time of need. With expensive medical procedures that often stop patients from being able to work, Sense of Security helps to provide the financial help they need to not have to make the choice between food and medication. They make sure that patients can focus all of their energy on recovery instead of bills and financial worry.

The wonderful thing about Ms. Parker’s event is the celebration of the best of life to help those in troubled situations. With a topic that makes the lives of many very hard, it is nice to have an event that can put smiles on people’s faces while still helping to support women that deserve help. On Tuesday, Ms. Parker showed everyone that just because something is bad, does not mean that we are not empowered to make the situation better—and the best part is, she did it with style.

Visit the “Captured Event” page on Blacktie-Colorado!

You may or may not have a beef with this list, but Gayot.com recently released its 2012 best picks in for carnivores in the U.S., and the original Elway’s in Cherry Creek (Gayot reminds readers that it’s named after football great John Elway, duh!) made the cut.

Best steak spaces in alphabetical order:

• Bern’s Steak House,  Tampa;
• Bob’s Steak & Chop House, Dallas (didn’t make it here, however);
• Bobo’s, San Francisco;
• Carnevino, Las Vegas;
• Chicago Cut Steakhouse, Chicago;
• CUT Wolfgang Puck, Beverly Hills;
• Elway’s
• Emeril’s Delmonico, New Orleans;
• Peter Luger Steak House, Brooklyn;
• The Precinct, Cincinnati (been there, done that).

More info at gayot.com.

The best attire advice I gave to attendees at this year’s Penny Parker’^s Evening of Decadent Delights was to wear elastic waists.

Eight of Denver’s relatively new kids on the chopping block showed off their chef stripes by creating courses that wowed the sold-out crowd at Coohill’s, a French-style restaurant owned by Tom and Diane Coohill at 14^th and Wewatta.

This year’s kitchen crew started with passed apps created by Tom Coohill of scallop with English pea puree and pork belly; spring asparagus La Quercia Prosciutto, crisp capers, pickled red onion and lemon; buckwheat blini with eggplant caviar tomato jam and spring chives;  Snake River Farms Wagyu strip steak with spring onions and  Madeira sauce; blue crab flan with mustard sauce paired with Ruffino Prosecco.

The food lover’s feast moved on to baby carrots and parsley root puree from celebrity chef Kelly Liken; pho-style soup with rib eye and oxtail from Lon Symensma of ChoLon Bistro; gravlax, salmon roe egg salad with crème fraiche mustard from Patrik Landberg at Charcoal; shellfish ravioli with fava bean pesto from Gabe Balenzuela at Ambria; Lake Superior whitefish with toasted caraway carrot puree, morel mushroom vinaigrette and oxford garden arugula from Trillium chef Ryan Leinonen, lamb loin with spring ratatouille, black rice and quinoa with lamb jus from Elway’s Downtown chef Robert Bogart.

Dessert from Jenica Flippo at Aria was a panna cotta with strawberries, basil and black pepper, and Sean McGaughey at Opus created dark chocolate ganache with vanilla curd and lavender.

Besides being a gut buster, the evening – with a silent auction and live one emceed by the unsinkable Peter Kudla – earned roughly $30,000 for Sense of Security, a breast cancer organization that helps patients take care of their non-medical bills during treatment. SOS was a victim of Susan G. Komen’s money woes.

Big props go to event queen bee Trisha Lindeman, volunteer guitarist Robert Eldridge, sponsors King Soopers, Squire Sanders, Hamilton Linens, Republic National Distributing Co., air jordan 11 femmes Lifestyles Catering, Bagel Bakery, Seattle Fish Co., The Wedding Pink and Better Webs Online.

The shortfall in fundraising this year from Susan G. Komen has left a $60,000 loss in the SOS budget . Our next dinner for SOS will take place in the fall featuring “the old guard” of super chefs. Stay tuned for details.

Every baseball season Aramark, the official food purveyor for Coors Field, adds new items to its roster of ballpark cuisine. This season, executive chef Craig Luckmann got his nacho on by creating the Colorado Queso Nacho made of fresh corn chips with spicy air jordan 1 chorizo sausage covered with Monterrey jack and green chili chese sauce topped with pico de gallo and sour cream.

On the sweet side, S’more Nachos are loaded with fried fresh tortilla chips coated in graham cracker crumbs and cinnamon topped with warm marshmallow fluff drizzled in chocolate sauce and finished with mini M&Ms and marshmallows.

Also new to the menu are loaded baked potatoes and tater tots as well as grilled cheese, ham and cheese and turkey and cheese sandwiches.