5280 Magazine October 2022

FROM THE EDITOR Dining Out Here’s something you probably don’t hear all that often: I don’t like takeout. During the height of the pandemic, I knew I should support local eateries (and I did occasionally), but having restaurant-caliber food has always, to me, been about the theater of eating out. Cramming an exquisite, chef-prepared meal into a to-go container and eating it at the kitchen table just seems so antithetical to the experience of dining. Which is why I’m delighted—for you, and for me—that life has returned to a (relative) state of normality that has allowed us, after a two-year pause, to bring back our “25 Best Restaurants” franchise. For the past five months, 5280’s tireless food team has been sitting at chef’s counters, parsing menus old and new, ordering steaks and oysters…

5280’s new digital director may have joined the magazine in August, after working remotely as an editor at Seattle-based REI, but Horjus isn’t new to the Front Range. She’s called Boulder home since 2013. SEATTLE VS. DENVER ”The Emerald City’s mountains are more dramatic, but you hardly see them because, you know, the rain.” ON LIVING IN BOULDER ”I’m fairly certain they don’t let you in without a dog. (Mine: a scruffy heeler named Raider.)” QUINTESSENTIAL COLORADO ADVENTURE “I took the train from Durango, then hiked and skied seven miles up into the Chicago Basin to camp, slurp freeze-dried gruel, and wreck my skis on hidden rocks.” ON 5280.COM CENTER ICE October means it’s time for the puck to drop. With three reigning-champion hockey teams in the Mile High City, 5280.com examines what the upcoming season might look like…

As the 1995-’96 NHL season began, the Detroit Red Wings made a curious decision. Despite not having won a Stanley Cup in 40 years, the franchise filed an application for the moniker of “Hockeytown.” Perhaps, the team thought, if it couldn’t win a title on the ice, it’d get one at the federal trademark office. Nevertheless, Detroit seemed destined to deliver on its new appellation, cutting through the 1996 NHL playoffs—that is, until the Red Wings encountered the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference finals. The Avs, which had relocated from Québec City before the season, beat the Motor City in six games and went on to win the Stanley Cup, igniting a bloody rivalry: Between them, the Avalanche and Red Wings won five Stanley Cups from 1996 to 2002. The Red…

20 Seasons Sakic, originally from British Columbia, played in the NHL—all with the same franchise. (Hint: It’s the Avalanche.) 993 Points (goals plus assists) current Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon would need to score to tie Sakic’s career mark of 1,641. Sakic is the Avs’ all-time leader in points, goals, assists, and awesomeness. 3 People, including Sakic, who have won Stanley Cups as players and general managers for the same franchise. This summer, the Avs promoted Sakic to president of hockey operations. RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/the Denver Post via Getty Images…

On July 6, two political activists sat before a packed crowd inside Denver’s Mercury Cafe and prepared to give a presentation in favor of Proposition 122, known as the Natural Medicine Health Act. If passed by voters next month, it would establish a state-run program through which all Coloradans could legally access psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” as soon as late 2024. But the proposed measure has drawn sharp criticism from—surprisingly—a large contingent of the local psychedelics community. At the Mercury Cafe meeting, one of the activists, Veronica Lightning Horse Perez, felt the need to address the tension. Perez, who runs a wellness and therapy center in Littleton, detailed the intense disparagement she’s endured, especially on social media, for being one of the faces of Prop 122. “This has…

Out-of-state interests have spent more than $2.5 million to get Proposition 122 on next month’s ballot, and much of that money has come from California-based Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. CEO David Bronner, the grandson of the Dr. Bronner, has been a fan of psychedelics since taking a trip to Amsterdam in the 1990s. He believes mushrooms could help treat the mental health crisis in America and that legalizing the fungi under the supervision of the state—as outlined in Prop 122—is likely the best way to garner broad support. “Most of the psychedelically naive population is not comfortable yet in a decriminalized context,” Bronner says. Instead, novices may need the reassurance that comes with being guided by a licensed professional. Bronner’s support, however, could backfire: The money being spent in support…