What do you fix your father-in-law for dinner? Especially when it’s his 70th birthday and he’s Jacques Pepin, one of America’s first celebrity chefs.
Says son-in-law chef Rollie Wesen, who’s married to Pepin’s daughter, Claudine Pepin, “I am blessed to have him as a father-in-law and more blessed to have Claudine as my wife.”
OK. Sure. But what are you gonna feed him?
Wesen is the exec chef at Summit, the Broadmoor’s new $5 million free-standing restaurant, which officially opens Jan. 3. The party for Pepin is a $175-a-head charity affair to raise money for culinary education.
You can be sure the meal will be good, but maybe not what you’d expect. Wesen wanted to create a meal that Jacques would dig. So look for duck confit endive, blinis with cured salmon, tuna tartar, gnocchi, wild salmon mousse and, drumroll please, choucroute – braised sauerkraut, roast pork loin, fresh bacon and kielbasa sausage. Fancy word for French farmhouse fare. At $175 a plate. But Papa will be happy.
View from the top
“The View” is going to feature Glenwood Springs in a segment on where to travel to lose weight. Glenwood flacks say the town gets the salute in January on a segment on five towns to visit and shed pounds. I’ve spent some time there and didn’t notice that the people were particularly svelte. Guess you could sweat in the hot pool and climb through the vapor caves. But stay away from those good restaurants up valley in Aspen.
Brokeback bull-riding
Denver’s favorite drag queen Nuclia Waste leads the herd for the Concerts for Kids Celebrity Bull Riding Competition at the Grizzly Rose on Jan. 10.
Waste will be competing against such local bold names as Josh Hanfling, Walter Isenberg, Ami Cusack, Craig Andrisen and Councilman Charlie Brown.
Following the throwdown, Jerry Jeff Walker entertains.
O captain!
The people at the Denver ChopHouse and Joe Sakic want you to know that the Avalanche captain and his family are no longer hosting the Christmas Day Miracle on 19th Street feed-a-thon for the needy. Sakic is still hyped on the website as the sponsor, but he’s concentrating his charity efforts elsewhere this season.
City spirit
Bumper sticker: “My daughter & all my money go to the Larimer Lounge” … N.Y. Daily News says Sharon Bush, former Denverite and former wife of first brother Neil Bush, is planning to marry financier Gerald Tsai …
Sarah Stratton from Berthoud writes “My Turn” in Newsweek, addressing the consumerism of Christmas. “My husband and I started having kids,” she writes. “Suddenly, it was as if a mall had puked in our living room.” … Colorado Restaurant Association announced Friday at the Red Cross that we raised $365,400 for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts on Oct. 5 through Dine for America … Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith back in Aspen for the holidays (with a smaller New Year’s Eve party planned), as is Jerry Seinfeld with the whole family … Sightem: Clint Hurdle, Walter Weiss and Rockies management team lunching at Via … Sez who: “Christmas is a time when you get homesick – even when you’re home.” Carol Nelson
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Husted also appears on Fox 31 News. You can reach him at 303-820-1486 or at bhusted@denverpost.com.
