Adding something extra at Happy Noodle House.The noodle bar is big business these days. In Manhattan, David Chang has elevated the simple, neighborhood noodle bar to celebrity status (and turned himself into a minor rock star in the process) with his Momofuku brand. In Denver, we've got one of the originals -- Oshima Ramen, straight outta Japan--and Frank Bonanno's Bones. And in Boulder, there's Dave Query's Happy Noodle House, which is where I began to wonder whether this fad (like California c
This year's James Beard awards were finalized on Monday, and while most of it is bad for us here in the Flyover States, there are plenty of parties going on elsewhere.
Colorado got completely skunked in the journalism awards, with most of the medals going to the usual suspects: Alan Richman, Ruth Reichl, Gourmet, Alan Richman, the Big City dailies, Alan Richman, New York Magazine and Alan Richman. One bright spot: my comrade-in-arms Kristen Hinman from Westword's sister paper, the Riverfront Ti
Lori MidsonTop Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg and knifed cheftestant Fabio Viviani
By the time the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen ended yesterday afternoon, I'd already seen a whole posse of amateurs puke; another man suffer a seizure just after chef Michael Symor ended a fantastic cooking demo devoted to pork belly; Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg locking arms with knifed Top Chef contestant, air-kisser, fan favorite, flirt and fabulous dresser Fabio Viviani; Giada De Laurentiis, who weighs all of
Lori MidsonThe pea soup heard 'round the world.
A few days after my return from Aspen Food and Wine, I'm still digesting the experience. The worst part of the event was listening to everyone's opinion about everything there. Opinions on food (if I heard one more person opine about pork belly I was going to lose it). Opinions on celebrities (I love Mario Batali, I hate Mario Batali). I've always lived by the quote, "Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got them." And boy, were there a lot of
Photo by Lori MidsonThe tattooed knuckles of Vesta Dipping Grill executive chef Matt SelbyDuring the Taste of the Nation, the July 19 charity event that Matt Selby chef-chaired, he turned to me and uttered one word: "Wow." He was awestruck by the size of the crowd, but also by something else: himself. Selby, a Denver native who turned 35 on July 30, wasn't sure how he'd made it this far. "Can you believe how different things are now?" he asked, referring to the days, now behind him, when
