James Beard Foundation

Jen Jasinski's James Beard win felt like a lifetime achievement -- although her career is cooking

Prince Harry might have stopped by The Market on Monday, but the real royalty was right down the street, at Rioja. Just a week before, Jennifer Jasinski, the chef who opened that Larimer Square restaurant with business partner Beth Gruitch almost a decade ago, was named Best Chef Southwest at the Ja ... More >>

Jennifer Jasinski and Frasca Food and Wine win James Beard Foundation awards

The cinema industry has its Oscars and its Golden Globes, the Grammy Awards celebrate the best in music, and the James Beard Awards are every chef's dream, and tonight, at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, Jennifer Jasinski, chef-owner of Rioja, Euclid Hall and Bistro Vendome, wa ... More >>

Best New Restaurant: Our ten winners over the past decade

Twenty-four hours from now, the Best of Denver 2013 will start hitting the street -- and the web. This year's edition is packed with more than 400 winners (we're still counting). The the very last category in our Food & Drink section was one of the toughest picks this year: Best New Restaurant. In ... More >>

Jennifer Jasinski a James Beard finalist for Best Chef Southwest

The James Beard Foundation just released the finalists for this year's food and restaurant awards, and the list of locals has been whittled considerably since the semifinalists were announced back in February. Then five Denver chefs made the list; now only chef Jennifer Jasinski, co-owner of Rioja, ... More >>

Celebrate pork in Vail this weekend

Restaurant Kelly Liken, 12 Vail in Vail, is kicking-off Cochon 555 tonight with a six-course, collaborative menu from five Colorado chefs: Jason Harrison of Four Seasons Resort, Jeff Osaka of twelve , Alex Seidel of Fruition, Lon Symensma of ChoLon and Cochon 555 founder Brady Lowe. See also: - Den ... More >>

Jorel Pierce a semi-finalist for James Beard Rising Star; four more Denver chefs make the cut

The James Beard Foundation has just released its list -- its long list -- of semi-finalists, and several Denver area restaurants and chefs have made the cut. Jorel Pierce may have gotten bumped from Top Chef early, but the exec chef at Euclid Hall made the cut for Rising Star Chef of the Year. And ... More >>

Beast Bottle's Paul Reilly one of only eight chefs in the world to win the Jean-Louis Palladin Work Study Grant

When Paul Reilly shuttered Encore early in this year, in April, he found that he had some free time on his hands for the first time in a long time, and while he was scouring the 'hoods for a space where he could open a new restaurant, he also welcomed the opportunity to do something for himself -- s ... More >>

Denver Startup Week, birthday celebrations and more on this week's calendar

Denver Startup Week begins today and runs through October 27. The week-long celebration features over sixty interactive events exploring the rich history and potential of entrepreneurism in Denver -- including its ever-growing food scene. Check the website for a full schedule of events. Here's a t ... More >>

Maurizio Negrini, head bread baker of Udi's, featured in film at NYC Food Film Festival

It may not be fifteen minutes of fame, but 8.3 minutes isn't bread crumbs either, and for Maurizio Negrini, the master bread baker of Udi's, it's his life. See also: - Udi's Colfax Pizza Bar taking over the former Encore space

Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern arrives in Denver this weekend for an adventurous romp of eating

Back in July, I got a phone call from a woman involved with Tremendous! Entertainment for the Travel Channel, the cable network that hosts, among other shows, Bizarre Foods, the fast-paced, food-centric program that showcases Andrew Zimmern, the two-time James Beard Award-winning chef, clamping his ... More >>

Jason Sheehan: Don't take anyone's advice about anything

In advance of Gretchen Kurtz's debut next week as the new Cafe critic, we asked some of our previous restaurant reviewers to weigh in -- and given their jobs, we do mean weigh in -- with advice for our newest critic. Kyle Wagner, now the travel editor at the Denver Post, served up her thoughts first ... More >>

A celebration of seafood, beer and tea festivals and more on the calendar this week

The Tour de Jax, a traveling dinner series hosted by each of the three Jax Fish House locations, begins today. Chefs Sheila Lucero, Amos Watts, Kevin Grossi and Adam Watts -- along with special guest (and James Beard Award nominee) Lance Hanson of Jack Rabbit Hill Estates Winery -- have teamed up t ... More >>

Dale DeGroff brings "On the Town" to Boulder Monday

Over the past few years, I've been fortunate enough to get to know Dale DeGroff. The driving force behind New York's famous Rainbow Room, Dale has been widely credited with reinventing the bartending profession, setting off a cocktail explosion that continues to this day. He's the James Beard Award- ... More >>

Contest: Win two seats to the Celebrity Chef Tour at Linger

Next Wednesday night at Linger, local chefs Frank Bonanno (Mizuna, Luca d'Italia, Osteria Marco, Bones, Green Russell, Lou's Food Bar and Russell's Smokehouse), Eric Skokan (Black Cat Bistro and Bramble and Hare), Ann Cooper (the Renegade Lunch Lady), Daniel Asher, Samm Sherman and Justin Cucci (Roo ... More >>

Photos: Gabrielle Hamilton at Frasca Food & Wine

Gabrielle Hamilton has been on top of the culinary world for the past couple of years. In 2011, she landed a James Beard Award for Best Chef in New York City for her simple fare at Prune, besting April Bloomfield, Wylie Dufresne, Michael Anthony and Michael White and quipping, charmingly, when she a ... More >>

Seven ways Twitter will take your wine lifestyle to the next level

Imagine a magical tool that would bring together -- in a single location -- myriad information sources that fuel your passion for wine. An online (or mobile, for that matter) destination that collects on your behalf all manner of insightful information designed to keep you up to date -- on a moment ... More >>

Plenty of pairings, guest chefs and more on this week's calendar

There's a full schedule of food events this week, including a culinary extravaganza at Lola, 1575 Boulder Street, on Wednesday. Here's what else is on the menu:

Frasca Food and Wine, Jennifer Jasinski, Jason Sheehan named James Beard Award finalists

In February, the James Beard Foundation released the names of the chef, restaurateur and restaurant semi-finalists vying for a coveted spot as a James Beard finalist. And today, just minutes ago, the Foundation announced its 2012 finalists...and guess who's in it to win it?

Alex Seidel, Jennifer Jasinski, Frank Bonanno, Mark Fischer, Yasmin Lozada-Hissom, Frasca Food and Wine and Peak Spirits all James Beard semi-finalists

Jennifer Jasinski, chef/owner of Rioja, Bistro Vendome and Euclid Hall, is among the chosen few vying for a James Beard Foundation award.​The James Beard Foundation has just announced its crop of restaurant and chef semi-finalists vying for a coveted 2012 James Beard award, and several Denver ... More >>

National food critics dish out tweets on their Denver meals

​Some of the biggest and boldest national names in food criticism descended on Denver over the weekend to check our city's culinary scene. Why, you ask? Let's just say that they were doing research for the James Beard Foundation Awards. Several of those critics tweeted about their experiences ... More >>

Nominate your favorite Colorado chef for the 2012 James Beard Awards

​It's that time of year again, when the James Beard Foundation beckons the public fooderati to cast their nominations for the 2012 James Beard Awards, the "country's most coveted honor for chefs; food and beverage professionals; broadcast media, journalists, and authors working on food; and r ... More >>

SAME Cafe celebrates its fifth birthday with Hunger Free Colorado

​When Brad and Libby Birky started SAME Cafe five years ago, people thought they were nuts. So did the Birkys, really. Even before they opened the doors to the restaurant -- the name stands for So All May Eat, and they'd adopted a pay-what-you-can model that had been tried in a couple of spots ... More >>

Round two with Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, exec chef of Frasca Food and Wine

Lori Midson​ Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson Frasca Food and Wine 1738 Pearl Street, Boulder 303-442-6966 www.frascafoodandwine.com This is part two of my interview with Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, co-owner and executive chef of Frasca Food and Wine. Part one of my chat with Mackinnon-Patterso ... More >>

A pizza the pie: Food Network magazine names Pizzeria Locale one of Top 50 in the country

Lori MidsonFood Network magazine heralds the pizza at Pizzeria Locale​Six months ago, editors from Food Network magazine zigzagged across the country in search of the holy grail -- or, more precisely, the best pizzas in the United States, and in the September issue, on newsstands August 9, th ... More >>

Scuttlebutt on the street: World-renowned chef Charlie Palmer taking over Big Game

​Not that Charlie Palmer needs much of an introduction: The world-renowned, James Beard award-winning master chef, whose progressive American cooking, stylized with classic French techniques, has generated accolades all over the country, presides over an extraordinary number of restaurants, f ... More >>

Round two with Flagstaff House executive chef Mark Monette

​ Mark Monette Flagstaff House 1138 Flagstaff Drive, Boulder 303-442-4640 www.flagstaffhouse.com This is part two of my interview with Mark Monette, executive chef of the Flagstaff House. Part one of that interview, in which Monette talks about cooking with Thomas Keller and his disdain for ... More >>

Food porn from ChoLon's Celebrity Chef tour dinner

The community table at the Celebrity Chef Tour dinner at ChoLon.​Top Chef Angelo Sosa and Lon Symensma didn't make good on their promise to come out in Speedos for dessert at Wednesday night's Celebrity Chef Tour dinner benefiting the James Beard Foundation at ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro Wednes ... More >>

Bon Appetit editor Andrew Knowlton makes his James Beard winner predictions... which include Frasca Food and Wine

​ Tonight, chefs and restaurateurs from around the country will claim medals -- shiny tokens that dub them the best in the country at their craft -- at the James Beard Awards ceremony in New York City. In anticipation of the event, Andrew Knowlton, restaurant and drinks editor at Bon Appeti ... More >>

James Beard Foundation announces 2011 chef and restaurant finalists -- and two are from Colorado

Frasca Good & Wine master sommelier Bobby Stuckey is a James Beard finalist​Earlier today, in Portland, the James Beard Foundation released the listage of superstar chefs, restaurants and restaurateurs who are finalists (semifinalists, of which there were several from Colorado, were announced ... More >>

Will Cisa, kitchen magician of the Corner Office, on monumental cooking disasters, Euclid Hall's boudin noir and the impossible thirty-minute meal

Lori Midson​ Will Cisa The Corner Office 1401 Curtis Street 303-825-6500 www.thecornerofficedenver.com/food/dinner This is part one of my interview with Will Cisa, executive chef of the Corner Office Restaurant Martini Bar. Part two of that interview will run in this space tomorrow. It's ... More >>

Duo and Olivéa pastry chef Yasmin Lozada-Hissom tapped to bake at the James Beard Foundation awards gala

​The James Beard Foundation awards gala, a glitzy, high-falutin' soiree that honors the best chefs, pastry kings and queens, restaurateurs, restaurants and wine directors in the country, takes place on May 9, 2011, at the Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York. And the culinary blowout ... More >>

James Beard Foundation announces 2011 semi-finalists: Frank Bonanno, Yasmin Lozada-Hissom, Frasca and ChoLon among them

James Beard Foundation​Last November, the James Beard Foundation summoned the public to nominate its favorite chefs, restaurants and industry professionals for the 2011 awards. And after all the self-pimping and ballot-stuffing, the poll is closed. This morning, the foundation announced its ... More >>

New Year's resolutions from Max MacKissock, Matt Selby, Mark DeNittis, Michael Long and twenty-one more Denver/Boulder chefs

Lori MidsonBrad Rowell, chef at Colt & Gray, resolves to eat twenty percent less pork fat per day and replace that with twenty percent more Schlitz​ Haven't made your New Year's resolutions yet? That makes two of us. But instead of focusing on ourselves, we prodded more than two dozen Denver/ ... More >>

Pizzeria da Lupo opens in Boulder

​Boulder might be a college town, but we're still a little surprised at the influx of pizzerias there over the last year, especially because these aren't greasy slice joints -- they offer gourmet pies, pulled straight from the depths of a wood-fired oven. Pizzeria Basta, 3601 Arapahoe Avenue, ... More >>

Ask the bartender: Sean Kenyon delivers a punch

​Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with almost 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource ... More >>

Tonight: Celebrity Chef Tour at Osteria Marco

​Tonight Osteria Marco, 1453 Larimer Street, will host the Celebrity Chef Tour, a benefit for the James Beard Foundation that features a dinner prepared by Michael Ginor from Hudson Valley Foie Gras and Denver heavyweight chefs Frank Bonanno, Matt Selby, Alex Seidel and Eric Skokan (read Eric ... More >>

The week in Cafe Society bloggery: Cupcakes, veggie dogs, tacos and a fuzzy hunk of meat that says, "I'm bacon!

Lori Midson​ Behold the highlights and low lights of what you may have missed this week on the Cafe Society blog.

Cast your nominations for the 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards

​It's that time of year again, when chefs from all over the country send out e-mails begging their loyal customers to nominate them for a James Beard Foundation Award, otherwise known as the "Oscars of the food universe."

Tickets go on sale today for the Denver Celebrity Chef Tour -- and the lineup is stellar

Lori Midson​Tickets go on sale today for the Denver Celebrity Chef Tour, a star-studded squad of kitchen sorcerers, including Matt Selby (Vesta Dipping Grill and Steuben's); Alex Seidel (Fruition and Fruition Farms); Eric Skokan (Black Cat, Boulder); and Michael Ginor, the co-founder and chef ... More >>

The Denver Five are passing the torch to five new chefs

From left to right: Matt Selby, Tyler Wiard, Troy Guard, Jamey Fader and Brian Laird​In 2003, Leigh Sullivan was questioning what a lot of us in Denver ponder when discussing the Denver dining climate. Why, she wondered, is everyone focusing on the restaurants and chefs in San Francisco, Chica ... More >>

Top Chef contestant and Coloradan Kenny Gilbert could go all the way

Kenny Gilbert has gone from Telluride to D.C. ​The first episode of Top Chef D.C. aired last night, and like every other food obsessive I know, I was glued to the set. Now in its seventh season, at this point the show is pretty much pure formula -- Quickfire Challenge, chefs' race through Whol ... More >>

Here comes the rise of the Scandinavian restaurant

Rene Redzepi, the chef who led Noma to number one​If this was a world in which the dining scene was scrutinized like professional sports, with gamblers placing bets on the what pastry will be the next cupcake, what technique will become the new foam or which chef is most likely to win a James ... More >>

Ian Kleinman and O's get a rave from egullet

TV or Not TV

Another star turn for Ian Kleinman.

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