1. ORBITORBITTHE SECOND FRONT PAGE
MARCH 10, 2010
TELLURIDE DAILYPLANET
PETS
UNWANTED
GIFTSFROM
YOURPET
When cats bring
mice to the doorstep
Dear Pet Column,
My cat is an indoor/outdoor
cat who occasionally hunts
mice and brings them in to my
bedroom as a “gift”. Although I
am honored that she is thought-
ful enough to give me her prizes,
I would rather discourage her
from doing so as I don’t care to
have dead mice in the house.
Please help.
Signed, Ungrateful for Gifts
D
ear Ungrateful, my
name is Buttercup
and I am a cat-in-
waiting (for my new
family to adopt me!)
here at Second Chance Humane
Society and the host of this
week’s Pet Column. I hate to
break it to you but your cat is not
bringing you a gift as much as
she is trying to teach you to hunt
mice yourself. She likely feels as
though you are a slacker regard-
ing the all-important mice hunt-
ing pursuits and is trying to
motivate you to learn from her.
What leads me to burst your
bubble of pride at having a cat
who pays homage to you? Well
this is the same behavior that a
mother cat displays for her kit-
tens in mentoring their hunting
skills to fulfill their born
instincts as chasers and hunters.
And although these instincts are
intact at birth — mother cats
must teach their kittens to kill
and eat prey — as these are not
natural born skills (typically
indoor cats will not eat the mice
they put out of commission in
the household).
By observing the nature of
outdoor felines, you will find
that when kittens are about 4-
weeks-old, mothers begin bring-
ing dead mice or other prey
home to eat in front of the litter.
The kittens soon catch on and
join in and eventually do so with-
out the mother cat needing to
demonstrate how to eat the prey.
The next stage of training is
with a live rodent, which
momma cat retrieves for the kit-
tens, who then learn to kill and
to eat it themselves. The last
stage involves the kittens accom-
panying the mother cat on the
actual hunt and learning to kill
mice on their own — which typ-
ically occurs by four to five
months of age.
According to Dr Katherine
Houpt, VMD at Cornell
University’s College of Veterinary
Medicine, “There are few
instances in nature where ani-
mals bring gifts to each other.
Eating and survival are at the
root of most behaviors that one
animal exhibits toward another.
And your cat considers you a kin-
dred cat of sorts.”
So now that you understand
why your cat is bringing you
rodents, how do you eliminate
the behavior? Praising your cat
reinforces the behavior but
scolding your cat for following its
See PPEETTSS,, Page 26
1.American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days will bring its springtime do-good cause to
town Wednesday through Friday at Alpine Bank.The flowers are $11 for a bunch of
10, reserve yours via e-mail at daffydays@gmail.com.
2.A free wine tasting with winemaker Mitch Garrett is Thursday from 4-7 p.m. at Wine
Mine at Pac Street Liquors.
3.Phenomenal Woman’s Week is hosting an artist showcase and open mic on Thursday
from 6-8 p.m. at the Ah Haa School.All are welcome to share their work.
4.Local actor and screenwriter Sasha Cucciniello will host a workshop on Thursday
that’s all about how actors, performers, writers and artists can create and fully real-
ize a character. Creating a Character is a 6 p.m. at the library, and it’s free.
Planet Picks
Wednesday Focus: Lifestyle, Home & Food
Sushi is being served with style at Lumiere’s Little Bar in MountainVillage.The tucked-away spot on the fourth floor of the boutique
hotel offers fresh fish at a small,subdued sushi bar. On Monday evening, Chef Tom Potterton put the finishing touches on the
Caterpillar Roll, one of his signature creations.[Photo by Brian Kozak]
FOOD
Sushi in MV? It does exist
By BRITTANNY HAVARD
Planet Contributor
H
ad no idea there
was a sushi option
in Mountain
Village? Don’t feel
bad, not everyone
did.
Walk through the front door of
the 9545 restaurant, head
straight through the lobby of the
Inn at Lost Creek, exit the back
door heading directly across the
parking lot to a small lit door
frame, take the elevator to the
fourth floor, turn right, turn left,
turn left, and there it is, the
Little Bar, at lumiere.
Standing behind the bar is
executive chef (and only chef)
Tom Potterton and guest servic-
es manager/ fill-in bartender
David Byars. There is not a soul
in the place and Kung Fu Panda
plays on the TV above the bar.
Both the soft-spoken native
New Yorker behind the tiny sushi
bar and the excellent super
high-grade sushi that is served
here have made a long journey.
The hotel lumiere (purposely
spelled with a lowercase ‘l’)
opened last year and the sushi
bar was born with the place.
“It kind of just fit the style of
the hotel. The Little Bar is small
and boutique, like the hotel,
making it kind of exclusive,” said
manager Byars.
Run last year by Honga’s, a
restaurant in town famous for
pan-Asian cuisine and sushi, the
management of lumiere decided
this year to take their sushi pro-
gram in house, and Potterton got
the job.
“I went in there and she
[Penny Simpson, lumiere
General Manager] asked me if I
knew how to roll,” said
Potterton. “I started eating sushi
when I was 5 and learned to roll
from a Japanese friend of my
parents, Tashiko, when I was 9.”
Potterton has worked in
restaurants since he was 14. In
Telluride, he worked at 221
South Oak, the Sheridan Chop
House, and the once-upon-a-
time Limeleaf.
“I’ve traveled around the
country eating sushi. San
Francisco, New York, Chicago,
but mostly New York,” said
Potterton. “This is the first time
I’ve rolled professionally, and it’s
just from what my parents
taught me.”
One would have guessed
Potterton attended both culi-
nary and art school, especially as
he reaches up and places a
glossy-stripped, meticulously
crafted Dragon Roll atop the
glass fish case.
All the fish served at the
Little Bar is flown in from
Hawaii. Potterton strives for the
highest grade possible.
“We’re offering a totally high
end product,” said Potterton. “I
just know that we’re offering the
best that you can get.”
Potterton believes the sushi
rice is key. “I think that’s really
the trick. And again, I get to do
all that. I cook the rice to perfec-
tion. A lot of people think you
overcook it to make it sticky, but
that’s not the case. Then, you
add some rice wine vinegar, sake
and a touch of white sugar.”
Potterton says the two most
popular rolls are the Dragon and
Caterpillar rolls.
“Because we don’t have such
a huge turnover, we don’t have to
crank it out so fast. They take a
lot of time to make and they are
a work of art,” said Potterton.
“People that have tried our
Dragon Roll think it’s one of the
best they’ve ever had.”
Potterton believes the idea is
to blend all the ingredients so
you can taste them all.
The Dragon roll tastes like
there’s a lot going on: an exqui-
site façade, and then on the
inside, a softer texture.
A high volume sushi joint
wouldn’t have time to create a
roll with so many ingredients,
and sometimes that simplicity is
a good thing.
The fish stands alone at the
Little Bar. Delicate, red-velvety
Maguro (tuna), white ribboned
orange Sake (salmon), which
Potterton encourages guests to
ask for a leaner, fewer lined, or
fattier, heavier lined, and more
flavorful cut, depending on their
likes. The opaque, glossy sheen
Escolar is superb.
10STEPSTO
ASUCCESSFUL
FIRST
VEGETABLE
GARDEN
It’s not that hard
to grow your own food
By LEE REICH
For The Associated Press
H
ow about going to a
place where you can
relax, enjoy some
sun, and get a little
exercise and gour-
met food? A place even your kids
could find interesting? This
“spa” need not cost much; in
fact, it will save you money.
It’s a home vegetable garden,
and don’t be intimidated if
you’ve never planted one before.
Vegetables are easy to grow,
especially if you follow these 10
steps for first-timers:
1. Choose a location in full
sun, which means six or more
hours of direct sun in summer.
Producing succulent, savory veg-
etables takes energy — the sun’s
energy — especially for fruiting
vegetables such as cucumbers
and tomatoes. If you don’t have
this much sunlight, either get
out your pruning saw or grow
only leafy vegetables such as let-
tuce and spinach.
2. Your site needs soil that is
well-drained. Roots have to
breathe, which they cannot do if
water sits in or on the soil for too
long after rains. If grass or most
weeds grow well, the soil is prob-
ably well drained.
3. Grow your garden as close
as possible to your door — no
farther than your wife can throw
the kitchen sink, goes the old
adage, said when kitchen sinks
were cast iron. The closer to
your door, the more frequently
you’ll enjoy and work in the gar-
den.
4. Start small. Too much gar-
den may begin to feel like work.
You can raise plenty of vegeta-
bles in even a 10-by-10-foot plot
of land.
5. Fence your garden. A fence,
besides keeping out rabbits and
other hungry animals, helps
define your garden visually.
See GGAARRDDEENN,, Page 26See SSUUSSHHII,, Page 25

2. MARCH 10, 2010 TELLURIDE DAILY PLANET 2255ORBIT
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John Nielsen, President of Prescott Brewing Company, stands in the brewing area of the downtown microbrewery on March 3. [AP
Photo/The Daily Courier, Les Stukenberg]
SPIRITS
Prescott brewing company
toasts people’s vote
Named America’s No. 1 microbrewery
By BRUCE COLBERT
The Daily Courier
P
RESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) —
Credit the U.S. Army and a
Northern Arizona
University parents’ day for the
Prescott Brewing Company.
“I was stationed in Germany
from 1974 to 1977, and I learned
to appreciate good beer,” said
John Nielsen, the brewing com-
pany’s co-owner with his wife,
Roxanne. “When I came back, I
didn’t like American beer, so I
started dabbling with making
my own.”
Last month, beer connois-
seurs and fans across the state
voted the Prescott Brewing
Company “Arizona’s No. 1
Microbrewery.” Online voting
started in 2009 on the Internet
site, “Ranking Arizona — The
Best of Arizona,” which is the
largest business opinion poll in
Arizona, according to AZ
Business Magazine.
“We’re a brew pub,” explained
John. “That means we have a
full-service restaurant and a
microbrewery.”
A microbrewery makes less
than 15,000 barrels of beer per
year. Each barrel holds 31 gal-
lons.
“We brew three to four times
a week, depending on business,”
said Jan Brown, lead brewer.
“We’ve got about 40-50 recipes,
and six flagship beers that we
keep on hand all the time.”
David Purcell and Erick
Laurilla live in Flagstaff but
travel frequently to Prescott to
spend time at Prescott Brewing.
“We love the beer here,”
Purcell said Wednesday while
drinking “Smokie the Brew.”
“We work all over the state
and have hit a lot of places, but
this is our favorite. And the food
is very good, too.”
However, Prescott Brewing
Company is not just an Arizona
favorite. The Nielsens opened
the pub March 15,1994, and two
years later hung their first tro-
phy plaque. National and inter-
national awards line the restau-
rant walls.
Roxanne said that when the
couple travels, whether to New
York, North Carolina or Hawaii,
it seems someone invariably
knows about the pub and its
beer. However, they did not trav-
el much their first year in busi-
ness.
“Twenty-hour days for the
first six months,” John said.
“John would go into the brew-
ery and take naps on the floor
and set the alarm on his watch
so that he could come up and
work the restaurant,” Roxanne
added.
“You start with the mash,”
Brown said. “Then the hops and
yeast and let it rock and roll.
That’s the simple explanation.”
Brewers store finished beer
in a temperature controlled
beer cellar. Tubes connected to
the barrels carry beer upstairs
through the floor directly into
taps at the bar.
“That’s why our beer is so
fresh,” Brown said.
The Nielsens credit the pub’s
beer success with John’s unique
recipes and the quality of the
brewing. They credit the restau-
rant’s success to the quality of
the food and their 68 employees.
“We rely on the human fac-
tor,” Roxanne said.
Sushi in MV
Those not ready to indulge on
sashimi still have hopes for sati-
ation at the Little Bar.
In addition to small plates
like grilled paninis and appetiz-
ers, vegetarian options are avail-
able.
“I was a vegetarian for 17
years, so I produce a lot of vege-
tarian sushi. I met my wife and
have kids now, so the vegetation
thing is out. My wife is quarter
Japanese, which is where I real-
ly get all my sushi talent from,”
said Potterton, smiling as he
pulls back empty plates,
streaked with wasabi, from
across the bar.
“It’s really nice to be doing
something I love, because I real-
ly do love sushi. It’s just hard
because I know the oceans are
being fished out,” Potterton
says, turning serious. “We’re get-
ting a new product called Skip
Jack, in English, in next week.
It’s exciting because it’s sustain-
able, but I haven’t tried it yet, so
can’t really attest to the product.
We try and do our best to get
everything sustainable.”
The busiest night at this sushi
bar is relevant to how many
check-ins the hotel has. In a
boutique hotel with a 29 room
max occupancy, there’s rarely
too many patrons to get a seat.
If there’s a complaint, it could
be the ambience. After the ele-
vator ride, winding turns, and
built up anticipation of this tiny
hideaway, you almost would
rather arrive at a candle lit cave
bar than a bright, chandeliered
room.
But, the fish is very good, and
so is the company of the chef.
The bar is open from 4:30 p.m.
to 10 p.m. six days a week and
closed Tuesdays.
On closing day of the moun-
tain the Little Bar is throwing a
party offering discounted rolls
and drink specials.
They will re-open for summer,
with more summertime accom-
paniments to the sushi menu,
like Baja fish tacos and hope for
more of a local presence.
The Little Bar doesn’t adver-
tise and Potterton hopes its rep-
utation spreads through word of
mouth.
“We’ve talked about quiet
campaign marketing. Just by
going around saying to people,
‘Have you heard of sushi at the
Little Bar?” said Potterton.
And now that people have
heard about it, finding it is the
only catch.
SSUUSSHHII, from page 28