Celebrity chef Mario Batali has done some controversial things over the years, some of them humorous (wearing shorts in all seasons), others not so much (comparing bankers to Stalin and Hitler). But his thoughts on how much easier it was to get into the business twenty years ago aren't likely to cou ... More >>
Tommy Lee Uncle 2215 West 32nd Avenue 303-433-3263 uncledenver.tumblr.com This is part two of my interview with Tommy Lee, exec chef of Uncle; part one of our chat ran yesterday. What do you enjoy most about your craft? Like most cooks, I enjoy the creativity of coming up with new dishes, but the ... More >>
Going, going, almost gone. Tomorrow Grand Lux Cafe will join the ranks of eateries that have closed in Park Meadows. Five years ago, not long after the giant restaurant opened, then-critic Jason Sheehan had what might have been the worst shrimp scampi ever...and he didn't find much there that was ... More >>
The ramen dishes at Uncle, which I review this week, are so good that it's worth braving the wait to get a seat at Tommy Lee's restaurant in Highland. But Lee's first foray into noodles wasn't Japanese, but Italian. "The first cookbook I got into was Mario Batali's," shares Lee, who says he didn't h ... More >>
As always, the celebrity chef lineup for the 2013 FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, which will take over Glitter Gulch June 14-16, is a gallery of big, bold culinary mugs: Mario Batali, José Andrés, Tom Colicchio, Marcus Samuelsson, Andrew Zimmern, Jacques and Claudine Pépin, Ming Tsai, Hugh Acheson, ... More >>
Jay Leandro Pub 17 on Welton Street 1750 Welton Street hyatt.com/gallery/pub17/index.html 303-295-1117 Part one of my interview with Jay Leandro, exec chef of Pub 17 on Welton Street, ran yesterday; this is part two of our conversation. Favorite Denver/Boulder restaurant(s) other than your own: P ... More >>
The tenth season of Bravo's Top Chef starts tonight, with three Colorado chefs among the competitors: Eliza Gavin of Telluride's 221 South Oak; Jorel Pierce, the executive chef of Euclid Hall; and Tyler Wiard, exec chef at Elway's Cherry Creek and culinary director of the Elway's group (which curren ... More >>
We've got all sorts of takeaways from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which just celebrated its thirtieth year in Glitter Gulch over the weekend, and we'll be posting stories throughout the week about the new Chefs Club in the St. Regis, along with surprising observations and confessions from Gran ... More >>
Randy Balch Wazee Supper Club 1600 15th Street 303-623-9518 www.wazeesupperclub.com This is part two of my interview with Randy Balch, chef of Wazee Supper Club. Read part one of my chef and tell interview with Balch. Favorite dish on your menu: The meat-over pizza, with Canadian bacon, pepperon ... More >>
This is part two of our interview with Biker Jim, chef-owner of Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs. Read part one of the Biker Jim interview. Jim Pittenger Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs 2148 Larimer Street 303-550-8231 www.bikerjimsdogs.com What you'd like to see more of in Denver/Boulder from a culinary stand ... More >>
I'll never forget the first time I attended the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. It was the final year that Julia Child, the late, great American chef who demystified French cuisine -- and passed away in 2004 -- made an appearance at the annual Aspen culinary orgy, back when there was no Food Network, ... More >>
Jeremy Kittelson Ambria 1201 16th Street 303-623-8646 www.ambriadenver.com This is part two of my chef and tell interview with Jeremy Kittleson, exec chef of Ambria. Part one of our chat ran yesterday. Favorite Denver/Boulder restaurant(s) other than your own: I really like going to Euclid Hall. ... More >>
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 most interesting ve ... More >>
Lori MidsonO 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 >>
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 >>
Courtesy of TMZThe 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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
Georges Duboeuf's Beaujolais Nouveau 2010Eager 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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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?
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 >>
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 >>
Rene Redzepi, the chef who led Noma to number oneIf 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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
Meat at Fogo de ChaoIt'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.
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 >>
Lori MidsonVirgilio Urbano and Gabriel MongeVirgilio 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 >>
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 >>
Lori MidsonKyle Fitzgerald, exec chef of Old Blinking LightThis 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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
What happened in Vegas should have stayed there.
Good German food? Youre darn Teuton!
WaterCourse is a growing concern.
Colorado's Croc craze is conquering the world. But does it have legs?
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