“[Harvest Week] is a way to connect with the whole circle of the food system,” says Giselle Díaz Campagna, executive director of the GrowHaus, a community-led nonprofit that works to advance food justice via food access and wellness education. Along with the nonprofit EatDenver, which connects and empowers the local food and beverage community, the GrowHaus will host its sixteenth annual Harvest Week fundraiser from October 2 to 5 at Ironton Distillery and Crafthouse.
“What happens to our food before the plate and after — it's all part of a cycle. Restaurants are a part of that story. Food redistribution is a part of that story, but also the farms. [Harvest Week] guests are directly supporting that interconnected food system,” says Kristen Rauch, executive director of EatDenver.
The event comprises five dinners, each featuring passed appetizers and five elevated courses served family style. Dishes are created by EatDenver members, all of which are Colorado-owned independent restaurants. Several are repeat participants, including the 100 percent employee-owned Edible Beats hospitality group. “We feel really honored to be a part,” says Joy Williams-Clark, operations chef at Edible Beats.
Restaurants were also selected from lists such as Westword’s Best of Denver. And some, like Dio Mio, Noisette and Tavernetta, were included in the recently announced Michelin Guide Colorado.
“What happens to our food before the plate and after — it's all part of a cycle. Restaurants are a part of that story. Food redistribution is a part of that story, but also the farms. [Harvest Week] guests are directly supporting that interconnected food system,” says Kristen Rauch, executive director of EatDenver.
The event comprises five dinners, each featuring passed appetizers and five elevated courses served family style. Dishes are created by EatDenver members, all of which are Colorado-owned independent restaurants. Several are repeat participants, including the 100 percent employee-owned Edible Beats hospitality group. “We feel really honored to be a part,” says Joy Williams-Clark, operations chef at Edible Beats.
At least one locally or regionally sourced ingredient must appear in each dish.
Nikki A Rae Photography
“We're always looking for people who are unique to the culinary scene, who are well talked about and who we think our guests would be excited to see there,” says Rauch. “We give chefs a lot of flexibility for their menu items. "The only qualifier is that [they] have to source at least one ingredient from Colorado. You have some chefs who try to make their whole menu item locally or regionally sourced.”
Each evening is capped at 130 seats, and Wednesday and Thursday have already sold out. But the first two nights will highlight other delicious dishes. “Ms. Betty's Cooking is opening up the event," Rauch says of Monday night's lineup. "Chef Tajahi Cooke [is] doing a black garlic royal oyster purée. It's an ode to mushrooms, [with] roasted king mushrooms, pickled criminis and shiitake dust.” Courses from Steuben’s, River and Woods, Jax Fish House, Bodega Denver and Ace Eat Serve will follow.
Tuesday is vegetarian night, which kicks off with appetizers from El Five. “Chef Corey Ferguson is doing the apps course. We’re [giving] a nod to pinchos, serving a mushroom crujientes, which is a little, crispy Middle Eastern pastry with a sofrito of black garlic and a sherry gastrique. We're doing a tomato tartoletta with pickled peppers, eggplants, crispy garlic and crème fraîche. Also, a queso Leonora with Espelette peppers, peach jam and Marcona almonds,” says Williams-Clark.
“There are so many local partnerships within those dishes. We're utilizing Carbon Culture mushrooms, which is a small, local mushroom company. We're using Community Table, as well as Spin Farms. We also have our own small hydroponic farm, Beat Box Farms, and we'll be utilizing a lot of greens and garnishes from them," Willliams-Clark continues.
She adds, “Chef Kyle Luce with Vital Root [is] doing red wine-braised fennel with mushroom duxelles, celeriac purée and an autumn succotash. Within that dish, he's featuring wine from the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey, Carbon Culture mushroom company, Petrocco Farms and Beat Box.” Courses from Lucina Eatery and Bar, Lady in the Wild, Dio Mio and Ironton Distillery and Crafthouse round out the Tuesday night menu.
Rauch comments, “Because the event is really celebrating Colorado's fall bounty, we want to also recognize the farmers and the lands that we're sourcing from — 1 percent of all ticket sales will be redistributed back to the planet. We're working with Zero Foodprint, which redistributes funds through a Colorado-based grant into regenerative agriculture and healthy soil projects around the state.” All other proceeds and donations benefit EatDenver and the GrowHaus equally.
EatDenver addresses the industry’s ever-changing operational and financial challenges through an array of programming. “We facilitate opportunities for professional development," says Rauch. "EatDenver hosts monthly industry education programs. We do ED Talks, which is our version of TED Talks, but built for the hospitality industry. We foster collaboration in the industry through a digital membership platform. We have quarterly networking events and our headline events, such as Harvest Week and the Big Eat.”
The organization has especially flexed its advocacy arm since the start of COVID-19. Locally and statewide, EatDenver has acted as “a voice for the needs and values of an inclusive and equitable food and beverage community," Rauch notes.
Restaurant operators, owners and others in the industry haven’t yet recovered from the effects of the pandemic, she notes: “There are not only the operational challenges there's always been, but also increased labor costs, increased price of goods, increased rent. Denver has the highest inflation rate in the country."
EatDenver addresses the industry’s ever-changing operational and financial challenges through an array of programming. “We facilitate opportunities for professional development," says Rauch. "EatDenver hosts monthly industry education programs. We do ED Talks, which is our version of TED Talks, but built for the hospitality industry. We foster collaboration in the industry through a digital membership platform. We have quarterly networking events and our headline events, such as Harvest Week and the Big Eat.”
The organization has especially flexed its advocacy arm since the start of COVID-19. Locally and statewide, EatDenver has acted as “a voice for the needs and values of an inclusive and equitable food and beverage community," Rauch notes.
Chefs and restaurant teams that participated in last year’s Harvest Week event.
Nikki A Rae Photography
Díaz Campagna adds that the communities the GrowHaus serves also struggle in the current economy — even more so than during COVID. She quotes a statistic from Hunger Free Colorado: Thirty-three percent of Coloradans are struggling to access nutritious food.
“We are seeing more and more families [who] need urgent support for food. Globeville and Elyria-Swansea, where the GrowHaus started, remains an area of focus, because it's one of Denver's oldest food deserts. These communities have been food-insecure for generations.”
The GrowHaus serves other communities with no-cost meals via partnerships with Boys and Girls Clubs, Denver Public Library and other organizations. The GrowHaus also offers a paid weekly food box subscription program to the general public in the metro area, which supports local farmers and businesses as well as the nonprofit’s overall mission.
“Once we bridge this gap of not having access to food, then we can invite [community members] to take a break. Let's connect with our children around the table,” says Díaz Campagna, noting that GrowHaus hosts multi-generational programs that emphasize the connection between food and culture.
One such program, Abejitas, allows small children and their caregivers to create salads, cook veggies and plant gardens. The GrowHaus also cultivates leadership through its Seed2Seed program, which educates teenagers on food justice. Some participants are now program facilitators and part-time employees.
“It's important for people to take action when they can — to connect with these organizations and with independent restaurants,” Díaz Campagna notes. “Supporting this work is another way of making sure that everybody's fed. I think that's an important basic right that we all have.”
Díaz Campagna concludes: “Sometimes we are so busy that we don't understand other families are suffering. We need to pick up our heads and see how we can help.”
“We are seeing more and more families [who] need urgent support for food. Globeville and Elyria-Swansea, where the GrowHaus started, remains an area of focus, because it's one of Denver's oldest food deserts. These communities have been food-insecure for generations.”
The GrowHaus serves other communities with no-cost meals via partnerships with Boys and Girls Clubs, Denver Public Library and other organizations. The GrowHaus also offers a paid weekly food box subscription program to the general public in the metro area, which supports local farmers and businesses as well as the nonprofit’s overall mission.
“Once we bridge this gap of not having access to food, then we can invite [community members] to take a break. Let's connect with our children around the table,” says Díaz Campagna, noting that GrowHaus hosts multi-generational programs that emphasize the connection between food and culture.
One such program, Abejitas, allows small children and their caregivers to create salads, cook veggies and plant gardens. The GrowHaus also cultivates leadership through its Seed2Seed program, which educates teenagers on food justice. Some participants are now program facilitators and part-time employees.
“It's important for people to take action when they can — to connect with these organizations and with independent restaurants,” Díaz Campagna notes. “Supporting this work is another way of making sure that everybody's fed. I think that's an important basic right that we all have.”
Díaz Campagna concludes: “Sometimes we are so busy that we don't understand other families are suffering. We need to pick up our heads and see how we can help.”
