Amy Brothers, a videographer for the Denver Post, grew up in Durango and is a lover of food, home-grown herbs, and adventurous eating experiences. She appreciates how food says so much about a person’s history and identity and those things guide her in her career as a writer. A series on the foods that make up holiday traditions led her to a Jewish family, who incorporates latkes into their celebration and how those traditions are impacted by the Holocaust.

“Food tells their story,” she said. “It’s an approachable topic and I think people think food is easier to talk about and you can get to deeper levels.”

When she began filming The Colorado Plate, she said she approached the four-part video series as an eater, beginning with what is delicious and then telling the story of how it arrived at that point. She began with four Front Range food lovers who are heavily involved in production, albeit less traditionally than many in the state’s more rural areas.

One video focuses on Kate Kavanaugh of Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe in Denver. The butcher shop on Tejon Street emphasizes transparency, even boasting a glass pane serving as one wall of the meat cooler. Kavanaugh and her partner, Josh Curtiss, have been featured on the pages of Bon Appetit and the New York Times. Once a vegetarian, Kavanaugh is devoted to the state’s grasslands and came back to a diet including meat once she realized the vital role ruminant grazing plays in conservation.

Another member of the diverse group of people in the series is cheesemaker Jackie Chang, the spit fire who has earned international recognition for her goat’s milk cheeses at Haystack Mountain Creamery in Longmont, Colo. Her family expected her to enter the family restaurant business, but she took a less lucrative path on a dairy to learn the ropes before honing her craft among stacks of award-winning cheese.

Boulder, Colo., chef and restaurateur Erik Skokan began growing produce in his garden for his two restaurants, where he has long sought outstanding flavor profiles. He doubled the size of his garden to meet demand and eventually became an organic farmer. He said he recognizes the role of large operations in feeding people but has found his calling among unique varieties of vegetables.

Chef Duncan Holmes at Denver restaurant Beckon, seats diners around a chef counter while meals are prepared. Tickets are prepaid and the chef prepares dishes before guests, and then brings courses to diners, complete with information about the source of the ingredients, many coming from Esoterra Culinary Garden in Longmont. Known for seasonal menus and wine pairings, Holmes brings dishes to life before diners and directly from the farm.

Brothers is hoping a second season will come to fruition and will also be covering stories at the National Western Stock Show.

The video series is available on the Denver Post’s website and the subscription to watch helps fund additional projects like this one. To see the trailer, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ug0Gc4dtwg.

— Gabel is an assistant editor and reporter for The Fence Post. She can be reached at rgabel@thefencepost.com or (970) 392-4410.