hunger HELPER

My mom came into town on Friday and we went to Keystone for the weekend.  On the way up to the mountains we stopped in Idaho Springs and ate at a fantastic brewery called Tommyknocker.  Of course, we had some delicious beers (I had a great wheat ale they called Jack Whacker).  But the food was incredible as well.  I started with a Tomato Swiss Artichoke soup.  It was mediocre, mostly because the name and ingredients had me so excited and expecting something great.  There was swiss cheese melted over the top and big chunks of tomatoes and artichokes, but didn’t have a strong enough tomato flavor for me.

For my main course I ordered a recommendation by our waitress who, by the way, was beyond nice and offered us such great service.  She let me know that they have an in-house smoker and that any of their smoked meats are incredible.  Figuring she knows best, I ordered the Hot Pastrami Melt.  It consisted of delicious grilled marbled rye bread sandwiched around fresh-smoked pastrami, melted swiss cheese, and grilled onions, with a side of freshly made jalapeno-horseradish dijon mustard.

This sandwich was actually incredible.  The pastrami was tender, juicy, and crispy around the edges, with a ridiculous amount of flavor.  Combined with the caramelized onions and the spicy, tangy mustard, this sandwich is worth pulling off the highway for.

My mom ordered their Asian Tuna Sandwich which consisted of grilled sesame encrusted ahi tuna steak on top of cucumber wasabe cole slaw and served on a brioche bun.  Also very, very delicious, and served with the same jalapeno mustard that came with my sandwich.

Tommyknocker has great beer, friendly service, and a fun atmosphere: if you sit in the brewery side of the restaurant you will be surrounded by huge brew vats.  Sit down, warm yourself by the fire, and have a great meal, either before or after your ski day: Tommyknocker Brewery.