Luca D'Italia

Cory Treadway, exec chef of Wynkoop Brewery, on smartphones, fried squirrel and heaven

Cory Treadway Wynkoop Brewing Company 1634 18th Street 303-297-2700 wynkoop.com This is part one of my interview with Cory Treadway, exec chef of the Wynkoop; part two of our conversation will run in this space tomorrow. "I was the first white kid -- the first gringo -- to ever roll egg rolls," ... More >>

Taylor Drew, exec chef of Russell's Smokehouse, on side towel flag football

Taylor Drew Russell's Smokehouse 1422 Larimer Street 720-524-8050 russellssmokehouse.com This is part one of my interview with Taylor Drew, exec chef of Russell's Smokehouse; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. No salt, no butter: That's a far cry from the kind of cooking associated with Frank ... More >>

Photos: Bonanno Brothers Pizzeria opening in Park Meadows Saturday

Bonanno Concepts will open its tenth restaurant this weekend -- and the first one outside of Denver: Bonanno Brothers Pizzeria in the Vistas at Park Meadows. With this new spot, chef/owner Frank Bonanno is paying homage to his New Jersey upbringing of slinging pies and folding pizza boxes, as well a ... More >>

Best Chef: A nostalgic look back at our Best of Denver chef winners

In just a few short hours from now, the Best of Denver 2013 will start hitting the street -- and the web. This year's edition is packed with more than 400 winners (we're still counting). One of the most anticipated categories in our Food & Drink section is also one of the the most coveted: Best Chef ... More >>

Jennifer Jasinski a James Beard finalist for Best Chef Southwest

The James Beard Foundation just released the finalists for this year's food and restaurant awards, and the list of locals has been whittled considerably since the semifinalists were announced back in February. Then five Denver chefs made the list; now only chef Jennifer Jasinski, co-owner of Rioja, ... More >>

Check, please! Keeping tabs on Denver's restaurant-inspection policy

Reader: Make the Best Italian Restaurant competition really stiff -- add the Olive Garden!

For the first time, we're doing our Best of Denver Readers' Poll voting in two rounds -- and last week, after we closed out the first round, we revealed the leading vote-getters. Some of the results were eye-opening (and wince-inducing). for example, the finalists for Best Italian Restaurant? Maggia ... More >>

Jorel Pierce a semi-finalist for James Beard Rising Star; four more Denver chefs make the cut

The James Beard Foundation has just released its list -- its long list -- of semi-finalists, and several Denver area restaurants and chefs have made the cut. Jorel Pierce may have gotten bumped from Top Chef early, but the exec chef at Euclid Hall made the cut for Rising Star Chef of the Year. And ... More >>

New Year's Eve: Twenty places to dine and unwind

Happy Monday! Restaurants and bars around town are hosting a variety of celebrations for the new year. Keep reading to see just some of the options; find more in our online calendar listings calendar. And if you know of still other worthy end-of-the-year events, share the info in the comments sectio ... More >>

New Year's Eve celebrations: sixteen sweet options

Still trying to decide what you're doing on New Year's Eve? Restaurants and bars around town are offering celebrations large and small, extravagant and intimate. Keep reading to see just some of the options (and if you know of other worthy end-of-the-year events, share the info in the comments secti ... More >>

Reader: Celebrity Chef Tour has jumped the shark -- where's Henry Winkler?

Celebrity chefs are winging into Colorado for this weekend's Aspen Food & Wine festival, and one lands in Denver today: Amanda Cohen, chef-owner of Dirt Candy, a renowned vegetarian restaurant in New York, will be at Linger tonight as part of the Celebrity Chef Tour, a moveable feast that crosses A ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Dolmades from Axios Estiatorio

Lori Midson​No. 37: Dolmades from Axios Estiatorio

Amos Watts, exec chef of Jax-Denver, on Casa Bonita, English peas and cheese

Amos Watts Jax Fish House Denver 1539 17th Street 303-292-5767 www.jaxfishhousedenver.com The French Laundry, Thomas Keller's culinary temple in Napa, gets plenty of accolades, but Cyrus, a petite restaurant in the artsy Sonoma town of Healdsburg, is even better, insists its legion of junkies. And ... More >>

Round two with Mike Peshek, exec chef of Lou's Food Bar

Mike Peshek Lou's Food Bar 1851 West 38th Avenue 303-458-0336 www.lousfoodbar This is part two of my interview with Mike Peshek, exec chef of Lou's Food Bar. Part one of my chat with Peshek ran earlier this week. Favorite restaurant in America: Pizzeria Regina in Boston. The service is terrible, t ... More >>

Mike Peshek, exec chef of Lou's Food Bar, muses on social-review sites, roadkill and customers who toss out skewering threats

Mike Peshek Lou's Food Bar 1851 West 38th Avenue 303-458-0336 www.lousfoodbar "See the spaghetti and meatballs?" asks Mike Peshek, pointing to a vat of fat orbs glossed with an herby tomato sauce. "That's one of our favorite dishes -- and one of our most popular staff meals." A dishwasher, who's ju ... More >>

Reader: Larimer Square could soon be Bonanno Square

​Frank and Jacqueline Bonanno opened Russell's Smokehouse on Friday in a subterranean space in Larimer Square; the barbecue joint shares an entry (Wednesday's Pie) with Green Russell, as well the speakeasy's emphasis on contemporary cocktails. But the meaty menu -- including lamb's neck and tr ... More >>

Bones was the first of the hip noodle bars -- and the last one still stirring

In late 2008, there was a race to see which restaurateur would open the first hip noodle bar in the area. Dave Query's Big Red F group was planning to open Happy at 835 Walnut Street in Boulder, and the folks behind the Jet Hotel were going to put XO in an addition built on the back of the hotel. Bu ... More >>

Pelee Tamarind and French Revival at Lou's Food Bar

​I'm the first one to bitch and moan about how all the great dives in Denver are disappearing -- but then when someone like Frank Bonanno (Mizuna, Luca D'Italia, Osteria Marco, Bones and Green Russell) comes in and gentrifies the hell out of one of those dives, I can't wait to see what he's d ... More >>

Second Helping: Bones

The pork udon at Bones.​I haven't totally fallen for Lou's Food Bar, which I review this week, and my initial lust for Green Russell has ebbed, at least temporarily. But from my initial meal at Bones, which Frank Bonanno opened in December 2008, it was love at first bite, and my fondness for t ... More >>

Reader: Fresh noodles put me pasta point of no return

​ After Laura Shunk received an e-mail from a national food pub working on a list of the best pastas around the country, she posted a piece spilling some of her own favorites, and asked readers for their own. And out poured some saucy suggestions -- Luca D'Italia, Rioja, Mizuna (fair warning: ... More >>

James Beard Foundation announces 2011 semi-finalists: Frank Bonanno, Yasmin Lozada-Hissom, Frasca and ChoLon among them

James Beard Foundation​Last November, the James Beard Foundation summoned the public to nominate its favorite chefs, restaurants and industry professionals for the 2011 awards. And after all the self-pimping and ballot-stuffing, the poll is closed. This morning, the foundation announced its ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Groundhog at Luca D'Italia

​ They say that Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, did not see his shadow in Pennsylvania this morning, which means it will be an early spring. For those of us who've suffered through Denver's sub-zero temperatures these last few days, that's hopeful news -- but we also know from years past tha ... More >>

Cold Comfort Tavern seeks neighborhood support for craft beer bar and restaurant

​The owners of the proposed Cold Comfort Tavern will host the powerful Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods on Thursday to talk about plans for their Seventh Avenue craft beer bar and restaurant. Cold Comfort would be located inside the mostly vacant Colorado Lace building at 200 East Seventh Av ... More >>

East Seventh Avenue's restaurant row could get some Cold Comfort

​Four business partners have applied for a liquor license for a former carpet warehouse located behind Colorado Lace at 200 East Seventh Avenue. Aside from the cleaners, the large building is currently gutted inside. The location is just a block from East Seventh Avenue's restaurant row -- a ... More >>

The week in Cafe Society bloggery: James Rugile joins Frank Bonanno, octopus lovers unite and Alex Seidel cuts the cheese (and comes out smelling like roses in Zagat's America's Top Restaurants guide)

​Our favorite table scraps of the week from the Cafe Society blog:

Guess where you're eating? At a DINR restaurant, if you're the Real Joe

​Cafe Society served up four Guess Where I'm Eating/Drinking contests last week, featuring everything from World Cup drinks at the Irish Snug to some very fresh mozzarella. For correctly tracing that cheese to Luca D'Italia, the Real Joe pegging wins a DINR deck. Real Joe, send your contact i ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Chicken and poblano crepes from Chili Verde

Lori Midson ​As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up, in no particular order, a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com.

100 Favorite Dishes: Suckling pig from Luca D'Italia

Lori Midson Succulent suckling pig from Luca D'Italia ​As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up, in no particular order, a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com.

Frank Bonanno, Alex Seidel, Jennifer Jasinski, Steve Ells and James Rugile among James Beard semifinalists

Lori Midson Venue chef James Rugile ​Restaurant and chef semifinalists for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards were released this morning, which gives all the nominees exactly 32 days to chew on their success before the five finalists in each category are announced on Monday, March 22. The ... More >>

Crested Butte Land and Trust Food and Wine Festival uncorks today

The first day of the four-day Crested Butte Land Trust Food and Wine Festival uncorks today. And unlike some local food and wine festivals where our homegrown chefs are snubbed, the Crested Butte powwow, which includes wine seminars, wine walks, chef dinners, grand tastings and gourmet picnics, par ... More >>

Sober and not-so-sober observations from the Taste of the Nation

Lori MidsonStaff from Vesta Dipping Grill and Steuben'sYesterday afternoon, Denver's best chefs rolled out the culinary red carpet and rubbed tongs with smitten admirers and other do-gooders who showed up in droves at Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation, a charity event that benefits anti-hunge ... More >>

Birthday beat: Luca D'Italia and Jonesy's EatBar both have reasons to jubilate

Six89 and Phat Thai executive chef Mark Fischer Luca D'Italia, Frank Bonanno's Italian restaurant at 711 Grant Street, celebrates six years in the Capitol Hill 'hood this month with a parade of visiting Colorado chefs, including Mark Fischer, exec at Carbondale's Six89 and Phat Thai, who joins Bonan ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, June 24 edition

In case you were curious, these things are incredible.... Open wide. Today in Cafe Society: • Newest Smashburger one burger short of a Colorado dozen. • A la cart in Cherry Creek. • Birthday beat: Luca D'Italia and Jonesy's EatBar both have reasons to jubilate. • Vesta Dipping Grill revs u ... More >>

Luca D'Italia kicks off its sixth anniversary chef dinner series tonight with Wayne Conwell

Luca D'Italia, 711 Grant Street, marks its six-year anniversary throughout the month with a march of visiting Denver chefs, including Wayne Conwell, exec at Sushi Sasa, 2401 15th Street, who will team up with Luca (and Mizuna, Osteria Marco and Bones) chef-owner Frank Bonanno tonight, June 3, for a ... More >>

How a big dump can wreak havoc, or how to get more bang for your buck

First, the bad news: As Jason Sheehan just reported, a call to Frank Bonanno's Bones revealed that, you guessed it, it's closed due to inclement weather. Not only is Bones black until at least tomorrow, but Bonanno's three other restaurants -- Luca D'Italia, Mizuna and Osteria Marco -- are also dark ... More >>

South Pearl awaits Park Burger

Jean Phillippe Failyau, Frank Bonanno's right-hand man (and my former chef at Osteria Marco), is busy tying up the loose ends at Park Burger, which he says is about a month away from opening.As Jason Sheehan reported in December, although Failyau is working with Bonanno on this burger joint at 1890 ... More >>

Frank Bonanno up for James Beard Award as Outstanding Restaurateur

The James Beard Foundation has just released the semifinalists list for its 2009 restaurant and chef awards. And Frank Bonanno -- of Mizuna, Luca D'Italia and Osteria Marco (and now Bones, which opened at the very end of December) fame -- is one of twenty people up for Outstanding Restaurateur.No Co ... More >>

Video: Chef Frank Bonanno makes his Bones as a TV star

Here's a video of 2008 Best Chef award-winner Frank Bonanno -- of Mizuna, Luca D'Italia, Osteria Marco and the newly opened noodle bar Bones at 701 Grant Street -- giving a tutorial on how to make Lobster and Edamame Ramen. The video-production quality ain't exactly Rachel Ray yell-a-vision, but it ... More >>

Frank Bonanno ready to unveil Bones

Looks like Frank Bonanno is going to hit the mark with Bones, the tiny, hip noodle bar at 301 East Seventh Avenue that he wanted to get open in time for New Year's Eve. Although the promotional card says that Bones is coming in January 2009, the liquor-license hearing on December 19 went well, a ... 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 >>

No bones about it, Bones looks like it will open soon

Bones looks like it will win the battle to be the first of the town's new noodle houses to open. Frank Bonanno's place at 301 East Seventh Avenue already has its name -- the restaurateur's childhood nickname -- etched on the windows, and the renovation of the space inside (the old Sparrow Marke ... More >>

Lancer Lounge kitchen is on the rocks...again

  The Lancer Lounge at 233 Seventh Avenue is one of this town's great dives, a spot where you can always count on a collegial evening of drinking, as Drew Bixby recently reported in Drunk of the Week. What you can't count on is finding food there. The most recent tenant of the Lancer's kitche ... More >>

Bad health reports, good pancakes at Children's Hospital

The 24/7 cafeteria at Children's Hospital has long been known for its pancakes, which survived the trip from the old facility in central Denver out to the new Children's campus in Aurora. Years ago, Westword columnist Marty Jones flipped over the flapjacks in his Consumed column; just ... More >>

TV or not TV? That's no question for these chefs

Sparrow Market flies the coop

Best Italian Restaurant

Luca d'Italia

Mambo Italiano

This festival dishes up an al fresco extravaganza

Behind the Scenes

Inside Look opens sculptors' studios

Bite Me

How I Learned to Love Kimchi

Best New Use of an Old Chinese Restaurant

Luca D'Italia