15th Annual Belmar Festival Italiano Coming Sept. 7th & 8th

Has it really been fifteen years since the first Belmar Italian Festival?

I didn't even live in downtown Lakewood the year of the first Festival Italiano. Instead I stumbled across it while on a bicycle ride out into the 'burbs from my then-home on Capitol Hill. There wasn't much to Belmar back then-- just a few blocks along Teller Street and Alaska Drive-- but I remember locking up my bike and grabbing a slice of pizza.

My plan for the festival this year is much the same as it has been every year since I moved to Belmar. I'll wander out my front door, pick up a glass of prosecco and watch Frank Sinatra perform (played this year by Derek Evilsizer). At some point I'll watch the Sbandieratori march up Alaska Drive and spin their flags to the sound of drums and trumpets. When it gets hot, I'll walk back home (that's the great thing about living in Belmar) and then come back in the early evening to sample the pizza and gelato.

One thing I am planning to do this year is map out my day a bit better than I usually do, as many of the musical acts only perform once. The schedule of events, including performance times, is available at the Belmar website.

Finally, it's worth mentioning that this year's festival is coinciding with the closure of Dino's Italian Food, which has operated on Lakewood's stretch of West Colfax for over 50 years. It's a reminder that in the early part of the 20th century, Italian Americans made up 20% of Colorado's population, and that the northwest side of Denver (including Lakewood) was home to many of these new Americans. When I was a kid in the 1970's, I remember the many red sauce, checkered table cloth, pizza and spaghetti joints that used to fill the area, along with an equal number of long gone Italian markets and taverns. Many of these places were already long past their heyday when I would go to them with my grandparents, but wandering the streets of Belmar during the annual Festival Italiano brings back memories for me, and is a wonderful celebration of the way that immigration has built today's Colorado.

Denver-based Ramen Shop, Menya Noodle, Coming to Belmar

I know it's been quiet here at La Vida Belmar. I've been meaning to go out and take photos of the amazing streetscaping that's finishing up on Alameda, or write a review of ShareTea, the Taiwanese bubble tea chain that's opened up shop in Belmar. But I was on vacation for much of June, and then I was back at the office with a lot of work to catch up on. So yeah, things have been kind of quiet on this blog.

Today, however, I was walking past the former Grappa Italian Bistro location on S. Teller St. in central Belmar an I saw something exciting. Work is happening inside the restaurant space, and the permits on-site are for Menya Noodle. This was so exciting that I had to write about it.

Menya, if you weren't aware, is a local chain of noodle shops owned by Denver chef J W Lee, who also happens to own Belmar's Wasabi Sushi. Each Menya has a slightly different menu, but I believe they all serve ramen. And if there's one thing Lakewood needs, it's a good ramen shop. Really. I get so tired of driving across town for ramen.

Now, when it comes to ramen, I prefer the Korean variety, which is topped with kimchi and deeply flavored with hot pepper paste, to the Japanese broths, which tend to strike me as a little bland. Lee is originally from South Korea (even if his restaurants are Japanese), so I'm hoping the Belmar location will carry a bold, Korean-style spicy ramen.

In Photos: First Friday at Belmar's Block 7

 A warm evening after a week of cold and snow brought out the crowds to Belmar's Block 7 last night for this month's Friday Art Walk. It's a lot of fun and a great chance to talk with the artists. In my case, I talked to Ina Gustafsen and Kristin Rankin of InK Jewelry talked about their line of earrings, necklaces, bracelets and charms, while over at Julie Havel Fine Art, painters Jenny Wilson and Liz Latrup welcomed my wife and me to their two artist show. If you weren't able to make it the Art Walk, you should still stop by, as the galleries of Block 7 are really some of the best things about Lakewood's Belmar.

Gallery-goers outside iNk Jewelry

Artists Jenny Wilson (left) and Liz Lautrup (right)
at their show at the Julie Havel Fine Art gallery.

A triptych by artist Liz Lautrup

Lorena Garcia, US Senate Candidate, Meets with Lakewood Residents at Belmar's Block 7

Belmar's Block 7 Galleries have long hosted meet and greets by aspiring local politicians. The latest to turn out was progressive candidate Lorena Garcia, who came last Thursday night to the Valkarie to meet with Lakewood residents and listen to their concerns.  Garcia is running for the Democratic party nomination and hopes to face off against Cory Gardner in the fall of 2020. The thirty-six year old is a first-time candidate, but has a long history as a community organizer and advocate for social justice. Denverite describes her political views have as being in line with those of New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while Westword notes she's running on a platform of economic equality and access to education and healthcare. If you want to learn more, there's lots about Garcia's policy preferences on her website.

It's a long road to the Democratic senate nomination, and although there are only a handful of declared candidates at this point, Garcia will likely have to face off against a long list of both establishment and outsider competitors before all is said and done. Time will tell if this newcomer's campaign catches fire, but Garcia is hard at work at the face-to-face, retail politics that a candidate needs in order to win.