A Union Station Story: A Second Helping of Food & Drink, January 23-27

The blocks behind Union Station are fast becoming a restaurant destination, even if not many Denverites know about the new maze of offices, hotels and apartments that have sprung up in the past year or two. The area is already home to Honor Society, Public School 303, Ink Coffee, the Pig & the Sprout and Zoës Kitchen. And this week, Stella's on 16th and Hearth & Dram join the fun, with modern new dining rooms framed by expanses of angular glass and steel. And in the next couple of months, the neighborhood will welcome Tavernetta (from the owners of Frasca) and Tupelo Honey, and an unnamed restaurant will be built inside the Denver Hose Company No. 1, one of the city's oldest buildings and a relic of when this part of town was known as the Bottoms.

Zengo, an early pioneer of the Commons Park vicinity just over the Millenium Bridge, received a remake and complete menu overhaul earlier this year after more than a decade adhering to a Mexican-Asian fusion concept. Our restaurant critic, Gretchen Kurtz, visited Zengo to see if the new pan-Asian menu was as bold and exciting as the restaurant was when it first opened.

In other news:

RESTAURANTS/BARS OPENING THIS WEEK:*
Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery, 200 Quebec Street
Devil's Food Bakery, 1004 South Gaylord Street
Growler USA, 11405 East Briarwood Avenue, Centennial
Hearth & Dram (Saturday),  1801 Wewatta Street
Stella's on 16th, 1550 Wewatta Street
Sweet Cow inside the Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas Street, Aurora

RESTAURANTS/BARS CLOSING THIS WEEK:*
The Blue Parrot, 640 Main Street, Louisville

*Or earlier, and not listed in a previous Second Helping.