Taste of Denver

4) The Sakura Square: Denver has long had a highly personal connection with Japan. We have some of the oldest (and some of the best) sushi restaurants in the country and a long tradition of embracing Asian cuisines of all descriptions. Therefore, what could be better than a tamago handroll (sweetened egg omelet, folded and tied to a rice ball with a ribbon of nori) with a paper-thin slice of cold, poached Colorado river trout inside and a single slip of jalapeño on top?

5) The Real Denver omelet: In order to give a true sense of the city from which it takes its name, I'm thinking nothing more complicated than sliced steak (a flatiron cut would be most appropriate) and a smear of Haystack Mountain goat cheese rolled inside an omelet, topped with a splash of Colorado-style green chile. Serve this with a side of lardon-studded black beans cooked in bacon grease and some whole-grain toast, and you have a breakfast truly worthy of this fine city.

But hey, I'm just one guy, right? What I really want is to hear from you folks. So if you've got a great idea — something you already cook, something you wish someone else would cook, something you'd eat proudly every morning for the rest of your life if only some smart young chef would stick it on his menu — send it my way. If I get enough good suggestions, I'm going to end this Denver-omelet nightmare once and for all. A city ordinance banning the possession, sale or consumption of Denver omelets would be a good place to start, non-compliance punishable by immediate seizure and equitable redistribution of all restaurant assets, as well as summary exile to Colorado Springs or Kansas.

So what do you say, Denver? Who's with me?

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Leftovers: The former home of Mel's is now Iron Mountain Winery, but the Cherry Creek institution is coming back — just not in Cherry Creek. Last week, Mel Master told me that he and wife Jane are dumping the Montecito South concept and turning that spot at 5970 South Holly Street in Greenwood Village into a new Mel's. "After the emotional closing last April," Mel explained, "Janie and I steadfastly opposed doing another Mel's out of Cherry Creek — but we have come to our senses."

Monty South (as it was known) was simply not rising to the level of the first Montecito, which opened last December at 1120 East Sixth Avenue — a nouvelle California/Mediterranean masterpiece originally overseen by chef Adam Mali and now under the command of Jeremy Wilson. Personally, I preferred the original on Sixth or even Annabel's, which the Masters opened a few months ago right next door to Monty South in the former Ocotillo, at 5960 South Holly. According to Mel, the second Montecito space was too big for the concept, and the "results" — meaning the numbers, sure, but also the vibe — "were disappointing."

Monty South is closing October 6 for two days of changeover and a staff reorganization — Mel's veterans who were given posts at Annabel's are being brought over to the new Mel's, and Monty South staffers will move next door to work the Annabel's floor — and then will reopen on October 9 with a menu that's like a greatest-hits collection of Mel and Jane's long careers.

"We spent weeks looking at every menu from all over the world where we've been," Mel said. "In that, it will be like the original Mel's menu from many years ago."

And Mali will oversee that menu — for now. "Adam will be our executive chef until such a time as he decides to go back to California," Mel told me, adding that Mali is welcome for as long as he wants to stay. The Masters could still use a chef de cuisine for the new Mel's, though. Anyone interested?

Finally, chef Mark Tarbell — who's best known for his joints in Arizona but also gave us the Oven in Belmar — recently whupped Iron Chef Cat Cora in the apple battle during Iron Chef America. It was one of the most interesting ICAs I've seen in quite some time, since right up until the end, it looked as though Tarbell wasn't even going to get anything on the plate: He'd blown several dishes under pressure and was scrambling to get his stuff to table.

As I watched Tarbell sweat under the klieg lights, I checked on his promised second restaurant in Belmar — Home, which was originally scheduled to open in 2005 but is now listed on Belmar's website as opening "winter '08." And soon after, he'll have another metro-area joint: a copy of his eponymous Arizona restaurant, Tarbell's, slated for inclusion in the "retail village" at the new Kent Place development in Englewood.