Jen Jasinski

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 >>

Euclid Hall: The bull's balls in their court

Euclid Hall is on a roll. Today the restaurant learned that Jorel Pierce, the executive chef, has been named a James Beard semifinalist in the Rising Star Chef category. And last night, the restaurant's Rocky Mountain oysters got a rave review from Andrew Zimmern on Bizarre Foods. One segment of th ... More >>

Round two with Pete Marczyk, chef-owner of Marczyk Fine Foods

Pete Marczyk Marczyk Fine Foods 770 East 17th Avenue, 303-894-9499 5100 East Colfax Avenue, 303-243-3355 www.marczykfinefoods.com This is part two of my interview with Pete Marczyk; read part one of Pete Marczyk's interview Rules of conduct in your kitchen: Show up; try hard; think; keep making it ... More >>

Four chefs give the lowdown on what makes LoDo cook

Chefs are Denver's rock stars, and lower downtown is one hell of a stage. Last night I was lucky enough to moderate a panel of four LoDo chefs -- Jen Jasinski, Matt Selby, Tom Coohill and Max MacKissock -- who dished out restaurant tidbits (both literal and figurative) before an appreciative crowd o ... More >>

Sips and Snacks at Rioja

​Every Tuesday, Rioja, the Larimer Square restaurant run by Beth Gruitch and chef Jen Jasinski, hosts Sips and Snacks, which pairs tastes of selected wines with four bite-sized snacks from the kitchen. This week's theme: Bubbles. Admission is $15, and the deal starts at 5 p.m.; call 303-820-22 ... More >>

Denver's five best French restaurants

​Happy Bastille Day, Denver. We'll grab just about any excuse to pop open a bottle of French wine and chow down on baguettes, but the storming of the Bastille on July 14 may be the best excuse we'll find all year. While one of our favorite spots for a French feast, Brasserie Felix, closed ear ... More >>

Photos: Hot Rocks Griller Challenge, 6/15/11

Pulled pork with basil pesto, pickled red cipollini onions on brioche by Tyler Wiard at Elway's. ​The original Elway's hosted the annual Hot Rocks Griller Challenge last night, when sixteen of Denver's top chefs competed to make the best slider. The winner? Troy Guard of TAG and TAG | RAW Ba ... More >>

Reader: With Brian Laird going to Russo's, things are looking up in the southern suburbs

Lori MidsonThe interior of Russo's Kitchen Tavern..​Yesterday, a reader wondered if the restaurant-packed Berkeley neighborhood in northwest Denver was suffering from too much of a good thing. But the revelation that Brian Laird was heading south to Russo's Kitchen Tavern, one of several r ... More >>

Reader: Hope this smart chef stays in Denver!

Lori MidsonWe never sausage thing!l​Jorel Pierce, the saucy chef at Euclid Hall, told all -- almost all -- to Lori Midson for his recent Chef and Tell interview, and readers appreciated his candid comments (if not the sausages around his neck, an homage to a recent photo with Jen Jasinski). H ... More >>

Chef and Tell, part two: Euclid Hall's Jorel Pierce on body parts and being a trigger-puller

Lori Midson​ Jorel Pierce Euclid Hall 1317 14th Street 303-595-4255 www.euclidhall.com This is part two of Lori Midson's interview with Jorel Pierce, executive chef of Euclid Hall. Part one of that interview ran in this space yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: Blue Ribbon in Manhat ... More >>

Tonight: Five-course wine dinner at Rioja

​Rioja, 1431 Larimer Street, will present a five-course wine dinner featuring dishes by chef/owner Jen Jasinski for $95. Keep reading for the full menu.

Culinary calendar for the week ahead: Beer dinners, latke cookoffs and more

​The city is awash in beer dinners this week -- but there are also many classes, food drives and the annual Top Latke Cookoff. Here's a taste of what's on the menu:

Chef and Tell, part two: Bistro Vendôme's Matt Anderson

Lori Midson​ Matt Anderson Bistro Vendôme 1420 Larimer Street 303-825-3232 www.bistrovendome.com This is part two of Lori Midson's interview with Matt Anderson, chef of Bistro Vendôme. Part one of that interview delves into Anderson's take on WHIRL, EVOO, brains and Bourdain. Culinary in ... More >>

Eating my words about Wolfgang Puck alums

Wolfgang Puck's alums prove me wrong​A few weeks ago, when I reviewed Euclid Hall, I wrote that I'd noticed a certain shortcoming common to chefs who'd trained under Wolfgang Puck. "They're excellent cooks with mastery of technique," I mused, "but they're not innovative chefs." Plenty of read ... More >>

More of the same at Rioja

Bistro Vendome has the right ambience for brunch

​After eating my way through the menu at Euclid Hall for this week's review, I stopped by Rioja, the Larimer Square restaurant that Jen Jasinski and Beth Gruitch opened six years ago, and also by Bistro Vendome, the restaurant at 1420 Larimer Street that the pair took over in 2006. Bistro Ven ... More >>

Samba Room, Euclid Hall, Ocean Prime and the ongoing evolution of Larimer Square

​A month ago, when Samba Room went dark and a sign appeared in the window of the restaurant at 1460 Larimer Street announcing that the space was under "construction," Joe Vostrejs, COO of Larimer Associates, started getting calls. Restaurateurs were interested in leasing this corner spot in ho ... More >>

Rioja team ropes together Martini Ranch deal

Meanwhile, back at Martini Ranch....​Jen Jasinski and Beth Gruitch, the talented duo behind Larimer Square restaurants Rioja and Bistro Vendome, have their eyes on a third spot around the corner, as Penny Parker reports in a good scoop this morning. According to the sign still on the former M ... More >>

Rioja serves up Tuesday sips and snacks, brings back lobster classics

​Stop by Rioja, at 1431 Larimer Street, every Tuesday from 5 p.m. until close, and you can enjoy the $15 Sips and Snacks special: four bite-sized snacks paired with wines according to that week's theme. Today, it's Wines of Spain; on January 19, Pinot Posse; on January 26, the Sauvignons. And ... More >>

A rearview look at the year in food

Chef and Tell part two: Max Mackissock from Squeaky Bean

Max Mackissock​This is part two of my interview with Max Mackissock, executive chef of Squeaky Bean. To read part one of this interview, click here. Proudest moment as a chef: One of the best parts about being a chef is watching people enjoy our hard work -- our food -- every day. That's alw ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Max Mackissock of Squeaky Bean

Lori MidsonSqueaky Bean executive chef Max Mackissock​ "After all that nonsense at Primebar -- those guys are the biggest scumbags ever -- it was unbelievably refreshing to get a job at a restaurant that's owned by one of the nicest guys I've ever met," Max Mackissock says during our interview ... More >>

A conversation with John Broening, of Duo and Olivea

Chef and Tell: John Broening

John Broening​"We'll have head cheese at Olivéa on Friday -- I expect to see you there," summoned the e-mail. The note - short and to the point -- was from John Broening, the executive chef at Duo and Olivéa: the former a restaurant in Highland with a field-to-plate, seasonal approach to foo ... More >>

The List: Living it up on Larimer

So now that I've squared things with Rioja in this week's re-review and detailed about a decade's worth of history on Larimer Square, what else is there to do?So glad you asked... Below, find this week's list of all the best places on Larimer Square -- and why. Now, if you find yourself craving a Ri ... More >>

Finally, a perfect plate at Rioja - followed by a second one

IACP Conference Report: What do several hundred wet food writers smell like?

For those of you not yet hipped to the big foodie news in Denver this week, the International Association of Culinary Professionals is in town -- a kind of traveling circus show of food writers, food editors, food pimps, chefs, authors, wine gurus and associated tradesmen. And, of course, Jason Shee ... More >>

The food trends--or lack thereof-- in 2009

"Value." "The economy." "No new concepts." "Staying open." I talked to four of the top chefs in the state (and possibly the western United States) and asked each of them about the top Colorado food trends of 2009. I wanted to share their bold predictions, like "the new hottest ... More >>

A Late Update on The Early Show and Chef Jen

The Rest of Denver

An embarrassment of riches – and bitches.