Sean Yontz

Photos: Denver FIVE kicks off its sixth dinner series at Studio F

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 >>

Like its namesake, Mezcal has mellowed with age

El Diablo is a devilish revival of an old Broadway hotel

Mark Manger​In the three years since Jesse Morreale bought the old First Avenue Hotel on Broadway, the two restaurants he's opened on the bottom floor of the property -- Sketch and El Diablo -- with chef and partner Sean Yontz have completely transformed the corner.

El Diablo hosts Gemini in July, a five-course tequila dinner

​El Diablo, 101 Broadway, will host a five-course Gemini in July tequila dinner. Guest chef Daniel Asher of Root Down will be working in the kitchen with Sean Yontz; guest mixologist Carrie Scroggins with be working with Gemini tequilas, alongside Gemini Brand Ambassador Tom Wagstaff. The even ... More >>

Tonight: El Diablo hosts Hacienda de Chihuahua dinner with guest chefs Matt Selby and Brandon Biederman and cocktail kings Randy and Ryan Layman

Lori Midson​If you're looking to have a devilishly good time tonight, make plans to attend the Sotol Hacienda de Chihuahua dinner at El Diablo, the rollicking Mexican cantina in the Baker 'hood, whose kitchen extols the virtues of exec chef Sean Yontz. Tonight though, Yontz is sharing his k ... More >>

El Diablo, Ototo dinners should whet your appetite for Denver Restaurant Week

​Although Denver Restaurant Week, which starts on February 26, is the real movable feast, two new kids on the restaurant block are offering major deals on Tuesday, February 22. El Diablo, which opened last August at 101 Broadway, is offering its second tequila dinner featuring Republic Tequil ... More >>

Mezcal's Roberto Diaz on the best carnitas in the world, his love for lard and huitlacoche

Lori Midson​ This is part one of Lori Midson's Q&A with Roberto Diaz, the executive chef of Mezcal. Part two of that interview will run tomorrow. Roberto Diaz Mezcal 3230 East Colfax Avenue 303-322-5219 www.mezcalcolorado.com To celebrate Mexican Independence Day last week, Roberto Diaz s ... More >>

Manning the Grill

Chef Sean Yontz to lead Mexican culinary tour in Oaxaca

Lori Midson ​After my fourth trip to Oaxaca, arguably Mexico's most vibrant food city, I'm still convinced that it's one of the most magical places on earth. The open-air markets, which seem infinite in scope and scale, are extraordinary, the people of colonial Oaxaca are some of the most int ... More >>

Update: More management change at Mezcal

​The celebrated Mezcal restaurant, located at 3230 East Colfax Avenue in Denver, announced yesterday that it has appointed Basic Food Group as its new restaurant management company. "We will operate Mezcal with the highest of standards; the reasons people love Mezcal will not change. The staf ... More >>

Breaking News: Management change at Mezcal

​Last night was the sixth anniversary of Mezcal, the Mexican cantina and tequila bar at 3230 East Colfax Avenue that has played host to some of the best and some of the weirdest nights I have spent in the city over the past several years. Last night was also the night that Jesse Morreale and ... More >>

Plan ahead: Holiday mezcal dinner at Tambien

Holiday mezcal menu at Tambien​"Instead of doing a mezcal-tequila tasting like we normally do, we came up with some killer cocktails to pair with each course," says Sean Yontz, executive chef of Tambien (250 Steele Street), the gathering quarters for tomorrow night's multi-course holiday mezc ... More >>

My dinner at Mezcal: the aftermath

​ Those of you watching the Cafewestword twitter feed over the weekend already know that I survived my night "cooking" at Mezcal without any serious difficulties. Nothing got burned down, no one got punched and, by the time we were done, we'd managed to serve several turns of the dining room ... More >>

TV or not TV? Sheehan helps cook up a tequila dinner at Mezcal

​ Last week, I told you about my impending attempt at doing TV and speculated about the potential disasters inherent in anyone allowing me to set foot in their kitchen again after years spent behind a desk. What's more, I mentioned that anyone who was interested was welcome to come down to Mez ... More >>

Special dinner at Mezcal featuring food, booze, cameras -- and me in the kitchen

​ It has been a long time since I stood a shift in any kitchen. By my own (admittedly poor) accounting, it has been 2,650 days since I last picked up a knife, pulled on my whites or stood before a stove in any sort of professional capacity. I've missed it, sure. I loved the time I spent cook ... More >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Sean Yontz of Mezcal, Sketch and Tambien

Lori MidsonSean Yontz with his wife Alexa​This is part two of Lori Midson's interview with Sean Yontz, executive chef of Mezcal, Tambien and Sketch. You can read part one here. Culinary inspirations: Ferran Adrià, the chef at El Bulli, because of the way he's completely changed people's perc ... More >>

Chef and Tell: Sean Yontz of Tambien, Sketch and Mezcal

Sean Yontz​"Hey, get up, I have something to show you," instructs Sean Yontz as he strides into Sketch, one of the five venues he oversees with business partner Jesse Morreale. And their mini-empire will soon expand to a half-dozen, because Yontz, it turns out, is booting me off my stool to sh ... More >>

No Big Lots skewer for Sketch

​Sketch has a limited menu, but as Jason Sheehan noted in his review, what Jesse Morreale and Sean Yontz (the subject of this week's Chef and Tell) are serving there is choice. Still, when the place opened in March, we couldn't resist suggesting that -- in addition to the exotic cheeses, meats ... More >>

Last weekend for rockabilly, brews and Mexican barbecue at Tambien

​For proof that summer's scorch is coming to a screeching halt, all you have to do is look to Tambien, the Cherry Creek Mex in the city at 250 Steele Street that's been turning out rockabilly and ribs to the faithful every Sunday since April 26. This was one of our favorite Sunday excuses t ... More >>

Taste of the Nation is hottest ticket in town

Photo by Lori MidsonSean Yontz and Matt Selby One of Denver's best annual culinary celebrations comes down on Sunday, July 19, at Mile High Station (2027 West Lower Colfax Avenue), this site of this year's Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation, a fantastic food-centric event that raises funds to ... More >>

Sketch has a simple premise that leaves no room for mistakes

Simple things at Sketch Food and Wine

Sean Yontz will be pleased to meat you at SketchI was several whiskeys to the good on a recent school night when I found myself propped up against Sketch's salumi bar, canting sharply like a ship taking on water.  I asked for the menu, gave it a cursory glance, then pushed it back across the da ... More >>

Partake in tonight's Plates for the Peak at Vesta Dipping Grill

One of the best food events of the year, Plates for the Peak, a small plates fundraiser and silent auction to benefit Urban Peak, a non-profit that saves kids from the jaws of homelessness, returns for a sixth year to Vesta Dipping Grill, 1822 Blake Street, tonight from 6 to 10 p.m. The star-st ... More >>

White Sangria at Sketch

Candy Girls: Amarena Cherries and El Rey Chocolate at Sketch

Photo by Liz KellermeyerWe'll admit it: Big Lots on Broadway has been a go-to spot for Candy Girl "treasures" in the past, so we have a fondness for that bit of real estate. But we were in for a completely different kind of treat when we were invited to taste test the Amarena cherries and Venezue ... More >>

Mezcal fifth anniversary party, day one

Mezcal kicked off its fifth anniversary celebration last night, a five-day affair full of five-buck deals through December 20: five-hour happy hours, five tacos for $5, five tamales for $5, tequila shots and coin-style margaritas for five bucks. (BTW, we'd pay five times that for a plate ... More >>

It's Time

The little things will get you every time.

Gone Fishin'

Suddenly, Denver’s swimming in seafood restaurants.

Chama

And the runner-up is…

The Year That Was

From a goose chase to a great chase, 2006 was one wild ride.

Let's Do Some Crimes

Repo men on the slowest chase since O.J.

Dirty Love

With Chama, Sean Yontz comes out on top.

Mex and Match

Will the real Lola please stand up?

Bite Me

Bake Off

Best Taco

Mezcal

The Answer Man

Bite Me

Final Answers

Season's Eatings

Cooking up the perfect holiday party to cap off the year.

Bite Me

Second Helpings

Bite Me

One Degree of Separation

A Room of One's Own

At Vega, Sean Yontz is finally The Man. He's up to the job.

Best Tamales

Vega

Bite Me

Crowd Control

Bite Me

Fry Me to the Moon

Bite Me

Out of the Bleu.

Kitchen Magicians

The Pinnacle Club hopes to attract high-end diners to its lofty digs.

Things Are Looking Up

Tamayo takes diners on a first-class mouth-of-the-border tour.

The Bite

So many happy hours, so little time.

French Twist

Tante Louise's Duy Pham is the real thing.

Business as Usual

Denver restuarants are doing great, but Zenith could use a bit of push.