Laura Shunk

Frank Bonanno's 47 points of good service

Service has been a big topic on Cafe Society this week, what with Jonathan Greschler getting the boot from Old Major for his apparent inability to connect with his former staff, despite the fact that guests adore him. "Jonathan is amazing with customers, but I just don't think he applied that same ... More >>

Colorado cuisine is a culinary rodeo: Libertarian and lawless

I was back in Denver for three weeks last month, during which I ate what was basically one continuous meal interspersed with brief lulls that occurred when I had to switch venues or go to sleep (which was sort of often, given the food comas and also the drowsiness that comes on after the day-drinkin ... More >>

Seven signs that Denver is obsessed with bacon

Several years ago, Purina started broadcasting a line of commercials featuring a dog awakened by the scent of Beggin' Strips. Not knowing the odor didn't belong to real bacon, the dog frantically ran through the house, then finally found a strip and exclaimed, "It's BACON!" But while dogs may not kn ... More >>

Curtis Park Creamery: a taste of this week's Cafe review

In those sultry, late-August days before I started eating for a living, Westword's former Cafe critics offered advice on how I should handle my new position. Kyle Wagner, now travel editor of the Denver Post, suggested I tell people I'm a pet sitter, because otherwise I'll spend every minute of ever ... More >>

Rodney's, a Cherry Creek institution, will close this weekend

For almost thirty years, Rodney's has been a mainstay in Cherry Creek, a home away from home for many regulars who liked the food, but really liked the company. When Rodney Utz opened his basement spot 29 years ago, he was trying to recreate the ambience of what he called the old boys' bars of Chi ... More >>

Laura Shunk dishes out some tips for the new Cafe critic

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 new newest critic. Kyle Wagner, our reviewer for close to a decade who's now the travel editor at ... More >>

Westword has a new Cafe critic

And the wait is over. On September 6, we'll publish the first review by our new Cafe critic: Gretchen Kurtz, the latest in a list of distinguished Westword restaurant reviewers that stretches back three decades and includes Laura Shunk, Jason Sheehan, Kyle Wagner and John Kessler.

Bon Appétit restaurant editor Andrew Knowlton names America's top 50 new restaurants, including Linger, Pinche Taqueria and Pizzeria Locale

Back in 2010, Bon Appétit restaurant editor Andrew Knowlton pronounced Boulder the "Foodiest Town in America," a declaration that made former Westword restaurant critic Laura Shunk -- and at least one Boulder chef, Theo Adley -- raise their eyebrows in skepticism. And now Knowlton is back with hi ... More >>

Photo and menu tour: Ace Eat Serve opens today

Ace Eat Serve opened today at 501 East 17th Avenue. The ping-pong hall, restaurant and bar is the newest eatery owned by Josh and Jen Wolkon and Matt Selby, owners of Steubens and Vesta Dipping Grill.

Slow Food Denver visits Den Farm next month

You'll need to hurry if you want to sign up for Slow Food Denver's tour of Den Farm -- tickets are going fast. Den Farm is the facility that brothers Yasu and Toshi Kizaki, who own Sushi Den and Izakaya Den, started last year in Brighton. "Our parents were farmers," Yasu told Laura Shunk this sprin ... More >>

Photos: The wurst is the best at Karl's Deli

For this week's Westword review, Laura Shunk visited Karl's Deli in Centennial, which specializes in German and Austrian food, including a wurst platter. "The fat, fennel-infused pork sausage exploded out of its casing when cut, oozing juices into a bed of sauerkraut," she writes. "Although the wurs ... More >>

Gold Hill celebrates fifty years in business this weekend

Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main Street in Gold Hill, is marking its fiftieth anniversary with a three-day celebration beginning today. Festivities include live music from Tim O'Brien at 7:30 p.m.; view the full schedule here. There are also food deals, but as Laura Shunk notes in her review of Gold Hill In ... More >>

Reader: LoHi is becoming San Francisco or New York, with great restaurants and no parking

Laura Shunk lives in a hot-hot restaurant neighborhood, in an old apartment building with no parking. What little street parking there is in LoHi is often filled by the cars of diners visiting some of the area's great restaurants, and the few open lots are fast disappearing. And we mean fast: When ... More >>

Reader: What would you call the greater metro area -- which is full of great restaurants?

After reviewing Hana Japanese Bistro, Laura Shunk served up her list of "Denver's five best Japanese restaurants," places that serve not just sushi, but excellent, authentic dishes from Japan's much broader culinary canon. The list inspired the usual quibbles -- why is this on it? why not that? -- ... More >>

Reader: An inglorious end to the year for Occupy Denver

Reader: The Cherry Creek Grill is one of Denver's best bars? You're kidding.

​There are dozens of great restaurant bars in the metro area, and yesterday Laura Shunk attempted to narrow that list down to Denver's five best bars in restaurants. Barflies are questioning one particular inclusion: Cherry Creek Grill.

Reader: The city should hire Kenny Be to design Denver International Airport!

Reader: Sherri Tippie is doing a very good thing for beavers and our environment

Reader: "Sooner or later your body will break down"

Reader: Boulderites should be grateful for their granola

​Do we cover Boulder too often? Not often enough? Too gently? Not harshly enough? Ellen's suggestion that Cafe Society needs to take a more contemporary approach to Boulder inspired this response from chuckroast: For Ellen's sake, instead of calling Boulderites the "Granola Set," just call t ... More >>

Reader: Flagstaff House's Mark Monette schools the loser kids

Chefr Mark Monette at the Flagstaff House.​Mark Monette has been interested in food since he ate pounds of pancakes at the Boulder Village Inn that his father managed in the '60s. Although his culinary training took him far afield, he ultimately returned to Boulder to run the kitchen at the Fl ... More >>

Letters: "Glad to know the state can waste money on this boondoggle"

Reader: Will neighborhood groups put the brakes on Gary Lee's Motor Club?

​Gary Lee is still weeks away from his liquor-license hearing with the city, but he's already retooled his plans to cool neighborhood opposition, as Laura Shunk reports in this update on Gary Lee's Motor Club and Grub. The ongoing fight -- coming right on the heels of all the barking over Bro ... More >>

Reader: Bread alert! Denver needs a Wawa

Stephen CummingsThe Italian combo number one at Carbone's.​After reviewing Carbone's Italian Sausage Deli , Laura Shunk rounded up four more of the town's superlative sandwiches for "Denver's five best spots for sandwiches." Readers served up their own favorite shops, including Snarf's (a Bo ... More >>

Tarbell's and The Oven both close at the Streets at SouthGlenn

Lori Midson​Earlier today, I made a phone call to what has become one of our favorite restaurants in the city -- and my stomach was in knots, because just moments before dialing the digits, I received a tip suggesting that the restaurant I was calling had gone dark. Those of us at Cafe Soci ... More >>

Letters: Colorado shouldn't award contracts to out-of-state vendors

Leftovers: Chew on these comments posted on Cafe Society last week

Kentucky Inn: Dive, he said...​Cafe Society posts provided plenty to chew on last week -- from whether kids should be welcome at nice restaurants to whether a bar can be too nice to be a dive. Our list of "Denver's five best dive bars" inspired this definition from Stealth2: Dive bar: a "new ... More >>

Reader: Nothing beats a good burger. But where is Denver's best?

Is this the best burger in Denver?​The news that Steak 'n Shake is finally coming to town -- Centennial, to be exact, with a ground-breaking this month -- has fans of this iconic Midwestern burger drooling. Consider this from Lynn: Thank god there is finally good food coming to Denver! There ... More >>

Reader: Petty is as petty does when it comes to Cafe Society writers yelping about Yelp

The crew at Euclid Hall: Does this look like a twenty-year-old restaurant to you?​Before the barrage begins over the Food & Drink picks in the Best of Denver 2011 (and our apologies to anyone who's been trying to post a comment after a Best of Denver pick -- we're working on a few glitches), w ... More >>

Readers: Waiters and diners alike weigh in on what makes good service

On Friday, Cafe Society writers and commenters alike were all at your service, talking about what makes a great server -- and what servers should watch for during Denver Restaurant Week from stingy diners, and every day from potential check-skippers. In response to Jenn Wohletz's list of the top ... More >>

Bitter irony: Following a major fire, Oak at Fourteenth gets a major shout-out in Food & Wine magazine

Lori Midson​Talk about bitter irony. A mere two days after Oak at Fourteenth, one of Boulder's best new restaurants and bars, erupted in blazes after a "false" ceiling of the restaurant caught on fire, Food & Wine magazine released its listage of the country's best new bars -- and Oak at Fourt ... More >>

Ale House at Amato's should start pouring this month

​The Breckenridge and Wynkoop brewing companies have finally sealed the deal on their joint venture, which we first reported in December. Under the agreement, the two companies will keep their identities and their individuality, but they will share their brewing and restaurant resources. The ... More >>

Z Cuisine reopens after a February sabbatical

Lori MidsonLynnde and Patrick DuPays, owners of Z Cuisine and A' Côté Bar à Absinthe.​"We had a great, great evening last night, and the best thing about it was that Z and A' Côté were both really busy," says Lynnde DePays of Z Cuisine's first night back in business. Lynnde and Patrick, ... More >>

Letters: Upcoming state GOP meeting will be for martyrs only

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 >>

Reader: You Snooze, you lose

The second Snooze, at 700 Colorado.​It's patio weather this week, a rare winter opportunity to play hooky and the enjoy the sunshine while you're eating at one of Snooze's three metro locations (particularly the original Snooze, if you don't mind watching the action at the Bumuda Triangle). ... More >>

The Decemberists at the Boulder Theater, 2/9/11

Editor's note: Two of our writers were at the Decemberists show last night in Boulder, and so today we present you with two different accounts of the show from two different perspectives. Two for the price of, uh, none, as it were -- well, unless you count the cost your Internet connection. Adam Pe ... More >>

Letters: Hick is in, misogyny is out

Czech, please! A taste of Middle-European cuisine

Golden Europe owner Joseph Palla​It's no surprise that there's no mention of cuisine in Czech Point Denver, the event series created around Opera Colorado's production of Rusalka. Most people think of Czech food as heavy and uninspired. But that's only when you look at it from the outside, or ... More >>

My crazy Christmas: Westword writers share their holiday stories

​Christmas can be intense: Rife with familial undercurrents and financial strain, the yuletide can bring a time of crushing disappointment, dissolving relationships, mounting tension and exploding tempers -- but if we open our hearts and we wish hard enough, it just might also be a time of red ... More >>

Letters: Readers yelp about food, chefs and immigration

Foursquare mayors reveal their territorial ambitions

All bets are off: Westword writers head up the hill to Black Hawk and Central City

Letters: "How you can sleep at night is beyond me"

Hops & Pie will be joining fellow new kids on Tennyson Street

​How happening is Tennyson Street these days? The pay-what-you-want Comfort Cafe opened at 3945 Tennyson Street a couple weeks ago and The Hole, a doughnut house, is slated to open any second (though by the looks of it, it's probably more like any week) at 3877 Tennyson.

Letters: Bromwell Elementary's principal gets a flunking grade from critics