James Beard

Mouth by Southwest

Mouth by Southwest

Delegating Denver #41 of 56: Oregon

Swimming in gluttony at Jax Fish House

The Bite

The yolk's on us.

The Westword.com blog shortcut, February 13 issue

Having a nice day, all you triskaidekaphobics? Today in Backbeat Online: • Aviano Coffee debuts anything-goes open mike tomorrow. • Fort Collins set to debut all-local music fest in April. • Spoke-In-Wordz debuts new single on iTunes, Amazon. Today in Cafe Society: • 231 Milwaukee back o ... More >>

Bite Me

New York State of Mind

Bite Me

Being There

Bite Me

Vietnam Bore

Beard House Blues: One Colorado finalist

It was a rough year for Colorado chefs (and writers) in this year's James Beard awards.  The finalists were announced this morning -- and our white jackets just got spanked. A handful of Coloradans had made the semi-finalists list. Frank Bonanno (above) got tapped for Best Restaurateur. Yasmin ... More >>

The Empire Lounge still has a way to go

It was a rough year for Colorado chefs (and writers) in this year's James Beard awards.  The finalists were announced this morning -- and our white jackets just got spanked. A handful of Coloradans had made the semi-finalists list. Frank Bonanno (above) got tapped for Best Restaurateur. Yasmin ... More >>

Pork lovers will go hog wild for the Berkshire

It was a rough year for Colorado chefs (and writers) in this year's James Beard awards.  The finalists were announced this morning -- and our white jackets just got spanked. A handful of Coloradans had made the semi-finalists list. Frank Bonanno (above) got tapped for Best Restaurateur. Yasmin ... More >>

Jax Fish House is a keeper

It was a rough year for Colorado chefs (and writers) in this year's James Beard awards.  The finalists were announced this morning -- and our white jackets just got spanked. A handful of Coloradans had made the semi-finalists list. Frank Bonanno (above) got tapped for Best Restaurateur. Yasmin ... More >>

Green Acres

WaterCourse is a growing concern.

Sex and the City

New York State of Mind

Bite Me

Beard House Rules

The Yolk's on Us

Denver Restaurant Week presents an eggs-cellent dining opportunity.

Waugghhh to Go

Sam'l P. Arnold is still holding down The Fort.

Cheeseburgers in Paradise

From Caro's Corner to Griff's, local joints are pleased to meat you.

What's Cooking?

Denver's Junior League has the recipe for lasting success.

Mouthing Off

Denver's Junior League has the recipe for lasting success.

Sting for Your Supper

Denver's Junior League has the recipe for lasting success.

CLASS ACTS

Denver's Junior League has the recipe for lasting success.

News from the James Beard Awards

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 R ... More >>

Today's hit of Hosea Rosenberg hilarity

Lori MidsonTop Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg with fellow contestant Fabio Viviani​Okay, so Jax-Boulder superchef Hosea Rosenberg wins Top Chef: New York and, along with the top title, gets $100,000 to blow on opening a new restaurant. Except he hasn't opened a new restaurant. In fact, as I rep ... More >>

Eatin' my meat at Fogo de Chao

Fogo de Chao is not a place that any mortal man could visit with any regularity while remaining mortal, without ending up just flat dead from a meat overdose. Zeus, perhaps, could eat here three times in a week. James Beard or Escoffier could've probably managed four in their portly heydays. Me? I' ... More >>

Fogo de Chao sticks it to the steakhouse concept

Fogo de Chao is not a place that any mortal man could visit with any regularity while remaining mortal, without ending up just flat dead from a meat overdose. Zeus, perhaps, could eat here three times in a week. James Beard or Escoffier could've probably managed four in their portly heydays. Me? I' ... More >>

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 Ame ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Sheila Lucero from Jax Fish House

Lori MidsonSheila Lucero and her kitchen crew​"I get such an adrenalin rush when I'm in the kitchen and there's great satisfaction in making it all happen in a very small and hot environment and having people leave happy about their decision to eat here," says Sheila Lucero. The newly promoted ... More >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Sergio Romero of Argyll Gastropub

Lori Midson​This is part two of Sergio Romero's Chef and Tell interview. To read part one, click here.

Chef and Tell with Matt Mine from the Oceanaire Seafood Room

Lori MidsonMatt Mine, executive chef of Oceanaire​Matt Mine Oceanaire Seafood Room 1400 Arapahoe Street 303-991-2277 www.theoceanaire.com This is part one of Lori Midson's interview with Matt Mine, executive chef of Oceanaire. To read part two of that interview, check back here tomorrow. M ... More >>

New season of Top Chef includes two Colorado mountain cookers, Kelly Liken and Kenny Gilbert, but no Denver or Boulder chefs

​Top Chef, the often unrealistic reality show that made Hosea Rosenberg, exec chef of Jax-Boulder, a hometown hero when he emerged the conquistador two seasons ago, just released its listage of contestants for season 7, which will be filmed in Washington DC and premier on June 16 on Bravo. ... More >>

Pete Ryan from Cook Street School of the Culinary Arts dishes on fat wallets, fair wages and mediocrity

Lori MidsonPete Ryan, executive chef/instructor at Cook Street School of Culinary Arts​ Pete Ryan Cook Street School of Culinary Arts 1937 Market Street 303-308-9300 www.cookstreet.com After a fifteen-month pan-pounding stint at Z Cuisine, in March Pete Ryan became the executive chef/instruc ... More >>

Part two: Ya Ya's Aaron Whitcomb on temper control, the phenomenon that's Alex Seidel and becoming the food critic for Westword

Lori Midson Aaron Whitcomb​ Aaron Whitcomb YaYa's Euro Bistro 8310 East Belleview Avenue, Greenwood Village 303-741-1110 www.yayasbistro.com This is part two of my interview with Aaron Whitcomb. To read part one of that interview, click here. Six words to describe your food: Playful, class ... More >>

1515 Restaurant offers Denver diners a taste of what chef Chuck James will be cooking at the James Beard House

1515 Restaurant's chef Chuck James​In honor of Chuck James's invitation to cook for a group of eager eaters next month at the James Beard House, 1515 Restaurant, where James is the executive chef, is rolling out a four-course menu between now and Saturday, July 17, that includes several dishe ... More >>

The week in Cafe Society bloggery: pork slogans, lactating camels, sex toys, bratwurst, blood sausage and spoo

​Maybe it's the ridiculous, intolerable heat that made this week so weird and wacky, and the Cafe Society trolls -- specifically "Recession" and "Poutiner" and all your other bogus aliases (we've got your IP address, schmuck) -- so moronic and volatile. Whatever the cause, the last five days o ... More >>

Part two: Ill Mondo Vecchio's Mark DeNittis seeks global salumi domination

Lori Midson ​ Mark DeNittis Il Mondo Vecchio 1174 South Cherokee Street 303-744-6328 mondovecchio.net This is part two of Lori Midson's interview with Mark DeNittis, the salumi emperor of Il mondo Vecchio. To read the first part of that interview, click here. Culinary inspirations: My gran ... More >>

Culinary calendar for the week ahead: Tequila dinners, beer tastings and more

​Tomorrow's Rollin' Sushi workshop at the Seasoned Chef Cooking School is one of several culinary classes this week; other mouth-watering events include a tequila dinner at El Diablo and a beer-tasting fundraiser at the E Project. Here's a taste of what's to come:

FIVE inducts three new chefs and one awesome mixologist: Paul Reilly, Brandon Biederman, Enrique Socarras and Bryan Dayton

Lori MidsonFour of the new FIVE: Brandon Biederman, Bryan Dayton, Enrique Socarras and Paul Reilly. ​Last night at Roth Distributing, where state-of-the-art kitchens played house to some of Denver's top chefs and mixologists, Leigh Sullivan-Guard, the founder of FIVE -- a cartel of chefs who c ... More >>

Reader: Skip the Michelle Obama/Rush Limbaugh food fight? Fat chance

Rush Limbaugh, ash​Should Rush Limbaugh have commented at all on Michelle Obama's visit to Vail -- much less suggest that the First Lady, who has made childhood obesity her major cause, had no business eating short ribs? And did Cafe Society have any business getting into this political food f ... More >>

Michelle Obama eats well on Top Chef's Kelly Liken's ribs; you can, too, with this recipe

Kelly Liken​It's been a big week for Kelly Liken of Vail's Restaurant Kelly Liken, who was named a James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef: Southwest (for the third time) -- and then fed Michelle Obama and three friends over the weekend. Liken recently competed on Top Chef, and Michelle Obama ... 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 >>

Ryan Hardy vacates his post at Aspen's Little Nell to open his own restaurant in New York

Chef Ryan Hardy decamps from the Little Nell.​Six years ago, Ryan Hardy took the reins as executive chef at the Little Nell in Aspen, a position he won after stints at San Francisco's Rubicon and another Aspen restaurant, Rustique. During his tenure there, he garnered awards and James Beard no ... 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 >>

The Daily Meal rounds up the ten best athlete-owned restaurants across the country... and includes Elway's

​Acknowledging the fact that many athlete-owned restaurants have the name to pull in the patrons but very rarely have the menu to support the buzz, The Daily Meal set out to separate the strike-outs from the home runs. The blog rounded up the ten best eateries owned by sports stars, including ... More >>

The Fort chef Geoffrey Groditski tapped to cook at the James Beard House in June

Lori MidsonChef Geoffrey Groditski will cook at the James Beard House in June.​When Holly Arnold Kinney, owner of The Fort, was in New York City last year promoting her cookbook, she met with some people from the James Beard Foundation. And that turned into an invitation for her chef, Geoffrey ... More >>

Round two with Simon Purvis, exec chef of EDGE at the Four Seasons

This is part two of my interview with Simon Purvis, executive chef of the EDGE at the Four Seasons. Part one of that interview ran in this space yesterday. Simon Purvis EDGE at the Four Seasons 1111 14th Street 303-389-3000 www.fourseasons.com/denver/dining Favorite restaurant in America: I had ... More >>

Six kick-ass Denver chefs, a stellar mixologist and one meaty sausage slinger: Foodography from the James Beard House dinner in New York

Lori MidsonTop from left to right: Tyler Wiard, Matt Selby, Bryan Dayton and Paul Reilly. Bottom from left to right: Mark DeNittis, Brandon Biederman, Jamey Fader and Enrique Socarras​When six Denver chefs, one bartender and, for good measure, a muscled and tatted sausage emperor all trotted ... More >>

Thanawat Bates, exec chef of the Palace Arms, on his James Beard Dinner nightmare

Lori Midson​ Thanawat Bates Palace Arms at the Brown Palace 321 17th Street 303-297-3111 www.brownpalace.com/dining This is part one of my interview with Thanawat Bates, exec chef of the Palace Arms at the Brown Palace. Part two of my interview with Bates will run tomorrow. The definition o ... More >>