Denver Sandwich Bag

Leftovers: In last week's Bite Me, I reported that Patrick Dupays, who'd just opened À Côté two doors down from his original restaurant, Z Cuisine, had decided to shut Z and move all operations to his new joint. À Côté had only been open a few days when we talked, and Dupays said he was convinced he could serve a worthy version of the brilliant Z menu at the new spot while still creating a real French wine bar: a piece of cheese, a bit of charcuterie, a glass of Côtes du Rhône and thee. After all, À Côté was bigger and brighter than Z, with a better location, right on the corner at 2245 West 30th Avenue.

But three days later, Dupays called again. "I've been doing a lot of thinking with my guys," he said, and what they were thinking about was reopening Z Cuisine. "It's like moving from your beautiful house into your garage, you know? I think I was in what you call a transition period, and I just lost it."

So here's the current plan: Dupays is going to keep Z Cuisine dark for a few weeks, and use that time to find a second staff — his original staff is now at À Côté, taking care of the already over-capacity crowds — and come up with a scaled-back format for Z Cuisine. He's thinking of putting six items on the menu rather than twelve, of changing menus every day, of doing prix fixe like a true Paris bistrot. And when he's ready, he'll open Z back up for proper dinner services — while continuing to operate À Côté as a wine bar. "What we do, it's for the people, you know?" he said. "How can we make them happy?"

I don't know about everyone else, but reopening Z Cuisine will make me very happy indeed.

There's no question that some other restaurants have gone kaput. On Sunday, Palomino closed its doors at 1515 Arapahoe Street; the owners are reportedly looking for a new location, having lost their home of ten years when they neglected to renew the lease. The Karma Kafe, a vegan spot sandwiched between Vita and Lola at 1575 Boulder Street, has left that space (and the tax notices for Karma Souljahs from the city pasted on the door), which will soon be filled with another coffeehouse run by another tenant in the Olinger's building. Meanwhile, if the tax problem gets cleared up, Karma could reopen in Five Points, which will be good news for raw/vegan food fans.

And after one of the shortest runs in recent memory, Marni's, a steakhouse that was squeezed into an odd-shaped space at 925 Lincoln Street, has been transformed into Mr. Coco's Bar & Grill. Same owners but a completely different look, with two happy hours a day ($4 skirt-steak tacos and chicken wings; 2-for-1 margaritas and $8 six-pack buckets), and a late-night menu offered until 1:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. The former home of a classic neighborhood Italian joint, Mikey's Italian Bistro, at 4140 East 38th Avenue, just reopened as a neighborhood French joint: Indulge. The space, which now has a liquor license, has been remodeled into a 65-seat bistro that opened on January 22. Chef William Wahl (ex of the Kevin Taylor organization, specifically Kevin Taylor's at the Opera House) calls Indulge's fare "classical French with a global twist."

Finally, one of Denver's greatest black holes could be the space at 1700 Vine Street, which has swallowed up restaurants ranging from Juanita's to the Rhino Room to Milagro Taco Bar. But that didn't deter Kevin Daly, owner of Boulder's Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery and Southern Sun Pub & Brewery, from buying the 12,000-square-foot building. He plans to put the company's third brewpub, another Mountain Sun, in that spot, Denver zoning permitting. We'll drink to that.