Taking Out Ethnic Food: Should we stop ‘othering’ otherwise American food?

By JOHN LEHNDORFF (Published in the March 2020 Sensi Magazine (Denver/Boulder)   ‘Ethnic’ Food Goes Back 4,000 Years It’s hard to take any culture’s claim to culinary purity seriously, because invasion, intermarriage and migration have brought new flavors and ingredients around the world. It wasn’t always easy. Imagine the consternation the day the first cook … Continue reading →

Conscious Chocolate: Colorado’s new bean-to-bar artisans

By JOHN LEHNDORFF (From the Dec. 2019 Sensi magazine: Chocolate is not a practical gift. It’s indulgence with soul-satisfying creaminess, a warmly stimulating aroma and some sugar for liftoff. Chocolate is a flavor of memory and we willingly toss aside our dietary rules for it, especially during this season. Pumpkin spice is nice, but chocolate … Continue reading →

The Food Road Less Taken: Peggy Markel and the soul of travel

By JOHN LEHNDORFF (From Sensi magazine, 10/19) The most influential Colorado foodie that nobody has heard of pulls up on an old bicycle at a French bakery near her home in Longmont. It’s a rare in-state sighting of the culinary travel pioneer who also helped introduce the Slow Food movement to the United States. The … Continue reading →

Grains of Truth: Heirloom Wheat Boom in Colorado

(This TasteBuds column originally appeared in the August 2019 issue of Sensi Magazine (Denver/Boulder edition) By JOHN LEHNDORFF Once upon a time, wheat was the “staff of life.” Literally, like civilization resulted from grains. Since the recent Keto, Atkins, Paleo and Whole30 anti-carb campaign, wheat – and its enabler, gluten – are now considered Darth … Continue reading →

Dining pioneer Josh Wolkon talks Steubie Snacks, jam bands and cannabis in the kitchen

(From Sensi magazine, May 2019) By JOHN LEHNDORFF He didn’t imagine owning four eateries and food truck, but Josh Wolkon knew he wanted to open a restaurant eventually when he migrated to Colorado from Boston in 1995. “I had never worked in a kitchen so I took a lot of cooking jobs at restaurants and … Continue reading →

Good gourd: Of lattes, lies and real pumpkin pie spice

By JOHN LEHNDORFF (Originally published in the October 2017 issue of Sensi magazine) The harbingers of autumn fill the chill air. It’s that special season of sweaters, colorful leaves, football, early sunsets and a scary infestation of horrific pumpkin spice products. Will you be stocking up on Peanut Butter & Co. Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter, … Continue reading →