Coors Field executive chef Craig Luckmann hopes he carries the luck of the Rockies with him to the Aramark chefs competition during All-Star weekend Sunday through Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif.
“If I do as well as the Rockies do, I’ll be scared the first two days, then blow them out of the park the actual game day,” Luckmann said Thursday after the Rockies swept the Cardinals in a three-game series. “It’ll be a come-from-behind victory.”
Armed with a chef’s knife and a winning smile, Luckmann, 35, leaves for Anaheim on Saturday for the three-day competition, which will pit his Blake Street Burrito against chefs representing American and National League ballparks. The winner is determined by highest sales.
“It really comes out to which chef is out there yelling and screaming for their team,” Luckmann said. “I’ll be out in the middle of the crowds yelling and screaming and showing them how we do it in Colorado.”
This will be the Coors Field chef’s first time at bat in this annual competition. His burrito, which sells for $9.50 at Coors Field concessions, consists of a tortilla stuffed with cilantro-lime rice, black beans, grilled chicken breast, guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream.
Hot dog!
It’s been Biker Jim’s cart owner Jim Pittinger and his loyal following’s dream for the day that the exotic hot- dog dealer finds a restaurant space.
That day is done. Pittinger, famous for his reindeer dogs and cheesecake, has signed a lease on a 1,900-square-foot space at 2145 Larimer St., across from the mobbed Marco’s Coal-fired Pizzeria. Pittinger plans to open in the fall, serving lunch and dinner plus late-night Fridays and Saturdays.
“How about reindeer pancake corn dogs?” Pittinger said. “We’re going to rule!”
The episode of “No Reservations” starring traveling chef/author Anthony Bourdain featuring Biker Jim’s fare airs at 8 p.m. Monday on the Travel Channel.
Done deal.
Brooke and Tom Gordon, the Denver philanthropists who recently acquired the Petrikin Estate, the historic mansion sold by Peggy and Kiki Vandeweghe, paid $4.5 million for the block-long property next to Denver Botanic Gardens, according to Denver property records.
When the former Denver Nuggets general manager and his wife first put the 1917-built mansion on the market roughly three years ago, the asking price was $8 million, then eventually was reduced to $5.9 million.
The Vandeweghes plan to occupy the home through the end of the summer, when the Gordons will move in and start some interior remodeling.
Fly on the wall?
Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, under fire for his recent comments about President Barack Obama’s “choosing” the Afghanistan war, seen huddling over lunch with Denver big-dollar dude Charlie Gallagher and company Thursday at the Palm.
Steele was scheduled to be in town to help open the state GOP’s 2010 campaign headquarters.
Eavesdropping
on a trainer at a gym working out with a 70-plus gentleman after a second sets of reps on a weight machine: “You want a drink of water?”
“No, I want to go home!”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
