Best power dinner

Why are some of the country's most influential business types hanging out in Broomfield? They're wining and dining at the Omni Interlocken, one of Colorado's newest and swankiest hotels, which boasts not only a swell (read: powerful and majestic) view of the mountains, but also a big-deal golf course (John Elway doesn't hold his Celebrity Classic on just any old piece of sod, you know). Housed within the Omni's impressive confines is the Meritage, a classy restaurant with a massive stone fireplace and a patio that allows diners to appreciate that swell view. The food's pretty good, too, since chef Thomas Ryan, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, spent time at a few Ritz-Carltons before he was made master of this kitchen catering to masters of the universe. Everyone who's anyone seems to be gathering here to golf and then ink the deal -- while putting away a fair amount of man-food, such as venison loin and portabellos with polenta. As a server overheard a big-biz guy say to a dining companion at the end of one dinner, "Hey, I'd suck out your eyeballs and skull-fuck you like in that movie, but I'm too full."

Readers' choice: Morton's of Chicago