Osteria Marco

Reader: For $20, Mizuna's mac and cheese should be better than sex

Yesterday Lori Midson celebrated the lobster macaroni and cheese at Mizuna as one of our 100 Favorite Dishes. This is not standard, comfort-food mac and cheese; it uses poached sweet lobster meat in place of Oscar Meyer ham and silky mascarpone instead Velveeta. And it doesn't have your standard, co ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Lobster macaroni and cheese from Mizuna

Suffice it to say that I eat out more than the general population, unless, of course, the general population can catalogue more than 450 restaurant meals in a year -- which is about the number of breakfasts, lunches and dinners that I stomached in 2012. Pathetic, isn't it? But all those food dates a ... 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 >>

True Food Kitchen is good...and good for you

See also: A Closer Look at True Food Kitchen

Exclusive first look: Old Major, Justin Brunson's "elevated farmhouse cuisine" restaurant, is now open in Highland

On Saturday night, as I studied the menu at Old Major, I nearly burst into tears. At one point, some time later, I did exactly that, right after my first taste of foie gras; there would be more liberal shavings of that exquisite foie on the cassoulet, which hinted at a "foie surprise." And more sapp ... 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 >>

Contest alert: Win two seats to tonight's Hooves & Hops dinner at Osteria Marco (updated with winner)

Update: We have a winner! Congrats to Alison Nishi, who was the first commenter to hit the right weight -- 95 pounds -- on the nose. The Great American Beer Festival barrels into town tomorrow, but the crew at Osteria Marco, Frank Bonnano's popular pig-, pizza- and salumi-centric gathering spot in ... More >>

Matt Lewis, exec chef of Bones, on pop-ups, burgers and women

Matt Lewis Bones 701 Grant Street 303-860-2929 www.bonesdenver.com This is part one of my interview with Matt Lewis, exec chef of Bones. Part two of our conversation will run tomorrow. "Every time I walked through the door of my Italian grandmother's house, even if it was after dinner, the first ... More >>

Are stairs a stumbling block to a successful restaurant?

In my next review, I explore a restaurant that's above grade. Despite how that sounds, the term has nothing to do with caliber. "Above grade" is architectural speak for spaces that are above ground. "At grade" is the term for street level and "below grade" is, well, you get it. All of which got me ... More >>

Four Denver restaurants that deliver stellar wine service

Last week we ruffled a few feathers (and piqued some serious ire for not naming names) with our post on a recent spate of rather unfortunate Denver restaurant-based wine service fails. And while that handful of experiences ran the gamut from mildly annoying to straight-up shitshow, we can confidentl ... More >>

Reader: City attacks local businesses, rather than help them

Two prominent restaurateurs are involved in very public spats with the city. Frank Bonanno, owner of Osteria Marco, among other restaurants, admits he can be a "dick." Especially when fighting the Denver Department of Environmental Health: posting missives on his blog aimed at Danica Lee, the depart ... More >>

Announcement: We have a winner of our Celebrity Chef Tour contest

Amanda Cohen, the chef-owner of Dirty Candy, a vegetarian restaurant in New York that's generated national accolades, will be in Denver Wednesday night as part of the Celebrity Chef Tour, a moveable feast that traverses to venues all over America to pay homage to the late James Beard, the "father of ... More >>

Contest: Win two seats to the Celebrity Chef Tour at Linger

Next Wednesday night at Linger, local chefs Frank Bonanno (Mizuna, Luca d'Italia, Osteria Marco, Bones, Green Russell, Lou's Food Bar and Russell's Smokehouse), Eric Skokan (Black Cat Bistro and Bramble and Hare), Ann Cooper (the Renegade Lunch Lady), Daniel Asher, Samm Sherman and Justin Cucci (Roo ... More >>

Boulder bashes and fashion-inspired food on this week's menu

Boulder may have been knocked out of our Street 16 neighborhood tournament (look for the winner later today), but it was Cafe Society's pick for the Best Food Neighborhood in our Best of Denver 2012 -- and this week's culinary calender will highlight many reasons for that. But there are plenty of e ... More >>

Readers: Super food and supermodels at the Wooden Table -- in the suburbs!

The raves are coming in for the Wooden Table and its talented chef, Brett Shaheen, the subject of this week's Chef and Tell interview. Shaheen has worked at kitchens around Denver, and left a gig as exec chef at Osteria Marco to do his own thing -- in the 'burbs. Says Jared: Brett is doing amazing ... More >>

Mixed Company

Foodography: Wooden Table opens today in Greenwood Village with Brett Shaheen, former exec chef of Osteria Marco, behind the burners

Lori Midson​"I'm making things that I want to eat, food that's fun for us to make -- and not pretentious -- and food that we're proud to serve," says Brett Shaheen, the executive chef of the Wooden Table, a new Italian restaurant that opens today at 2500 East Orchard Road in Greenwood Village ... More >>

Five chilly libations to beat the heat

Mark MangerThe Interstate torpedo slushy cones help beat the heat.​It's hot outside -- so hot, in fact, that two restaurants in the Kevin Taylor Group, Prima Ristorante and Palettes, are adding summer happy hours featuring half-price cocktails, beers and wines by the glass from 4 until 6 p.m. ... 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 >>

For a Bonanno restaurant, Lou's just isn't good enough

Frasca's Bobby Stuckey at the center of Denver Cochon 555 pig fight

You be the judge. ​Cochon 555, the porkeriffic national competition that trots into Denver on Sunday, April 3, recently announced the five Colorado chefs combating for the Prince of Porc title: Jennifer Jasinski (Rioja, Euclid Hall and Bisto Vendome); Kelly Liken (Restaurant Kelly Liken); Alex ... 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 >>

Raves and rants: Local chefs weigh in with their culinary predictions for 2011

Lori MidsonTAG executive chef/owner Troy Guard predicts that cheese will be the top food of 2011​What does 2011 hold for the culinary world? We asked several local chefs to consult their crystal orbs, talk to the (whole) beast, bend their ears to the farmland and unearth a few trends that will ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Orange Spiced Fizz at Green Russell

Tonight: Celebrity Chef Tour at Osteria Marco

​Tonight Osteria Marco, 1453 Larimer Street, will host the Celebrity Chef Tour, a benefit for the James Beard Foundation that features a dinner prepared by Michael Ginor from Hudson Valley Foie Gras and Denver heavyweight chefs Frank Bonanno, Matt Selby, Alex Seidel and Eric Skokan (read Eric ... More >>

The Green Russell, Frank Bonanno's newest venture, opens tonight

Lori Midson​ Word came yesterday that inspections are finished and the bar is stocked -- the Green Russell, a subterranean spot at 1422 Larimer Street, will open to the public tonight at 6 p.m.

The Green Russell's staff will allegedly include some big-name moonlighting bartenders from around town

Adam Hodak engages Denver bartenders to make guest appearances​Frank Bonanno and Adam Hodak are still ironing out the details of the Green Russell, the subterranean bar they're opening behind a pie shop front called Wednesday's Pie in Larimer Square -- and that includes staff. But while the p ... More >>

Tonight: Osteria Marco hosts a Slow Taste of Italy

​Frank Bonanno hosts a Slow Taste of Italy at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Osteria Marco, 1453 Larimer Street. The five-course Italian meal features local and sustainable ingredients; the courses are all paired with wines from around Italy. Tickets are $90; to snag a seat, call 303-534-5855 or go to w ... More >>

Denver Beer Fest: Falling Rock, Osteria Marco, Rackhouse and Strange get their suds on

Falling Rock Taphouse.​Things are swinging in the Mile High City as just about every plane that touches down at Denver International Airport today will carry a brewer, a beer blogger or a beer lover on their way to the Great American Beer Festival, which begins tomorrow. And Denver is ready f ... More >>

Round two: Win free tickets to Eat Denver's Harvest Week kick-off party

​Eat Denver's Harvest Week, a seven-day jubilation that pays homage to Colorado's bountiful crops, sprouts the week of August 21, when nearly forty of the city's best independent restaurants will pimp seasonal menus showcasing locally-sourced ingredients and products. Bur before that happen ... More >>

Win free tickets to Eat Denver's Harvest Week kick-off party

​Eat Denver's Harvest Week, a seven-day jubilation that pays homage to Colorado's bountiful crops, sprouts the week of August 21, when nearly 40 of the city's best independent restaurants pimp seasonal menus showcasing locally-sourced ingredients and products. Bur before that happens, there' ... More >>

It’s Hip to Be Square

Randall Layman of Vesta Dipping Grill wins Sailor Jerry's Rum cocktail competition

Rob ChristensenSecond place Adam Hodak, first place Randall Layman, and third place Ken Kodys, with judges Lisa Hare and Sean Kenyon​Last night, Sailor Jerry's rum hosted a different kind of cocktail contest. These events normally take place in quiet rooms of trendy restaurants, where particip ... More >>

Frank Bonanno will open a French-American comfort food restaurant

Lori MidsonFrank Bonanno will open his fifth Denver restaurant this summer​Back in late March, we reported that Frank Bonanno was in the market for a new restaurant. The chef/restaurateur, who already operates four Denver restaurants -- Bones, Osteria Marco, Mizuna and Luca D'Italia -- said ... More >>

Tonight: Hooves and Hops at Osteria Marco

A Flickr photo.​Pork and beer -- two great tastes that taste great together. If you agree, head to Osteria Marco, 1453 Larimer Street, which is serving up a Hooves & Hops dinner at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The five-course pig feast will be complemented by handpicked local brews from Odell. Reserve ... More >>

Coming soon: From the owner of Park Burger, a new American bar and burger place in the former Bump & Grind space

Bump & Grind in better days​When Bump and Grind, the Uptown breakfast and lunch joint best known for its wickedly crass drag queens who made weekend brunch worth the early rise, shuttered at the end of 2009, you could hear the collective cries of anguish all over the city. There was nothing - ... More >>

Behind the bar with Amanda Olig of Vesta

​Amanda Olig moved to Colorado in August 2005, right after the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. She worked as a promo girl for Premier Image for three years doing Jameson, Kahlua and Stoli promotions, then opened the Meadowlark in January 2006. She stayed there until August 20 ... More >>

What's the worst way to get a bartender's attention?

Don't worry, she sees you standing there.​Osteria Marco bartender Michael McGill hates being whistled at when someone wants his attention. As he told Westword's Nancy Levine in this week's Behind the Bar column, "I'm not a dog." Not every bartender is as cool as McGill. Still, no matter how h ... 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 >>

The List: Big Operators

Rough week for Big Red F. I wasn't all tht happy with Happy Noodle House; wasn't cuckoo for the Cocoa Puffs at Centro. But that doesn't mean I don't like some of Dave Query's other restaurants. Matter of fact, he runs two other joints that are among my favorites in the city.Which leads me to this we ... 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 >>

Get ready for Park Burger's Friday debut

Lori MidsonFor the past several weeks, I've been poking around Park Burger, the new burger barn at 1890 South Pearl Street that's the brain kid of Jean-Philippe Failyau, Frank Bonanno's go-to guy at Osteria Marco in Larimer Square. Last month, Tyler Nemkov reported that Park Burger's opening had bee ... 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 >>

The List: Team Bonanno

My review of Bones -- Frank Bonanno's new restaurant at 701 Grant Street -- was a love letter, a total crush note from one shameless omnivore to another, to the kind of guy who would put bone marrow, ice cream, escargot and udon all on the same menu, from the kind of guy who would gladly ... More >>

A Colorado culinary connection

Denver's food scene may not be as big as San Francisco's or New York's, but it isn't bad. In fact, it's the perfect match between intimacy and variety. And its size provides plenty of opportunities to get close not just to our restaurants, but to the specialty food shops around town.  Culinary Co ... More >>

Alps in Rosso at Osteria Marco

Cheers! The winner of the 2008 Holiday Cocktail Competition

'Tis a pleasure to drink in Colorado. On Saturday morning, I awoke with visions of sugerplums -- and whipped cream, and gingerbread, and chocolate sprinkles -- still dancing in my head. Just a few hours earlier, I'd sampled the last of sixteen entrees in the 2008 Holiday Cocktail Competition. I was ... 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 >>

For the Boys

Denver Sandwich Bag

Man does not live by bread alone – but he can try.