Subject: Eating Out

• Chili Verde serves nearly perfect Pueblan food

  October 29, 2009

• Counting down to tapas at Ondo's

  ​ There are some restaurants I talk about a lot. There are others that I talk about hardly at all. And one of the very few places that I talk about continuously (some would say obsessively) isn't even open yet. It's Ondo's. Ah, Ondo's....I've been dreaming about having a new tapas restaurant in Denver for a long time. Any kind of Spanish restaurant, really, but particularly a tapas place. And I'm not talking about some kind of fake tapas joint, either. Not some spot that serves "small

  October 29, 2009

• Cook's Fresh Market unveils new dinner menu

  ​Cook's Fresh Market is serving up a new dish to downtown dwellers and commuters. The upscale grocer at 1600 Glenarm has begun selling bistro dinners on weeknights from 5 to 8 p.m. for an unbelievably not-so upscale price of under $10 an entree. Menu items include wood roasted beef tri-tip sirloin with a tomato-blue cheese salsa with sides of asparagus and mashed potatoes; fettuccini with garlic, onion, bacon, spinach, cream and parmesan reggiano; and pork shoulder green chile stew with b

  October 29, 2009

• James Mazzio has a new ooh la la chef gig at Le Chateau

  ​"I've just become the chef of Le Chateau," writes James Mazzio, one-time Food & Wine magazine Best New Chef winner and until recently the exec at the Icehouse Tavern, 1801 Wynkoop Street. But that stint ended early this month when the "high-powered" Mazzio was turned loose by powers higher than him -- the Little Pub Co. that's now running the place. But it sounds like Mazzio has landed somewhere where he'll have more control. "I'll be releasing a new menu on Friday, November 6, one day b

  October 29, 2009

• Staffing Up: A new concept for Mark & Isabella

  ​ Last week, my buddy Dave Herrera over at Backbeat debuted a new bloggity thingamajig called Recast, in which he and his guys redo the soundtracks of existing movies. First one? Blade Runner -- one of the greatest movies of all time, and one with a soundtrack that already kicks some serious, artsy, Vangelis-y ass. Despite the fact that he had Dolly Parton, the Kinks and the Electric Prunes on his new version, I still thought it was a great idea. So good, in fact, that I've decided to

  October 29, 2009

• Staffing Up: My dream team for Ondo's

  ​Yesterday I kicked off "Staffing Up," with some free advice for how Mark & Isabella can get its act together. But the idea doesn't have to be confined to restaurants that need a swift, motivating kick in the ass; reading through these blog posts for the last few days, I realize that we can also use it as a kind of fantasy football league for cooks -- building a perfect crew from the ground up for restaurants that haven't yet begun to serve. For example, Den Deli is throwing an old-fashi

  October 30, 2009

• 151 days of tequila kicks off Sunday at Zolo Southwestern Grill

  ​If you're a tequila imbiber, boy do we have a dealio for you. Beginning Sunday, November 1, Zolo Southwestern Grill in Boulder, 2525 Arapahoe, is unleashing its love for tequila, a party that will continue for the next 151 days (until March 31), which is the same number of tequilas that Zolo stocks on it shelves. The party officially kicks off at 8 p.m. Sunday with a Milagro cocktail contest to see which Denver/Boulder mixologist best struts their tequila knowledge, plus happy hour food

  October 30, 2009

• Culinary calendar for the week ahead

  Our online Food & Drink listings include dozens of culinary events around Colorado this week, with benefits for March of Dimes and Project Angel Heart, as well as the University of Denver's inaugural DU Vin Festival. A taste of what's ahead: Through November 5: Jax Fish House in Boulder, 928 Pearl Street, celebrates its fifteenth anniversary with specials including 15 oysters for $15, $6 old vs. new cocktails, a $15 wine flight and and prix fixe menus. Find more information at www.jaxfishhous

  November 2, 2009

• Jax Fish House Boulder celebrates fifteen years of flinging fish

  ​For the past fifteen years, the original Jax Fish House, at 928 Pearl Street in Boulder, has been feeding fish heads to the finicky (and spawning a Top Chef victor, but you already know all about that), a feat that's being marked through the week as part of a fifteenth anniversary celebration. From now until Thursday, November 5, Jax-Boulder is making waves with a sea of specials, including 15 oysters for $15; $5 strawberry lemonades; $14 wine flights; throwback and modern cocktails for

  November 2, 2009

• Ondo's on schedule for a mid-November opening

  Lori Midson​While Jason Sheehan is busy building a dream team staff for Ondo's, the tapas restaurant taking over the subterranean space at 250 Steele Street, owner Curt Steinbecker, who trained with his wife, Deicy, at the Escuela de Cocina Luis Irizar, is just trying to get his restaurant open. With any luck, that will happen two weeks from now. "Things are going according to schedule, and it looks like November 15 will be our first day," says Curt.

  November 2, 2009

• The Tavern's Frank Schultz encounters some flak on Colfax

  The former Flix cafe could become a Tavern.​ It's been a year since Neighborhood Flix, the ambitious movie theater/café in the Lowenstein project, pulled the plug -- but with any luck, the lights will soon be back on at 2510 East Colfax Avenue. That's because Frank Schultz, who runs Tavern Hospitality Group (owner of the Cowboy Lounge, the Soiled Dove and all those Taverns -- including LoDo, the one-year-old Wash Park, Uptown, Tech Center and Lowry), already has a contract with the bank d

  November 3, 2009

• Egg-ceptional egg dishes in Denver

  ​ "With an egg on top." Ooh. You just stepped up your food game. You uttered those five words to the server, and suddenly everyone at your table perks up. It's not just a sign that you're starving. It shows you're a risk-taker. Someone who has had enough of diets and eating healthy. Someone who -- for a lack of a better term -- wants to break the shell. "Screw my waistline; just bring me what I want." While Homer Simpson's Good Morning Burger hasn't made its debut (yet), you can still

  November 3, 2009

• Tilted Kilt kick-off time delayed

  The menu includes wings and eye candy​The Tilted Kilt was slated to open this week in the former ESPN Zone space on the 16th Street Mall, but the official kick-off time has been delayed. "We are shooting for next Monday, but it could be a day or two after that," says franchise owner Mark Voss. "There are a few loose ends that need to be wrapped up." Voss describes the process of opening the restaurant as a full-fledged production, one that included auditions for front-of-house servers. "

  November 3, 2009

• Twelve turns one today

  ​Happy birthday to Twelve, which brought fine dining to a less-than-fine location at 2233 Larimer Street last fall, but has survived that first tough year. And tonight, chef/owner Jeff Osaka will celebrate his restaurant's first birthday by gifting diners with a complimentary glass of sparkling wine and an amuse-bouche to "toast the special evening." After that, diners are on their own, choosing from the new November menu (the board changes every month, giving the restaurant twelve menus

  November 4, 2009

• Chef and Tell with Mary Nguyen of Parallel 17

  Mary Nguyen, executive chef/owner of Parallel 17​"Food is the one thing that I grew up knowing would bring family and friends together, soothe wounds and mend hearts as well as improve any party or celebration," says Mary Nguyen, chef-owner of the Vietnamese-French bistro Parallel 17. "I entered this profession because it's the way I express my creativity and concern for others: I cook to make people happy." But for Nguyen, making that passion come to fruition hasn't been easy. She was bo

  November 4, 2009

• What's a Belgian cafe doing on Colfax? Serving very good food.

  November 5, 2009

• Staffing Up: Goin' south at Mojitos

  Bad name, worse timing, but still a good idea​ Buchi Cafe Cubano is a great Cuban restaurant. Step inside Cuba Cuba on a good night, and you need an oxygen tank (or a powerful constitution) because the air in the bar is like breathing muddled mint and rum. But while Denver has some Cuban restaurants, what this city does not have is enough Cuban restaurants -- because, really, no city can truly have enough until there is one every fifty feet or so, all serving Cuban coffee and sandwiche

  November 4, 2009

• Limon grows a jazz lounge

  ​ Yesterday I talked with Alex Gurevich about his plans for making pizzas at the former Mojitos/Mel's/Montecito/Piscos/Dudley's space at 1120 East Sixth Avenue, right smack in the middle of Sixth Avenue's restaurant row. It sounded like good news. Despite some bad moves over the years, I think Gurevich is a good chef who runs interesting restaurants with talented crews. And the Sixth Avenue spot isn't the only new project he has going, it turns out. A couple years back, after getting cr

  November 6, 2009

• The List: Top ten places to eat on Colfax

  Lori Midson Colfax Avenue has plenty of places to drink, as we prove with our profile of the Nob Hill Inn. But there's also good food along America's longest main street. Including: ​Bastien's Restaurant 3501 East Colfax Avenue., 303-322-0363. Bastien's isn't retro; the rest of the world is. Looking for the cocktail culture of the ´50s? Bastien's has it. Early-´70s swinger swank? It has that, too. Bastien's doesn't change with the times; the times change around it. Like they say, even

  November 6, 2009

• Do you have a passion for food and restaurants?

  ​ Does reading this blog make you hunger to write? Westword is expanding its Cafe Society coverage, and we're looking for a great freelance writer with a passion for food and restaurants, as well as the ability to produce stylish and knowledgeable news and opinion pieces about the Denver dining scene. This is not a restaurant critic position. We have one of those already, and Jason Sheehan's not going anywhere. A background in reporting is highly desirable. So are interviewing skills. An

  November 12, 2009

• Cafe Society: Week in review

  John Plessinger in a booth at the Nob Hill Inn, the bar his father put in his name back in 1969, when he was 21.​What you may have missed this week on Cafe Society while you were hanging on every last word of our hi-larious stories about the time we spent getting up close and personal with the regulars at Nob Hill Inn, which may very well be the best damn dive bar in Denver. Those of us who write this food bloggy thing called Cafe Society are communing at the Fainting Goat next Wednesday night

  November 6, 2009

• Guess where I'm eating?

  Lori Midson​ One of my favorite Denver restaurants just added blue plate specials to its menu, including shrimp and grits, which is the dish you see in the above photo. But while the addition of blue plates to the board just reinforces my unhealthy addiction to said restaurant, the fact that it also offers two daily happy hours, along with some of the best daily drink specials in the city, makes me want to pack up my belongings and move in. We can share a sleeping bag if you can guess where I'

  November 9, 2009

• Ask the Critic: The downside of success

  ​ I recently raved about Chili Verde -- the new, kinda-upscale Pueblan restaurant at 3700 Tejon Street. Poblano crepes, perfect ceviche, all kinds of seafood -- I loved the grub, the service, the room, everything about the place. The only thing that had me slightly concerned? The fact that the Yanez-Mota family didn't seem to be doing a lot of business. I included that concern in my review of the place. And then the public responded. They descended on Chili Verde and...well, let's jus

  November 9, 2009

• Maggiano's Little Italy rolls out a week of deals and meals

  ​If you've been anywhere near the Denver Pavilions recently, then you know what an utter and complete construction zone clusterfuck it's been. But it appears that the cone zones, yellow tape and dust bowls are finally coming to an end. And to celebrate that milestone -- or as some would call it, the re-introduction of the Pavilions -- Maggiano's Little Italy is hosting a whole slew of events that kick off Tuesday, November 10 and continue through Tuesday November 17. At noon on November 1

  November 9, 2009

• Party today at Denver Pavilions

  ​It's been a long, rough ride for many of the shops at Denver Pavilions, with some high-profile restaurant disasters, including the Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe space on the still-empty bridge, which replaced the disastrous Cafe Odyssey, where diners got to eat at Machu Pichu (yum). But through it all, one spot has stood as proof that restaurants can not only survive at the Pavilions, but thrive: Maggiano's Little Italy. Denver's Maggiano's is one of the most successful in the chain, packing

  November 10, 2009

• Marco's Coal-Fired Pizzeria starts brunch on Saturday

  ​"I made a decision, I'm doing it and it's happening this weekend." That's Mark Dym, owner/chef of Marco's Coal-Fired Pizzeria, 2129 Larimer Street, talking about his new brunch, which starts this Saturday, November 14. "We're keeping it simple, with just a few breakfast pizzas, bottomless mimosas for eight bucks or so and Bloody Marys for $3," he says. "We've been talking about it for a while, and I want to drive some brunch business to the restaurant, and so far as I know, no other res

  November 10, 2009

• Chefs for the Cause canceled

  Sergio Romero will not be cooking dinner at Chefs for the Cause -- and neither will anyone else.​Chefs for the Cause sounded like a philanthropic foodie's delight -- six of Denver's top chefs creating delicious food to help raise money for the Denver affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. James Mazzio (of Cucina Colore and Via fame, now executive chef of Le Chateau), Justin Cucci (Root Down), Jeromy Krug (Ling & Louie's Asian Bistro), Sergio Romero (Argyll Gastropub), Bill Osoolund (Bou

  November 10, 2009

• Will Home be a hit for Mark Tarbell?

  Lori MidsonRestaurateur and chef Mark Tarbell inside his new restaurant, Home​ "We want to get this one right," insists Mark Tarbell, the Arizona-based restaurateur whose Belmar restaurant, Mark & Isabella, was recently maligned by Jason Sheehan. "I believe in this restaurant, and I don't want to fuck it up."I caught up with Tarbell earlier today while checking out the new restaurants at the Streets of SouthGlenn, where Tarbell is opening Home sometime around the end of November, and where

  November 10, 2009

• 100 Favorite Dishes: Chicken-fried steak at Lola

  ​As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com. No. 100 Chicken Fried Steak from Lola You do not expect to find a great chicken-fried steak at a coastal Mexican restaurant. But from the moment that Lola started offering chicken-fried steak on its weekend brunch board, it's been a favorite with chicken-fried fans, a constant through a series of menu changes, big a

  November 11, 2009

• Jazzmatazz gives Denver's good musicians a new place to play

  November 12, 2009

• The chefs have changed, but Encore remains worthy of applause

  November 12, 2009

• Fogo de Chao sticks it to the steakhouse concept

  November 12, 2009

• Ian Kleinman out at O's

  ​I just got the news twenty minutes ago. Ian Kleinman buzzed my cell shortly after. "So, you're unemployed, brother," I said. "Congratulations, I guess." "Yeah, well, not completely unemployed," Ian said, laughing. "But yeah." Yesterday, Ian was let go from his gig as chef and chief liquid nitrogen wrangler at O's Steak and Seafood at the Westin Westminster -- a normal, boring hotel posting that he somehow managed to turn into one of the coolest jobs in the country, one where he was e

  November 11, 2009

• Marco's, Root Down win Mayor's Design Awards

  Root Down is looking good.​John Hickenlooper will announce the Mayor's Design Awards tonight, but we can tell you that two of the fifteen honorees are restaurants: Root Down and Marco's Coal-Fired Pizzeria. Both restaurants opened last year, in old spaces made remarkably new. In Root Down's case, a vintage service station was turned into the town's coolest bar space, as well as a private dining room -- and also provided the sleek inspiration for the brand-new building put on the corner of

  November 12, 2009

• Part two: Chef and Tell with Lance Barto of Strings

  Lori MidsonLance Barto, executive chef of Strings​ This is part two of my interview with Lance Barto, exec chef of Strings. You can read part one of my interview with Barto here. Best food city in America: Northern California. Right, I know that it's not a city, but the whole northern region of California seems to have such a connection with what's seasonal, organic and renewable. The restaurants there have a great mindset. I'd love to see Denver continue in that same direction. Favorite Ne

  November 12, 2009

• Let them eat cake...from City Bakery

  ​ Yes, yesterday's Guess Where I'm Eating? cakes were from City Bakery, Michael Bortz's place up at 5454 Washington Street, an industrial-park setting that gives no hint of the wonderful things being created inside. Except for the smell, of course. Although Bortz breads and desserts are featured at many restaurants around town -- including Elway's, Squeaky Bean and Fogo de Chao -- you can also buy directly from City Bakery. "We never sleep," Bortz advises.

  November 12, 2009

• The List: Top ten way-south-of-the-border restaurants in Denver

  Denver has lots of great Mexican restaurants, a few good Latin American restaurants, and not many South American restaurants. But Fogo de Chao, which opened this summer, would be a great restaurant on any continent. Here are Denver's ten top way-south-of-the-border restaurants. ​Aji Latin American Restaurant 1601 Pearl Street, Boulder, 303-442-3464. Aji bills itself as a Latin American restaurant, and its menu is a postmodern fusion of Peruvian, Mexican, Argentine, Cuban, Brazilian, Salva

  November 13, 2009

• Archive Room now open in Olde Town Arvada

  Lori MidsonRead all about it in the Archive Room​"We did 160 covers the first night and 140 covers the second night, which I think qualifies as busy," says Jeff Arnold, one of the owners of Archive Room, which opened last week in Olde Town Arvada at 5601 Olde Wadsworth Boulevard. "We've been busy every night, we're getting a lot of industry people in after work, we're staying open late and the feedback has been great from the neighborhood so far," says Arnold, who also runs the Pour House Pub

  November 16, 2009

• Under Fire: Curtain call for a former writer, future sous

  Taylor Marsh​Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen.I feel like a fucked-up version of Jane Goodall. When I decided to devote my time to working in the kitchen (and blogging about it), I was ready to fill my yellow notebook with ideas that could turn into posts. Instead, over time the notebook began to fill up with more concrete things that

  November 16, 2009

• Breadhead alert: Udi's is rolling out dough in Arvada

  ​Udi's Bread Cafe, which already has locations in Stapleton (7357 East 29th Avenue); Louisville (185 South 104th Street); Aurora (12700 East 19th Street); and north Denver (101 East 70th Avenue), officially opens its fifth location today at 7600 Grandview in Olde Town Arvada, directly across the street from Archive Room, which opened last Wednesday. The breadery was doing heavy trade last Friday during a trail run, and while the board was limited (and the kitchen had run out of the French di

  November 16, 2009

• Ask the Critic: Forget Anthony Bourdain, these restaurants stand on their own

  ​ We have been shamelessly shilling for Anthony Bourdain for the past few days, talking about his upcoming trip to Denver, giving away tickets to his lecture and Q&A on November 18, throwing up pictures of him whenever we can. Shameless? Absolutely. Not for nothing, the man is very popular -- and every time we use Bourdain's name, people seem to find their way to our little corner of the digital world and stay a while to have their say. Love the guy or hate him, he's good at what he do

  November 16, 2009

• Ten ways you can improve your server's life (and your service)

  ​The New York Times blog "You're the Boss," ruffled the apron strings of restaurant servers nationwide when it ran Bruce Buschel's two-part list of things restaurant staffers should never do. As someone who worked the FOH for 14 years, I have two words for Buschel: Bitch, please. While Buschel made some decent points, his elitist tone reinforced the popular notion that servers are servants as opposed to facilitators. Good servers go out of their way to make the guest's dining experien

  November 17, 2009

• 100 Favorite Dishes: Pho from Pho 95

  Lori MidsonPho at Pho 95​ As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com. No. 97 Pho - any pho -- from Pho 95 There isn't a day that goes by where someone doesn't ask me what my favorite restaurant is. It's a question I struggle with -- and rarely answer -- because I don't have a "favorite" restaurant. My restaurant-of-the-moment is wholly mood dependent. That sai

  November 17, 2009

• Chef and Tell with Brian Laird of Barolo Grill

  Lori MidsonAll fired up: executive chef Brian Laird of Barolo Grill ​"It was a step off the cliff for sure, but at the same time, I just knew that I was a good fit for the job," says Brian Laird of Barolo Grill, the Northern Italian restaurant whose kitchen Laird has cooked in for the past twelve years -- the last eight as the executive chef, a position he snagged after walking off the line one night following a blowup with Barolo's former guard. "Whether or not I was prepared to take that

  November 18, 2009

• DINR members deal out an incredible deal

  ​ They may all be independent restaurants, but the members of the Denver Independent Network of Restaurants know how to work together. Close to fifty of them have joined to create DINR decks, which could be just the thing to stuff a food-lover's stocking this Christmas. Every deck holds 52 cards, each offering $10 off a food order of $25 or more at a local restaurant - with a couple of jokers thrown in that explain DINR and this new program. "Since the inception of DINR, we've been tryin

  November 18, 2009

• It Takes a Village

  November 19, 2009

• Steven Burge is yummy in Fully Committed, a satisfying evening of theater

  November 19, 2009

• Paradise Asian Cafe may not take you to paradise, but close enough

  November 19, 2009

• Part two: Chef and Tell with Brian Laird of Barolo Grill

  Lori MidsonBrian Laird, executive chef of Barolo Grill​This is part two of my interview with Brian Laird, exec chef of Barolo Grill. You can read part one of my interview with Laird here. Best food city in America: San Francisco. It's all about what I love most: fresh ingredients, seafood, farm-raised animals, vegetables, cheese, wine and beer, dairy of all kinds...and on and on. It's all right there at your fingertips. My new favorite place there is the Rand G Lounge, a Chinese restaura

  November 19, 2009

• 100 Favorite Dishes: Larkburger cheeseburgers

  ​As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com. Number 94: Cheeseburgers at Larkburger Denver might be a steakhouse kind of town, but let's not forget that this was also the town where the cheeseburger was (arguably) invented. There are a lot of great burgers in the area today, but only a few rank in the city's best dishes. And that picture above? That's a s

  November 19, 2009