786: TASTE Travels: Colorado

About this episode

The episode explores Colorado's emerging culinary scene through interviews with local chefs and food writers.

Today’s episode is really special: a deep eating, drinking, and food culture tour of Colorado, a state that has been quietly (and then not so quietly) building one of the most exciting culinary scenes in America. From Denver’s Michelin-starred restaurant boom to the peach orchards and wine country of the Grand Valley, we went to find out why Colorado is a serious food destination—and came back convinced. First up, we sit down with Johnny Curiel, the Guadalajara-born, Denver-raised chef and 2025 James Beard Award finalist behind the Michelin-starred Alma Fonda Fina and the newly opened Milpero. Johnny’s story—from learning to cook in his father’s kitchen in Jalisco to redefining modern Mexican cuisine in the Rockies—is one we’re excited to tell. Next we hit Five Points and RiNo with Laura Young, Denver food writer and founder of New Denizen. Laura takes us on an epic crawl of the spots defining the new Denver dining moment: Cuban pastry, specialty coffee, and an amazing Japanese-inspired all-day café. We then head west to the Grand Valley for a conversation with chef Matthew Chasseur of Pêche in Palisade—a restaurant built on the region’s extraordinary agricultural bounty, from…

People in this episode

Hosts: Aliza Abarbanel, Matt Rodbard

Guests: Johnny Curiel, Laura Young, Matthew Chasseur

Topics covered

• Colorado food culture
• Michelin-starred restaurants
• local agriculture
• culinary tourism
• Denver dining scene

Keywords

• Colorado
• food culture
• Michelin-starred
• restaurants
• agriculture
• dining
• culinary tourism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Alma Fonda Fina, Milpero, New Denizen

Places: Colorado, Denver, Grand Valley, Palisade

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