Great American Beer Festival #4: Snooze, Cheeky Monk, & Wynkoop

If you do not live within driving distance of Snooze, get on a plane and go to Denver.  When you get to Denver, go to Snooze, and then find something else to do.  Other things to do in Denver include the Great American Beer Fest, Oktoberfest, Baseball games, Brewery tours, hiking, and skiing.  I'm serious.  My flight to Denver was only $74 after taxes and fees.  Breakfast at Snooze isn't just breakfast, it's perfectly executed breakfast with a creative twist. All photos by John Knox.

I visited Snooze for the first time on Friday morning for the GABF breakfast meet up organized by @jeffbearer. Tara, @TheArtof Beer, @BeachBumChris, @Windaddict, and I ordered the Colorado Ginger pancakes, French Toast, Salmon Eggs Benedict, Breakfast Burrito, and breakfast tacos.   I had the salmon eggs Benedict, and it was perfect.  The eggs were perfectly poached, the salmon was flavorful, and the capers were perfect.  This dish was perfectly executed.  I also got to sample some French toast, which is Challah bread with a crunch (cornflakes or rice krispies I think, I only had a little), topped with cream cheese frosting and a berry compote.  Nothing short of amazing. 


Stealing the show, however, were the pancakes.  These are the best pancakes ever.  They were light and fluffy with that comfort feel to them.  The Colorado Peach Pancakes has just the smallest slivers of ginger paired with chunky pieces of peaches.  Not only where the pancakes light and fluffy, the outside was GBD (golden, brown, and delicious).  On Sunday, I decided that before I could give Snooze the "perfect pancake" distinction, we had to try it again.  After an hour long wait (we went to Oktoberfest and the Baseball field while we waited), we ordered the pancake flight and the Sandwich I am.

Yes, indeedy, these were the best pancakes I have every had.  The flavor combinations were fresh and complimentary to each other.  We had the carrot cake, pineapple upside down, and the pancake of the day - banana topped with a vanilla cream sauce and cinnamon butter.  The Sandwich I am did not fail to please.  The eggs were rich and butter, the sausage was flavorful, and the tomato gravy was heavenly.  My words don't suffice though.  Just reading the menu item descriptions below will make anyone hungry. 

Colorado Peach Ginger Pancakes   buttermilk pancakes with Palisade Peaches, candied ginger, vanilla cream sauce, streusel & ginger butter. The fruition of Colorado’s Western Slope.           

Carrot Cake Pancakes   our infamous buttermilk pancake with spiced shredded carrots, raisins, walnuts (only if you like ‘em!) topped with cream cheese glaze and cinnamon butter.  

French Berry Crunch   Challah bread French toast with a crunch, drizzled with cream cheese frosting and covered in mixed berry compote.     

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes fresh chunks of caramelized pineapple with housemade vanilla crème anglaise and cinnamon butter Sandwich I Am Scrambled eggs, Polidori Sausage Patty, and cheddar cheese rest between homemade English muffin, our tomato gravy or Vermont Maple Syrup on the side. House hash browns to boot!             




Breakfast at the Cheeky Monk was also pretty tasty, aside from the extremely slow service.  I ordered the banana Belgium waffle with a chocolate hazelnut sauce, and everyone else at the table ordered an egg dish and a wit mimosa (orange juice and wit).  Everyone seemed to enjoy their dish, and mine was pretty delicious as well.  The waffle was huge, crispy, and covered with nutella.  Can't really go wrong with nutella, except that there was about an entire cup on the waffle.  Now there's a breakfast I need to run off.  While we were there, The Breury stopped  by our table to pour us samples of their Autumn Maple and Papier.  The Autumn Maple's spicy notes gave me ideas of carrot cake French toast and sweet potato pancakes. Yummy!

After the last session on Saturday night, we stopped off at Wynkoop to unwind and relax for a bit.  While we were there, we ordered some pretzels.  Little did I know that these weren't ordinary pretezels.  These were those big, hot, doughy ones with soft fluffy insides and a crisp crust on the outside served with spicy mustard.  These pretzels were so good, I thought they needed a shout out.  That's how you make water, flour, yeast, and salt awesome.