Elise Wiggins

Elway's lights up the grill and Trillium celebrates Finland tonight

The fifth annual Hot Rocks Griller Challenge heats up this evening at Elway's Cherry Creek, 2500 East First Avenue. The party, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m., pits fifteen of Denver's top chefs against each other in a friendly competition benefiting the Denver Health Foundation. See also: - Slideshow: ... More >>

Panzano chef Elise Wiggins makes the most of Colorado lamb

See also: Can Triple M Bar's flock create a Colorado lamb comeback?

Can Triple M Bar's flock create a Colorado lamb comeback?

See also: Panzano chef Elise Wiggins makes the most of Colorado lamb

Mint condition: Why does lamb go so well with a certain jelly?

Three hours south of Denver, a husband-and-wife team of ranchers are working hard to help reintroduce Colorado lamb to the meat-devouring public. As detailed in this week's cover story, "Counting Sheep," the Triple M Bar Ranch in Manzanola ships lamb to over a dozen restaurants and caterers, who use ... More >>

Photos: Elise Wiggins, Daniel Asher and Riley Romanin take on salmon for the chance to cook at the Kentucky Derby

Earlier this week, three Colorado chefs -- Elise Wiggins (Panzano), Daniel Asher (Root Down and Linger) and Riley Romanin (Hooked in Beaver Creek) -- convened in the kitchen of Metropolitan State University Hospitality Learning Center to vie for an opportunity to cook at the Taste of Derby competiti ... More >>

Take a tour of Italy at Panzano this Sunday

Panzano, 909 17th Street, is now featuring a three-course, regional Italian menu every Sunday. Each month, executive chef Elise Wiggins and her crew will create a meal showcasing various cuisines from different areas of Italy. Keep reading for March's menu. See also: - Panzano adds Toscano, a priva ... More >>

Plenty of beer and wine will be flowing this evening

The Rocky Mountain French American Chamber of Commerce will host the fourteenth annual Beaujolais and Beyond Food & Wine Festival at Infinity Park Event Center, 4400 East Kentucky Avenue, tonight from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. The fundraiser features more than twenty local restaurants, and participating che ... More >>

Culinary calendar: Denver Food and Wine pours into the weekend

The eighth annual Denver Food and Wine Classic -- a three-day celebration of local food, wine and spirits -- is in full swing on the campus of Metropolitan State University of Denver. And the last two days are filled to the brim with events. Here's the schedule:

Hot Rocks Griller Challenge heats up Cherry Creek

The fourth annual Hot Rocks Griller Challenge at Elway's Cherry Creek last night, a benefit for the Denver Health Foundation, was hot in more ways than one: hot in temperature, with the the late spring sun beating down during the first hour or so; hot in hotties who stripped down because of that sun ... More >>

Big names on the menu for tonight's Hot Rocks Griller Challenge at Elway's

The fourth annual Hot Rocks Griller Challenge heats up this evening at Elway's Cherry Creek, 2500 East First Avenue. The party, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m., pits fifteen of Denver's top chefs against each other in a friendly competition benefiting the Denver Health Foundation.

What Elise Wiggins learned in Italy: You're never too old to learn!

Panzano Executive Chef Elise Wiggins has spent the past few weeks in the small town of Panzano, Italy, doing a stagisti with Dario Cecchini, the mad butcher of Panzano and owner of Antica Macelleria Cecchini. Elise is now back in Denver, putting the lessons she learned in Italy to use. Read the fi ... More >>

Elise Wiggins: Another slice of life with Panzano's "mad butcher"

Panzano Executive Chef Elise Wiggins is in the small town of Panzano, Italy, doing a stagisti with Dario Cecchini, the mad butcher of Panzano and owner of Antica Macelleria Cecchini. Wiggins, who recently won a Colorado Restaurant Association Industry Spot award and also earned Panzano another Best ... More >>

Elise Wiggins: Getting to the meat of the matter in Panzano, Italy

Panzano Executive Chef Elise Wiggins is in the small town of Panzano, Italy, doing a stagisti with Dario Cecchini, the mad butcher of Panzano and owner of Antica Macelleria Cecchini. Wiggins, who recently won a Colorado Restaurant Association Industry Spot award and also earned Panzano another Best ... More >>

Photos: Panzano's Elise Wiggins breaks down a wild Russian boar

Executive chef Elise Wiggins of Panzano, our Best Italian Restaurant in the Best of Denver 2012, broke down a 175-pound wild Russian boar from Tender Belly in her restaurant's kitchen on Saturday afternoon. And of course, we wanted to show you where the bacon -- and much of the other meat used in sp ... More >>

Colorado Restaurant Association announces Spotlight award-winners

The Colorado Restaurant Association usually waits until its annual dinner celebration to announce its Industry Spotlight Awards. But this year, it's revealed more than a dozen people who'll be honored at the April 4 event at the Ritz Carlton, including the new additions to the Colorado Food Service ... More >>

Elise Wiggins struts "Summer Local Week" at Panzano

Lori Midson​You've heard it all before: the local, sustainable, organic, farm-to-table, eco-conscious culinary buzzword chant that chefs, foodniks and food writers dispense to ballyhoo the food movement of the moment. Some chefs are professionally rehearsed in the hyperbole, despite the fact ... More >>

Hot-dog-eating contest, progressive dinner and more on this week's culinary calendar

​Besides Elise Wiggins' new Summer Local week at Panzano, there is a plethora of beer-, wine- and meat-centric events taking place this week, plus an annual Hot-Dog Eating Contest on Sunday. Here's a taste of what's ahead:

Kitchen Crusaders

Tyler Wiard, Jennifer Jasinski and Elise Wiggins have teamed up to create a new sandwich for a national chain

​Oh. My. God. We just heard that Tyler Wiard (Elway's Cherry Creek), Elise Wiggins (Panzano) and Jennifer Jasinski (Rioja, Bistro Vendome and Euclid Hall) are joining forces with a national "roast beef" sandwich chain to create a new sandwich that'll be called "The Big TyWigSki." "I'm looki ... More >>

Get your pig on tonight at the Taste of Elegance pork competition

Lori MidsonElise Wiggins, exec chef of Panzano, is just one of several kitchen magicians competing in the Taste of Elegance pork competition tonight at the Renaissance Denver Hotel​More than a dozen Colorado chefs, including Elise Wiggins (Panzano), Michael Long (Aria), Austin Cueto (Restaura ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Fried Brussels sprouts from Panzano

Lori Midson​ No. 85: Fried Brussels sprouts from Panzano The culinary landscape of America is currently experiencing a Brussels Sprouts revolution, which says a lot about the way the food tide is turning in this country, especially when you consider the fact that the sprout, once a submissi ... More >>

Tonight: Academic Adventure for the Generations

A Flickr photo.​The University of Denver will host an Academic Adventure for the Generations: Those Who Eat Well, Live Well, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today at the newly renamed Knoebel School of Hospitality Management. On the agenda: Elise Wiggins of Panzano giving a cooking demonstration, ... More >>

Just Cause

Tonight: Cook for the Cause fights against breast cancer

​Since this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October is overflowing with events to support breast-cancer causes. The most delicious event, though, will definitely be Cook for the Case, tonight at Kimball Distributing, 1400 West Third Avenue, and billed as "a delicious way to help fight the ba ... More >>

Tonight: An Evening of Decadent Delights at Lola

A Flickr photo​Some of Denver's top chefs are participating in tonight's aptly named Evening of Decadent Delights at Lola, 1575 Boulder Street. Alex Seidel (Fruition) will create the passed hors d'ouevre; Sean Yontz (El Diablo) is tapped for the appetizer course; Goose Sorensen (Solera) will w ... More >>

Be Italian

Today: Panzano and Hotel Monaco team up to benefit Dress for Success

A Flickr photo.​Not like anyone ever needs any excuse to eat ice cream -- especially when it's been hotter than hell outside -- but if you're feeling guilty anyway, stop. Panzano is partnering with Hotel Monaco, 1717 Champa Street, to host an Ice Cream Social tonight from 5 to 7 p.m., where y ... More >>

Eat your heart out during the Cherry Creek Arts Festival

The chefs of Denver FIVE will cook this weekend at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival ​Ready, set, sizzle! You know that summer's in full swing when the sun beats down on the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, which kicks of its three-day crowd-burst tonight at 7 p.m. on Clayton Street, between Second an ... More >>

Eating as Art

Manning the Grill

Tonight: Wine and food fests at Four Mile and Balistreri Vineyards

A Flickr photo.​Four Mile Historic Park, 715 South Forest Street, uncorks Corks and Cuisine -- the seventh annual -- featuring local artisans (Ben Kelley, Cory Van Zytveld, Pete Radliff, Bentina Works and Jaala Jewels), Denver's finest caterers, and wines from Bonacquisti, Augustina's, Dithyra ... More >>

Tonight: Women Cook! and raise funds for Work Options for Women

​It's one of the great culinary paradoxes: While most household-name chefs are men, in most households, women are the ones wearing the aprons. But the annual fundraiser for Work Options for Women -- a nonprofit enterprise that teaches impoverished women the skills they need to become gainfully ... More >>

Dining for a Difference

Panzano reveals its delicious new digs

Up Close: Panzano

Lori Midson ​In this week's Westword, Lori Midson writes about the unveiling of Panzano's delicious new digs and executive chef Elise Wiggins's own evolution. See photos by Mark Manger on the slideshow page.

Panzano set to unveil a major renovation

Elise Wiggins pours it on at Panzano​Panzano is slated to reopen for dinner on Thursday, January 28, after a major renovation of the eleven-year-old space tucked into the Hotel Monaco. The remodeling project was designed by the Puccini Group, an award-winning restaurant design firm out of San ... More >>

Tonight: Denver's top female chefs light the fire at Jax Fish House

Lori MidsonSheila Lucero, exec chef of Jax Fish House​"A few years ago, during a brainstorming session, I came up with an idea to create an all-female chef cooking event, something that would bring together some of the best female chefs in Denver," says Sheila Lucero, executive chef of Jax Fis ... More >>

Women and Wine

Green city livin' with cooking classes from Heirloom Gardens

Heirloom Gardens​Heirloom Gardens, the Denver-based urban farm whose founder, Sundari Kraft, was profiled by Joel Warner this past summer, is heading into winter with a series of new cooking classes. The classes emphasize basic Indian dishes, seasonal soups and breads and other scratch-made c ... More >>

Tonight: March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction

​Tonight, the Colorado Chapter of the March of Dimes will host its annual Signature Chefs Auction at 6 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Denver, 650 15th Street. Tickets to the event are $150 per person and include small plates from many of Denver's top chefs, as well as live music and an auction th ... More >>

On the ranch with Elise Wiggins of Panzano

Lori Midson​Last weekend, Elise Wiggins, executive chef at Panzano (909 17th Street), held a cooking class at Bear Mountain Ranch, home on the range to the Black Angus steer that ranch owners Debbie and John Medved are raising for Wiggins, who is using the beef at Panzano. The cooking class, ... More >>

Panzano chef Elise Wiggins steers toward a nose-to-tail movement

Lori Midson​ There was no morning sun on Saturday, the day that Elise Wiggins (above), executive chef of Panzano, had picked for her lunch and cooking class at Bear Mountain Ranch, the 100-acre parcel of land in Genesee that's grazing territory for the Black Angus steers that Wiggins is buying for ... More >>

Chef Elise Wiggins wants you to feel good about food

Arf, arf! It's Panzano's Pooch Power Hour

​From 2:30 to 6 p.m. today, Pooch Power Hour (or hours, as the case may be), a dog-friendly powwow where you can fatten your pup with complimentary housemade peanut butter pupcakes (and other doggone good snacks), premieres on the patio at Panzano, the Italian restaurant at 909 17th Street, in ... More >>

Panzano introduces a full plate of don't miss meal steals and deals

Lori MidsonPanzano, 909 17th Street, already lays claim to one of the best happy hours in town -- especially from a foodnik's point of view -- and now comes word that exec chef Elise Wiggins has raised the bar even higher by introducing some terrific weekly specials. On Sunday nights, the kitchen is ... More >>

Top Denver chefs play with fire for charity tonight at Elway's Cherry Creek

Real food. Sharp utensils. Big fire. A good cause. And Denver's top chefs. That's what's on tap tonight, from 6 to 9 p.m., at Elway's Cherry Creek, 2500 East First Avenue, when eleven of the town's top cookers - Tyler Wiard (Elway's, Cherry Creek); Sean Yontz (Mezcal, Tambien and Sketch); Justin ... More >>

Women Cook!, you eat

Tonight is the fifth annual Women Cook!, Dining for a Difference, a benefit for Work Options for Women, the nonprofit that prepares women coming off welfare for a career in the food industry -- and just opened Cafe Optionslast month. The event includes a silent auction and walk-around dinner featur ... More >>

A Colorado culinary connection

Denver's food scene may not be as big as San Francisco's or New York's, but it isn't bad. In fact, it's the perfect match between intimacy and variety. And its size provides plenty of opportunities to get close not just to our restaurants, but to the specialty food shops around town.  Culinary Co ... More >>

In With the Inn Crowd at Panzano

Food for Thought