It's only day two of the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, and at least one local chef has already made a huge splash, running laps around the pool at a Denver FIVE party...and bombing it with liquid nitrogen. "I think that's the first time anyone has probably done that at Food & Wine...or anywhere in A ... More >>
Kevin Morrison, chef-owner of Pinche Taqueria, was absent from last night's Denver FIVE dinner at Studio F, the first in a series of upcoming dinners and events from Leigh Sullivan's newest crew of Denver chefs, who cook at various local restaurants, represent the Mile High City at the Aspen Food & ... More >>
The sixth edition of Leigh Sullivan's Denver FIVE held its first dinner last night at Studio F, a sold-out smash featuring chefs Matt Selby (Corner House), Sean Yontz (El Diablo), Jorel Pierce (Euclid Hall), Ian Kleinman (The Inventing Room) and new addition/repeat Brian Laird (who's opening Sarto's ... More >>
Matt Selby (Corner House), Kevin Morrison (Pinche Taqueria), Jorel Pierce (Euclid Hall) and Ian Kleinman (The Inventing Room) will congregate in the kitchen of Sean Yontz, exec chef of El Diablo, on Monday, April 22, for the first FIVE dinner showcasing the new crop of chefs that comprise Leigh Sull ... More >>
I don't know about you, but I've never had a "merlot burger" -- a burger that's been injected, literally, with the deep blue-hued wine grape. But come mid-May, all of us will have the opportunity to try one when Drakes Haus, a restaurant that, in fact, squirts merlot into its burgers, opens in Bould ... More >>
It's a roster that includes some of the biggest and boldest names in Denver's culinary landscape: Matt Selby, Sean Yontz, Ian Kleinman, Kevin Morrison and Jorel Pierce. Those are the five chefs that Leigh Sullivan, president of Leigh Sullivan Enterprises, has chosen to round out this year's FIVE, a ... More >>
Twenty-five years ago, Noel Cunningham, along with Pat Miller, the "Gabby Gourmet", launched Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation, a nonprofit childhood hunger relief organization that Cunningham, the former owner/chef of Strings, worked tirelessly to grow and advocate. It soon blossomed into ... More >>
The Denver Five will return to the James Beard House next month, strutting their stuff for food fans in New York City. The featured chefs make undeniably good food...but how will they behave?
Last September, I spent a whopping 24 hours in New York City, mostly in the kitchen of the James Beard House, where the FIVE, a coterie of local chefs and cocktail kings, strutted their talents to a sold-old cognoscenti of foodniks -- one of whom claimed that it was the most fun she'd ever had at a ... More >>
Like a lot of voyeurs, I'm intrigued by the contents of other people's refrigerators, especially the refrigerators of chefs. And apparently, so is Leigh Sullivan, the innovator behind FIVE -- five local chefs and their bar cohorts, all of whom cook (and pour) at various restaurants and venues around ... More >>
Ever since Samir Mohammad was tapped as the executive chef of the Village Cork, a lovely Washington Park wine bar, oenophiles and foodophiles alike have been clamoring for a taste, and while Mohammad's open kitchen, which squats squarely in a sea of bodies, isn't equipped with a hood or a multi-burn ... More >>
A year and a half ago, award-winning bartender James Lee gave up his post as bar manager of the Bitter Bar and beverage director of the Big Red F restaurants to embark on a journey that took him first to Salida and then Denver, where he's worked with Troy Guard, Leigh Sullivan, Robert Thompson and H ... More >>
Earlier this year, Leigh Sullivan Enterprises -- a hospitality-industry marketing, brand-management and public-relations consulting firm helmed by Leigh Sullivan -- announced its fifth crop of chefs to fill out the ranks of the Denver FIVE, an organization that's "a culinary group whose main goal is ... More >>
Five years ago, Leigh Sullivan was hellbent on showcasing Denver's dining landscape -- and the chefs who define it -- to a national audience. Her determination paid off in spades when she handpicked a ring of five local chefs who would eventually become the first incarnation of FIVE, a quintet of to ... More >>
Yesterday, while sharing space at the bar with Jensen Cummings, the executive chef of Row 14, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "This is going to be a big, very cool party, and you know why it's going to be big and cool?" he asked. "We're one of only seven restaurants in the country -- and the ... More >>
Leigh Sullivan founded FIVE, a group of Denver chefs who cook across the country, back in 2008; the lineup, like Sullivan herself, has gone through some changes over the years. Sullivan recently relaunched her own marketing/public relations company, Leigh Sullivan Enterprises, and just announced the ... More >>
If you've been wondering how Leigh Sullivan, the ex-wife of Troy Guard, who owns TAG and TAG|RAW BAR, is doing since the couple split last year, the answer is "better than ever."
Denver foodbeasts who eat up the city's culinary scene had plenty to chew on in 2011: Big-name chefs who abruptly closed their restaurants; other chefs who walked out; a restaurant that burst into flames -- and rose from the ashes; a very public divorce; and sadly, unfathomably, a beloved restaurate ... More >>
Lori Midson Jensen Cummings Row 14 Bistro & Wine Bar 891 14th Street 303-825-0100 www.row14denver.com This is part one of my interview with Jensen Cummings, exec chef of Row 14 Bistro & Wine Bar. Part two of that interview will run in this space tomorrow. A broom and a dustpan -- these are ... More >>
Lori MidsonIt was just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday when the car dropped me off at the James Beard House, the unassuming West Village brownstone that's the former home of the legendary late American chef and cookbook author, deemed the "dean of American cookery" in the New York Times, whose qu ... More >>
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 SocarrasWhen six Denver chefs, one bartender and, for good measure, a muscled and tatted sausage emperor all trotted ... More >>
Jamey Fader and Tyler Wiard are back at the James Beard House.Lori Midson is off on a mouth-watering mission: She's winging her way to New York City, where she'll attend tonight's dinner at the James Beard House being prepared by the Five -- which now comprises ten local chefs. The Five con ... More >>
Rob MichelsFormer Madison Street chef Rob Michels lands at Japoix.When former TAG team (and married couple) Troy Guard and Leigh Sullivan added Madison Street to their restaurant empire, they tapped a member of the TAG kitchen, Rob Michels, to serve as executive chef, where he worked alongsid ... More >>
Marc PiscottyTwo weeks ago, when we broke the news that more than a dozen staffers from TAG, Troy Guard's restaurant in Larimer Square, had walked out the door or submitted their two-week notice as a result of personal issues between Troy and his wife (soon to be ex-wife) Leigh Sullivan, peop ... More >>
Do you have what it takes to work for Troy Guard at TAG? Last Thursday, a staggering number of employees who work at TAG, Troy Guard's restaurant on Larimer Square, walked off the floor (and line), or handed in their two-week notices after news broke that Guard and Leigh Sullivan, his wife (s ... More >>
It's splitsville for Denver restaurant couple Leigh Sullivan and Troy Guard.It was a Las Vegas, tunnel-of-love, drive-thru wedding. Leigh Sullivan and Troy Guard, the chef/owner of TAG and TAG| RAW BAR, met just three months before they took off for Las Vegas and tied the knot in 2004 in the ... More >>
Lori MidsonLast week, Joe Vostrejs, the COO of Larimer Associates, was heading home from Madison Street, the Congress Park neighborhood restaurant he opened in October of last year, when he started to think about dots -- specifically, connecting those dots to Troy Guard, the chef/owner of TA ... More >>
Kangaroo tartare with foie gras foamTAG|RAW BAR, the newest Larimer Square spot from Troy Guard and Leigh Sullivan, is serving up a roster of dishes that contains nothing cooked at a higher temperature than 120 degrees. And after the TAG|RAW BAR food porn we posted last week, we had high expe ... More >>
Lori MidsonThe team behind TAG RAW BAR, which opened today in Larimer SquareAt exactly 11 a.m. today, the doors of TAG|RAW BAR, located in the newly remodeled Larimer Square walkway, swung open, and by 11:30, the orange sherbet seats at the pint-size raw bar were jammed with chefs, including ... More >>
The big opening on Larimer Square this month will be Ocean Prime, which sets sail on Thursday, after a fundraiser for the Hospice of Denver tomorrow. Ocean Prime is opening right on schedule -- unlike Samba Room. That spot closed more than seven months ago, so that a leak dripping into the ... More >>
From left to right: Matt Selby, Tyler Wiard, Troy Guard, Jamey Fader and Brian LairdIn 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 >>
Brian Melton of TAG, the winning bartender in Sunday night's Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation drink competition.As part of Denver's Taste of the Nation/Share Our Strength benefit last night at Mile High Station, eight generous drink slingers from some of the city's hottest bars partic ... More >>
From left to right: Matt Selby, Tyler Wiard, Troy Guard, Jamey Fader and Brian Laird Earlier this week, Tyler Wiard (Elway's Cherry Creek), Jamey Fader (culinary director of Big Red F Restaurant Group), Matt Selby (Vesta Dipping Grill and Steuben's) and Brian Laird (Barolo Grill) all convene ... More >>
Just checked in with Leigh Sullivan to find out the status of TAG Restaurant, the long-anticipated spot that she and her husband, Troy Guard (TAG, get it?), are creating at 1441 Larimer Street. Back in August, Leigh and Troy were looking at a February 1 opening for the restaurant, which is taking ... More >>
One Emogene closes, while another restaffs.
Steaking a claim on Jim Sullivan's next project: Oscar's.
Repo men on the slowest chase since O.J.
Kevin Taylor expands his empire.
Poi ahoy
Don't try this at home.
A round-the-world tour of pizza.
Where There's Smoke
Eyes on the Prize
What's Up?
