Colorado Springs eatery gets new chef, new menus

Dec. 21—Dustin Archuleta is the new executive chef at Mood Tapas Bar, Bird Tree Café and Districtelleven. He will be creating new menus for all three eateries, located at 218 N. Tejon St., and recently launched the one for Bird Tree Café. The big news for this eatery is that the entire menu is served all day.

A few of the standout dishes include the Rick & Morty ($12) with fried mortadella, pimento cheese, egg and beer onions served on a toasted potato roll. Upgrade with a side of River Bear bacon ($6). The Curry Chicken Salad ($16.50) is quite tasty, served on arugula and bib lettuce and garnished with pepitas. The Forager Vegan Salad ($14) offers a stunning presentation of kale, avocado, farro, radish, pomegranate and hemp hearts tossed in tahini vinaigrette.

Archuleta is featuring new dishes weekly on the Mood Tapas Bar menu.

"I'd like to eventually have five or six tapas that will be offered on the chef's tasting menu," he said. "They would be off menu dishes and completely different from the house menu. Currently, I make my tasting menu from the regular core menu."

Hours for Bird Tree Café are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. There is a full bar. Details: 719-422-9712, birdtreecafe.org. Hours for Mood Tapas Bar are 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Details: 719-422-9712, moodtapasbar.org.

All day happy hour

Jason Horn is the new restaurants and outlets manager at The Antlers, A Wyndham Hotel, 4 S. Cascade Ave., where he oversees Sportivo Primo featuring Duca's Neapolitan Pizza, The Antlers Grille and The Piccadilly Bar. He has hired Greg Champagne as executive chef. Champagne most recently was chef for the eateries in The Depot.

"We are currently working on a new menu for Sportivo," Horn said. "We are going to launch a happy hour in Sportivo that will be all day long. We have an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet in the Grill for $18.95. And we will have a New Year's Eve five-course dinner paired with wine for $100."

The hotel is offering a package including dinner for two and a room for $399 for Dec. 31. The dinner is limited to 50 guests. Reservations required.

Hours for Sportivo Primo are noon to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays with Duca's open two hours later; The Antlers Grille is open 7 to 10:30 a.m. daily; and The Piccadilly Bar is open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. More details: 719-955-5600, antlers.com.

Indian delights

Two Indian restaurants serving northern Indian dishes have opened.

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— Pakwan Indian Restaurant and Bar, 3604 Austin Bluffs Parkway, opened in late August. Owners are Vipan Kumar and Bobby Singh, who were formerly at Urban Tandoor. Kumar is the bartender and manages the front of the house and Singh is executive chef.

The menu features a wide variety of Indian dishes, including the baingan bhartha ($14.99), a cold-weather chaser of smoked mashed eggplant in spicy tomato sauce with onions, red chilies and spices. A must-have is the bullet naan ($5) — bread stuffed with serrano chilies and baked in the tandoori. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. There is a full bar. More details: 719-593-5005, pakwancos.com

— Turmeric Indian Cuisine, 5535 Powers Center Point, was opened in November by Bishnu Paudel and his wife, Rekha Sharma, along with other family members. Paudel is the chef and Sharma is the dining room manager. The eatery has walls painted a mellow yellow shade of turmeric. The food is delicious.

"This is our first restaurant, but my husband's family has had a restaurant for years," Sharma said.

Hours are noon to 9 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays (closed Tuesdays). More details: 719-308-2514, turmericcosprings.com.

Open Christmas DayThe Airplane Restaurant, 1665 N. Newport Road, will be open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday for a buffet, which includes a carving station with prime rib, ham and turkey.

There also will be fresh smoked salmon, cocktail shrimp and an assortment of desserts.

Cost is $47 for adults, $30 for seniors, $28 for ages 6-12 and free for 5 and younger. More details: 719-570-7656, theairplanerestaurant.com.

New Year's Eve plansHere are a couple of places offering events Dec. 31:

— Almagre, 2460 Montebello Square Drive, is offering A Roaring New Year's Eve party 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. For $75, you get DJ Rocky Ross spinning crowd-pleasing hits to dance the night away, a complimentary welcome cocktail, food stations serving an assortment of heavy hors d'oeuvres and a champagne toast at midnight. Cash bar. Roaring twenties attire encouraged. Tickets required and are not refundable or exchangeable. Visit tinyurl.com/kaywr8vz.

— Susanna's Comfort Cuisine, 124 N. Nevada Ave., is offering SCC's NYE Dinner with seating between 5 and 8 p.m. For $50, you get a four-course dinner. It's $20 additional for drink pairings. Reservations required at 719-352-6844, tinyurl.com/yrhehk35.

— At Jax Fish House and Oyster Bar, 11 S. Tejon St., get a three-course prix-fixe dinner for $85. More details: 719-357-4554, jaxfishhouse.com.

Contact the writer: 636-0271