Previously I might have said that I had to travel all the way from Wash Park to downtown/Lower Highlands in order to find a suitable sandwich, but oh how that has changed. A friend of mine recently turned me on to a place in west Wash Park called Vert Kitchen, and I can very gladly say (for both my stomach and my gas mileage) that I have become a repeat guest.
The very first thing that you see when you walk in is a sign that reads; “Vert Kitchen is about real cooking and healthy eating.” Now this is something that I can take in one of two ways: One, I am going to turn around and run out the door to the nearest place selling any type of fried pork, because odds are, when someone goes out of their way to tell you that their food is healthy, it usually just means that it tastes somewhere between a cardboard box and a handful of Bermuda grass. Or, two, maybe these guys are actually on to something. Judging from the fact that everything made at Vert is 100% organic and locally grown, I’m truly hoping for the latter.
But first thing’s first.
Blue Dream has become one of the more common (grow)household names lately, which can be both good and bad. Whenever a strain gets passed around like a picture of Michele Pfeifer (I’m talking 80s’ Pfeifer - think cat woman at a high school cinema club lock in) bad things can happen. Some growers are going to grow it poorly or grow it completely differently than Blue Dream and throw the label on it because they know it’s going to sell. Thankfully, this time a friend (and medical patient) brought me a particularly lovely phenotype of the “dream”: it reaffirmed everything that made it so great to begin with.
It was an extremely nice day for mid-March so we decided to medicate, chill at the park and then walk over to Vert. I could smell the Blue Dream through his pockets the second he walked into my house. The buds were all very dense with a light green hue and alternating hairs of blue and purple. The aroma was extremely fruity and light, but I could tell that it was still going to be some serious medicine. Upon taking the first rip, the taste was much more potent than I had thought. I could still taste the blueberries, but it was a very spicy and powerful smoke as well. It instantly gave me a massive head change. Blue Dream is primarily a sativa and this was most certainly that. It kept me clear headed, but at the same time was very powerful.
After a couple more rips we walked over to Vert by way of the park, which seemed to be especially vibrant this fine day. The Blue Dream really just put me in a great headspace; I could definitely feel my creative juices beginning to flow. Upon arriving at Vert, my friend asked me what was good, and the girl at the counter (who happened to look an awful lot like Zooey Deschanel, which was obviously another plus) overheard us and replied “everything.”
I decided to go with the braised pork shoulder sandwich with a side of Mediterranean lentils, and my friend decided on the turkey sandwich, which just happened to be adorned with chevre and balsamic fig compote. The sandwiches arrived very quickly and were amazingly flavorful. My braised pork shoulder was topped with roasted cabbage, peppers, and a dusting of paprika: so on point. It’s not like your typical pork sandwich. You can tell that someone put some serious time and effort into making the pork as juicy and succulent as was physically possible. The side offering of lentils (which is great, I mean who offers lentils as a side at a sandwich shop) were tossed with sweet potato and some Moroccan spices and were just as flavorful as the sandwich. My friend seemed to agree as well, as he proclaimed that it was the best turkey sandwich he had ever had in his life! The balsamic figs that went on the sandwich could have been a meal themselves. When an eatery takes the time and patience to create something like this from scratch, it speaks volumes about their commitment to delivering a quality product.
Needless to say, we feasted until we could feast no more and still had some leftovers to bring back to the house for a future snack (which, we had a feeling we’d need…). So big ups to the fine people at Vert Kitchen! They seem to have figured out a way to bridge the ever-shortening gap between healthy food and tasty food
…a (Blue) Dream come true.
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Vert Kitchen | 704 South Pearl Street, Wash Park West, Denver, CO 80209 - 303.997.5941 - VertKitchen.com
