Mono Gogo's Korean Fried Chicken is Excellent

You may have noticed that hot chicken restaurant Mono Gogo recently took over the space next to the Belmar Century 16 theater that was formerly Menya Noodle Bar. Menya's noodles were good but not great, while Mono Gogo serves up some of the best hot chicken right now in Denver. End of story. 

Except, it's actually more complicated than that. 

Mono Gogo and Menya are both owned by Denver restauranteur JW Lee, whose Seoul Hospitality Group also owns Belmar's Wasabi Sushi Bar and a whole bevy of other restaurants in other Denver-area locations. 

Lee specializes in a range of Korean restaurants. Some serve what I would consider more traditional Korean recipes (I'm basing this on the two years I lived in South Korea), while others are delightfully Americanized (Bulgogi nachos, anyone?) He's always trying something interesting. And he has so many new restaurants that I'm only now learning about some I've got to try, like his dumpling-focused restaurant Seoul ManDoo, and his Hawaiian-Japanese style donut shop Mochinut. 

Right now, however, I want to give another shout-out to Downtown Lakewood's Mono Gogo. The joint serves some seriously good food. Specifically, Mono Gogo needs to be your go-to place for hot wings. I like the soy garlic and the hot spicy, but there are a couple of other flavors as well--all of them light and crispy and absolutely delicious. You can even wash them down with Mono Gogo's own rice lager, made at the Mono Mono Brewery in Longmont. 

It's not elegant dining. Everything comes serves in baskets or paper boxes. There's napkin dispenser on each table, and far too many flat screen TVs playing spammy adverts. But it does remind me a bit of the fried chicken restaurant on my block when I lived in Busan back in the 1990s. That place wasn't fine dining either. It was a quick place to grab take-out on the way home from work, and it worked. The difference is I never had fried chicken when I lived in Korea that was even half as good as the birds served up by Mono Gogo.

Change Is Good, Mostly.

Change is good. Mostly. I think. Or at least, it's good on balance.I'm excited most by Lady Nomada, because I live in Downtown Lakewood, and what I really want is a patio to go and have drinks on in the summer (if it's ever going to be summer again, which is a different topic altogether). 

Actually, it doesn't matter what I think, change is happening. The pandemic closed a lot of businesses. Others retrenched. The old ownership structure of Belmar in Downtown Lakewood went belly-up and Bridge 33 bought the property with the goal of finishing the project.

Bridge 33 has been aggressively trying to fill empty storefronts, and that work is starting to bear fruit. A Lululemon pop-up has filled the space vacated by Guess at the corner of Teller and Alaska. Directly across from the Lululemon pop-up is Garage Sale Vintage, a pop-up thrift store/bar. 

Meanwhile, Arvada-based Mexican restaurant Lady Nomada is renovating the space that was previously the Italian joint Brodo. And the old Sur La Table location on Teller has become...a Fidelity brokerage??? Well, as I said, change is good on balance, but perhaps not in every detail.

It's also been a busy few years for me personally, and I haven't had a much time to write this blog. I'm still busy, but I'm going to try and post more regularly, now that Belmar and Downtown Lakewood have come out of their pandemic lull.

So yeah, change is good, mostly. Let's see what the year brings.

 

Yes, We Need Multifamily Housing at 451 S. Teller St.

After a number of failed starts, it seems we're getting closer to seeing the vacant lot at 451 S. Teller St. sprout much-needed multifamily housing.

This space, located between the Belmar Plaza Residences and the Belmar Square Park, has been a temporary parking lot ever since the old Villa Italia Mall was demolished. Building on it is essential to realizing the promise of Belmar as a true "Downtown Lakewood," a space defined by mid-rise city blocks, a mix of retail and residential, a walking culture, and an active street life.  

The latest plans for 451 S. Teller St. involve multi-family apartments built and managed by Doran Properties, a Minnesota-based firm. The proposal calls for a 194 unit mid-rise structure on the 1.76 acre lot with resident parking, an outdoor pool, a club room, and co-working spaces. Studio, one, two, and three bedroom units would be available for rent.

There's so much to like about this project. For example, the presence of three bedroom apartments makes it appealing to families, not just young singles. That's a huge plus in my book. In addition, the site's ample parking will be hidden from view, with one level of parking underground and two more above ground in an internal parking structure. This is important because it means residents will have dedicated parking and their vehicles won't add to parking demand elsewhere in Belmar. Finally, the fact that this will be housing, rather than retail, is really, really good. Lakewood as a whole has way too much retail space and no where near enough housing. So what's not to like?

From my view, nothing. The project, however, has been slowed by opposition from residents of the neighboring Belmar Plaza Residences. Their complaint? The proposed project is too tall and will take away their views. 

Sigh.

This kind of NIMBYism is depressingly common, but I've heard the Lakewood planning commission is working to accommodate their concerns by adjusting the height and footprint of the new building. I hope the situation gets resolved soon and the project breaks ground, as the rest of us have had to live with the ugly parking lot at 451 S. Teller St. far too long.

Bridge 33 Hosts Fun, Festive "Boo-mar" Event for Belmar Residents

Bridge 33, the new owners of the Belmar commercial district, put on a private "Boo-mar" Halloween event last Thursday in the Belmar Plaza for local residents. Their goal was to solicit community input about the future of the commercial district. (This is probably a good place to note that Bridge 33 only owns the main commercial district in Belmar, and not the private residential areas or rental apartments within the borders of the larger Belmar development).

Since completing their purchase, Bridge 33 has been quite active in the community, attending community business forums. This latest event, however, was an attempt to reach out to the broader community. To that end, "Boo-mar" featured a costume contest, free craft beers and ciders from local taprooms, and music by local band Guerrilla Fanfare.

Jack Hechinger, Bridge 33's VP of Acquisitions, was there, along with Philip Knott, who is Belmar's new General Manager, and Alberta Davidson, Belmar's new Director of Marketing. Together, they spent the evening listening and answering questions, while residents quaffed beers from Locust Cider and 6 and 40 Brewery. 

It was also a chance to imagine a future where the Belmar Plaza-- arguably the heart of the entire New Urbanist development-- is a bustling, fun place to mix, mingle and relax every night, not just on nights when there are special events. I asked Philip Knott what it would take to make this happen. "It's a chicken and egg problem," he told me. "Take the idea of more restaurants and bars here on the plaza. These kinds of places bring in more foot traffic, but restaurateurs don't want to sign leases until the foot traffic is already there. That's what I mean by a chicken and egg problem." Bridge 33's answer in other markets, he said, has been to create bustle with fun, interesting pop-up spaces that bring people in and showcase the area's potential. "Belmar happened too soon for the west side of Denver," Jack Hechinger told me, but that he feels the thinking and the demographics have caught up. "We're excited to be here.

I'm excited too, as someone who believes in urban spaces and walkable neighborhoods enough to make my home in one. And in the next few weeks I'm going to start posting my top 5 ideas for how Bridge 33 should move forward with revitalizing Belmar as the pandemic begins to recede. 

Rebekah Stewart for Lakewood City Council Ward 3

Earlier this week I posted about the upcoming school board election, which is shaping up as a choice between loud, strident craziness and quiet, competent leadership.

Well, the Lakewood City Council races are another place to weigh in on the kind of leadership you prefer. Because, yes, there have been some strange city council stories in the news over the last few years involving boyfriends with knives and candidates sharing "news" written by fictional characters. There have also been stories circulating on Facebook that describe potential conflicts of interest among council members. It's all so weird that I really don't know what to make of it.

What I do know is that folks who live in Ward 3 and want quiet, competent leadership have an outstanding candidate for city council in Rebekah Stewart. 

Rebekah is active member of both the South Lakewood Business Association and Alameda Connects, and has been endorsed by Congressman Ed Perlmutter, State Senator Brittany Pettersen, Jeffco Commissioner Andy Kerr, the Sierra Club and the West Metro Fire Fighters Local 1309. 

Want to learn more about Rebekah and her qualifications? Check out her web page here.

Cider Days 2021

There might not have been a Festival Italiano this year in Belmar, but Cider Days is a go for 2021. As always, it's being held at the Lakewood Heritage Center in Belmar Park, but new for this year, the hard cider tasting has been split off from the main event.

Why? Well, the hard cider tasting has grown substantially, to the point where there wasn't really enough room to have both the tasting and the main Cider Days events at the same time.

Somewhat to my surprise, the hard cider tasting was this weekend (Sept. 25th), and the main Cider Days event is next weekend (Oct. 2-3). That means if you weren't in attendance last night, well, you've already missed the tasting event for this year.

Fortunately, I was able to get last minute tickets, and wow, the tasting event was a blast! Fourteen different cider producers were in attendance, most with 4-5 different ciders available to taste. The event was crowded (maybe too crowded, given the ongoing pandemic), with live music and food trucks in addition to the beverages. 

 My own first exposure to hard cider came while attending the University of Wales, where hard cider is a long-standing part of the local culture, consumed by coal miners and university students alike. Welsh ciders are crisp and dry with strong apple notes, but American ciders can be dry or sweet, and many incorporate citrus or other fruit flavors in addition to the standard apple. 

Personally, many of these American ciders are too sweet for my palette, but I there were plenty at this year's Cider Days tasting that I did like, including my personal best of show, Snow Capped Cider's Dabinett Reserve. It's a dry, crisp, apple-ly cider that reminds me of a really good Welsh cider. It's also apparently hard to get, as it's not listed for sale on their web site.

Snow Capped also had a Sour Cherry that was outstandingly tart and dry, but my favorite non-traditional cider of the show was the Talbott's Cider Company's Rafter IPC. Made in Palisade Colorado, this cider has  a hint of hops to round out the cider's dry apple body. It was highly quaffable, and is definitely on my list to track down. In fact, Mile High Wine and Spirits right here in Downtown Lakewood supposedly carries Talbott's, so the next time I'm in, I'm going to see if they have the Rafter IPC.

The Path to Normal: Vaccination Rate Against Covid Reaches 74% of People Ages 12+ in Jeffco

It's been a heck of year, but things are slowly getting back to normal on the Front Range. Stores and restaurants are open again, but a lot of business didn't make it. You can see that dynamic play out in Downtown Lakewood as well, where weekend nights in recent weeks have seen big crowds in restaurants like T-Street Roadhouse and Wasabi Sushi, even as those same visitors are greeted by lots of empty store fronts. 

The way back to something close to normal is the story of vaccination rates. Jefferson County as a whole has reached a vaccination rate of 74% in people ages 12+ (i.e. in people who are eligible to be vaccinated), and 65% of county residents overall. This is lower than Boulder County's 78%/69% rate, but slightly higher than Denver (73%.63%) and Dougco (73%/63% as well). 

For me, this means outdoor events and al fresco dining are once again options for my partially vaccinated family (my daughter is still too young to have been vaccinated), and we've even started to do limited inside, non-food events as well (while wearing properly fitted n95 masks). 

Who still needs shots in Jeffco? Mostly young people under the age of 25. If you know of anyone in the demographic who is unvaccinated, let them know how easy it is to get it done.