Tom Colicchio

Oceanaire A Cool Breeze

Oceanaire A Cool Breeze

Beard House Blues

Mouthing Off

Hosea Rosenberg dodges a bullet on Top Chef: New York

Seriously, dude? Canned crab? What the fuck was Hosea Rosenberg thinking? For those of you who missed the most recent episode of Top Chef: New York, let me catch you up. The chef-testants had to cook New American for fifty. The catch? They had to do it from the kitchen at Craft, judge Tom Col ... More >>

Note to Top Chef: Stop sucking

It's been three weeks since I wrote a word about this season's Top Chef on Bravo.  Know why?  Because it has been so boring and so contrived and so stupid that the episodes themselves were painful to watch -- making me less than excited about the notion of then rehashing them here. There w ... More >>

Bite Me

Kinda Blue

Colicchio goes a-whorin' for Diet Coke?

On Oscar night, the entire food world was abuzz. Not because of anything that happened during the Academy Awards ceremony, but because of one of the (million and one) commercials that showed during the proceedings: namely, the Tom Colicchio Diet Coke spot that appeared to show the Top Chef judge an ... More >>

Bite Me

Comforting Thoughts

Best Seafood Restaurant for You and Ten of Your Closest Friends

Go Fish Grille

Believe it or not, Ruby Tuesday has a good burger

Go Fish Grille

Gone Fishin'

Suddenly, Denver’s swimming in seafood restaurants.

No Reservations

No Reservations is sweet and savory fare. Without the foam.

Bait and Switch

With Go Fish Grille, Larry Herz may have a keeper.

Biker Jim now takes credit cards: This is why I love living in the future

Back when I was a kid, back when I was a teenager, even back when I was only slightly less of a grown-up than I am now, one of the biggest drags about eating on the street was having to carry cash.  Today, you can add parking, the occasional vending machine soda and supporting the local homeles ... 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 >>

Chef and Tell: John Broening

John Broening​"We'll have head cheese at Olivéa on Friday -- I expect to see you there," summoned the e-mail. The note - short and to the point -- was from John Broening, the executive chef at Duo and Olivéa: the former a restaurant in Highland with a field-to-plate, seasonal approach to foo ... More >>

A conversation with John Broening, of Duo and Olivea

John Broening​"We'll have head cheese at Olivéa on Friday -- I expect to see you there," summoned the e-mail. The note - short and to the point -- was from John Broening, the executive chef at Duo and Olivéa: the former a restaurant in Highland with a field-to-plate, seasonal approach to foo ... 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 >>

Tyler Wiard talks about Elway's, lobster and why Denver needs a good diner

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 >>

Part two: Chef and Tell with Brian Laird of Barolo Grill

Lori MidsonBrian Laird, executive chef of Barolo Grill​This is part two of my interview with Brian Laird, exec chef of Barolo Grill. You can read part one of my interview with Laird here. Best food city in America: San Francisco. It's all about what I love most: fresh ingredients, seafood, f ... More >>

Diamond Cabaret gets a new menu, courtesy CY Steak

Lori MidsonAt CY Steak, the Caesar salad is dressed...even if the entertainers aren't.​How cold was it last night? So cold that Barry Fey was wearing long pants. But the dining room at CY Steak, the revamped steakhouse attached to the Diamond Cabaret at 1222 Glenarm Place, warmed up fast -- a ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Max Mackissock of Squeaky Bean

Lori MidsonSqueaky Bean executive chef Max Mackissock​ "After all that nonsense at Primebar -- those guys are the biggest scumbags ever -- it was unbelievably refreshing to get a job at a restaurant that's owned by one of the nicest guys I've ever met," Max Mackissock says during our interview ... More >>

Strange Sauce: The week in national food news

We know, you just threw up in your mouth a little.​The trailer for Jamie Oliver's new television show, Food Revolution, has been released. According to ABC, Oliver will attempt to transform the eating habits of a bunch of rednecks in Huntington, West Virginia, and rumor has it that he bawls w ... More >>

Frank Bonanno, Alex Seidel, Jennifer Jasinski, Steve Ells and James Rugile among James Beard semifinalists

Lori Midson Venue chef James Rugile ​Restaurant and chef semifinalists for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards were released this morning, which gives all the nominees exactly 32 days to chew on their success before the five finalists in each category are announced on Monday, March 22. The ... More >>

New season of Top Chef includes two Colorado mountain cookers, Kelly Liken and Kenny Gilbert, but no Denver or Boulder chefs

​Top Chef, the often unrealistic reality show that made Hosea Rosenberg, exec chef of Jax-Boulder, a hometown hero when he emerged the conquistador two seasons ago, just released its listage of contestants for season 7, which will be filmed in Washington DC and premier on June 16 on Bravo. ... 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 >>

Part two: Big Game's Leo Harvey dishes on trashy cheese dip, his biggest embarrassment and Gordon Ramsay

Lori Midson ​This is part two of my interview with Leo Harvey, executive chef of Big Game Restaurant & Lounge. To read part one of that interview, click here. Favorite dish to cook at home: Braised chicken thighs and Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. It's a very comforting dish that's hearty, easy ... More >>

Top Chef D.C., round three: No picnic

Tracey got the boot last night.​I hate it when Tom Colicchio gets sententious, as he did facing the losing four contestants on last night's third episode of Top Chef D.C.. Stephen, Tim, Kevin and Tracey stood in front of him, shaken and close to tears, waiting to see who'd get sent home. "Your ... 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 >>

Top Chef DC, round four: Oh, baby

Lynne and Arnold are out.​Last night's Top Chef DC, episode 4, felt like self-parody -- too many chefs; too many flying shots of hands chopping, sauteeing, stirring; too many judgments and too many judges using truncated phrases that communicated only the most basic facts about what they were ... More >>

Meatless Monday picks up Wolfgang Puck

​When Chris Elam, program director at Meatless Monday, told us his side of the veggie-movement story, he hinted that a national chef would soon be signing on to the cause. We mused that Emeril Lagasse, Tom Colicchio, and Wolfgang Puck were very much in play.

Top Chef D.C., round six: A meaty gimmick

Michelle Bernstein​It's getting hard to watch Top Chef D.C. and harder to write about it. I keep waiting to feel the kind of excitement I felt about the show in the past. It may be that this is an uninteresting group of contestants, but I think it's more the smug idiocy of the organizers, and ... More >>

Top Chef, D.C., round twelve: Out of this world!

Tiffany got jettisoned.​Tiffany got sent home from Top Chef this week. I was a little distressed when Arnold was told to pack his knives a few episodes back, because his problems were the fault of mean-spirited Lynne, and also I expected him to come up with some interestingly piquant dishes ov ... More >>

Top Chef D.C., round thirteen: Kelly's headed back to Colorado

Hometown girl Kelly is headed home. ​The setting for this penultimate episode of Top Chef was Singapore, which ginned up the interest level quite a bit. It was fun watching the four remaining contenders picking and tasting their way through the Singapore street-food scene under the guidance of ... More >>

Top Chef DC, round 14: Kevin wins!

Kevin Sbraga (center) won the seventh round of Top Chef .​"Kevin, you are Top Chef," Padma announced, and a stunned Kevin responded, "I am?" I was happy with the outcome of this seventh season of Top Chef -- but I would have been equally pleased had Angelo won. He irritates a lot of viewe ... More >>

Top Chef Just Desserts: Nice guys don't finish first

Tim Nugent was sweet, but got the boot.​Dessert's a funny thing in fancy restaurants these days. No more slices of cherry tart, chocolate cake or apple strudel unless they're miniatures, deconstructed, flavored with something incongruous like curry, set on curlicues of sauce you have to sample ... More >>

Top Chef Just Desserts: That's the way the cookie crumbles

Heather Chittum is out.​I'm enjoying Just Desserts more than I enjoyed the regular Top Chef, though in many ways I'm more interested in savory food than dessert. Although the Dessert contestants are pretty high octane, they're also more emotionally honest, and there's a lighter, more playful f ... 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 >>

Top Chef All-Stars, second course: Is Jen a dinosaur?

Jennifer Carroll is going, going, gone.​Jennifer Carroll's meltdown when she got eliminated from last night's episode of Top Chef All-Stars was spectacular. She was graceless, almost out of control, so angry she clearly didn't know whether to laugh, cry or hit someone. She'd done a lot of brag ... More >>

Top Chef All Stars: That's the way the cookie crumbles

​I tend not to like contrived and cutesy challenges, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the chefs putting together cookies for Sesame Street's Cookie Monster and his friends Elmo and Telly when they visited the set of Wednesday night's Top Chef, seeing everyone's expression lighten suddenly as ... More >>

Round two with Lon Symensma, exec chef of ChoLon

Lori Midson​ Lon Symensma ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro 1555 Blake Street 303-353-5223 www.cholon.com This is part two of my interview with Lon Symensma, executive chef of ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro. In part one of that interview, Symensma rips on bird's nests, extols the virtues of lop chong ... More >>

Duo and Olivéa pastry chef Yasmin Lozada-Hissom tapped to bake at the James Beard Foundation awards gala

​The James Beard Foundation awards gala, a glitzy, high-falutin' soiree that honors the best chefs, pastry kings and queens, restaurateurs, restaurants and wine directors in the country, takes place on May 9, 2011, at the Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York. And the culinary blowout ... More >>

The Perennial Plate comes to Durango

Stephanie ColganDaniel Klein is filming an episode of his web series in Colorado.​Daniel Klein's resume includes some of the best restaurants in the world, restaurants including The Fat Duck and St. John in England, Thomas Keller's Bouchon and Tom Colicchio's Craft. Now he's producing The Pe ... More >>

Tom Colicchio's Simpsons cameo reminds us of these great food scenes

​Recent reports provide illustrated proof that Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio will make an appearance on the premiere episode of the 23rd season of The Simpsons. Apparently, Marge wants to be a Top Chef contestant. (Oh, Marge, so adorable!) Which got us thinking about all the memorable scenes ... More >>

Reader: How could you forget Homer's low-fat exploding eclair?

​Tom Colicchio -- or a reasonable facsimile -- will guest star on The Simpsons later this month, which inspired our look back at some of the great Simpsons food scenes. Wonders Wratha: How could you not include any scenes from the episode where Homer is a food critic? The "low fat" exploding ... 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 >>

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 >>

Five Denver/Boulder kitchen magicians who should audition for Top Chef Season 10

Lori Midson​"Every season the bar gets higher, every season it means more to be the one on top - do you have what it takes to be the next TOP CHEF?" So begins the verbiage on the Bravo website, taunting cookers from around the country to audition for season ten of Top Chef, which, if you belie ... More >>