Best Comeback 2015 | Jake Norris | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Comeback

Jake Norris

Danielle Lirette

Jake Norris loves whiskey. He was head distiller at Stranahan's when it opened in 2004, running operations for one of Colorado's most-loved spirits. In 2011, when the ownership of Stranahan's changed hands, Norris stayed on for a few months to assist with the transition, then parted ways with the new corporate honchos. When he met Al Laws, he found that they shared a true passion for making small-batch whiskey with no compromises on quality. The two made some booze and put it into barrels, where it sat for more than two years. Norris waited for the day when he could finally release the bronze-colored liquid he'd carefully brought into being. That day arrived in October, when he delivered bottles of A.D. Laws Four Grain Straight Bourbon to bars, restaurants and liquor stores in the Denver area. Welcome back, Jake.

Best Dive Bar

Ace Hi Tavern

Since alcohol put Golden on the map, it's not surprising that metro Denver's best dive bar is in this once-sleepy foothills town. Bar fans have been living it up at the Ace Hi Tavern since Leo Stillman purchased the old Opera House restaurant on historic Washington Avenue and opened the bar back in 1961. Today it's run by Leo's grandson, Sid Stillman, and it's still a place where workers getting off their shifts at Coors plop themselves next to Colorado School of Mines students preparing for a tough day of class. The place is Western-themed and Colorado-proud, with maps of the state and "Native" signs adorning the walls, and old-fashioned steer horns fancied up with Mardi Gras beads stationed above the cash register. You can sink into a cushy booth if you don't feel perky enough to perch on a bar stool, and the tavern has plenty of distractions for drinkers who need to rev up for another round, including a pool table. But at a true dive, you don't need more than good company and good drinks for a winning hand — and Ace Hi deals plenty of both.

Readers' choice: hi-dive

Best New Bar

Dunbar Kitchen & Tap House

After decades of operating bars and restaurants in Grand County, Mike Ayre and Charles Wessels had gotten out of the business — but then they found a spot in Denver that was just too good to refuse, in the heart of Five Points, a part of town that was once jumping with joints. A deal had just gone south on the 115-year-old house and fifty-year-old storefront next door that had been occupied by Dunbar's barbershop; Ayre, who was working in real estate, persuaded Wessels to get back in the game and help put the "bar" in Dunbar. The result is a casual, comfortable spot with exposed-brick walls and a bar made from old wood reclaimed from the house; the original barbershop sign hangs on an interior wall, near old photos of the barbershop and other old Denver scenes. Nearly all of the beer and liquor offered here is local; the food menu is a nod to Wessels's roots, with Southern specials that include a pimento-cheese appetizer. The big Sunday brunch is one of the best-kept secrets in town — almost as big a find as the new patio out back. All in all, Dunbar is a great neighborhood hangout — in a great neighborhood that's making a strong comeback.

Readers' choice: Asbury Provisions

Best Bartender

Allison Widdecombe

Williams & Graham

If she's not behind the bar at Williams & Graham, Allison Widdecombe is probably winning a cocktail competition somewhere in America. Not content to simply be a part of the stellar team at Williams & Graham — which was recently honored as one of the fifty best bars in the world — Widdecombe has her sights set on even higher summits. In January, she took first place in a national Manhattan competition in New York City...but that's only one of her many victories. Whether it's whiskey, tequila or you name it, Widdecombe can craft a winning recipe with the spirit. The Hawaii native loves Denver, and while on the road, she does her best to rep our city. Not just a skilled and knowledgable bartender, she's also one of the most genuine, gracious and charming people you'll ever meet. Cheers!

Readers' choice: Kari Cummings

Best Tip on Service

Nathan Buss

If the nature of restaurant service is to take care of people, no one is doing a better job than Nathan Buss, a server at Session Kitchen. Buss took the concept of service to the next level by creating his Tips for Tuesdays program, in which he donates all the tips he makes during his Tuesday-night shifts to charity. He estimates that he's given away over $8,000 so far to local nonprofits such as Urban Peak, Veterans to Farmers, Project Helping and Mile High Squash, to name just a few. What began as a way to help people has attracted guests — sometimes forty or fifty every Tuesday — who dine at his tables for the opportunity to donate to his chosen weekly nonprofit.

Best Chef

Steven Redzikowski

So you've settled into your seat at Acorn or Oak at Fourteenth, and you're looking over the menu as your drinks arrive. Look carefully. What you're holding isn't just doing what most menus do — laying out the options and listing ingredients to help you decide what to order. After you've eaten as many meals at these restaurants as we have, you begin to see the menus for what they really are: culinary haiku. Okay, so dish descriptions don't have exactly seventeen syllables, but the way the ingredients come together on your plate is nothing short of poetry — and chef-owner (and 2015 James Beard Foundation semi-finalist) Steven Redzikowski is the reason why. Like any good poet, Redzikowski is a master of juxtaposition, putting together cuisines, spices, flavors and textures in invigorating, unexpected ways. Take carrots, for example. Who else would pair these root vegetables with burrata, blood oranges and chile-almond jam? Or sprinkle togarashi over shaved apples and kale? With an eye to the seasons and a global curiosity, Redzikowski dreams up the food we long to eat, with numerous dishes so good, they've become the standards against which others in town are measured.

Readers' choice: Jennifer Jasinski

Best Ten-Year Run

Jennifer Jasinski and Beth Gruitch

In November 2004, chef Jen Jasinski and partner Beth Gruitch opened Rioja, an immediate hit in Larimer Square. But the two didn't rest on their laurels. They took on the nearby Bistro Vendôme, then opened Euclid Hall, a beer-and-sausage emporium around the corner. And they didn't stop there, either. Even while Jasinski was competing on Top Chef Masters and picking up a James Beard Best Chef Southwest award, they were planning their next move: Stoic & Genuine in Union Station. We can't wait to see what the next decade brings.

Best New Restaurant Neighborhood

Union Station

Over the years, halfhearted attempts have been made to open bars and restaurants inside Union Station, but it took a massive overhaul of the building, including the addition of a high-end hotel, to turn the historic train station into a destination dining area with multiple options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. Whether you’re just looking for a cup of joe — Pigtrain Coffee will fill that need — or going all in for a multi-course meal from one of Denver’s hottest chefs, you’ll find what you’re looking for: weekend brunch at the latest location of Snooze, a beer at the Terminal Lounge, a quick snack at Acme Burgers and Brats, and some of the freshest seafood in town at Stoic & Genuine. Go casual and healthy at the Kitchen Next Door or dress up for a special occasion at Alex Seidel’s Mercantile Dining & Provision (with a stop in the market for some housemade cheeses, salumi and pickles, of course). And if you absolutely insist on going outside, there are more eateries in the brand-new buildings that flank the station, including some of Denver’s best Chinese cuisine at Zoe Ma Ma. All aboard!

Readers’ choice: River North

Best New Neighborhood Restaurant

Work & Class

Molly Martin

When Delores Tronco and Tony Maciag took a chance on a shipping-container development in the Ballpark/RiNo neighborhood for the home of their new restaurant, the area was trending in the right direction — but its success wasn't yet a fait accompli. Work & Class, with its feel-good combination of craveable eats and drinks, sealed the deal, making the neighborhood one of the hottest in town and a seat on the restaurant's patio or at its concrete communal table even hotter. Putting out spectacular Latin and American food that has since nabbed chef-owner Dana Rodriguez a James Beard nomination for Best Chef Southwest, the packed, noisy place is on a perpetual wait, as people can't get enough of the meats such as cochinita pibil, cabrito (roasted goat) and coriander-roasted lamb served by the quarter, half or full pound. Sides and desserts — think custardy chickpea croquettes, Brussels sprout-apple-bacon hash and deeply caramelized butterscotch pudding — reflect Rodriguez's high-end training and unpretentious approach.

Readers' choice: Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery

Best Butter

Table 6

Courtesy Table 6

Man could live by bread alone, but how much better that life would be with a smear of softened butter. The crew at Table 6 knows this, which is why they start your meals with thick slices of crusty bread and plenty of salt-sprinkled butter. And not just any salt, but an artful trio of the red Hawaiian, sel gris and black Hawaiian lava varieties, all of which add slightly different textures and mineral components. Bread and butter are complimentary, an increasingly rare gesture these days, and yet another sign of the thoughtfulness that makes Table 6 a restaurant to return to, despite all the new kids on the block.

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