For the kids
What's new in Palmer Lake: Lake & Lantern benefits from bullying and Three Farm Girls gets gluten-free and natural; Third Wave launches its Friday night Chocolate Cafe + more food & drink news
File this one in the “well, that backfired” bin:
In late May, a controversial Colorado Republican Party member posted on Facebook to advise people not to support a fledgling coffee shop in Palmer Lake named Lake & Lantern Café. (I’d noted their opening, here, back in February — it’s in the old Speedtrap space.)
The post called the shop “progressive” and said Lake & Lantern encourages “the transing of children.”
Lake & Lantern’s owner, Racquel Garcia, responded on the cafe’s Facebook page (sharing screenshots of the inflammatory post) to say she had been “publicly misrepresented” and that “Lake & Lantern Café was created to be a space of light — for everyone. We’re not red or blue — we’re warm light… Love always wins here.”
I stop by Lake & Lantern on June 8 to dine, and I get the chance to sit down with Racquel and her husband Chris briefly. I start by asking about the Facebook exchange and what impact it’s since had on them.
“We’ve tripled our business,” Racquel says. “People came because they saw what she said. Watching the community show up for us has been huge. Last week, we couldn’t breathe.”
She says a couple days after her reply went out, her son called her and Chris to say “get here fast — all the seats are full inside and out.” And people kept showing up, day after day.
I ask about the accusation of indoctrinating children, and Racquel explains that she and Chris host addiction recovery meetings at Lake & Lantern as part of one of her other businesses, Hard Beauty. She tells me she has been sober 15 years and Chris has been sober for seven. (As a cafe serving zero-proof mocktails and N/A beers beyond coffee and tea drinks, Lake & Lantern’s tagline is “Living Life Lit Different.”) On one of her flyers promoting the recovery meetings, she wrote “all genders welcome,” she says — believing that to be what prompted the verbal attack on Facebook (from someone she claims to have not spoken to in over seven years).
“Substance abuse doesn’t give a shit,” she says. “I work between parties. Addiction doesn’t care who you voted for. I don’t have time for that in my world.”
In her other enterprises related to supportive services, Racquel also works with foster children and operates a recovery home. She employs others who’ve struggled with substance abuse as well as formerly incarcerated people needing a second chance. She’s quite transparent about her past, before she became sober. The Garcias came to Palmer Lake from Aurora in 2008 “to start a new life” she says, “but that didn’t entirely work.” She tells me her best friend died from drugs Racquel had given her. “This town has seen me at my worst and best moments. And it has been great to me, and now I want to give something back.” Whereas her family relied on Tri-Lakes Cares for services when she arrived, now her businesses work with the area nonprofit to help others, she says.
To the food-and-drink part, Lake & Lantern is a family effort, with the couple’s children handling much of day-to-day operations. Their daughter Mackenzie waits tables (providing us excellent service), and hand-draws pretty, weekend dinner menus on a chalkboard just inside the entryway. (Dinners are Fridays and Saturdays only, with items like steak and pasta, and live music every other Friday.) Their son Jayden is a barista and N/A mixologist, and their other son Jordan acts as chef at age 22, having prior worked at Ramen Chops in Monument before attending culinary school at Colorado Mountain College and learning through externships at Vail Resorts properties. Chris, the father, is the one giving the space continued interior renovations, as he also owns a mechanical business that does service and installation of commercial appliances. He’s built out full commercial kitchens, handling all HVAC/R needs. “All our strengths are involved,” Racquel says.
Lake & Lantern’s food menu is small by design, with five breakfast items, four lunch, four kids and seven sides. The coffee list — with beans from Denver’s Wagon Coffee Roasters, which employs women in addiction recovery — hits the traditionals and offers iced lattes (which can be hot, too) that are concocted with house-made syrups. We indulge in sweet options with the orange mocha and salted caramel; the first evokes a Terry’s Chocolate Orange item in a good way, and the latter checks all the boxes desired in the caramel category. The espresso is quality.
We also order the pancakes, served with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. They barely need any maple drizzle to be enjoyed, simple and fluffy. Chef Jordan throws us an interesting curveball by placing over easy eggs (versus scrambled) on his corn tortilla breakfast tacos, with diced chicken, jalapeños, shallots and cotija cheese crumble. As I size up a bite, I brace myself for yolk down my chin, but the rest of the fillings and a slight backward tilt of my hand to work with gravity actually keeps the good gooey yellow stuff glommed to the other ingredients. On the whole I like it, with its mildly sharp and spicy elements popped by a squeeze of lime.
Before we go, I ask the Garcias if amidst all the community show of support any trolls showed up to protest or give them trouble in any way. “Not one,” Racquel replies.
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Farm to (patio) table
Palmer Lake’s Three Farm Girls Local Artisan Shop & Eatery is located in the historic D&RG-RR (Denver & Rio Grande Railroad) station agent’s house that was most recently the Sasquatch and Yeti Taqueria and Charrito's House 2 prior. It soft-opened in May and celebrated its grand opening on June 6. I stop in a couple days after that and meet owner Irene Colella and her daughters Bella (13) and Bianca (9), as well as her husband Damian.
“That’s where Three Farm Girls comes from,” says Irene, “though I should have put a cowboy in there too.” Damian’s in back cooking while I visit and Irene’s floating between there and the front of the house, where the daughters are helping in the retail shop and taking and running food orders. They’re super polite and charming; Irene says she wants to instill an entrepreneurial spirit in the girls through the business.
The family lives on a farm nearby in Larkspur, where they have chickens, ducks, goats, cows, horses and a veggie garden — producing as much of their own food as possible. Irene is also a chiropractor, and she has celiac disease, hence her inspiration to create her own lineup of gluten-free foods last fall. She began manufacturing pierogi, inspired by Damian’s Polish heritage. She used Lolley’s in Monument as her commissary kitchen, then launched at farmers markets. She tells me she “blew up so fast I had a hard time keeping up with demand.” She then started selling commercial, to Lucky’s Markets in Boulder and Fort Collins. (Colonel Mustard’s Sandwich Emporium also sells them, in C. Springs.)
Realizing she needed her own GF-sensitive kitchen space, she cast an eye toward helping other businesses sell their products, which is how Three Farm Girls’ retail front took shape, with grab-and-go freezer items plus an array of skincare and local craft items. During store hours (11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday-Friday; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday-Sunday) Three Farm Girls also acts as a limited GF eatery, with just over 20 seats available between the patio and front deck.
They serve breakfast burritos, a veggie-sausage egg casserole and cinnamon rolls for early bites. Then there’s house service of the grab-and-go items like Irene’s pierogi (potato-cheddar-onion or Colorado jalapeño popper) and mushroom dumplings — think of them as shared starters or a meal for one. And completing the small menu is a strawberry, feta and chicken spinach salad; customizable wraps with Boar’s Head meats and cheeses; and rotating entrées like a Puerto Rican pulled pork plate with black beans and rice this day. Irene says there’s a multicultural intent to the menu.
I enjoy the tender pork dish on site and take pierogi home to make later, eventually caramelizing some onions to top them with and adding a spoonful of Greek yogurt for a creamy dip. They’re excellent and there’s nothing that screams gluten-free about their texture. Irene did her own R&D to develop her dough recipe and mills her own non-GMO flours, also mindful to avoid seed oils with all her cooking she says.
Other haps in Palmer Lake:
• 105 Social House is underway with a move from its current spot (across from Lake & Lantern) into the historic depot building a few blocks down CO Hwy. 105 (past O’Malley’s). The space has hosted a number of eateries over the years, including The Depot Restaurant & Lounge, Perfectly Elevated Café and Gallery, and Journey’s End. When I reach out for info, a staffer tells me they hope to be up and running by July 1. The last day of service at the current spot will be Saturday, June 28.
• I make it by too late in the day to catch Sundance Pit BBQ during their limited weekly hours — 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 11 a.m. to sell out, Sundays. The spot opened in early 2024 in the former La Rosa Southwestern Dining space (across a parking lot from the current 105 Social House, also across the street from Lake & Lantern). I’ve been remiss in making it by for a taste, but they bill themselves as “traditional Texas live fire BBQ with a modern twist.” They’re well-rated by the community online, and the menu features brisket, pulled pork, St. Louis pork ribs, turkey breast and more.
Third Wave Chocolate Co. launches Friday night Chocolate Cafe
You probably remember back in February when I — a certified chocoholic — essentially gushed over Third Wave Chocolate Co., the bean to bar boutique brand operating out of Provision Bread & Bakery. (Hell, we even did a Tap&Table podcast episode with them and Cinchona Coffee.)
At the time, Third Wave owner Joel Bogdanoff teased upcoming evening hours during which he wanted to create his own dessert bar. Finally (finally!) that time has arrived, in the form of new Chocolate Cafe Friday nights — 5-10 p.m (including July 4). We stopped by last week, more than excited to see what he had on display.
The answer: Single-origin brownies and brownie flights (of Puerto Rican, Colombian and Dominican chocolates); Belgium street waffles with pearl sugar pockets, chocolate ganache and maple syrup; and S’mores made to-order with housemade honey-vanilla marshmallows and toasted Puerto Rican chocolate ganache on homemade graham crackers (from sourdough discard). For drinks: hot chocolate and flights of three; iced chocolate milks (dairy or alternative) and decaf mochas made with Third Wave chocolates. (Most items are in the $7-$7.50 range. Remember, these are small batch, organic, fair trade chocolates that far surpass the specialness of anything you can buy commercially.)
We order the brownie flight, S’more, a decaf mocha and iced chocolate milk. Or said differently: We order more than two people can reasonably finish on site due to the richness, and take half of it all back home for later. Everything’s sensationally delightful. How could a mini parade of things concocted with craft chocolate as the core ingredient not be?
I haven’t really like marshmallows since I was a kid, but I like this one. Take one minute out of your day now to watch my quick video of Bogdanoff torching and caramelizing it and filling the center with melted chocolate. Lauren loves S’mores, and is over the moon for Third Wave’s (by way of a second taster’s validation). What I love about the brownie flight is how Bogdanoff presents each brownie — made with the respective chocolate of origin — with a single square of the chocolate on top to reinforce each’s unique terroir. Yes, you can actually taste the difference between them, and the brownies alone are dense and decadent and again unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere or likely make at home. His tasting notes are pretty spot on too, even if by mental suggestion of what to look out for. If I ever have to choose a death row last-meal dessert (let’s hope not), this brownie flight might just be it.
Both the decaf mocha and iced chocolate milk are filling. And the hot/cold contrast is fun for tasting the same Puerto Rican chocolate two more ways. The inherent plum wine note that arrives in the middle palate of a brownie bite gets more muted as it folds into the mocha’s muddy coffee element. Still, this is a deeper, chocolatier mocha than you’re probably imagining based off the marketplace standard. The chocolate milk makes me feel like a grown up big kid and has a more clean and straightforward chocolate essence, and the iciness makes me perceive its cocoa butter fattiness more across my tongue amidst the overall thick texture. For a hot summer night, it’s your likelier go-to, but I’m such a coffee-head too I’ll probably be doing the mocha again myself. Don’t worry; this isn’t a menu that possibly lets you make a wrong decision.
Bites & Bits
• The Local Motive announced earlier this week that it was partnering with Kinship Landing to make the boutique hotel (which houses Homa) its “home base.” In a Facebook post, the party bus’ owner Johnny Joy says that beginning July 1, “all of our public crawls, the parties, the good times, the memories, will start and end right at Kinship Landing.”
• Denver-based New Denizen offers the Best bites and celeb sightings at the James Beard Awards this year in Chicago.
• Base Camp Restaurant just dropped a new summer menu, still built around four categories (spanning $10, $15, $20 and $25) and “expeditions” that include a chef’s tasting menu. Owner/Chef Matt Maher tells Side Dish the menu “showcases a lot of great authentic Colorado flavors like corn, peaches and chiles. We think our barbecue relleno [pulled pork stuffed with a chipotle bbq sauce] and trout sandia [pan seared with watermelon pico] are going to be big crowd pleasers. So far we’ve gotten great reaction to our sopapillas, which are the size of our plates… At the bar, our Pueblo Sour is great for adventurous drinkers, and the Peach Proposal is based on the cocktail I used to propose to my wife. We’re happy sharing that bit of joy with others.”
• Prime 25 announced this week that “Prime 25 North” would be coming to town in late August. The post was started by saying “Clearly the cat is out of the bag.” Indeed, I had heard scuttlebutt about the expansion and made a call on it last week to Prime 25’s home base on S. Tejon Street. A staffer at first sounded very confused, then went to check with a manager at my request, but returned to essentially say nothing was happening — so I guess they wanted to keep the cat firmly in the bag at that point in time. I was trying to inquire which spot at the former FO4R NORTH complex it would be occupying — as ostensibly it is going in there due to common ownership. Based on the photo they posted, indeed it appears to be occupying what was formerly Manhattan Room Tapas Kitchen, across the front courtyard from Cansano Italian Steakhouse at Democracy Point. As pointed out by one commenter to a post online about the plans: “Two steak places side by side. Great idea!!” I’ll update my reporting as we all learn more later, following the cat wherever it ventures next.
Side Dish Dozen happenings
Allusion Speakeasy: New themes are approaching! Shrek closes both downtown and at our Powers location at midnight, Aug. 9. (So you have another month, people — don’t miss it.) Next up: T-Swift Speak Now Easy, Aug. 14 launch at 5 p.m. at Powers, and Jurassic Bar opening downtown, same date, same time. Wobbly Olive: Every weekday happy hour at both locations, 4-6 p.m.; all cocktails and beers half off, plus $5 house wines. Enjoy a drink with our calamari al pastor or pork belly burnt ends. Also try drinks off our extensive new mocktail menu.
Kangaroo Coffee: We’re thrilled to begin rolling out two very special new products at our locations and events in the coming weeks: CharlieJoe Chai and Minor Figures Oat Milk! CharlieJoe Chai is made in Firestone, Colorado and proceeds from its sale go towards battling human trafficking. Learn more of their story here. Minor Figures launched in London as a coffee company but branched out into making high quality oat milk (with oats sourced from the UK and Northern Europe). They’re a Certified B Corporation — “great alignment with our values” says Kangaroo’s Doug Hammond.
Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar: It’s the final week of Rosé Month at Jax! Sip on a specially curated menu of pink wine and bubbles over sustainable seafood. Serving up the goods for weekday lunch (11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday–Friday), weekend brunch (10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays-Sundays), and daily happy hour (4-5:30 p.m., Tuesdays-Sundays and all night Mondays), and dinner (until 9 p.m.; 10 p.m. on weekends).
Edelweiss: Sip into summer with our new spritzers and cocktails. You’re probably familiar with an Aperol Spritz (which we serve), but have you tried an Apfel Spritz? It’s made with Apfelkorn German apple liqueur, sparkling water and apple juice and garnish. Our Hugo Spritz starts with Prosecco and elderflower syrup and finishes with mint leaf and lime slices. For Jägermeister fans, the Zitronenmelisse puts the liqueur with lemonade and fresh lemon.
Goat Patch Brewing: Join us at the Lincoln Center every Sunday, 6-8 p.m., for our free Summer Music Series. We’ve also launched new Dungeons & Dragons Nights, 6:30-9:30 p.m., every other Monday (June 30; July 14) — which also happen every other Thursday (same hours) at Pikes Peak Brewing (June 26; July 10). Catch Wednesday trivia nights in our Northgate taproom, 6:30-8:30 p.m. weekly.
Nacho Matrix: Join us for Oaxaca Wednesdays and $12 Oaxaca Old Fashions, and find half-off wine bottles on Sunday nights. At Odyssey Gastropub new summer menu items include Mayak Eggs (soy marinated deviled eggs with gochujang, chives and sesame) and our chilled Thai Noodle Bowl (gluten friendly, vegan) with rice noodles, bell peppers, pickled onions, edamame, carrots, cucumbers, peanut sauce and cilantro.
Upcoming events
June 28: Colorado Springs Mimosa Fest.
June 29: 6th Annual Coaltrain Rosé-a-Palooza at The Carter Payne. $49; call Coaltrain to reserve a ticket.
July 6: Stompin’ Groundz One Year Anniversary party. 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Live DJ, farmers market, food and drink specials, giveaways and more.
July 12: Farm-to-Table Summer Harvest Wild New American dinner at Smokebrush Farm. 5-8 p.m. Featuring ingredients grown at the farm and around the state. Subsequent dinners with different themes run Aug. 3 through Nov. 15.
July 17: 2025 Taste of Pikes Peak. 6-9 p.m. in front of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum. $65-$125. Side Dish Dozen members will compose the VIP area! Use code SIDEDISH for $5 off GA tickets.
July 19: Field of Drinks Brew Festival at Fountain’s Metcalfe Park. Noon to 4 p.m.
July 24: Sip with Schnip Grazing Goat Pizza Party at Goat Patch Northgate. Details coming soon; save the date.
Parting shot(s)
Espresso martinis are trending at the moment.
You probably know this from the story Side Dish published last month — on Chris Aaby’s visit to Denver’s The Monkey Bar, which offers an espresso martini flight.
Earlier this month, Brother Luck threw down the gauntlet with a post for Side Dish Dozen member Eleven18 Latin Tapas Bar. In it, he called their rendition “the best espresso martini in the city. Period.”
Well that got people talking. We stopped by over the weekend to sample the batch-made beauty, coming off a nitro tap and garnished with house cold foam. It’s made with espresso vodka, Borghetti Italian espresso liqueur, and Shanky’s Whip (an Irish spirit made with vanilla, caramel and Irish whiskey).
It’s damn good. But is it the best? Decide for yourself. Here’s Eleven18 Front of House Manager Ryan Tuttle walking us through how it’s made, and presenting us our glass:
Hi Keith - keep in touch as you get closer. But for now I would suggest posting on Culinary Colorado Springs Facebook group and COS Foodies
Hello I was wondering if I might share myself and my profile. My name is Keith Flanders and I am the founder of Foosions, and upcoming food truck looking to launch in April 2026. Could I share my crowdfunding efforts on your community?