Take Your Best Shot

A hundred bottles of tequila at the bar, a hundred bottles of tequila.Jesse Morreale and Chris Swank, the folks behind Nobody in Particular Presents, and three new partners have given Capitol Hill/City Park residents reason to sing. A hundred and four reasons, to be exact, which is the number of tequilas they stock at their new casual cantina. But tequila is only the most obvious amenity at Mezcal, located right across from the Bluebird Theater at 3230 East Colfax Avenue. There's the cheerful interior, complete with old Mexican movie and wrestling posters and a Matt O'Neill painting of a Chihuahua. There's the Mexican porn display in the men's room. There's the kitchen that promises to serve up good Mexican grub from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. seven days a week. There's that nice, big bar in the center of the room with, yes, all that tequila behind it. (The house marg is made with Herradura Silver.)

Mezcal opens this week, pouring out the booze and pouring on the goodwill toward men (and women). We'll drink to that -- and at Mezcal, we can. -- Patricia Calhoun

Reconstructed Reflections

Take a holiday from the seasonal blues and escape over to Sink Gallery, where you'll find Staged Fantasy, a soothing collection of simulated landscapes and imaginative photographs. The show, which runs through February 1, features twelve photographers whose dreamscaped visions use manipulated scenes and assembled sets. Lori Nix reigns supreme with her tableaux technique of creating striking dioramas that are photographed with an almost three-dimensional perspective. "California Forest Fire" is Nix's haunting, full-color hand-constructed vista of a brilliant forest fire set upon a pristine lake. Sink Gallery is located at 2301 West 30th Avenue and is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays or by appointment. Call 303-455-0185 or visit www.gallerysink.com for more information. -- Kity Ironton

Found Art
Kids create Special Places with scraps of material
FRI, 12/19

What can one contemporary quiltmaker and thirty kids from Remington Elementary School do with a nondescript pile of beads, pipe cleaners, candy wrappers, milk cartons, fabric scraps, Christmas lights and toys? The final product will go on display today, when Special Places/Personal Spaces opens with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. at PlatteForum, the unique gallery at the foot of Denver's Millennium Bridge that pairs resident fine artists with local youngsters to collaborate on art installations. This time around, the professional partner is Terry Hancock Mangat, a renowned textile artist from New Mexico whose own detailed work is included on a list of the top 100 twentieth-century American quilts. Mangat supervised the schoolkids as they created tent-like structures from the disparate materials listed above; she also created her own mixed-media pieces for the show, which colorfully depict the students at work. Special Places will remain on view Tuesdays through Saturdays through January 3 at the gallery, 1610 Little Raven Street, Suite 125; for information, call 303-893-0791 or log on to www.platteforum.org. -- Susan Froyd