Berkeley

Stress for Excess

Playlist

Poor Little Knitter on the Road and Quasi

Weather Changes

There's a wintry mood at the MCA and a summery installation on the lawn of the DAM.

Bottesini Project to set up shop in San Francisco for the night

The Bottesini Project, the completely improv project spearheaded by Creative Music Works' Paul Riola, is taking its unique show on the road. Riola is taking the concept -- spontaneous compositions created by like-minded musicians in a formal jam context -- to San Francisco on Friday, May 15, at the ... More >>

A picture's worth 1,000 calories

Mark MangerJason Sheehan visited DJ's Berkeley Cafe for this week's restaurant review. This week's Westword, on newsstands and at westword.com later today, is especially friendly to foodies. Along with the usual lineup of reviews and columns, this week's cover story, by Sex, Death and Oysters autho ... More >>

Kenny Be's Yard Arteology: Downspout Saguaros

The study of neighbors through their lawn ornaments Click image to enlarge. Figure 7. Berkeley: Downspout Saguaros Arizonans who move to Denver are usually happy to leave all reminders of that hellhole behind. It would never occur to them to announce their Arizona-allegiance by constructing sagua ... More >>

Slice of Life

The study of neighbors through their lawn ornaments Click image to enlarge. Figure 7. Berkeley: Downspout Saguaros Arizonans who move to Denver are usually happy to leave all reminders of that hellhole behind. It would never occur to them to announce their Arizona-allegiance by constructing sagua ... More >>

Bite Me

Color Coded

Follow That Story

Yap Dance

The Stallings brothers handily revive the Berkeley Inn

Yap Dance

Rosa Mia Inn is just the spot for a nice, quiet drink

Yap Dance

Surrealist Stash

Vilem Kriz's photographs return to Camera Obscura Gallery.

A Run for the Border

We spend a day on Denver's dividing line: Sheridan Boulevard.

Gay Old Time

We spend a day on Denver's dividing line: Sheridan Boulevard.

G'Dead, Mate

Zombies rise again, this time from Down Under.

Negativland

Over the Edge Vol. 4: Dick Vaughn's Moribund Music of the '70s (Seeland)

Easy Does It

These restaurants will get your day off to a good start.

Boulder's renegade lunch lady

Now serving: Renegade Lunch Lady Ann Cooper, who's taking on the Boulder Valley School District. Cooper is known nationally as an advocate for healthier school lunches for children, and has already created greatly improved nutritional meal programs in New York and at the Berkeley Unified School ... More >>

Salt of the Earth

Now serving: Renegade Lunch Lady Ann Cooper, who's taking on the Boulder Valley School District. Cooper is known nationally as an advocate for healthier school lunches for children, and has already created greatly improved nutritional meal programs in New York and at the Berkeley Unified School ... More >>

Only in Denver: Making a case for Federal Boulevard

Now serving: Renegade Lunch Lady Ann Cooper, who's taking on the Boulder Valley School District. Cooper is known nationally as an advocate for healthier school lunches for children, and has already created greatly improved nutritional meal programs in New York and at the Berkeley Unified School ... More >>

Dive in to our dive-bar essay contest

Is this the best dive bar in Denver?​Last week we asked for your favorite dive (among the nominees: El Chapultepec, Lancer Lounge, Squire, PS Lounge, BarBar, Berkeley, Charlie Brown's Lion's Lair). Now it's time to prove your devotion: Write a love letter/tribute to your favorite dive bar, pr ... More >>

The Northwest Denver Toy Library gets the lead out

Is this the best dive bar in Denver?​Last week we asked for your favorite dive (among the nominees: El Chapultepec, Lancer Lounge, Squire, PS Lounge, BarBar, Berkeley, Charlie Brown's Lion's Lair). Now it's time to prove your devotion: Write a love letter/tribute to your favorite dive bar, pr ... More >>

Alice Waters to write three new books

​She is the culinary genius behind Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Along with friend and chef Jeremiah Tower, she pioneered California Cuisine and has had a heavy influence in promoting sustainable, locally grown food sources for restaurants. Her Chez Panisse Foundation introduced the Edible School ... More >>

A Slow Foods dinner feeds the body, mind and soul

​She is the culinary genius behind Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Along with friend and chef Jeremiah Tower, she pioneered California Cuisine and has had a heavy influence in promoting sustainable, locally grown food sources for restaurants. Her Chez Panisse Foundation introduced the Edible School ... More >>

THINGS OF BEAUTY

​She is the culinary genius behind Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Along with friend and chef Jeremiah Tower, she pioneered California Cuisine and has had a heavy influence in promoting sustainable, locally grown food sources for restaurants. Her Chez Panisse Foundation introduced the Edible School ... More >>

New Year's party bottles make a beautiful garden border: Kenny Be's Yard Arteology

Holiday 2010: Berkeley booze bottle border.​ If you are planning a New Year's party for sixty or more of your best friends who each drink two or more bottles of wine apiece, you will have enough booze bottles to make a beautiful garden border similar to the one shown in the picture above. Be ... More >>

North Denver's Brickyard BBQ shutters, while the Littleton location soldiers on

Lori Midson​Just got off the horn with Mark Anthony, the owner of Brickyard BBQ, who shuttered his northwest Denver bastion of Kansas City-style Q on January 1, sending residents in the Berkeley 'hood scurrying to his Littleton outpost at 311 County Line Road to satiate their obsession for bu ... More >>

Reader: Does the Berkeley neighborhood have too much of a good thing?

Lori MidsonBerkeley lost Brickyard BBQ, but will gain a Bubba Chinos.​The news that Brickyard BBQ has closed made more than one reader wonder if the Berkeley neighborhood now has more restaurants than it can support. Writes Claudia: Two BBQ restaurants was probably to much for the Berkeley ne ... More >>

Reader: With Brian Laird going to Russo's, things are looking up in the southern suburbs

Lori MidsonThe interior of Russo's Kitchen Tavern..​Yesterday, a reader wondered if the restaurant-packed Berkeley neighborhood in northwest Denver was suffering from too much of a good thing. But the revelation that Brian Laird was heading south to Russo's Kitchen Tavern, one of several r ... More >>

Denver Auto Show proves Denver drivers are truckin' nuts: Kenny Be's Special Report

Virginia Vale.​ The Denver Auto Show currently running at the Colorado Convention Center is an exhibition of dreams. The real Denver Auto show is staged on neighborhood driveways reveals that Denverites like big trucks. The 2005 Volvo Condo semi truck shown above is just one of many examples t ... More >>

Shark-chicken and the good and bad of alley fence art: Kenny Be's Yard Arteology

Congress Park: Mechanical crow mobile suspended above an ocean mural.​ Privacy fencing provides yard artists a secure area in which to create and display yard art projects that might not otherwise be ready for a full front-yard showing. As the photograph above demonstrates, alley fencing is an ... More >>

Lincoln Park asparagus is the crown jewel of Denver vegetables: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ Lincoln Park asparagus can be grown from seeds or crowns, but the latter method respects the prestige of Lincoln Park. Home to the Santa Fe Arts District, Denver Health Hospital, West High School, Xcel Energy Zuni Generation Station and the 105-year-old Buckhorn Exchange, Lincoln Park is the ... More >>

Baker green peas movement inspires direct action: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ Developed by hippies in the early 1970s, Baker green peas have been specially adapted for the cooler climate of the Baker neighborhood lifestyle. Guaranteed to produce a diversity of sustainable and nurturing pods, gardeners in all Denver neighborhoods are encouraged to give Baker green peas ... More >>

Portishead at 1STBANK Center on October 27

​Stop the freaking presses -- hell, for that matter, stop what you're doing and take note: We've just received word that Portishead is coming to town. Specifically, the outfit is slated to appear at 1STBANK Center on Thursday, October 27 -- and it's one of only seven U.S. dates announced so fa ... More >>

Valverde tomatillo is the tart Westsider that gets sweet in the heat: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ Valverde is a historic west side neighborhood that is a complex blend of light industry and single-family housing. It is the perfect place to grow Valverde tomatillo. A member of the tomato family, the Valverde tomatillo plant bears bright green fruits with a taste that is a complex blend of ... More >>

Bear Valley watercress is the water weed that turns back time: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ Originally found along the banks of Bear Creek, the vitamin-rich medicinal qualities of Bear Valley watercress attracted seniors in search of better health to settle the neighborhood in the mid-1960s. Now grown in water gardens across the city, Bear Valley watercress is highly prized for it' ... More >>

16th Street Mall bright lights Swiss chard mix is a big-city favorite: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ To know 16th Street Mall Swiss chard is to love its tender and delicious, if somewhat meaty, flavor. Originating in large, mallside Downtown Denver planters, this big-city bright lights strain of chard is a celebration of all that is colorful in the capital city of Colorado...

Athmar Park fennel plants help clear eyesight and the air: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and stored it in the hollow stalks of Athmar Park fennel to free mankind from the brutish ignorance of the gods. Today, the plant grows wild in the yards of neighborhood bungalows and is eaten raw as a natural treatment for glaucoma and to c ... More >>

Camping tips for people who don't like the wilderness: Kenny Be's Hip Tips

Berkeley alley getaway.​ August is a great month for enjoying a Colorado camping trip, but it is also the busiest. Rowdy campground crowds and hiking-trail traffic jams can add extra hassle to the burden of outdoor living. People who don't like the wilderness experience can still enjoy some Au ... More >>

Ten lucky finds at the summer Horseshoe Market: A preview

​We unequivocally love the Berkeley district's Horseshoe Market for a myriad of reasons, but mostly it's a matter of the spirit of the thing, which is old and modern all at the same time: Its mix of vintage wares, unique handmades and trendy food and drink on wheels fits the 21st century like ... More >>

South Platte light industry yellow onion adds aromatic flavor to Denver: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ Long before light industry's varnish and diesel fumes flavored the air of the South Platte neighborhood, truck farms utilized the area's fertile river bottom soil to grow the aromatic vegetable used to flavor the dishes of Denver dinner tables...

Skyland mushroom spawn contains the fungi needed for better futures: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ Much like the residents of the Skyland neighborhood, fungal mats are the most prolific biological entities on the planet and respond with inherent intelligence to stressed environments by recycling plant and animal debris into a nutritious food source...

University Park turban squash improves observing conditions: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ The University Park turban squash is a colorful heirloom that inspired the design of University of Denver's Chamberlin Observatory back in 1889. Just as the observatory helps students look deep into the night sky, the buttercup-type squash is better for gazing than grazing...

Lowry Leeks are prized for their lighter Denver flavor: Kenny Be's Hip Tip

​ Lowry leeks are closely related to Denver Onions but have a sweeter, creamier, more delicate urban flavor. Prized by residents who seek urban flavor without all the dicing and tears, Lowry leeks are extremely hardy and many will grow in a compact space...

Reader: One hopping-mad customer isn't happy about Hops & Pie expansion

​While other joints on Tennyson, such as the Hole, have closed, Hops & Pie is expanding. Drew and Leah Watson's neighborhood hangout is taking over a space next door, and will more than double in size -- as well as offer more food options, including "more appetizers, a few more artisan pies, a ... More >>

Now Playing

​While other joints on Tennyson, such as the Hole, have closed, Hops & Pie is expanding. Drew and Leah Watson's neighborhood hangout is taking over a space next door, and will more than double in size -- as well as offer more food options, including "more appetizers, a few more artisan pies, a ... More >>

Falling Down

​While other joints on Tennyson, such as the Hole, have closed, Hops & Pie is expanding. Drew and Leah Watson's neighborhood hangout is taking over a space next door, and will more than double in size -- as well as offer more food options, including "more appetizers, a few more artisan pies, a ... More >>

Beer cocktail enthusiasts launch Beermixology.com

​We've seen a lot of beer cocktails make best-beverage lists over the past year, and they range in complexity from a glorified michelada -- a classic Mexican blend of lime juice and lager -- to the Naughty Girl Scout, a drink on the list at Euclid Hall that uses a variety of spirits plus Left ... More >>

My Sweet Bakery closes

My Sweet Bakery​Kelly McBride just opened My Sweet Bakery last April, selling her homemade pies, cakes, sticky buns and cookies, as well as coffee, out of a colorful storefront on 44th and Tennyson in the Berkeley neighborhood. The California Culinary Institute alum quickly amassed a followi ... More >>

Reader: Broadway's cup is running over...and that's a good thing

Happy Coffee will be pouring in the Baker neighborhood. Happy?​While My Sweet Bakery has closed in Berkeley, the Baker neighborhood is living up to its name, and is now home to a number of bakeries, sweet spots and coffee shops, with more -- including Happy Coffee -- still to come. Is it too ... More >>