Thomas Keller

Culinary Cruising: Menu Change

Bite Me

Going Postal

Bite Me

Know Way

Bite Me

Travelin' Man

Bite Me

Opening Doors

D for Denver

Keegan Gerhard is a star -- and D Bar Desserts really shines.

Grand Lux Cafe

What happened in Vegas should have stayed there.

Fantasy Land

At Frasca, all foodie dreams come true.

Bite Me

The Write Stuff

The Shlock of the New

War is hell. Cafe Bisque proves that.

Bite Me

Just Enough

Full of Holes

A meal at La Fondue may leave you feeling forked.

Waxing poetic about a mangorgasm at Venue

A Flickr PhotoWhen touched by the Red Trolley, these reach unthought-of levels of deliciousness It's the explosion of flavor that's so exciting--taking an ingredient and making more than it was to begin with. This is what Thomas Keller said on page 31 of his French Laundry Cookbook. And although the ... 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 >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Frank Bonanno

Frank Bonanno​This is part two of Lori Midson's interview with Frank Bonanno, executive chef-owner of Osteria Marco, Mizuna, Luca d'Italia and Bones. You can read the first part of Midson's interview with Bonanno here. Culinary inspirations: My mother and my sister. When I was six, seven, may ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Lance Barto of Strings

Lori MidsonLance Barto, exectutive chef of Strings​"It wasn't supposed to happen this fast," says Lance Barto, shaking his head. The 27-year-old chef, who was promoted back in February to the chief kitchen post at Strings following the departure of Aaron Whitcomb (who's now at Yia-Yia's Euro B ... More >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Lance Barto of Strings

Lori MidsonLance Barto, executive chef of Strings​ This is part two of my interview with Lance Barto, exec chef of Strings. You can read part one of my interview with Barto here. Best food city in America: Northern California. Right, I know that it's not a city, but the whole northern region of ... More >>

Chef and Tell part two: James Rugile of Venue

Lori MidsonJames Rugile, executive chef of Venue​Culinary inspirations: Thomas Keller of the French Laundry for his pursuit of perfection and emphasis on technique, and Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns for his emphasis on sustainability. He sources most of what's on his menu directly from hi ... More >>

Chef and Tell part two: Michael Long of Opus

Opus executive chef Michael Long​This is part two of my interview with Micheal Long, executive chef of Opus. To read part one of this interview, click here. Culinary inspirations: Norman Van Aken. I'm a south Florida guy, so when I came out of CIA in 1990 and moved back to Florida, Norman wa ... More >>

Gastro gift guide: The literary edition

Ah, the season for giving. If only it were that simple. Finding the perfect gift is like meeting your next great love -- it should just happen. But when certain consumer-driven holidays (sorry, Jesus) force you to brave the crazies at the mall, it helps to have an idea of what you want for that spe ... More >>

Ask the Critic: Worst. Idea. Ever.

photo courtesy of seriouseats.com​Want to know why food is a great beat? Because there's always someone out there who's gonna think of jamming a full serving of pasta primavera into a waffle cone and selling it on the street (as pictured above). Usually, these people are going to be coming f ... More >>

Joel Stein on Thomas Keller and reality food shows

Thomas Keller​ While having dinner recently, I overheard a woman trying to familiarize her dining companion with Jean-Georges Vongerichten. In an attempt to jog her memory, the friend asked, "What show is he on?" It's an interesting state of affairs, more obviously a sign of the times. In a ... 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 >>

Cafe Society: Week in review

​What you may have missed this week on Cafe Society while you were getting your morning groove on at the new Rise & Shine Biscuit Kitchen and Cafe, which opened right around the same time as the Denver Biscuit Company. Cupcakes: out; biscuits: in. After hyping and hyping and hyping the two- ... More >>

Strange Sauce: The week in national food news

​ In the heat of Michael Bloomberg's quest to limit the use of salt in NYC restaurants, a recent study has found that a program aimed at reducing the nation's salt intake could shave 24 BILLION dollars from the national health-care budget. Healthy or not, we're siding with David Chang, who mak ... More >>

Part Two: Chef and Tell with James Mazzio

Lori Midson ​This is part two of James Mazzio's Chef and Tell interview. To read part one, click here. What you'd like to see more of in Denver from a culinary standpoint: More chefs going out on their own and expressing their individual culinary talent rather than working for chain restaur ... More >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Jennifer Jasinski from Rioja and Bistro Vendome

Lori Midson ​This is part two of Lori Midson's interview with Jennifer Jasinksi; to read part one of that interview, click here. Best food city in America: San Francisco Bay. I love the growing capabilities of the area and how you're so closely tied to the land. Restaurants there have the opp ... More >>

Johnson & Wales chef Eric Stein dishes on vegetarian food (Denver has the worst), Michael Long (he's a genius) and peanut butter and jelly

Lori Midson​This is part two of Lori Midson's Chef and Tell interview with Eric Stein, chef/instructor at Johnson & Wales. To read part one of that interview, click here. Most embarrassing moment in the kitchen: I worked for a restaurant called Adesso in Providence, Rhode Island, that featur ... More >>

Part two: Ya Ya's Aaron Whitcomb on temper control, the phenomenon that's Alex Seidel and becoming the food critic for Westword

Lori Midson Aaron Whitcomb​ Aaron Whitcomb YaYa's Euro Bistro 8310 East Belleview Avenue, Greenwood Village 303-741-1110 www.yayasbistro.com This is part two of my interview with Aaron Whitcomb. To read part one of that interview, click here. Six words to describe your food: Playful, class ... More >>

Obsessive eaters, professional winos and star chefs commune in Aspen for the Food & Wine Classic

Lori Midson Spanish superstar chef José Andrés at last year's Aspen Food & Wine Classic​ Starting today, the glitterati of the food world will descend upon Aspen, when that glitter gulch town uncorks the Food & Wine magazine Classic, four days of over-the-top gluttony overrun with super-star ... More >>

Observations from the 2010 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen: José Andrés, Jacques Pépin, getting porked, scrambled egg mousse, Alex Seidel and a smoking gun

Lori Midson Jacques Pépin, Jean-Claude Szurdak and José Andrés​Thus ends four days of liver damage, debauchery, hangovers, embarrassments and a swollen stomach. The 2010 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen officially came to a close yesterday, and while the weekend isn't without its fuzzy moments, ... More >>

Flagstaff House deemed one of OpenTable's top 50 American cuisine restaurants in the country

​Time to celebrate the birth of our nation by eating barbecue until we explode, blatantly ignoring open container laws and then lighting some things on fire. Or by eating good old American food in one of OpenTable's top 50 American restaurants. The popular internet reservation site just rele ... More >>

Would you pay $625 for a cookbook?

​A quick perusal of Amazon shows that Thomas Keller's French Laundry cookbook regularly costs $50, the same price Grant Achatz charges for Alinea at Home. Heston Blumenthal's larger volume of recipes, the Big Fat Duck, weighs in at a hefty $250. And Ferran Adria, of the soon-to-close molecular ... More >>

Zengo's Clint Wangsnes on black garlic, his last meal and Denver's really bad Mexican food

Lori Midson​ Clint Wangsnes Zengo 1610 Little Raven Street 720-904-0965 www.richardsandoval.com/zengodenver This is part one of Lori Midson's Chef and Tell interview with Clint Wangsnes, chef of Zengo. To read part two of that Q&A, check back here on Friday. "I truly love food, and the high ... More >>

Robert Bogart, executive chef of Elway's Downtown, raps on strange guest requests, one roof and how he wishes that cooks would get the respect they deserve

Lori Midson​Robert Bogart Elway's Downtown 1881 Curtis Street 303-312-3107 www.elways.com This is part one of Lori Midson's interview with Robert Bogart, executive chef of Elway's Downtown. Part two of that interview will run in this space tomorrow. Robert Bogart, a former Marine who becam ... More >>

The Monette brothers keep the Flagstaff house moving forward

Review: Flagstaff House Restaurant in Boulder

Madison Street's Rob Michaels dishes on dumbing down menus, the pitfalls of parsley and pork heaven

Lori Midson​ Rob Michaels Madison Street 1222 Madison Street 303-736-2260 www.madisonstreetdenver.com Filipinos are renowned for their unwavering hospitality, for unleashing food feasts that swell the belly, for ensuring that no host allows her guests to leave hungry. "We're known for provi ... More >>

Round two with Madison Street's Rob Michaels

Lori Midson​ Rob Michaels Madison Street 1222 Madison Street 303-736-2260 www.madisonstreetdenver.com This is part two of my interview with Rob Michaels, chef de cuisine at Madison Street. In part one of this interview, Michaels dishes on dumbing down menus, the pitfalls of parsley, and pork ... More >>

Round two with Udi's executive chef Robin Baron

Lori Midson​ Robin Baron Udi's Pizza Cafe Bar Udi's Bread Cafes (four locations) www.udisfood.com This is part two of my interview with Robin Baron, executive chef of Udi's Pizza Bar, Udi's Bread Cafe and the soon-to-be-open Pickled Lemon in Boulder. Part one of my interview with Baron ran ye ... More >>

Mark Monette, executive chef of the Flagstaff House, on the woman who asked for raw elk and his disdain for duck tongues

​ Mark Monette Flagstaff House 1138 Flagstaff Drive, Boulder 303-442-4640 www.flagstaffhouse.com This is part one of my interview with Mark Monette, executive chef of the Flagstaff House. Part two of my chat with Monette will run in this space tomorrow. While Boulder today is renowned for ... More >>

Round two with Flagstaff House executive chef Mark Monette

​ Mark Monette Flagstaff House 1138 Flagstaff Drive, Boulder 303-442-4640 www.flagstaffhouse.com This is part two of my interview with Mark Monette, executive chef of the Flagstaff House. Part one of that interview, in which Monette talks about cooking with Thomas Keller and his disdain for ... More >>

In the kitchen with chef Mark Monette: Potato-crusted Alaskan halibut and arugula salad

​In this week's Chef and Tell interview, Mark Monette, the executive chef/partner of the Flagstaff House, sounds off on sharing kitchen space with Thomas Keller, turning fifty and doing double duty at two top drawer restaurants, which keeps him firmly entrenched in the kitchen. He took some a ... More >>

At Rackhouse Pub, the whiskey is fine, but the food could use fine-tuning

See a photo slideshow from Rackhouse Pub

Reader: Theo Adley dishes up a great Thomas Keller comment

Lori MidsonTheo Adley at home at The Pinyon.​Theo Adley, the subject of this week's Chef and Tell interview, is getting rave reviews both for his food at The Pinyon -- and for his comments. Says AmyDenver: One of my all-time favorite Chef and Tell comments: "Shut up, all of you, especially ... More >>

Round two with Noah Stephens, executive chef of Vert kitchen

Lori Midson​ Noah Stephens Vert Kitchen 704 South Pearl Street 303-997-5941 www.vertkitchen.com This is part two of my interview with Noah Stephens, exec chef/owner of Vert Kitchen. Part one of my chat with Stephens ran in this space yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: I love French ... More >>

Round two with Eric Rivera, exec chef of Cafe|Bar

Lori Midson​ Eric Rivera Cafe|Bar 295 South Pennsylvania Street 303-362-0227 www.cafebarcolorado.com This is part two of my interview with Eric Rivera exec chef of Cafe|Bar. Part one of my chat with Rivera ran yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: Bouchon, in Napa Valley. The food an ... More >>

A food critic figures out how to lose weight without eating diet food at home

​Over the last few months, I went from the worst shape of my life to the best while continuing to eat like a food critic. Don't punch me in the face; instead, read how I did it in part eight of this series: "Just hope you got your dad's metabolism," my grandmother whispered in a tone full of ... More >>

Reader: Ryan Leinonen shows that chefs aren't uneducated kitchen monkeys

Ryan Leinonen at Trillium.​Although they may disagree with his definition of pasties, readers appreciated the Chef and Tell interview with Ryan Leinonen, the chef who opened Trillium, a Scandinavian restaurant, last month. And Leinonen appreciates chefs, particularly Escoffier. "Le Guide Culin ... More >>