Join us on Thursday, September 5th, for a six course meal from Chef Troy Guard and James Beard Award Winning Chef Hugo Ortega, from Houston, Texas.
About Hugo Ortega – Executive Chef of H Town Restaurant Group
The Best Chef: Southwest at the prestigious 2017 James
Beard Foundation Awards started with very humble beginnings. Hugo was
raised in Mexico City and Puebla, Mexico, and learned his love of cooking from
his mother and grandmother, a revered mole maker. At 17, he left Mexico for
Houston and began his hospitality career as dishwasher/busboy at Backstreet
Cafe before graduating culinary school and becoming its executive chef and
owner, along with wife Tracy Vaught. His American Dream continued when they opened
Hugo’s, Caracol and Xochi. Hugo is author of two cookbooks, “Hugo Ortega’s
Street Food of Mexico” and “Backstreet Kitchen: Seasonal Recipes from Our
Neighborhood Cafe”. Hugo and Tracy are investors in Origen restaurant in
Oaxaca, Mexico, created the menu for Hugo’s Cocina at George Bush
Intercontinental Airport, and have partnered with celebrity chef Michael Mina
to create a new concept, Mi Almita, currently open in Honolulu and opening soon
in Los Angeles.
It’s not far to never-never land! Slip on your most comfortable boat shoes and party the night away at Mister Tuna’s Yacht Rock Anniversary Bash!
Celebrate all things summer with Mister Tuna at our Yacht Rock Anniversary Bash! Tickets include a welcome cocktail, yachty-inspired appetizers (think mini lobster rolls, grilled oysters, crabcakes, and caviar deviled eggs), a New England style Crab Boil, and LIVE MUSIC from Tori Pater and friends. Party Starts | 5:30pmCrab Boil & Passed Apps | 6-8:30pmLive Music from Tori Pater and Friends | 6-9pmLate Night Bites (available for purchase) | 8:30-10pm Dress to impress in your finest boat attire – you never know who you’ll cruise into on the Lido Deck!
Chef Showdown: 10pm-Midnight $10 online advance / $12 day of – ticket includes social hour bites / cash bar / big props to our sponsors
$1 from every Chef Showdown ticket sold benefits We Don’t Waste. Sponsored by Deep Eddy, Seattle Fish Co, Finkle & Garf, Carbon Knife Co, and Rebel Farm.
Chef Edgar Drago of Los Chingones RiNo represents Team TRG as he goes head to head against Chef Cesar Tamariz of Kachina Cantina Denver.
If you haven’t joined us for an epic showdown, here’s how it works: Our competing Chefs are given three surprise ingredients and 30 minutes to WOW our panel of judges, with whatever means necessary. The winner is knighted with a custom Chef Showdown blade from Carbon Knife Co. No rules, just a winner, and lots of fun. Come early to enjoy social apps. The competition begins at 10:30pm.
When Mister Tunaopened in 2016, the moniker—love it or hate it—got people talking. You see, “Mister Tuna” is chef/owner Troy Guard’s father’s nickname, and the hip RiNo eatery was loosely inspired by the casual outdoor cooking of Guard’s Hawaiian upbringing.
That name also confused some diners, who walked in off of Brighton Boulevard expecting a sushi restaurant, but instead found a New American menu with Hawaiian influences. That issue needed solving, so when chef Tristen Epps took the reins as executive chef last year, the team decided to completely reimagine the menu. The result, which rolled out late last month, is now more global, more shareable, and more small-plate oriented. (And yes, the new menu does include a sashimi option or two.)
For daytime diners, Mister Tuna also rolled out a new lunch service as of April 30. The simple, meat-and-three-style menu features the likes of Kona coffee-brined kalua pig and lentil faux’lafel, plus sides like grilled carrots and Hawaiian-style macaroni salad. You order at the counter, and pay $13.50 for a main dish, two sides, and an agua fresca or lemonade.
Here are a few of the new dishes you’ll find when you check out Mister Tuna 2.0:
Mister Tuna’s daily charcuterie plate comes with Elevation Charcuterie & Artisan Meats’ coppa, plus house-made lonza and speck. It’s a must-order for the olives and crunchy sunchoke pickles alone, but we also think chef Epps should consider bottling and selling his fermented mustard sauce (bottom left).The Mister Tuna hummus plate has three “gigante bean textures”: There’s the smooth bean dip, a bean salad, and crispy gigante shards on top. Seasoned with za’atar, Aleppo and Urfa peppers, and scooped up with house-made roti, it’s a super-satisfying starter.New to the Mister Tuna menu is the “Tuna Tribute” section, which is like a choose-your-own-adventure of tuna tapas priced at $8 each. Pictured here, from left to right: The tuna tataki with rhubarb, buttermilk, vanilla bean, and sweet peas; tuna poke with avocado, seaweed, quinoa, and sweet onion dresssing; albacore sashimi; yellowfin sashimi.Epps’ vegan pad thai features crunchy kelp noodles, tamarind dressing, peanuts, and lots of fresh herbs.Mister Tuna’s grilled octopus comes with fava beans, pickled green strawberries, and squiggles of black barbecue sauce that gets its distinctive color from squid ink.Local Buckner Family Farm lamb ribs are lacquered in a red curry sweet and sour sauce and served atop creamy broken rice congee.
If you go: Mister Tuna is open for lunch Tues-Fri, 11:15 a.m.-2:15 p.m, and for dinner Tues-Fri at 4 p.m. Dinner on Friday starts at 5 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Thursday, May 16th Chef Showdown: 10pm-Midnight $10 online advance / $12 day of – ticket includes social hour bites / cash bar $1 from every Chef Showdown ticket sold benefits We Don’t Waste
If you haven’t joined us for an epic showdown, here’s how it works: Our competing Chefs are given three surprise ingredients and 30 minutes to WOW our panel of judges, with whatever means necessary. The winner is knighted with a custom Chef Showdown blade from Carbon Knife Co. No rules, just a winner, and lots of fun. Come early to enjoy social apps. The competition begins at 10:30.
Thursday, April 18th
Game of Thrones Inspired Chef Showdown: 10pm-Midnight
$1 from every Chef Showdown ticket sold benefits We Don’t Waste
$1 from every Woodford Reserve cocktail benefits the Food Bank of the Rockies!
Sponsored by Golden Moon Distillery, Seattle Fish Company, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Carbon Knife Co, and Rebel Farm.
Chef Brad Yard of Guard and Grace represents Team TRG as he goes head to head against Chef Ryan Rau of Urban Farmer Denver.
If you haven’t joined us for an epic showdown, here’s how it works: Our competing Chefs are given three surprise ingredients and 30 minutes to WOW our panel of judges, with whatever means necessary. The winner is knighted with a custom Chef Showdown blade from Carbon Knife Co. No rules, just a winner, and lots of fun. Come early to enjoy social apps. The competition begins at 10:30.
$1 from every Chef Showdown ticket sold benefits We Don’t Waste. $1 from every Woodford Reserve cocktail benefits the Food Bank of the Rockies! Sponsored by Woodford Reserve, Seattle Fish Company, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Carbon Knife Co, and Rebel Farm.
Kick off the evening watching your favorite bartender’s compete in Woodford Reserve’s 2019 #ManhattanExperience. After the drink battle? Stay for a food battle!
Your favorite Thursday night festivities are bigger and better! Kick off the evening with a 5 course, $75 Sake experience courtesy of our friends at Colorado Sake Co. After dinner? Stay for the best late night event in Denver. Chef Adam Vero of Hearth & Dram returns to his old stomping grounds to go head to head against Chef Chad Craybill from Uchi Denver.
If you haven’t joined us for an epic showdown, here’s how it works: Our competing Chefs are given three surprise ingredients and 30 minutes to WOW our panel of judges, with whatever means necessary. The winner is knighted with a custom Chef Showdown blade from Carbon Knife Co. No rules, just a winner, and lots of fun. Come early to enjoy social apps. The competition begins at 10:30.
