5280 Finds an Unsung Vietnamese Gem in Aurora

ADVENTUROUS EATING NEWS: Feeling like a challenge? Follow food writer Ruth Tobias on her journey with 5280 to Nón Lá The Eating Place in Aurora. This Vietnamese restaurant is known (or should be known) for its hot pots, loaded with “shrimp, mussels, squid, whitefish, salmon, steak, tofu and two types of cabbage alongside rice noodles and banana blossoms.” Tobias also tries balut, a delicacy somewhere between a duck egg and developed creature. As she puts it: “Such is cultural conditioning, even to someone who’s devoted her career to overcoming it, that a duck in the shell should present a greater challenge than one on a platter.” [5280]

HONKYTONK HEYDAY NEWS: The National Western Stock Show and Rodeo comes to an end this weekend, but for some more lasting nostalgia, head over to Denverite to read Adrian Garcia’s history and survey of the Denver honkytonk. It starts with Jack Kerouac on Denver’s Curtis Street and fast-forwards to the present-day scene in downtown Cowboy Lounge and across neighborhood holdovers such as The Grizzly Rose, Stampede, and Bonfire Tavern. “Denver has deep ties to the country music industry,” Garcia writes. “During the 1930s, Hollywood influenced the Mile High’s country music scene with its many western movies.” [Denverite]

BEHIND THE SCENES BREWING NEWS: After four years photographing more than one hundred Colorado breweries, Dustin Hall will release his Brewtography Project coffee table book, Discovering Colorado Breweries, this weekend. Ahead of the release, he talks to Westword beer writer Jonathan Shikes about human subjects, computer science day jobs, and plans for the future. Hall has an insider’s view unlike almost any other into this industry: “It’s not a rock star lifestyle where you are just drinking all the time,” he tells the magazine. [Westword]

15 MINUTES OF FAME NEWS: From Top Chef to Triple D, multiple Denver chefs and restaurants have had their moment in the spotlight on national TV shows. But writer Rebecca Treon for The Denver Post asks: What effect, if any, does it have on their business? Turns out, it’s almost always a boon. From CoraFaye’s to Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs, Salati Italian Street Food, El Chingon, and Tocabe, all the business owners Treon talked to said they see an uptick in customers when a show airs or re-airs. And the exposure doesn’t hurt either as the owners plan to expand or start entirely new projects. [Denver Post The Know]

• Hidden Gem: Nón Lá [5280]
• Denver’s honkytonks changed after country music’s heyday [Denverite]
• New Photography Book Captures the Heart and Soul of Colorado’s Breweries [Westword]
• Food shows may love Denver, but what do the 15 minutes of fame really mean for the restaurants? [The Know]