Subject: Ethnic Cuisines

• Sauce Rules

  May 13, 2008

• A Cut Above

  May 20, 2008

• Ital Do: Venice Ristorante & Winebar

  June 3, 2008

• Bursting Sheehan's Bubble

  June 5, 2008

• Italian After Dark at Gemelli's

  June 19, 2008

• So Pho, So Good

  July 15, 2008

• Fire When Ready: Carelli's Ristorante Italiano

  July 25, 2008

• Purple Orchid Asian Bistro now open in Aurora

  October 17, 2008

• Veggie Girl: Osteria Marco

  October 30, 2008

• Veggie Girl: Little India lunch buffet

  November 6, 2008

• Good times at Go Fish

      The space is simple, almost iconic Japantown nouvelle, with wood and steel and stone all polished to a high and gleaming gloss, mismatched walls in shades of lime and mustard, one of those trickling fountain things and abstract sculptures of fish on the walls done in shiny, candy-colored laminate and burnished metal. The tables and chairs don't match. The warm sake comes from a machine -- like one of those office water coolers, only instead of dispensing cold H20, it's loaded wi

  December 2, 2008

• Izakaya Den joins the lunch bunch

  In the Best of Denver 2008, Jason Sheehan proclaimed Izakaya Den, the Japanese restaurant at 1518 South Pearl Street, as the Best New Restaurant last year. And now Izakaya's gone one better -- by adding weekend lunch, which could well be the most exotic brunch in town. The restaurant is now serving its regular sushi menu as well as a very varied lunch menu -- featuring such items as Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet, with potato salad, miso soup and rice) for $15, a portabella nicoise salad for

  December 5, 2008

• Doing Lunch at Brasserie Felix

  "You know what they call French food in Paris?" the chef asked, repeating his shtick. "What, chef?" I responded, my fingers sore and shredded from peeling hard-boiled eggs under tap water, my brain numbed from hours of prep. I'd heard the question before, as well as the answer, but that didn't matter. This was the way he taught --something about it almost like a Zen koan. "Food. They just call it food." This was what I had in mind during all my meals at Brasserie Felix, which I review this wee

  December 16, 2008

• Veggie Girl: Parisi

  I love Italian food. So much, in fact, that I once spent a month in Florence taking Italian language classes -- that I then immediately put to the test in my Italian cooking classes. Not a word of English was spoken, and sure, there was some confusion (my book of Italian recipes, filled with my illegible Italian scrawls and confusing metric measurements, is useless to me now), but oh, the food! I'll never forget the zucchini blossom risotto, or the time-consuming-but-worth-it gnocchi. Paris

  December 18, 2008

• The fighting Irish need to learn from the Italians

  My review of the Celtic Tavern (which will be posted here later today) started an interesting conversation among some of the more Hibernian-leaning staff at the Westword office, chewing over why Denver seems incapable of opening and maintaining a decent Irish bar. (RIP, Duffy's Shamrock.) This discussion immediately struck me as reminiscent of a whole series of similar arguments I had soon after I came to town about this city's apparent inability to open and maintain a decent Italian restaura

  January 7, 2009

• Veggie Girl: Taqueria Patzcuaro

  Fresh, salty chips, burning hot salsa and maybe the best vegetarian red chile in Denver -- these are just a few of the reasons that I frequent Taqueria Patzcuaro at 2616 West 32nd Avenue. An even bigger draw, though, is the chile relleno burrito, an absolute genius invention that starts with a tortilla, piles on a heaping spoonful of vegetarian refried beans, throws in a soft, Mexican-style egg-battered chile relleno, and wraps it all up into one perfect package. This huge concoction usually

  January 29, 2009

• Veggie Girl: Taki's

  For fresh, vegetarian- and vegan-friendly Japanese food at a super-affordable price, Taki's always fills the bill. Located at 241 East Colfax Avenue along a seedy strip, Taki's has been feeding the masses for over fifteen yearsand has been a mainstay stop for my husband and his friends since high school, back when it was located across the street and known as Golden Tempura Bowl. I've been frequenting Taki's since I moved to Denver six years ago, and while I still have two favorite dishe

  February 5, 2009

• Bombay Bowl comes to the Tech Center

  The Denver Tech Center is full of movers and shakers who could probably use some sustenance to support them while they watch the market fall. Now they can find it, fast, at the Bombay Bowl. The fast-casual spot at 12023 East Arapahoe Road in Centennial opened on February 20. It's the brainchild of Amar Singh, who earned an MBA and MS in finance at the University of Colorado and worked on the corporate side of various start-ups before deciding to attempt his own restaurant.

  March 5, 2009

• The List: Team Bonanno

  My review of Bones -- Frank Bonanno's new restaurant at 701 Grant Street -- was a love letter, a total crush note from one shameless omnivore to another, to the kind of guy who would put bone marrow, ice cream, escargot and udon all on the same menu, from the kind of guy who would gladly eat all of that in a single sitting.After I finished the review, I got to thinking about Bonanno's other restaurants in town -- both those still operating and those that failed, and it occured to me t

  March 23, 2009

• Parallel 17

  Holding the line.

  March 13, 2008

• Pho Fusion

  Tom Bird's food — and ideas — are as fresh as ever.

  July 17, 2008

• Letters from the week of April 2

  April 2, 2009

• From Japan, with love: a true noodle house

  March 19, 2009

• Another Roman holiday

  February 5, 2009

• How to create a great Irish bar

  January 8, 2009

• Ooh la la! This bistro is a beauty

  December 18, 2008

• French restaurants are hot - just not haute

  December 18, 2008

• The Corner Office is one hot hotel restaurant

  December 11, 2008

• Go Fish will hook you

  December 4, 2008

• The Empire Lounge still has a way to go

  November 13, 2008

• Armando's is in a state of reddiness

  October 30, 2008

• Wok This Way

  Jennifer 8. Lee explores the connection between Jews and Chinese food.

  October 23, 2008

• Lo Coastal Fusion hits no culinary high

  October 16, 2008

• A bad night in Boulder at Tahona Tequila Bistro

  October 2, 2008

• Our Weekly Bread: Crostone at Parisi

  The sandwich: Boccaccio Crostone What's on it: Fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, pesto and tomato on grill-pressed bread Where to get it: Parisi (4401 Tennyson Street, 303-561-0234) How much: $7.99 I'm a horrible American cliché when it comes to all things Italian. I love the food, the wine, the history, the women, the scenery, the language and the entire idea of Italy - even if that idea is only part reality and a whole lot of fantasy. Italy, I always tell people (actually, I've never t

  April 15, 2009

• Once you eat at Thai Lotus, you won't ignore it again

  September 25, 2008

• Pho 99 is pho-king great

  September 25, 2008

• Spice up your drunk with the Cardamom Martini at India's Pearl

  September 4, 2008

• Local eateries sum up the DNC action -- or lack thereof

  September 4, 2008

• Tacos Jalisco serves Southern comfort, Mexican style -- and free chips

  August 28, 2008

• A Taste of Italy

  July 24, 2008

• Flour or Corn?

  The Mexican wraps up the great tortilla debate.

  July 24, 2008

• Pho 99

  Vietnamese comfort food has me behaving badly.

  July 17, 2008

• Osaka Sushi

  Sake to me.

  May 22, 2008

• Grand Lux Cafe

  What happened in Vegas should have stayed there.

  May 1, 2008

• Feelin' Froggy

  On a roll at French bakeries.

  February 28, 2008

• Tokyoya Bowl & Bowl

  Bad to the bowl.

  February 14, 2008

• Tibet's Restaurant

  If this chef is good enough for the Dalai Lama, he’s good enough for you.

  February 14, 2008

• Radda Trattoria

  Matt Jansen returns Italian cooking to its roots.

  February 7, 2008

• Veggie Girl: Arada Ethiopian

  The first time I tried Ethiopian food, I was visiting my friend, Mat, in Montreal. We'd met the previous summer on a train headed to Berlin, and since we were both backpacking solo around Europe and trying to get to Prague, which had just suffered a flood, we found ourselves staying in the same hostel waiting for the rain to end. Neither of us made it to the Czech Republic, but we did share many a street falafel and tofu curry. And it was exciting to have another new culinary experience with M

  April 16, 2009