Colorado Springs coffee shop offering happy hours and steak dinners | Table Talk
Colorado Coffee Merchants, 302 E. Fillmore St., is the spot to go for their new Hump Day Happy Hour, 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays. They offer a menu of wine, beer and cocktails at low prices and a selection of appetizers. I enjoyed a delicious baked brie on a recent Wednesday evening. It was prepared in a ramekin topped with honey and baked. Just before serving, a few fat blackberries were added.
Eric Umenhofer, the owner and chef for the shop, adds house-made buttery toast rounds and crackers for scooping the melted cheese from the little dish.
“We’ve tried several different ways for serving the baked brie,” he said. “Folded in puff pastry or with pepper jelly instead of honey in the ramekin.”
Colorado Coffee Merchants continues to offer Friday Steak Night for $44.
Umenhofer first started staying open later when he introduced his Friday steak dinners 5 to 7:30 p.m. The dinners have grown in popularity. And why not? It’s a great deal.
For $44 per person, you get an 8-ounce Callicrate Ranch Food Direct beef filet cooked to your liking and served with carrots. Umenhofer has perfected the roasted carrots to sweet tenderness. He dresses them with a balsamic vinegar. The hot steak and carrots are served on a bed of spinach, which smothers the spinach and seasons it with meat juice and the sweet tang of the balsamic dressing.
There’s a fully loaded baked potato too. Umenhofer seals the deal with the first cocktail, glass of wine or beer on the house.
“I have been able to keep the price so a couple can come for dinner out and not pay more that $100,” he said. “The tax and tip are included too. I just want to have a place for the neighborhood to come relax and have a nice meal and not have to spend so much.”
Reservations are highly recommended. The dining area is small with only a handful of high-top tables. There is additional seating at the bar. Details: 719-473-8878, facebook.com/umpireestate.
Indian festival
Monika Celly, owner of Polka Dots and Curry, has organized a themed food festival at Liberty High School, 8720 Scarborough Drive, 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 21.
“My goal is to introduce the public to the different Indian harvest traditions and the foods served at the events,” she said. “Many of these harvest festivals are in January. For example Jan. 13 is Lohri celebrated in Northern India, Jan. 15 is Makar Sankranti held in many states of India and Jan. 18 is Pongal, celebrated in Southern India.”
Following are a few of the food vendors at Celly’s event:
• Pakwan, serving Northern Indian cuisine including Saag, a harvest special food, butter chicken, kadai paneer (Indian cottage cheese and bell peppers cooked in a spicy sauce) and samosa chana chaat (a fried samosa is broken into bite-sized pieces and served with masala, chutney and spices).
• Garnish Fusion from Denver will bring Southern Indian specialties including idli (savory rice cake), vada (fried snacks like fritters, cutlets, or dumplings), sambhar (vegetable-lentil stew), chicken biryani and sweet pongal a harvest special dessert.
• The Ganesha will serve an Indo Chinese menu including gobi manchurian (fried cauliflower tossed in slightly sour, sweet & hot manchurian sauce) and street-style veggie noodles.
• Polka Dots and Curry will have Indian meal kits (free samples will be available), and serve Bhugga, a harvest special dessert of sesame seed fudge.
• Several Indian-street food vendors will also come from Denver.
There will be Indian folk dances, live music, harvest themed art walk, and Rangoli, Indian floor art competition.
General admission is free but you must register, $7 early access, $14 early access for family of four, and $25 early access for family of six.
General admission check-in is at 12:15 p.m. with entrance at 12:30 p.m.
Early access check in is at 11 a.m., doors open at 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Early access ticket holders get free download of Celly’s Indian e-cookbook “Vegetarian Surprises” with recipe videos, complimentary masala chai and a detailed e-guide for the event, which will be emailed to early access ticket holders a few days before the event. Tickets at tinyurl.com/4erbjm7j.
For more information, email indianharvestfest@gmail.com.
Contact the writer: 636-0271.
Colorado Coffee Merchants offering Hump Day Happy Hour on Wednesdays.