The Flying Fork Cafe and Bakery: This is an excellent reason to visit Paonia beyond fruits and vegetables. The bakery in the front of this white corner house sells soup, salad, sandwiches and pastries. Around the corner, through a separate entrance, authentic Italian appetizers, pizza, pasta and serious entrees are served at dinner – from grilled Muscovy duck with mushroom/marsala sauce (pictured), to vegetarian lasagne or braised Colorado lamb shank with roast garlic and truffle mashed potatoes. All from the heart and hands of Kelly Steinmetz, a transplanted New Yorker who moved to the mountain town in 2003. |101 Third Street, Paonia, 970-527-3203; flyingforkcafe.com |Ellen Sweets
Stinky French Garlic Spam: Hormel will debut a collector’s edition flavor, “Stinky French Garlic,” for the Sept. 30 London opening of “Spamalot.” Using if-you-can’t-fight-’em-join-’em logic, Hormel has embraced the popular Monty Python musical, reports Cox News Service. “Spam has been joked about for years by the Monty Python team, but it looks like Spam will be having the last laugh,” said European Spam boss Swen Neufeldt. |Stinky French Garlic is sold only in the UK, but you can buy a $10 Collector’s Edition Spamalot Golden Honey Grail Spam at spamalotshop.com.|Andrea E. Labak
The Truffle: One inhale at the front door and there’s no mistaking what kind of shop this is: The place
smells like cheese, lots of it. Inventory changes weekly, so the best way to browse here is to speak up
and talk your cheese plans through with one of the proprietors. They’ll match your needs with the right
cheese, offering you plenty of samples along the way as you zero in on a favorite. Don’t skip the marinated
olives, especially the little Nicoise suckers. | 2906 E. Sixth Ave., 303-322-7363 | Tucker Shaw
