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Best bites & sips of 2024

Ican’t believe it is already 2025! I’m currently daydreaming about my favorite bites and sips from around the globe this past year. Here are some of the many delicious ones I can’t stop thinking about.

FOOD NEWS

Almond and chocolate croissant — Bistro 317 in downtown Grand Junction, 317 Main St., absolutely wowed me with this bite. This fabulous croissant lingers in my memory and I look forward to tasting it again.

Artichoke goat cheese appetizer — Grand Junction’s The Goat and Clover restaurant, 336 Main St., has one of those craveable items that I try to convince myself is a complete meal. Served with an addictive, salted fried bread and a few carrots and celery sticks, this tasty goat cheese, parmesan and artichoke spinach dip is a hit.

Asparagus soup — The Movenpick Hotel in Tallin, Estonia, served a spectacular dish that was visually stunning and fantastic. I am hoping to get their recipe and try to replicate it.

Burmese tea salad and Vietnamese bánh xèo — The Pig & The Lady restaurant in Honolulu is next-level amazing! The distinctive flavors and plating of these dishes were wonderful and creative.

Butternut squash ravioli — Palisade’s Pêche, 335 Main St., has a fun delight of a bite. Instead of a more traditional puree inside the pasta, the squash is liquified and you eat each small ravioli whole. It was sublime!

Deep fried mushrooms — A&M.Creations in Delta, 305 Main St., rocked my world this year! Thousands of people all over the state now know that I love these mushrooms and homemade ranch dressing thanks in part to Colorado Public Radio’s, Ryan Warner, interviewing me at this charming restaurant.

Dorado whiskey — Del Bac Distillery at 2106 Forbes Blvd. in Tucson, Arizona, is an unexpected treat.

Smoked with mesquite wood, this whiskey is a beautiful tribute to the American Southwest.

Icelandic cod — Lucina’s in Denver, 2245 Kearney St., has created a dish with a coconut curry broth and banana leaf that is visually stunning, delicate and delicious. Their fabulous roasted carrots are also amazing; as is everything I’ve eaten there.

Indian pani puris, Gimme Imli cocktail, smoked portobella mushroom and Snowflake 2023 whiskey — Stranahan’s Whiskey Lodge, 307 S. Mill St. in Aspen, wowed me as a guest during their special paired dinners. The delightful visiting chef, Maneet Chauhan, created my favorite crunchy pani puris and talented head mixologist, Devin Ershow, made an exceptionally complex cocktail that I loved. Later in the year, I enjoyed the smokiness of skilled chef Nick Ragazzo’s mushrooms and its accompanying whiskey from their terrific head distiller, Justin Aden.

Maitake mushroom pizza, beet tartar appetizer and a Where Is My Mind? cocktail — Bin 707, 400 Main St., in downtown Grand Junction features this dynamic trio of deliciousness. The combination of a savory wood fire baked pizza with the sharp earthiness of the beet tartar and a unique cocktail with huitlacoche bitters is one that makes me want to return again and again.

Miso tofu appetizer — Grand Junction’s No Coast Sushi, 1119 N. First St., has a yummy treat featuring fried tofu that is lightly crunchy on the outside and is made even better by dunking it into the accompanying sweet dipping sauce.

Panang curry — Palisade’s Pali Thai food truck features so many great bites, but their panang curry is one of my favorites with a delicious blend of deep flavors and spicy heat.

Smokey okra and Carolina gold rice — Charleston, South Carolina, chef Kevin Mitchell started off the Food & Wine Magazine’s exceptional luncheon with a bang this past autumn. This dish was paired with sublime champagne and will forever be a memory I savor.

Water — Truly the best sip in Grand Junction? Our award-winning tap water! Grand Junction won second place in the American Water Works Association’s contest for the best-tasting water. (The first-place winner was in Canada — meaning that Grand Junction has the best in the United States!) We are lucky to have this lovely water and I drink it every day.

While it is fun to reminisce about yummy experiences out and about, most of the food I eat is in my own home. I loved shared with family and friends (and you terrific readers!) — honey cake, olive bread, chocolate fudge, Korean corn cheese, a Southwestern quiche, blueberry muffins and some mini cherry cheesecake recipes in my Wednesday All Things Food column.

Keep your eyes open for an upcoming curried carrot soup recipe and more! Wishing you all a delicious and delightful 2025.

If you have any food and beverage-related events or information you want readers to know about, please email me at AllThingsFoodChristine@gmail.com.

I will forever dream of this amazing, hot asparagus soup from Estonia.

PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE GALLAGHER

The terrific roasted carrots at Denver’s Lucina are such a treat!

Icelandic cod in a bed of curry and banana leaves is a sublime dish from Lucina’s in Denver.

The Gimme Imli whiskey cocktail from Stranahan’s head mixologist, Devin Ershow, was extremely complex and wonderful.

Amazingly talented chef Maneet Chauhan’s pani puris were so crunchy and delightful!

This spectacular and playful Vietnamese bánh xèo even came with chilled scissors to cut the lettuce!

The maitake mushroom pizza from Bin 707 in Grand Junction is fantastic!

This almond and chocolate croissant from Bistro 317 in Grand Junction is a delicious treat!

ALLAGHER

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