Lance Barto

Central Bistro & Bar starts serving lunch tomorrow

Central Bistro & Bar will start serving lunch tomorrow, eight months after Isiah Salazar opened his restaurant on the very edge of LoHi, almost three months after opening exec chef Lance Barto abruptly left the kitchen. That kitchen is now in the hands of Gerard Strong, who'd come from Z Cuisine to ... More >>

The Universal: Another Best New Restaurant finalist loses its opening chef

Last week, we revealed Cafe Society's choices for Denver's Ten Best New Restaurants to open in 2012: Amerigo, Squeaky Bean, The Populist, Central Bistro & Bar, True Food Kitchen, Taita Peruvian Cuisine & Bar, The Universal, Pho Lee, Uncle and The Kitchen Denver. At the time, one of the restaurants, ... More >>

Reader: Lance Barto's departure from Central Bistro & Bar is "shameful"

Lance Barto left Central Bar and Bistro, the six-month-old restaurant he helped create, "on good terms," says Isiah Salazar, Central's owner, who decided to let Barto go on New Year's Eve -- right before Barto cooked for a full house. But even if Barto's departure was amicable, diners aren't feel ... More >>

Executive chef Lance Barto gets "pushed out" from Central Bistro & Bar

New Year's Eve, says Lance Barto, the executive chef of Central Bistro & Bar, was a smash hit. "We had a maxed-out dining room that rocked out, everyone had fun, and we had a great service." Inexplicably, it would be the last service that Barto would spearhead at the Highland restaurant that he was ... More >>

Hot damn! Central Bistro & Bar redefines what a neighborhood restaurant can be

Slide show: A Closer Look at Central Bistro & Bar

Reader: Central Bistro is hot, but its HOT sign is not

Gretchen Kurtz reviewed Central Bistro & Bar this week, and although she loved many of chef Lance Barto's dishes, she didn't like the giant HOT sign that dominates the decor. Even though it comes with a tasty back story -- the six-foot-high letters used to be part of the sign on the defunct Regency ... More >>

Win a New Year's Eve dinner for two (and a midnight celebration) at Central Bistro & Bar

While a lot of us have a standing date with the recliner, the TV and a bottle of bubbly on New Year's Eve, watching the yearly ball drop in Times Square (RIP Dick Clark) isn't exactly a thrilling way to ring in the New Year. Debauchery is much more fun, and so, too, is a lovely night out on the town ... More >>

Hurricane Sandy relief being served up by Denver restaurants

While the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy continues to swamp the Northeast, several Denver restaurants are doing their bit to help provide aid. Jax Fish House will be hosting a weekend scallop special featuring produce caught by fishermen affected by the storm; Central Bistro and Bar is serving free dr ... More >>

Contest alert: Win two seats to Central's GABF dinner with Christian DeBenedetti, author of the Great American Ale Trail

Announcement: We have a winner. Congrats to annaortlieb8, who guessed 6,000. The actual number of books sold is 10,027. _____________________________________________________________________ For beer geeks, the Great American Beer Festival is arguably the best week of the year, with restaurants and ... More >>

Updated: The Great American Beer Festival 2012 calendar of awesome events

Updated with new events: Tourists may go to Rome to see the Coliseum, but it's the side streets, the adventures and the hidden cafes that typically fill their cameras and their post-trip stories. The same is true of the week surrounding the Great American Beer Festival. The event is the centerpiece, ... More >>

Contest: Win Sunday brunch (plus drinks!) for four at Central Bistro and Bar

This past Sunday, Central Bistro and Bar, Lance Barto's hot, hip and happening contemporary American hangout in Highland, rolled out its new brunch menu (Nutella waffles!), and in honor of the occasion, we're giving one Cafe Society reader (and three guests) the chance to stuff their bellies for zer ... More >>

Announcement: We have a winner of our Central Bistro and Bar brunch contest

Last Sunday, Lance Barto and his kitchen crew rolled out Central Bistro and Bar's first brunch menu, and earlier this week, we posted a contest, giving one Cafe Society reader, along with three guests of their choice, the chance to check it out for free this Sunday (morning libations and a copy of t ... More >>

First Look: the highly anticipated Central opens on Wednesday in Highland

Denver's new restaurants just keep getting better, bolder and more big city. For proof, look at Central Bistro and Bar, the Highland restaurant that will open to the public on Wednesday. "We spent a ton of time researching award-winning restaurant designs, and used those as inspiration for our own ... More >>

Lance Barto and the team from Central snatch up Cicely Austin, a Food & Wine magazine Best New Pastry Chef

When Central, the new restaurant in Highland, whose kitchen is commanded by Lance Barto, a former exec chef of Strings, opens mid-month, a Food & Wine magazine-heralded confection queen will be spearheading the pastry program: Cicely Austin, who was named one of the top fifty pastry chefs in America ... More >>

Win a golden ticket to molecular magician Ian Kleinman's pop-up dinners at Studio F

Ian Kleinman lives in a Willy Wonka world. He's the mad scientist, the crazy culinary genius who long ago ditched traditional cooking methods to concentrate on molecular gastronomy, for which he's now known nationwide. And starting this Friday, you can win a golden ticket to a pop-up dinner that wi ... More >>

Lance Barto of Central Bistro & Bar cooks for Hush's Pop Up Dinner

Lance Barto, the former exec chef of Strings, will be in the kitchen when Central Bar & Bistro opens this summer in Highland. "You'll find fun, creative, seasonally driven American food that incorporates French techniques with great American cooking," Barto told Lori Midson last month. In the meanti ... More >>

Reader: Would it be so terrible to have a Chipotle in LoHi?

​LoHi remains the city's hottest restaurant neighborhood in town, with would-be restaurateurs still looking for open spaces in the area. The most recent project announced is Central Bistro and Bar, going in right on the edge of Highland, where Lance Barto will be serving new American food. B ... More >>

Reader: Another restaurant in LoHi? Get ready for more bitching about parking

The edge of Highland -- now dubbed LoHi -- is the hottest restaurant neighborhood in town, and it's about to get hotter, with the addition of Central Bistro and Bar, which will open in late spring with Lance Barto in the kitchen. Don't confuse it with Le Central, the "affordable French restaurant" ... More >>

Central Bistro and Bar opening in Highland with Lance Barto behind the line

Last June, Lance Barto was working as the exec chef at Strings, but he was ready to make a move, which led him to Craigslist, and while he was scouring restaurant-industry gigs, he came across one advert in particular that caught his eye.

Justin Brunson amasses a team of high-profile chefs to run the kitchen at Wild Catch (and starts his own bacon company)

​When Justin Brunson, the captain behind the magnificent Masterpiece Deli, opens Wild Catch, a sustainable seafood restaurant in Uptown, he'll steer his kitchen along with a tag team of several other high-profile chefs -- none of whom, by the way, are from TAG, Troy Guard's Asian restaurant i ... More >>

Strings promotes Jason Clark to executive chef after Lance Barto exits for Wild Catch

Lori Midson​Lance Barto started behind the burners at Strings three years ago, working his way up to the executive chef role in 2009 after then-lead chef Aaron Whitcomb left for YiaYia's Euro Bistro in Greenwood Village. Now, Barto's heading over to the line at Wild Catch -- the seafood rest ... More >>

Tiny Bubbles

Lance Barto, exec chef of Strings, makes Moroccan flat bread

A Flickr photo​Lance Barto, executive chef of Strings, 1700 Humboldt Street, is always playing with his menu, as are most chefs this time of year when the freshness of springtime calls for new ingredients and new dishes. He's just added kesra, a traditional Moroccan flat bread, to his spring ... More >>

In the kitchen with Lance Barto of Strings

Lance Barto in his kitchen at Strings​"This is the perfect hearty recipe to help warm your body from the chill in the air," says Lance Barto, the executive chef of Strings and the subject of this week's Chef and Tell interview.

Part two: Chef and Tell with Lance Barto of Strings

Lori MidsonLance Barto, executive chef of Strings​ This is part two of my interview with Lance Barto, exec chef of Strings. You can read part one of my interview with Barto here. Best food city in America: Northern California. Right, I know that it's not a city, but the whole northern region of ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Lance Barto of Strings

Lori MidsonLance Barto, exectutive chef of Strings​"It wasn't supposed to happen this fast," says Lance Barto, shaking his head. The 27-year-old chef, who was promoted back in February to the chief kitchen post at Strings following the departure of Aaron Whitcomb (who's now at Yia-Yia's Euro B ... More >>

Tonight: A fiesta of Mexican wines and appetizers at Strings

​Despite 450 years in the grape-stomping business, Mexican wines aren't exactly flying off the shelves, but the Mexican Cultural Center and Consulate General of Mexico, along with Strings, will attempt to silence your inner cynic tonight, when Strings, 1700 Humboldt Street, hosts a Mexican win ... More >>

Grapes and grilling tonight at Strings

​If you didn't snag a ticket to tonight's shochu-tasting dinner at Elway's, don't weep in your Wheaties. You have other other culinary options this evening, including a grape-stomping and -grilling dinner at Strings (1700 Humboldt Street) that sounds like a perfect prelude to the weekend. The Stri ... More >>

Eight is enough at chef's table dinner at Strings

Strings, at 1700 Humboldt Street, is hosting an intimate Chef's Table dinner at 8 p.m. tonight with exec chef Lance Barto, who will cook a five-course feast focusing on the food and wines of Spain. The dinner is $75 (inclusive of tax and tip), with wine pairings, but if you're interested in getting ... More >>

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