Uchibā, which replaced Top Knot above Uchi, is continuing the latter’s Uncommon Ramen series on the last Monday of each month. On June 25 from 5 to 10 p.m., Jennifer Jasinski, the James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Southwest 2013, will be serving up her version of the Japanese comfort food.
If you’ve ever been to Denver’s Historic Larimer Square, you might have taken advantage of the opportunity to wander into one of Jasinski’s three restaurants: Rioja, Bistro Vendôme, or Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen. My sister lives in Denver, so I go every chance I get. Jasinski’s duck confit empanada at Rioja is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, and j’ai mangé myself malade more than once on chicken liver mousse, moules, and pommes frites at Bistro Vendôme.
Jasinski trained at the Rainbow Room in New York and with Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles. It was Puck who introduced her to Jody Denton, former sous chef for Dean Fearing at The Mansion at Turtle Creek, who in turn hired her to help open Eureka, one of Puck’s many restaurants. Puck and Jasinski worked together for a decade before she decided to settle in Denver and open Rioja.
Upcoming Uncommon Ramen collaborations include Tommy Lee (of Denver’s Hop Alley and Uncle) on July 30, Blaine Staniford (of Fort Worth’s Grace and Little Red Wasp) on August 27, Kathryn Caine (of Denver’s Death & Co.) on September 24, Jonathan Thompson (of Dallas’ Zaytinya) on October 29, and Omar Flores (of Dallas’ Whistle Britches) on November 26. Limited reservations are accepted, and a portion of the proceeds benefit Promise of Peace Gardens in East Dallas.
