The Abbey Tavern 5151 East Colfax Avenue 303-321-5151 There’s no shortage of places in this town where you can quench a thirst, but that didn’t discourage Glen Eastwood. And after enough plot twists to fill a Frank McCourt novel, last fall he and business partner Andrew Cudden opened The Abbey…
People talk about grocery-store deserts — but what about restaurant deserts? Park Hill isn’t exactly a desert, but it’s pretty arid. Sure, there are some places to eat — Solera, Tables and Oblio’s, to name a few — but openings are few and far between. That’s one of the reasons…
I’ve always had a sweet tooth, and was a baker long before I learned to cook — or drive, for that matter. So you might think that I like every dessert I meet, but the opposite is true. If I had a dollar for every dried-out layer cake, leaden pie…
Sugarmill has been on deck in the Ballpark neighborhood since December 2013, and the sweets spot — a collaboration between pastry chef Noah French and restaurateur Troy Guard — definitely has home-run potential. Read our full review of Sugarmill, now posted on Cafe Society…
Sugarmill 2461 Larimer Street, #101 303-297-3540 sugarmilldesserts.com Hours: 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday Ever see that magnet that says, “Life is short. Eat spinach first”? Of course not; it doesn’t exist. People don’t go crazy for vegetables, not even heirloom ones plucked straight…
Restaurateurs must have taken the same continuing education class on how to choose a name for their new ventures. I’ve lost count of how many spots have opened lately that were christened either with two words smushed together (as in Lower48 Kitchen) or joined by an ampersand or “and.” Pastry…
Like vegetables, desserts are seasonal. Just as we’re moving out of winter’s root vegetables and into spring’s pea shoots and asparagus, we’re also moving towards refreshing sweets such as berry tarts and ice cream. But we’re not there yet, which is why you’ll still see heavier fare such as bread…
This week, Gretchen Kurtz ventured to Arvada, to Braun Taphaus & Grille, which the Bar-On family (Udi’s) opened last November as a not-so-typical sports bar, one whose menu is flavored with Austrian accents. Read Kurtz’s review of Braun’s, now posted on Cafe Society…
Braun Taphaus & Grille 5601 Olde Wadsworth Boulevard, Arvada 303-456-2630 brauntaphaus.com The last time I overheard a server talking about this little-known vegetable, so electric with its fuchsia flesh that it looks like candy, I was at twelve, a place where novelty is to be expected. But the dialogue caught…
It’s almost time for the big reveal. Later this week, Udi’s will announce the new name for its local restaurant empire, a change prompted by the $125 million sale of the company’s gluten-free and granola division in 2012. The name won’t be a complete mystery, though: We know it will…
Good things come in small packages. That’s certainly the case at Lower48 Kitchen, winner of the Best New Restaurant title in our recent Best of Denver issue. As I wrote in this week’s review of Lower48, it was what came in the small packages dubbed “each” that gave me the…
This week, Gretchen Kurtz ventured to Mecca Grill, a longtime go-to spot in Wash Park for Lebanese food. She found that the restaurant’s new owners are turning the focus to Morocco. Find out more about the changes in her review of Mecca Grill, now posted on Cafe Society…
This week, Gretchen Kurtz reviews our 2014 winner for Best New Restaurant: Lower48 Kitchen, now serving in the Ballpark neighborhood. Read her review, now posted on the Cafe Society blog, to see what prompted our selection…
Lower48 Kitchen 2020 Lawrence Street, Unit A 303-942-0262 lower48kitchen.com My first thought when I saw the opening section of the menu at Lower48 Kitchen was, “I want one of each.” So it’s no wonder that the column of small bites, with temptations such as a beignet filled with whipped tarragon…
There’s usually an element of suspense in a restaurant review. Is the food worth your money? Does the atmosphere add to the experience? Is this a place you should visit ASAP — or avoid like the plague? But it’s a foregone conclusion that my next review will be a rave:…
Of all the food categories in our annual Best of Denver issue, none is quite like Best New Restaurant. To determine which spot should take home the coveted golden statuette (actually, a framed certificate), we started our discussions even before the end of 2013, the official cut off to be…
When I was growing up, in a town far, far from the coasts, pretty much all cuisines other than Chinese and Mexican were underrepresented, and the few ethnic restaurants that were there could hardly be considered authentic. In Denver today, we slurp pho, gnaw on Korean kalbi, and savor the…
Mecca Grill 270 South Downing Street 303-722-4100 meccagrilldenver.com I’d heard the management had changed at Mecca Grill, a once-popular Lebanese restaurant in a tiny strip center in Washington Park, so I dropped by for dinner, curious to see if the new owner was going to give me a reason to…
Last year Mecca Grill was bought by a Moroccan family who had been looking at starting their own Moroccan restaurant. But rather than changing the name to something like Morocco Grill, the new owners decided to keep the name — and Mecca Grill’s Lebanese menu, at least for now. See…
Restaurant stages, i.e. unpaid apprenticeships, are very different from the useless internships many of us endured in college. Far from killing time making copies, kitchen interns gain real-time, real-world experience that translates directly to necessary skills. For example, Peter Ryan says he wouldn’t be where he is today without the…
Legend has it that in 1620, the pilgrims set foot on terra firma at Plymouth Rock. But did they really? Likewise, is The Plimoth, the charming new eatery that chef-owner Peter Ryan named after his Massachusetts home town, really a “neighborhood eatery,” as the tagline claims? Does it actually cater…
Last winter, Peter Ryan, former executive chef/instructor at Cook Street School of Culinary Arts, inked a deal on an out-of-the-way space in North City Park that he felt was just right for the neighborhood eatery he dreamed of opening — in what happened to be his own neighborhood. But the…
