Tour de Forks: Asian Fusion

Journey to Asia through fresh Nouvelle Cuisine with an Asian Fusion twist, in a home rife with exotic art from the East.

 

Chefs: Rose Reyes, Montanya Distillers (Crested Butte, CO); Chef Biju Thomas, Biju’s Little Curry Shop (Denver, CO)

Hosts: Desiree & Dave Miller

Location: Meridian Lake

 

Date: Thursday, August 22

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Cost: $200

CHEFS

Chef Rose Reyes of Montanya Distillers grew up in a time and place where farm-to-table ingredients were the only way to prepare food – she shopped at the local farmer’s market for what was the freshest. Watching her mother work with what was available still stands as one of Rose’s strongest inspirations. Now, as a chef formally trained at the Cook Street School of Culinary Arts in Denver, Rose integrates that dedication to freshness into her Nouvelle Cuisine dishes that sparkle with an Asian Fusion twist. Her modern interpretations of wine country gastronomy reference classical French and Italian while assimilating the roots of her ethnic influences. Rose revels in a good party with food as the centerpiece – music combined with the laughter of friends while ingredients sizzle and crackle in the pan, aromas sifting out into the room. Her sensibilities dedicate her to the full range of aesthetic and sensual experiences of eating – of the visual and textural ingeniously followed by a surprising and delightful explosion of tastes.

Chef Biju Thomas of Biju’s Little Curry Shop in Denver’s trendy RiNo neighborhood is known for light, simple dishes bursting with bold flavors from his native south India. Since opening his restaurant in 2014, Chef Thomas has opened two more locations in Denver, and in 2018, Biju’s Little Curry Shop was named the Best Indian Restaurant in Denver by Westword. In 2009, Chef Thomas teamed up with sports physiologist Dr. Allen Lim to improve the everyday diets and performance nutrition of professional cyclists and their teams. Their best-selling and wildly popular Feed Zone cookbook series features hundreds of easy, healthy recipes for an active lifestyle. Thomas has cooked for dozens of elite professional athletes and celebrities, teaching them the craft of healthy everyday cooking.

LOCATION

The Millers’ home carries the ultimate dual advantage of vast amounts of open space access and a convenient location in a neighborhood. Perched on the highest tier of the Meridian Lake development, the home backs directly up to over 12,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service land, giving them enviable entry to wildflower meadows, aspen glens and the Snodgrass trail to the north, and rambling down-valley views from an elevated deck to the south. As former residents of Hong Kong, the Millers collected art, baskets and textiles on their travels through China, Japan, Indonesia, India and beyond that now accent their home’s more rustic elements – timber framed beams, rough-hewn hardwood floors and white wash wainscoting. A soapstone masonry wood-burning stove bisects the living and dining areas in the great room, allowing for airy entertaining while maintaining cozy, individual uses. An extension of the space is the kitchen, designed by culinary enthusiast Desiree herself to be compact yet efficient, allowing the chef to be a part of the party.