Formosa Bites finds its footing at The Well
Also this week: a beer report from Collaboration Fest + more food & drink news
Consider this lead blurb part news update, part micro review and part personal story. It starts with sharing that Taiwanese food truck Formosa Bites joined up for a brick-and-mortar stall at The Well, which I first reported in late January. I’d prior noted in December, 2022 that the outfit had moved to a temporary take-and-bake model due to a long saga relating to their truck being disabled, thereby sidelining the business. And I’d originally reviewed the then-three-month-old truck this time last year, in March 2022, when their red chili oil wontons blew me away.
I finally stopped into The Well this past week to catch up with chef/owner owner Terry Lim (and meet his wife Doreen and their three kids, who happened to be by). I was concurrently meeting to mentor a Community Cultural Collective culinary apprentice program student (attached to the Shovel Ready food stall) for a couple hours. Terry prepared a few of his newly added menu items (that didn’t exist in the prior food truck incarnation) for the student and me to do a practice review on.
From our combined tasting notes, we felt the fried oyster mushrooms were nice and meaty (for a veggie dish) with inherent umami contrasted by a sweet Mae Ploy chili sauce dip. (I later suggested Lim serve it with his outstanding house chili sauce, too, because that stuff’s magic on everything I’ve tried it on so far. I’ve toyed a lot with it at home after buying some from him prior at his commissary kitchen.) The fried bun are more of a dessert than starter, with sweetened condensed milk sauce drizzled over the puffy, chewy bites. (The student wondered if they could be additionally filled/piped with some flavoring to add impact and an accentuating component to the stark dough flavor.) The Taiwanese beef noodle soup has a couple non-traditional features according to Lim, such as the addition of daikon and carrot. He uses Chinese ramen noodles, which hold a lovely, soft chew while resisting becoming waterlogged by the broth; they alone are a highlight, we felt. The broth holds a mild spiciness and the beef bits (some delightfully fatty, some lean and drier) have an American pot roast vibe, making it feel like a hearty winter dish in essence. Overall, Formosa continues to shine.
So that accounts for the news and informal micro review; now the personal story, which Formosa shared at length in their own March 28 Facebook post. I’d loosely kept in touch with Terry because I was a big fan of his food, and often with my reviewing I’m essentially championing businesses that make our food and drink scene more rich and robust. (That’s something discussed in my State of Plate podcast.) I felt empathy for the family when they were going through the ordeal with their insurance company related to the broken down food truck, and I was glad my updated reporting was able to help direct fans and new patrons to their temporary commissary distribution, to keep income coming in. One day while picking up my own to-go order there, I told Terry about The Well, inquiring if he’d ever thought about pivoting to another model, since the food truck was already a big hit (market tested and validated). I gave him The Well project consultant Justin Anderson’s contact info should he be interested — simply playing a community connector role. Some months later I learned that they had indeed connected, and Formosa Bites had signed on to the 2023 vendor lineup at The Well.
For me, this was all behind-the-scenes info that I had no intention of broadcasting or remotely taking credit for — again I just told a guy about another guy, come what may. But for Lim and family, that turned out to have much more significance. In their Facebook post, they wrote: “[Matthew’s] role as a connector helped us tremendously. I likened him to being our 貴人 (guì rén), loosely translated to a helpful person at pivotal moments of our lives. In Asian culture, the role of one is highly revered and respected.”
Well, I’m incredibly humbled by the designation — feeling shy if I’m honest — and grateful I could play a helpful role just by doing my job and allowing some humanity to accompany the formality (of print journalism). I won’t call that advocacy journalism, despite the blur of objectivity. (Relatedly, that’s why I recommend following Corey Hutchins' Inside the News in Colorado newsletter, because he helps put frameworks around media matters, among many other things. He’s also interim director of Colorado College’s Journalism Institute; CC didn’t have a journalism program when I was a student 20-plus years ago, so I majored in creative writing with a film studies minor.)
Anyway, I’m just glad Formosa Bites has regained its footing at The Well and I do encourage you to try them out if you haven’t been. I’d start with the red chili oil wontons and Taiwanese popcorn chicken, two of our personal favorites.
Collaboration Fest, as experienced by Focus on the Beer, Side Dish’s first media partner (man this headline got long)
Boy howdy after so long in the newspaper biz I really know how to punch out a headline. You’re welcome. But seriously there’s a lot to unpack with this blip this week. Most notably — I’m overjoyed to announce that I’m partnering with Focus on the Beer and Ryan Hannigan (who created Side Dish with Schniper’s awesome logo, as I noted last week). Focus on the Beer has been an essential beer blog and expert voice on the brewing scene for the last decade-plus (originally founded in 2010 by Eric Steen but run by Hannigan since 2013). Though I write about beer too, and will continue to, I’m grateful to supplement that with the sage contributions of Ryan and Focus cohort Josh Howard (a BCJP-certified Beer Judge) in periodic Side Dish postings. (Which is to say when they have shit to share.) Hopefully you aren’t unfamiliar with their work, but if you have yet to sip suds with them, then check out their latest posting from this past weekend’s Collaboration Fest, a popular Colorado Brewer’s Guild event, held this year in Westminster:
“Beyond the flavors that surprised us, some brewers went above and beyond when it came to garnishes or accoutrements for their beers. There were beers with cups lined with mushrooms and blue glitter, to really bring the mushroom flavor to the forefront, and we can’t not mention the paper bags Strange Craft and Guanella Pass were providing to surround your glass, showcasing their malt liquor collaboration. It’s those extra touches that make the experience all the more better.”
Read the full event review here.
Milestones
Side Dish with Schniper hit 500 subscriptions on Tuesday, March 28, less than a week after launching. Thank you for being early adopters and supporters!
Tell all your friends:
March 15 has proved to be both an ominous and auspicious day for ole Schnip Schnip here: On that day this year, just two weeks ago, several colleagues and I were laid off from Sixty35Media (who has announced the CS Indy’s return mid April - yay!). But that opened the door to this exciting new platform; so lemonade from lemons, to borrow the food cliché.
Looking back to March 15, 2020, Lauren Hug and I co-founded Culinary Colorado Springs, a Facebook group started amidst the covid pandemic shutdowns with a goal of supporting the food & drink industry. Rough times, our community rallied. The Facebook group proved wildly successful (as detailed by Jeanne Davant in the Colorado Springs Business Journal), even spawning a Social Return on Investment study by the C. Springs-based National Institute for Social Impact, who “determined that the total contributions of the volunteer-run group toward strengthening the community in 2020 were nearly $1.1 million.”
The study is fully detailed here by partnering/funding organization the Pikes Peak Workforce Center. (And Hug also writes about our milestone, as well as Side Dish, on her Digital Hope Substack this week.) We of course credit the group’s members for stepping up in a beautiful myriad of ways. The final feel-good in the story: the Culinary Colorado Springs Facebook group (renamed post-pandemic) remains vibrant today with nearly 9,000 active members (that’s a real number — we block bots daily and curate a true community).
What I’m drinking right now as I’m writing this post
A drunken latte from Boulder’s Bona Coffee Roasters. As I wrote in my recent review of the spot, it’s made with whiskey-aged coffee (a premium $25 per 12 ounces), prepared in collaboration with Boulder Spirits, with Brazilian beans rested inside a bourbon barrel. I’ve had at least a half a dozen different whiskey barrel-aged coffees over the years from as many different roasteries, but this one reigns supreme.
Subscriber contribution
I’m considering this as a regular section to the newsletter, depending on level of participation. So if you see something awesome while out, snap a photo or two and take some notes and send it my way for consideration. (I can’t pay at this time, but you might be rewarded in the afterlife, of course depending on whether or not you’re an awful person in other arenas, but hey, either way, I’ll be grateful.)
Anyway, this week’s contribution comes via Lauren Hug. She dropped into Bryan’s Dumpling House in Greenwood Village; it was recently featured in Westword for its colorful xiao long bao (soup dumplings). Here’s what they look like; read her tasting notes below the image:
Original (white) is delicate and flavorful. Cheese (bright yellow) is like if a dumpling met Mac and Cheese. Spinach (green) is like a Chinese spin on spinach ravioli. Szechuan (red) packs a nice, flavorful punch, with a bit of spice. Crab (dull yellow) is too fishy for me, but definitely crabby. Garlic (reddish brown) was meh; almost too much garlic (and I love garlic). Kimchi (bright orange) — love it! Kimchi plus pork dumpling. Mushroom (dark blue), I liked it, it was mushroomy.
Upcoming
• The American Culinary Federation Pikes Peak Chapter hosts its 2023 Culinary Passport event Saturday, April 1 at The Broadmoor. But, sadly if you missed the boat, tickets are already sold out. (I’d have told you sooner but this newsletter didn’t yet exist … my bad. Wait, actually I did post a notice in the Culinary Colorado Springs Facebook group on March 9…I’m redeemed.) Click the link anyway to get a taste of what they’re up to, so you can put a pin in it next year. Guest chefs this year include Supansa Banker (Chef Roots private cheffing), Susanna Maestas (Susanna’s Comfort Cuisine), Jay Gust (State of Plate episode 2 guest), Ashley Brown (Four by Brother Luck), Ian Dedrickson (State of Plate episode 3 guest) and Nathan Dirnberger (Royal Gorge Route Railroad).
• Check out Food To Power’s monthly calendar for farm volunteer days; classes such as a Garden to Kitchen workshop with CSU extension campus professors; and No Cost Grocery days (“intended for Hillside neighborhood residents, but participants are welcome from anywhere.”).
Elsewhere in industry news
719 Daily Dose interviewed Felipe Velasquez of Felipe's 109 about his signature taco burgers, starting a food and drink business and daily life running it.
About Daily Dose 719: We are community advocates, students, and creatives who believe storytelling creates social change. We aim to inspire people into action in our city and neighborhoods. We aim to connect people to opportunity and to one another. We aim to inform people of the things happening in the 719.
“We will exist as a coffee shop and studio, somewhere, someday.”
P.S. I got you flowers
As a parting shot this week, here’s a photo of the moth orchid (phalaenopsis) currently in full bloom in my greenhouse/sunroom, courtesy my good pal Matt at Carnivorous Colorado. It’s just too pretty not to share with the wider world.
I drove by Formosa Bites on I-25, their truck on the side of the road. As a fellow food truck owner my heart dropped when I saw them. Truck issues are never good. After messaging with them to make sure they were safe, I was saddened to see the continued truck issues they were having! SO EXCITED for their new location! Great article, Matthew! Keep being amazing, Formosa!!