Mario Batali

French Twist

French Twist

Bite Me

Something to Chew On

Grand Lux Cafe

What happened in Vegas should have stayed there.

Westfalen Hof

Good German food? You’re darn Teuton!

Green Acres

WaterCourse is a growing concern.

A Really Big Shoe

Colorado's Croc craze is conquering the world. But does it have legs?

Heart's Desire

What's good? Frisco's Deli and Market.

First report from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen

Lori MidsonMario Batali at the Food & Wine Classic in AspenSee more photos at westword.com/slideshow.As expected, the first night of the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen was a culinary red carpet of celebrity chefs and the giggling, starstruck fans who couldn't stop pawing them. And then there w ... More >>

Cafe Society: Week in review

You didn't miss all this good stuff, did you?  No problem, we've rounded up the best of the Cafe Society week for you below.Hot dog eating champs battled it out in a Denver qualifier for the big 4th of July competition in Coney Island.  Jason Sheehan sought your opinion on where to take Da ... More >>

Highlights and lowlights from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen

Lori MidsonTop Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg and knifed cheftestant Fabio Viviani By the time the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen ended yesterday afternoon, I'd already seen a whole posse of amateurs puke; another man suffer a seizure just after chef Michael Symor ended a fantastic cooking demo devoted ... More >>

Days later, still chewing on Aspen Food and Wine

Lori MidsonThe pea soup heard 'round the world. A few days after my return from Aspen Food and Wine, I'm still digesting the experience. The worst part of the event was listening to everyone's opinion about everything there. Opinions on food (if I heard one more person opine about pork belly I was ... More >>

Biker Jim's, Rioja and Table 6 all on the national radar

​While y'all already know that Westword's Cafe Society blog is far and away the best place to digest all your local food and restaurant news, it just so happens that three of our favorite food places -- Rioja, Table 6 and Biker Jim's -- got some well-deserved love and ink from Bon Appetit and Maxi ... More >>

Chef and Tell: Tyler Wiard of Elway's

Lori Midson​"I got my ass kicked, but man, did I learn a lot," recalls Tyler Wiard, talking about the early '90s and his days as a line cook for Dave Query and John Platt at Q's Restaurant in the Hotel Boulderado. He must have been up to the task, because Query pulled him off that line and int ... More >>

How does Michelle Obama's garden grow? Find out on Iron Chef America

Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images​First, Michelle Obama caught the attention of carrot stalkers when she corralled a group of Washington, D.C., schoolkids to help her garden grow on the White House's South Lawn; she also pimped her garden on Sesame Street. Then Spike Mendelsohn, burger wizard, forme ... More >>

Ten celebrity chefs and the foods that should be thrown at them

​If you've never read Anthony Bourdain's infamous post on Michael Ruhlman's blog eviscerating Food Network stars and proposing theoretical Iron Chef matches, please do so now. It's one of the funniest bits of food writing out there. So when I read that Paula Deen got an accidental pork fac ... More >>

High-roller alert: Tickets for Aspen Food & Wine Classic on sale now

​No time like now, just four days before Christmas, for those of you blessed with holiday bonuses to blow some of that wad on tickets to the annual Aspen Food & Wine Classic, one of the biggest culinary blowouts of the year.Tickets went on sale last week for the three-day feedbag, which comes ... More >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Kyle Fitzgerald of the Old Blinking Light

Lori MidsonKyle Fitzgerald, exec chef of Old Blinking Light​This is part two of my interview with Kyle Fitzgerald. To read part one, click here. Culinary inspirations: I wish I had some great story about my mom's kitchen, or the way I would watch my grandma bake, but my kitchen was never tha ... More >>

Strange Sauce: The week in national food news

OUCH.​ Michelle Obama appeared on Iron Chef America and challenged contestants to use ingredients from the White House vegetable garden. Mario Batali, known for his hideous orange Crocs, dubbed Michelle's dress "Obamatali Orange." Although we prefer him plump, George Costanza has agreed to ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Virgilio Urbano of Virgilio's

Lori MidsonVirgilio Urbano and Gabriel Monge​Virgilio Urbano, the pie-slinger behind his namesake pizzeria in Lakewood, tosses his hands up in the air -- an automatic reflex, no doubt, from spinning pizza dough for the past four years -- and shakes his head. "Look, I can't make everyone happy. ... More >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Nelson Perkins

Lori Midson​ Nelson Perkins Colt & Gray 1553 Platte Street 303-477-1447 Hours: 5-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 4-9 p.m. Sunday; brunch 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. This is part two of Lori Midson's Chef and Tell interview with Colt & Gray chef Nelson Perkins. To read ... More >>

Really, Mario Batali? Meatless Monday?

Mario Batali endorses Meatless Mondays​"He's dead to me." That was a good friend's immediate response to the news that Mario Batali, patron saint of cured meat, is supporting Meatless Monday, a non-profit that's trying to convince Americans to go vegetarian one day a week in order to reduce t ... More >>

Coors Field ranks fifth on PETA's annual list of best ballpark food

You'll find plenty of veggie options inside those doors.​Most vegetarians remember the days when attending a ball game meant subsisting on popcorn and peanuts -- not bad as snacks go, but let's be honest: Peanuts are no substitute for a ballpark dog. Since 2002, People for the Ethical Treatmen ... More >>

Six places to eat meat on Meatless Monday

Meat at Fogo de Chao​It's Meatless Monday, and I'm planning on eating meat. Lots of it. Maybe at one of these places, some of the best spots in town to pursue a carnivorous crusade. Eat your heart out, Mario Batali.

The week in Cafe Society bloggery: PETA, the Avenue Grill's Andrew Lubatty, MEAT, picnic packing and Chiptole's Steve Ells's new TV gig

​Our favorite tables scraps of the week from the Cafe Society blog: 1. The fact that Coors Field made Peta's list of the country's most vegetarian-friendly ballparks, coming in at number five on their annual list, made the rest of us darksiders swear to eat steaks, cheeseburgers, bratwursts a ... More >>

Here comes the rise of the Scandinavian restaurant

Rene Redzepi, the chef who led Noma to number one​If this was a world in which the dining scene was scrutinized like professional sports, with gamblers placing bets on the what pastry will be the next cupcake, what technique will become the new foam or which chef is most likely to win a James ... More >>

How Mario Batali was won: the rhetoric behind Meatless Monday

​About a month ago, if you'll recall, I raked my former idol, Mario Batali, over the coals for jumping on the bandwagon of the cute veggie campaign, Meatless Monday. And in the aftermath, as was only fair, I was chastised for my pigheadedness (no pun intended). But as my comments about anima ... More >>

The world of food according to Chuck James, chef of 1515 Restaurant

Lori Midson Chuck James, executive chef of 1515 Restaurant​ Chuck James 1515 Restaurant 1515 Market Street 303-571-0011 www.1515restaurant.com This is part two of my interview with Chuck James, executive chef of Restaurant 1515. to read part one of that interview, click here. What you'd l ... More >>

Part two: Chef Brendon Doyle on live squid on a stick, spurting blood and beef tips

Lori MidsonBrendon Doyle, executive chef of Jonesy's EatBar​ Brendon Doyle Jonesy's EatBar 400 East 20th Avenue 303-863-7473 This is part two of my interview with Brendon Doyle, executive chef of Jonesy's EatBar. To read part one, click here. One food you detest: Tripe. It's awful -- like ... More >>

Meat-monger Mario Batali will release a vegetarian cookbook

​We're officially nervous that PETA is taking over the world. Mario Batali, head of an empire that's entrenched in pork fat, beef cheeks and cured meat, is writing a vegetarian cookbook. First Meatless Monday and now this? What's the deal?

Part two: Chef and Tell with Kelly Liken of Restaurant Kelly Liken

​ This is part two of Juliet Wittman's Q&A with Kelly Liken, chef/owner of Restaurant Kelly Liken. To read part one of that interview, click here. Kelly Liken Restaurant Kelly Liken 12 Vail Road, Vail 970-479-0175 Do you turn to food books or cookbooks? I read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, V ... More >>

Weekending in New York City: food porn from Eataly

​When I stepped over the threshold of Eataly on Fifth Avenue in New York City, my fear was confirmed: I was in hell. The shop was teeming with tourists of all nationalities, snapping photos and chattering in unrecognizable languages, relentlessly charging through the store and knocking each o ... More >>

Aaron Youngblood, exec chef of Dixons Downtown Grill, on bourbon, sea-turtle options and the woman who went on a tirade

Lori Midson​ Aaron Youngblood Executive Chef Dixons Downtown Grill 1610 16th Street 303-573-6100 www.dixonsrestaurant.com This is part one of Lori Midson's Q&A with Aaron Youngblood, exec chef of Dixons Downtown Grill. Part two of the interview will run tomorrow. Aaron Youngblood needed a j ... More >>

This year's hottest gift: My First Bacon, a huggable talking slab of meat

My First Bacon: you've got a friend in meat​"What child on this planet wouldn't want to befriend a piece of mostly meat held together with fat and love?" asks ThinkGeek, the affable producer of all kinds of geeky wares. Mario Batali jokes notwithstanding, we have the same question. Who WOULDN ... More >>

Le Central's 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau night was just the start of seasonal events

Georges Duboeuf's Beaujolais Nouveau 2010​Eager winos from all walks crowded the steps and lobby of Le Central Thursday evening to get a taste of this year's Beaujolais Nouveau and sample the bistro tasting plates, all with a touch of the spirited young red in the ingredients of each miniature ... More >>

Chef and Tell, part two: Zengo's Clint Wangsnes

Lori Midson​ Clint Wangsnes Zengo 1610 Little Raven Street 720-904-0965 www.richardsandoval.com/zengodenver This is part two of Lori Midson's interview with Clint Wangsnes, chef of Zengo. Read part one of that Q&A. Rules of conduct in your kitchen: I have high expectations of all of my staf ... More >>

Chef and Tell, part two: Snooze's Spencer Lomax dishes on lard-ridden pastries, Eric Ripert, Bourdain and Besh

Lori Midson​ Spencer Lomax Snooze, an A.M. Eatery Four locations in Colorado www.snoozeeatery.com This is part two of Lori Midson's Chef and Tell interview with Spencer Lomax, the culinary director of Snooze. In part one of that Q&A, Lomax dishes on swine, green chile and cheek meat. Favor ... More >>

Tickets now on sale for the culinary red carpet ride that's the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen

​Tickets to the 2011 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, the culinary breeding ground for the country's most extolled food personalities, chefs, grape gurus and their groupies, just went on sale yesterday, and you can snap up a ticket to the gustatory soiree, held June 17, 18 and 19, for $1,085 befo ... More >>

Rachel Kesley, exec chef of WaterCourse Foods, on produce-driven menus, vegetarianism and her fascination with figs

Lori Midson​ Rachel Kesley WaterCourse Foods 837 East 17th Avenue 303-832-7313 www.watercoursefoods.com This is part one of Lori Midson's interview with Rachel Kesley, executive chef of WaterCourse Foods. In part two of that interview, Kesley dishes on umeboshi vinegar, the traveling food ... More >>

Rialto Cafe's Robert McCarthy on cooking better than a second grader

Lori Midson​ Robert McCarthy Rialto Cafe 934 16th Street 303-893-2233 www.rialtocafe.com This is part two of my interview with Robert McCarthy, executive chef of Rialto Cafe. Part one of that interview ran in this space yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: Lupa, Mario Batali's restaur ... More >>

Mario Batali is a stone-cold soap killer?

​Severely pissing off a shload of soap-opera viewers is probably not the most strategic career move that chef Mario Batali has ever made, but then, again neither was his alleged Food Network blackmail attempt -- and he's still sitting on a fat pile of cash. But will his latest television move ... More >>

Trattoria Stella's Valentino Ujkic dishes on dill doughs and dookie-staining his knickers

Lori Midson​ Valentino Ujkic Trattoria Stella 3201 East Colfax Avenue 303-320-8635 http://trattoriastella.squarespace.com This is part one of my interview with Valentino Ujkic, the executive chef of Trattoria Stella on East Colfax. Part two of our interview will run in this space tomorrow. ... More >>

Round two with Trattoria Stella's Valentino Ujkic

Lori Midson​ Valentino Ujkic Trattoria Stella 3201 East Colfax Avenue 303-320-8635 http://trattoriastella.squarespace.com This is part two of my interview with Valentino Ujkic , executive chef of Trattroria Stella. Part one of that interview ran yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: K ... More >>

Duo and Olivéa join the nationwide Meatless Monday campaign

​Meat: It's not all that's for dinner -- at least not on Monday nights at Duo and Olivéa, both of which are the first restaurants in Denver to join the campaign to go meatless on Mondays, a nationwide initiative (some would call it a movement without the "moo") to persuade Americans to stick ... More >>

Five celebrity chefs we'd love to see naked

Courtesy of TMZ​The week's top foodie fracas started when TMZ posted photos of Anthony Bourdain and his then-sous chef in a pool, nakie-nakie-eggs-and-bakey. Apparently the photos were twelve-year-old shots taken during a Caribbean vacation by Bourdain's now ex-wife, and Bourdain had no reser ... More >>

The Simpsons Preview: "The Food Wife," with (bleep) Ramsay, Bourdain, Batali and more

Quick! Can you name the celebrity chefs?​ This Sunday night, at 8 p.m. on FOX, The Simpsons will dish up a food-centric episode, in which oh-my-god! star chefs Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay all appear in animated cameos. It's all part of a weird dream that Marge has about s ... More >>

Readers: The naked truth on Padma, Nigella, Nadia -- anyone but Mario Batali!

Padma should show off the family jewels.​Inspired by the nakey pictures of Anthony Bourdain that have surfaced on the web, last week we served up the "Five celebrity chefs we'd love to see naked," starting with Rachel Ray and ending with...Mario Batali? Why not? Batali had already exposed his ... More >>

Tickets now on sale for the 30th anniversary of the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen

Lori Midson​O come, all ye faithful, to one of the biggest culinary red carpets rides in the country: the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen. If you've been really, really nice this year and you've got a high roller in your circle of family and friends, then you might as well ask for the BIg One: a ... More >>

Round two with Tom Coohill, exec chef/owner of Coohills

Lori Midson​ Tom Coohill Coohills 1400 Wewatta Street 303-623-5700 coohills.com This is part two of my interview with Tom Coohill, exec chef/owner of Coohills. Part one of my chat with Coohill appeared in this space yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: Hangawi in New York City has the ... More >>