Email Author Laura Shunk

2011 Stories by Laura Shunk

• Ten favorite beverages from 2011

  published Dec 30, 2011

  The more I travel, the more I'm impressed by the barmen and barwomen of Denver -- many of the beer, wine and spirits professionals in our city can stand with any other bartender in the world. They're ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Salt and Colterra owner Bradford Heap rolls out a catering service

  published Dec 30, 2011

  Bradford Heap, owner of Boulder's Salt and Niwot's Colterra, has had a busy end of the year. Not only has he been drawing up plans to launch a distillery with his bar manager, Evan Faber, he's also la... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Denver's ten best new bars of 2011

  published Dec 29, 2011

  This year was a banner year for new restaurants -- as we noted in this week's Year in Review, nearly 300 new places have opened since January 1. Dozens of them included bars, and many more new dives, ... More >>

• Stock up on booze at Amendment XXI, pocket money for cocktailing at Williams & Graham

  published Dec 29, 2011

  Yesterday, we wrote about the five neighborhood liquor stores we head to when we're stocking up for a boozey holiday such as, oh, New Year's Eve. One that could have very well also made that list is A... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Denver's ten best new restaurants of 2011

  published Dec 29, 2011

  By our count, nearly 300 restaurants have opened in the metro area since January 1 -- a big increase over 2010, when just over 200 concepts (many of them food trucks) joined the scene. This past year,... More >>

• Frank's Kitchen offers up a hangover cure for New Year's Day

  published Dec 28, 2011

  When Frank and Dina Berta opened Frank's Kitchen earlier this year, it quickly became part of the neighborhood, integrating into the community and picking up a crowd of regulars that use it as a go-to... More >>

• Our favorite neighborhood liquor stores for stocking up for New Year's Eve

  published Dec 28, 2011

  We're in the home stretch of the holiday season, but we've still got one more big blow-out before the post-festivity depression sets in: that epic drink-fest that is New Year's Eve. We fully acknowled... More >>

• Thai Gold opens in Golden

  published Dec 27, 2011

  Jim Abajian and his wife, Patsorn, made their first connection over Thai food: they met at the Thai restaurant she ran in Washington, D.C. where Jim was a frequent customer. So when they moved to Gold... More >>

• A food critic makes a St. Patrick's Day fitness resolution

  published Dec 27, 2011

  Over the last few months, I went from the worst shape of my life to the best while continuing to eat like a food critic. Don't punch me in the face; instead, read how I did it in part nine of this ser... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Arvada Beer Company and Manneken Frites are an ideal pair in the northwest suburbs

  published Dec 27, 2011

  Out in the northwest suburbs for family events this holiday season, I was looking for a low-key place to unwind with some out-of-town relatives after all the feasting and present-wrapping concluded. U... More >>

• It's been a banner year for Denver restaurants... and restaurateurs

  published December 29, 2011

  It was the year of the entrepreneur and the restaurateur," says Jim Pittenger, owner of Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs. After six years of... More >>

• Behind the bar with Kelly Wooldridge at Trillium

  published Dec 22, 2011

  Kelly Wooldridge, beverage director and sommelier at the recently opened Trillium, was still in high school when he felt the first stirrings of interest in professional bartending. "There was this g... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Five festive cocktails that aren't just hot chocolate with schnapps

  published Dec 22, 2011

  We'll drink just about anything hot this time (and temperature) of the year, hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps (or some other sort of delicious liqueur) included. But there are a few cocktails on... More >>

• Ten favorite dishes from 2011...and maybe ever in Denver

  published Dec 22, 2011

  There comes a moment every year -- and it's usually an alcohol-inspired moment during the holidays -- when I, after a bottle or two of wine, declare that THIS year is the BEST YEAR EVER in Denver dini... More >>

• Photos: Barolo Grill, reviewed this week

  published Dec 21, 2011

  The last review of 2011 took me back to Barolo Grill, where a year ago I had some very mediocre meals at soaring prices -- which made me think that Barolo's star was tarnished, and the legendary resta... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  The Emich sisters return to the Boulder restaurant scene with Shine

  published Dec 21, 2011

  Three years ago, triplets Jill, Jessica and Jennifer Emich bowed out of Boulder's restaurant scene when they sold Trilogy, their 13th Street wine bar; it became the now-closed B-Side Lounge. Since the... More >>

• Barolo Grill and a year of changes

  published Dec 20, 2011

  A year ago, after a series of lackluster meals at Barolo Grill, I begrudgingly paid a $200 tab and doubted that I'd ever return, concluding that Blair Taylor's iconic restaurant was past its prime. "... More >>

• Chipotle CEO Monty Moran talks immigration reform in the Wall Street Journal

  published Dec 20, 2011

  A year ago, news broke that home-grown burrito chain Chipotle was being scrutinized by the feds surrounding the company's hiring of illegal immigrants, and that hundreds of employees would be laid off... More >>

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  With an updated menu, the revamped Barolo Grill is flying high

  published December 22, 2011

  Let me get that for you," said the valet, smiling as he pulled open the door to the restaurant. Just across the threshold, an equally eager... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Two Colorado spots land on Food & Wine's fifty best bars in America roundup

  published Dec 20, 2011

  'Tis the season to get obliterated with family members and co-workers, and just in time for those special events, Food & Wine has released its list of the fifty best bars in the country. And while you... More >>

• One Dollar Mexican shutters on 38th Avenue

  published Dec 19, 2011

  Don't let that "open" sign deceive you, because a peek through the windows at One Dollar Mexican, which owner Eric Alvarez just opened in September, tells a very different story. Everything has been ... More >>

• A food critic figures out how to lose weight without eating diet food at home

  published Dec 19, 2011

  Over the last few months, I went from the worst shape of my life to the best while continuing to eat like a food critic. Don't punch me in the face; instead, read how I did it in part eight of this se... More >>

• Updated: Vacation! Restaurants taking winter sabbaticals

  published Dec 19, 2011

  'Tis the season to eat, drink and be merry, and many restaurants around town are packed on a nightly basis as a result. For that reason alone, you should probably make reservations before you head out... More >>

• Stranahan's will release Conundrum Peak Snowflake tomorrow

  published Dec 16, 2011

  Stranahan's built its brand on its original Colorado Whiskey, which grew the company from a micro-distillery to an explosive phenomenon -- and then resulted in Proximo Spirits buying Stranahan's late ... More >>

• Behind the bar with Joshua Smith at TAG and Williams & Graham

  published Dec 16, 2011

  Joshua Smith, who divides his bartending time between TAG and Williams & Graham, has been slinging drinks for all of his adult life, but his first foray into the profession was a bit of a fluke. "My ... More >>