Winner winner chicken dinner
Side Dish nets SPJ awards; food waste-diverter Goodie Bag expands to Springs; My Cellar Wine Bar and Nourish Organic Juice approach spring anniversaries + more food & drink news
Side Dish wins 2025 Top of the Rockies awards
A guest writeup by Lauren Hug (because it would be douchey if Schnip wrote it himself)
Last weekend Matthew received two awards at the 2025 Top of the Rockies Excellence in Journalism awards held by the Colorado Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists: First Place in Small Newsroom A&E and Food Criticism for a package of stories including Downtown’s Dilemma, State of the Scene, and Glamour Underground and Third Place in Small Newsroom A&E and Food News or Feature for A Night Out with Bar Mom (one of my all-time favorite things he’s ever written).
A judge’s comment accompanying Matthew’s First Place recognition reads: “This food columnist does an exemplary job of covering the polarizing issues that can surround being in the restaurant or bar business — from dealing with the homeless to dress codes— but also providing sharp glimpses of cool spaces and just keeping readers up on news they can use.”
More than 80 news media outlets and 20 freelancers from Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico submitted some 1,850 entries to the contest, which was judged by the Los Angeles Press Club. Winning “means something” in the words of Colorado Pro co-president Deb Hurley Brobst, who presented at the award ceremony.
This isn’t Matthew’s first time winning Top of the Rockies awards. During his nearly two-decade tenure at the Colorado Springs Independent, he and his colleagues regularly received accolades for the excellence of their work at the weekly publication.
These awards are different, though. In previous years, Matthew’s awarded work was produced in a medium-sized newsroom, in the company of fellow award-winning journalists and a team of editors, photographers, graphic designers and marketing, sales and advertising pros. This year, his awarded work came from a newsroom of one, produced while also wearing every other hat a publication needs to thrive.
Winning any award for journalistic excellence is an accomplishment to be proud of. It’s remarkable to do so as a one-person, two-year-old publication in a field of staffed and established papers and magazines.
By contrast, the other award winners in the Small Newsroom A&E and Food Criticism are: Southwest Contemporary (arts criticism by a trio of writers), a digital publication and biannual print magazine founded in 2019 with a staff consisting of an editor/publisher, editorial director, director of business development, and arts editor along with a robust roster of contributors. And Boulder Weekly (music coverage by Jay Gezy) a publication founded in the 1990s and staffed by an editor-in-chief, arts editor, two staff reporters, food editor, creative director, graphic designer and a sales and marketing team.
The other award winners in the Small Newsroom A&E Reporting News or Feature are: First place, Emily Arntsen of Southwest Contemporary for Red Planet Role-Play at the Mars Desert Research Station. Second Place, Stuart Melling, founder of Gastronomic Salt Lake City, Utah’s oldest (since 2007) and biggest online food magazine, for Wisteria – expect this to be one of Utah’s hottest restaurant tickets next year.
As a one-person publication, Side Dish with Schniper is an outlier among award recipients in these categories. Matthew’s innovative approach to funding and producing quality local journalism has caught the attention of those interested in seeing local publications thrive. He’s been featured on D.C.-based media industry journalist Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter and podcast, as well as Inside the News in Colorado, a newsletter by Corey Hutchins, journalist and manager of Colorado College’s Journalism Institute (and a 2025 Top of the Rockies Award Winner; Third Place in Small Newsrooms Newsletter for Nonwhite Colorado TV reporter says he was tackled and choked on the job by a man who shouted 'This is Trump's America now').
Matthew has also presented at his alma mater to Hutchins’ CC journalism students in the past, invited as an example of someone continuing a post-newsroom career inside the dynamic, new-wave field of entrepreneurial journalism. It remains to be seen if Matthew’s model will be adopted or adapted by more journalists, or if Side Dish with Schniper is a unicorn publication specially suited to the skills and personality of its founder. For now, cheers to Matthew on these awards and the continued success of Side Dish.
Rollin’ with Ranch Foods Direct and Saigon Cafe
Our April recipe with Side Dish lead sponsor Ranch Foods Direct continues our collaboration with Monse Hines of Saigon Cafe. She shares their method for making pork egg rolls that utilize RFD’s ground pork, found at both of their retail markets. While you’re in, make sure to take advantage of RFD’s special April bundles of ground beef: 20 one-pound packages of 80-percent lean ground beef for $100, so just $5/pound.
Food waste-diverter Goodie Bag expands to Springs
Goodie Bag is set to officially launch in Colorado Springs on April 22 (Earth Day).
“Essentially how it works is shops list their perfectly good unsold food as ‘goodie bags’ at a discounted price,” explains a press rep. “People on the app can reserve a goodie bag for pickup… the customer gets a discount, the restaurant makes money on something that wouldn't have been sold, and overall there's a reduction in food waste.”
The Colorado-based company, which launched in 2023 in Boulder (where two of the founders attended CU Boulder together), now partners with over 100 local shops in Colorado and claims to have thus far saved more than 75,000 meals from hitting a landfill. It has also expanded into Arizona, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Wisconsin. (You can learn more about them in this Westword article, or on their press page.)
As for early adopting businesses in Colorado Springs, co-founder and CPO Luke Siegert tells Side Dish: “So far, we have commitments from Bella’s Bagels, Joey’s Pizza, Nourish Juice Bar, Cacao Chemistry, and Monse’s Pupuseria, with 10+ other highly interested partners. Given the proximity to our Denver HQ, we expect to build the market to 20+ local spots shortly after launch.”
In our exchange, I ask Siegert how familiar he was with the Too Good To Go app (founded in Denmark in 2015; in the U.S. since 2020). I shared that I had I monitored it for a few weeks but noticed it was poorly populated with the same few businesses as the only features, and seemingly little traffic and awareness here in the Springs.
He replied: “We’re definitely familiar with TGTG — they’ve been our biggest competitor. Their approach tends to focus on launching with minimal partner adoption, often relying on fast-casual chains and gas stations. Our strategy is different — we prioritize community-loved local spots over corporate chains to bring people something fresh and exciting.”
Join the pre-launch waitlist and earn $6 towards your first Goodie Bag purchase.
My Cellar approaches year anniversary, spring refresh
Last May, Side Dish spoke with My Cellar Wine Bar owners Sheryl and Eric Medeiros as they were opening off Briargate. (View that writeup for their backstory, here.) I’ve been remiss in not making it by until now, when invited for a pre-anniversary media preview. The couple wanted to spotlight some new offerings, including a loaded hummus plate, two new burrata salads and fresh spring cocktails. Sheryl also wished to draw attention to their brunch season opening on Easter Sunday, set to run through summer (10 a.m. to 2 p.m., weekends; brunch charcuterie board pictured bottom left).
As trendy as charcuterie boards have become lately, Sheryl tells me she believes My Cellar’s to be the best in town. They’re customizable by size and offering selections, and they’re beautifully presented (and highly photogenic) on large wood boards when ordered for three or more people. The wine bar’s vino flights include three 2-ounce pours followed by a 6-ounce pour of your favorite of the batch. I ask my bartender to surprise me and receive the current Italian Red selection: a baby Super Tuscan, Chianti and Barbera - all delightful and great with a Manchego-apple-fig jam sandwich I pick from a small panini section of the regular menu.
Expect fresh wines and flights to rotate in for spring imminently, including “more light reds and whites, including bubbly wines and some South American wines,” says Sheryl. Next week, on April 16, My Cellar is hosing a special Gooseridge Estate Winery tasting (6-9 p.m.; $50), featuring a Washington winemaker who’s a personal friend of theirs (as they formerly resided there). And on May 17, they plan to officially celebrate the wine bar’s anniversary, with brunch service followed by a popup taco bar plus live music in the evening.
Nourish Organic Juice’s bright revival
I first reported on Nourish Organic Juice when it launched 14 years ago under original owner Evelyn Steel. I confess I lost track of the company after it departed the space at 303 E. Pikes Peak Ave. (what was to become The Well). It turns out there was a dormancy period during early Covid and some service out of the Chef’s Kitchen commissary on Eighth Street.
Then, Steel sold the business to Sasha Harrison, current owner and a former manager at Nourish. After a couple years personal renovation work on her beautiful new space at 2609 W. Colorado Ave. (at the rear of the courtyard attached to Base Camp Restaurant), Harrison opened in May of 2024 with Nourish’s full, original menu. For next month, she’s planning a one-year birthday bash that she tells me she plans to run over a full weekend, with some popup guests (details to come).
Meanwhile, I stop by and order two fabulous items: Nourish’s Chocolate River Smoothie and raw cheesecake. The first, $11, features a mix of banana, raw cacao powder and cacao nibs and almond butter and milk. Agave sweetness offsets the chocolate bitterness and it drinks like a midday treat that feels healthy yet dessert-like. I drink it on a drive to my next meeting next to some coffee I had in my mug from home and it’s a perfect pairing.
I dive into the raw cheesecake, a very fair $6.50, later at home and am quickly impressed and hooked. (Why didn’t I discover this earlier!?) The crust is formed with pecans and walnuts bound with dates and seasoned with Himalayan salt and cinnamon. The filling, a little more pudding-like than a typical cheesecake texture (which matters not at all to me), is made with soaked cashews, cherries, coconut water, psyllium husks (hello fiber), pomegranate, lemon, agave and acidophilus (hello probiotics). Some blueberries garnish the top for even more superfood influence. For a dessert, I suspect it’s about as healthy as you can get, despite some in the wellness community turning on agave as a supposedly healthier sugar substitute. I’m a fan and want to remember to return for more soon.
Before I leave, Harrison shares with me her top three sellers — in case you’re new to the shop and want recommendations: Happy Love Magic, Spankalicious and Power Up. Head here for descriptions of each and the full menu; online order available.
*Relatedly, I did get a first bite at Base Camp Restaurant with a friend (a generous Side Dish subscriber who I’ve known professionally for over 20 years to tell it more accurately). I feel it’s too early to give the fledgling a full review, but I do feel it worth saying that it shows early promise, for sure.
Chef/Owner Matt Maher came out to chat with us and glean feedback, and we gave him some small suggestions that we felt could elevate a couple of the plates. Example: a little more matcha flavor in his creative Pea Soup “Cappuccino” that we enjoyed regardless. He shared a common worry of pushing too far past the average American palate, and that he personally would up the green tea component as well. So he disappeared and dolled up a version quickly and returned to our table with small samplings in ramekins. We sipped and all agreed it was improved, where we could taste the matcha more forward without allowing any bitterness to overpower the existing starchy sweetness. It was cool to see him genuinely open for input and not defensive of his opening menu. (Not all chefs take even minor criticism well.) I look forward to my return visit for more.
Bites & Bits
• SoCo Collab Frost Fest — which debuted in 2024 — was slated to take place May 10 in Bear Creek Regional Park. But organizers have cancelled the event. A statement on the event website reads: “We’re incredibly disappointed… Unfortunately, we didn’t receive enough commitments from breweries this year, making it impossible to move forward with the event as planned.” That said, they plan to move forward next year and ask folks to mark calendars for May 9, 2026. The inaugural event last year raised $5,900 for El Paso County parks and trails.
• In regional beer news, iconic brand Great Divide Brewing Co. — maker of popular Yeti Imperial Stout among many other flagships and seasonals — announced its sale last week to Wilding Brands. Great Divide is 31 years old this year and operates six total taprooms and/or restaurants in state, including at Denver International Airport. Wilding Brands “is a new company that formed in late 2024 through the merger of local beverage makers Stem Ciders, Denver Beer Co. and Funkwerks brewery,” explains The Denver Post article I linked to above. “Its portfolio includes the founding companies plus Howdy Beer, Easy Living sparkling hop water, Cerveceria Colorado and Formation Brewing, a new concept in Phoenix.” In the writeup, Great Divide’s founder and president discusses the difficulty of being a midsized brand that lacks economies of scale regarding adequate remote salespeople. Regarding the “alcohol recession” you’ve probably heard about by now, it notes a drop of 3.2% in Colorado beer sales in 2024 (according to the Liquor Enforcement Division). Nationwide, domestic production and beer imports were down 5% in 2023 (according to Brewers Association data).
• In late February, I noted the imminent arrival of a Rocky Mountain Beignets location downtown as the brand expanded from its 2021-launched Manitou Springs location. The Gazette reported earlier this week that the shop’s now open at at 26 E. Kiowa St. (the former T-Byrd’s location, most recently the short-lived Haole Hawaiian Grindz. Owners the Chism family are natives of Baton Rouge, La., if you’re seeking authenticity credentials and haven’t yet made time to sample their product on the west side.
• Solar Roast Coffee is now (finally!) reopen at 134 N. Tejon St., having battled its way back from smoke damage from a neighboring fire at Bingo Burger last year.
• Snooze Eatery continues its annual tradition of planting trees on Earth Day. The company claims to have already planted 23,000 since it launched its One Tree One Snoozer program in 2017. How they got there: they plant one tree for every Snooze team member plus a tree for every member of its MySnooze Bennyfits loyalty program who checks in on April 22.
• Denver-based Substack writer (and a friend to Side Dish) New Denizen offers this list of 9 new Denver restaurants you should know about. (And I can’t wait to check out Alteño.)
Side Dish Dozen happenings
Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar: Make reservations early for our Easter brunch/lunch anytime 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., April 20. And catch our awesome daily happy hour from 4-5:30 p.m., as well as all night on Mondays; we’ve got oyster and cocktail specials and much more.
Kangaroo Coffee: Major shout out to our friends at Josh & John's for the Ceylon Cinnamon Coffee Caramel Swirl collaboration! Objectively speaking, favorite ice cream ever! Speaking of caramel, stop by any Kangaroo location and enjoy our Cadbury Caramel Egg Drink of the Month: almond caramel mocha with drizzle!
Edelweiss: Our award-winning patio is open for lunch when it’s above 65 degrees. Make Easter reservations now. We’ll have specials like lammbraten plus an Easter dinner menu. We’re also raffling off a 25 pound, 3-foot Easter Bunny; $2 tickets.
Odyssey Gastropub: Our new spring cocktail menu is live. Come for Chef Andrew’s PEI mussels in garlic miso broth with scallion butter and chile oil. Also catch Brunch & Bottomless Mimosas, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays.
Goat Patch Brewing: Second Saturday Firkin: Blueberry Pancakes, 2 p.m., April 12; $5 pints. Bleating Heart Night: Flying Pig Farm, 5-9 p.m., April 15. (Both at the Lincoln location.) Check out our new Northgate location if you haven’t already! Also visit our sister outfit Pikes Peak Brewing from 1-4 p.m., April 13 for a Hoppy Easter Party.
Blue Star Group: Plan to join us from 5-7 p.m., May 1 at Ivywild School for the D.U.B. Network Social, a gathering designed for movers, makers and creatives. Connect with local professionals and entrepreneurs while enjoying great drinks, delicious bites and meaningful conversations. Free headshots, giveaways, Kandi making. Reserve free.
Wobbly Olive: Every weekday HH at both locations, 4-6 p.m., all cocktails and beers are 50% off, plus $5 house wines. Allusion Speakeasy: At our Powers location, grab the Golden Snitch cocktail (it’s surprisingly easy to do) or the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans shot. Just like the infamous wizarding jelly beans, this shot is a total gamble — will you get something sweet or… unexpected?
Upcoming events
April 11-12: Lounge Chill Out Weekend with DJ Runshow at Owambe African Lounge. 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. each night.
April 11-12: Chef Nora Dillon (formerly of Ephemera) five-course popup at The Studio (above Eleven18). Nightly seatings at 5:30 and 8 p.m. by reservation. $110.
April 12: Greek Orthodox Philoptochos Bake Sale at Archangel Micheal Greek Orthodox Church. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
April 12: Sip and Support Rotary Wine Fundraiser at the Manitou Art Center. 5-7 p.m.; $40/$75 for two.
April 16: Queers & Beers at Seven’s Gate. 7-11 p.m. happy hours and game night, to be followed weekly by other theme nights like film, trivia and a book club.
April 18: Dixie Biscuits and Southern Bliss — A Culinary Deep Dive Dinner at The Carter Payne. 6 p.m.; $70/six courses. (Also: Local Relic’s Small Brew Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., April 12 and 26.)
April 19: Collaboration Fest in Westminster. Featuring 180-plus breweries and 130-plus unique beers made just for the fest.
April 26: 18th Annual Spring Wine Extravaganza at The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey. 1-4 p.m. $45.
April 27: Sip With Schnip Brunch Bash at Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — a great time to use your Side Dish coupon (printed above in this newsletter) for BOGO brunch or lunch plates. (If you don’t want to see me, that’s also good anytime this month.)
April 29: Passport to Tuscany Wine Dinner at Pizzeria Rustica. Five courses, $89, benefitting CASA.
Parting shot(s)
Okay, I’m getting literal this week with the word “shots,” as I sometimes do related to cocktails. While out and about the past couple weeks, I’ve filmed two cool (and more importantly, delicious) coffee drinks being prepared for me. If you follow Side Dish on Instagram (please do so if you haven’t already, to enjoy extra content) you’ll have seen both of these quick videos. The rest of you naughty ones can view them here, now.
The first, at Base Camp Restaurant, features a fabulous affogato with Colorado City Creamery ice cream and a dram of 1874 Distilling’s orange-clove liqueur:
The second shows a display of latte art as our awesome barista at Little Owl Coffee inside Denver’s new Populus Hotel offered to make us a cute “cat-puccino” drink:
"Ditto" your awards Schnip—well deserved!!
Thanks for the shout out, Matt! Could not be prouder to be considered a friend of the award-winning Side Dish.