Divine Denver chef and restaurant owner Jennifer Jasinski has never watched Bravo's Top Chef. So it didn't faze her when she was asked to compete in a cook-off against the hit show's season one contender, Stephen Asprinio, during the Steamboat Wine Festival.

"I saw his picture in the Steamboat brochure, and he looked like he could be a good guy," said Jasinski, owner of Rioja and Bistro Vendome. "I thought, 'Maybe I'll get some good competition out of him.' "

But the Denver-born Asprinio proved no match for Jasinski during last Saturday's Viking Steel Chef competition. Both chefs were given an hour to create two dishes using a buffalo ribeye, mangoes, figs and eggplants.

"We didn't bring anything of our own except our knives," Jasinski said about the secret ingredients the chefs were provided. "It's more interesting if you bring nothing and say, 'OK, what have you got for me?' "

Jasinski created a first-course salad using star fruit, radishes and figs, with a mango mint vinaigrette, on top of arugula. Her entree: adobo-rubbed buffalo ribeye, pan-seared with roasted eggplant, bacon, corn and haricovert topped with arugula pesto and avocado mousse.

While chef Jen beat the Top Chef contestant hands down, he may have taken first place in the "fashion" category - or not.

"He looked so silly," Jasinski said. "He has a faux 'hawk, and he was wearing designer jeans, a white belt, white pointy cobra-skin shoes and a pink plaid shirt. That's what he cooked in. He thought he was so cool."

But when it came to cooking, the judges ruled Jasinski was cooler. "A couple of the judges told me it wasn't close at all. They said, 'You smoked him.' "

ON THE PATIO: How much fun can you have in Denver on a Wednesday night? Find out during the final two concerts in the Summer on the Patio series, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Elway's.

Party on the outdoor plaza, where you can snag an umbrella-covered table or make a reservation to sit on the patio attached to the restaurant. Tom Moxcey and his stupendous staff just keep making the weekly event, now in its third year, better and better.

The Railbenders headline on Wednesday, and Pete Martinez closes the series on Aug. 22. More info and reservations: 303-399-5353.

THE SEEN: Shelly Davis, the gorgeous girlfriend of former-Bronco-turned-NFL- broadcaster Shannon Sharpe, with a bevy of beauties listening to Band of Heathens during the Summer on the Patio concert series Wednesday at Elway's. Also at Elway's, dethroned Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio's trial judge, Edward Nottingham, taking in the tunes.

EAVESDROPPING on a woman at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club: "In the South, it's not who's your daddy, it's who's your granddaddy."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. today on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.