Eavesdropping on a woman and a man: “I’ll have a burger, no bun and no cheese.”
“Honey, if you don’t eat enough cheeseburgers, it’s un-American and they will throw you out of America.”

The Great American Beer Festival sloshes into Denver Thursday through Saturday, if you don’t have hard-to-get tickets, you’ll have to cry in your beer.

The wildly popular GABF sells out as soon as the dates are announced. But don’t be sullen in your suds. There are plenty of eateries and bars around town and in Fort Collins (the Napa of beer) jumping on the Beer Fest bandwagon. Here are some suggestions. For more, go to www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com.

Denver:

• Jax Fish House and Oyster Bar in LoDo (1539 17th St. – www.jaxfishhouse.com/denver/), will cook up steamed Penn Cove mussels with Hey Pumpkin Porter from Denver Beer Company for the month of October. This cool weather dish includes fennel sausage, mushrooms, dijon, fennel pollen or panang curry, peanuts, cilantro and coconut milk to enhance the beer’s flavor.  Also new at Jax on the starter menu are the pickled sardines, featuring rye bread made with local Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout.

• Check out the view and scene on the rooftop at ViewHouse (2015 Market St. – www.viewhouse.com). For a food-centric GABF experience, try executive chef Jose Guerrero’s simply named fish and chips, coated with craft five barrel beer battered cod, alongside the house-made malt tartar sauce, cole slaw and ViewHouse zesty fries.

• At Wazee Supper Club (1600 15th St. – www.wazeesupperclub.com/), they’re mixing Breckenridge Brewery Agave Wheat to create the beer battered fish and chips. Wazee Supper Club just celebrated its 40th anniversary and continues to offer food and drink favorites to Denverites.  The knowledgeable bar staff at Wazee Supper Club recommend pairing the beer battered fish and chips with a White Rascal, Avery Brewing Company from Boulder.

• The Alehouse at Amato’s (2501 16th St. – www.alehousedenver.com) serves up a beer battered fish and chips using Breckenridge IPA in the batter.  The beer-infused batter protects the cod filets leaving them tender and moist Served with fries, sweet ‘n’ sour slaw, and tartar sauce.
• On Wednesday, Cart-Driver, the newest member of Gravitas Development’s shipping container project at 2500 Larimer St., will partner with Bruery Terreux, an Anaheim, Calif.-based brewery specializing in farmhouse style and oak aged sour ales, to launch the brand.Beginning at 5 p.m., guests will enjoy a variety of Bruery Terreux sours, small bites from Cart-Driver, as well as have the chance to mingle, ask questions and hear further elaboration on the newly created brand by several representatives from Bruery Terreux. Tickets can be purchased prior to the event here for $25, and $30 at the door.
• Euclid Hall (1317 14th St. – www.euclidhall.com) is holding its fourth annual Midnight Breakfast (and beer pairing), beginning at 11 p.m. Thursday. The late-night beer-breakfast pairing includes a seven-course menu (check it out at www.euclidhall.com) paired with brazen beers. Cost is $125 per person, and tickets are available on the website.

Fort Collins:

• For those who crave sweets, The Mainline (125 S. College Ave. – www.mainlinefoco.com) offers the Breckenridge Nitro Vanilla Porter Chocolate Ganache Tort. The Vanilla Porter from Breckenridge Brewing is infused into a rich chocolate tort served with vanilla cream.  Chef Justin Burdick tops the dark sweet tort with salted caramel.
• Got a hankering for seafood?  Pull up to a bowl of Fort Collins Style Clam Chowder at Ft. Collins’ Jax Fish House (123 N. College Ave. – www.jaxfishhouse.com/fort-collins), where Odell Brewing Company’s Perle White IPA is the base of executive chef Ricky Myers’ Fort Collins Style Clam Chowder.

I don’t know how she keeps her girlish figure. But 5280 magazine food editor Amanda Faison must have found the fountain of slim because she eats for a living and keeps her petite frame put. Sigh.

In the current edition of 5280, Faison lists her picks for the 25 Best Restaurants. Some familiar food places are still on the list (Frasca was also No. 1 last year), and some are making triumphant returns (Barolo Grill, for example). And there are plenty of newbies making their debut, including Acorn inside The Source, The Plimoth, Basta in Boulder, Bistro Barbes and the 19-seat To the Wind Bistro and more.

“I had 61 dinners specifically for 25 Best Restaurants,” Faison said. “That does not include meals intended to be a general assessment or Best New Restaurants research.” Her svelte secret: “Lots of exercise.”

This is the issue that you may love to hate — depending on how your fave raves score (or don’t). Here’s the list:

1. Frasca Food and Wine
2. Acorn
3. Cholon
4. Sushi Den
5. Mizuna
6. Fruition Restaurant
7. The Plimoth
8. Basta
9. Colt & Gray
10. Bittersweet
11. Oak at Fourteenth
12. Luca
13. Bistro Barbès
14. The Populist
15. To the Wind Bistro
16. Rioja
17. Lower48 Kitchen
18. Stoic & Genuine
19. Barolo Grill
20. Work & Class
21. Old Major
22. Beast + Bottle
23. Potager
24. Duo Restaurant
25. Tables

Check out the entire story at www.5280.c0m.

Downtown Denver parks will turn into dance studios, parking lots to works of art and alleyways into gathering places for Denver dwellers and visitors of all ages to enjoy for free during Reimagine Your Downtown on Saturday and Sunday.

Reimagine Your Downtown is an event created by the 2014 Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership Program class, which was challenged with the idea of tactical urbanism – transforming spaces into places. The class maintained focus on urban interventions that transform a space into a more lively place such as guerrilla gardening, pavement-to-parks and open streets.

After months of research, interviews and discussions, Reimagine Your Downtown brings nine projects aimed to challenge attendees’ perception of public space.

“We took a unique approach this year in how we wanted the Downtown Denver Leadership Program to culminate (its) work by making a two-day event out of it,” said Jim Kirchheimer, senior vice president of economic development for the Downtown Denver Partnership. “This is the first year that we challenged the class to actually implement (its) projects that will physically transform an overlooked or underutilized space in Downtown Denver.

“We wanted to give the groups the opportunity to showcase their creative ideas to the public, with the hope that other individuals walk away inspired and begin wondering how they may be able to implement an urban intervention of their own.”

The schedule of events is as follows:

• Reimagine Parking: one car = nine bikes – Friday through Oct. 9, all day (LoDo, Wynkoop Street);
• Urban Backyard – noon – 4 p.m. Friday (Alley on 16th between Market and Blake);
• Reimagine Less Homelessness  – noon to 4 p.m. Friday (16th and Stout);
• Parktivation – 3 – 7 p.m. Friday (Skyline Park);
• Play Denver: Reimagine Downtown with Your Kids – 4 to 7 p.m. Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday (Friday: Union Station light rail station, Saturday: California Street between 15th and 16th);
• Reimagine Your Commute: Art In Motion – 4 – 7 p.m. Friday (Union Station light rail station and 10th and Osage light rail station);
• Arapahoe United: Reimagining Space Today… Stronger Community Tomorrow – 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday (21st and Curtis);
• Chalk the Creek Front – 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday (Cherry Creek Path at Larimer and 14th Street);
• Art Lot – 1 to 5 p.m. (California Street between 15th and 16th).

For more information about this event, visit www.reimagineyourdowntown.com.

The 3rd Annual Breasts of Colorado returns with a reception and art exhibit from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Englewood’s City Center to unveil this year’s breast casts. Inspired by similar philanthropic fundraising events in California and Oklahoma, last year’s inaugural event in Colorado raised $10,000 to help breast cancer patients in treatment.

This year’s event is again sponsored by The Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce and precedes Breast Cancer Awareness month, which begins today.

This summer, a group of more than 20 volunteer models, including survivors, patients and others who want to honor someone special in their lives, had molds of their chests made, which were decorated by local artists. Proceeds from these one-of-a-kind pieces of art will benefit Sense of Security (www.senseofsecurity.org), a local nonprofit whose sustained financial assistance ensures that breast cancer patients can stay secure in their homes and have enough good food to nourish themselves and their families.

Thursday’s event includes cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, music and an exhibit of the completed breast casts. Attendees will have the opportunity to help raise additional funds through activities, such as a silent auction. There will also be a check presentation ceremony as well as prizes awarded to the artists and models at the event.

For more info, contact Rosemarie Cabral: 303-795-8240.

Rich Grant, Denver’s biggest booster who’s worked at Visit Denver for nearly 35 years, has finally set a retirement date – Dec. 31, his 35th anniversary with the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“It’s been a wild and truly wonderful ride, and I had the great privilege of working with the best communications team ever assembled: Deborah Park, Sarah Welch, Katie Adamson Converse, Shannon Dexheimer, Meredith Mirrington, Jennifer Elving Asbury, Angela Berardino, Carrina Waneka, Jill McGranahan, Joy Long Meadows, Andrea Burns, Diane Bechamps, Kim Farin and Carolyn Livingston,” Grant posted on his Facebook page Tuesday.

“And of course, it’s been great working with (CEO) Richard Scharf and the rest of the amazing Visit Denver team. I’ll still be around consulting. And I imagine there might be a retirement party in the future. Or two. Or three. Cheers!”

Grant has been toying with his retirement date for months, but settled on his 35th work anniversary and his 65th birthday as the right time.

“When I discovered there were 12 new breweries in Denver that I hadn’t been to, I realized – I don’t have enough free time!” he said.

I have worked and cocktail-partied with Grant during my 21 years as a Denver-based journalist. Grant, indeed, is Denver’s biggest booster even when he’s trying to convince me that a story that really isn’t a story deserves front-page attention. He’s been a staunch supporter of our fair city, and will be sorely missed.

(Visit Denver photo)

Palettes at the Denver Art Museum is partnering with Garrison Brothers Distillery to host a four-course dinner paired with craft bourbon cocktails, beginning at 6 p.m. Oct. 9. The dinner is limited to 80 guests, and is $125 per person.

The evening will start with a reception with passed hors d’oeuves and a signature cocktail, followed by a formal dinner and a tasting of the Fall 2013 and the Spring 2014 Garrison Brothers straight bourbon whiskey.

Charlie Garrison, co-founder of Garrison Brothers Distillery, will join chef Austin Cueto and the Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group team to introduce guests to the art of whiskey tasting, distilling bourbon, the history of whiskey in America and the story of Garrison Brothers. Those interested can make a reservation by calling 303-534-1455.

When I last saw Bob Trotter (brother of my former Rocky Mountain News boss Jim Trotter), he was master-minding the opening of the JW Marriott in Cherry Creek.

After a stint in upstate New York, Trotter returns to Colorado as the general manager of the St Julien Hotel & Spa in Boulder. A third-generation hotelier, Trotter joins the 201-room property with more than 30 years in the hospitality industry, most recently serving as general manager at The High Peaks Resort in Lake Placid, NY.

“I am looking forward to serving once again as the general manager at one of the top lodging properties in Colorado,” Trotter said. “I’m confident my years of experience leading hotel operations will serve me well in continuing St Julien’s tradition of providing guests with world-class service, melded with Boulder’s relaxed, yet sophisticated, style of hospitality.”

Trotter boasts extensive experience with luxury boutique hotels and mountain resorts, having served as general manager for The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa at Beaver Creek, the Hotel Monaco Denver as well as the JW Marriott.

Trotter holds a B.S. in Communications from University of Tennessee at Knoxville, is a Certified Hotel Administrator from the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and has served as president of both the Metro Denver Hotel Association and Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association. Trotter lives in Longmont with his wife, Peggy, and Australian shepard, Jake.

Eavesdropping on a man talking about a conversation with his mother’s home care nurse: “I think I can guess your age.”
“Go ahead.”
“Fifty-six?”
“You know I’m not allowed to tip you, right?”