In Mexico, the behemoth sandwiches known as tortas are street food, meals-on-the-go with stuffings of carnitas or breaded steak — not to mention such standard accompaniments as refried beans, tomatoes and mayo — spilling out of puffy white bread. Here in Denver, tortas have been mostly the domain of take-out…
For a guy who doesn’t like drama, Bryan Dayton, a nationally-recognized bartender, sure knows how to set the stage. On graduation weekend last month the Oak at Fourteenth co-owner found himself facing a restaurant with lots of empty seats — even though the place had been booked solid. And Oak…
We have a history, Oak at Fourteenth and I. It’s not of the salacious, I-dated-someone-in-the-kitchen variety, but of the professional sort: I’ve reviewed the restaurant before. I did so at the now-defunct Denver Magazine in the weeks after Oak opened in November 2010, during what co-owners Bryan Dayton and Steven…
It’s funny, in a way, how much stock diners put in servers’ recommendations, given how little both parties know about each other and how finicky people’s tastes tend to be. I’ve been told by servers that they liked a certain dish because it was really filling (not exactly tops on…
Where do you draw the line on what you will and will not eat? If you follow a restrictive diet, either by choice or medical necessity, your line leaves little wiggle room. Vegans won’t eat Cheddary mac and cheese, much less a burger. People with celiac won’t eat pizza unless…
Matt Selby didn’t set out to operate a cafeteria-cum-pantry for the RiverClay condominiums rising five stories above Corner House. But since he and his two partners unveiled this 1,250-square-foot eatery in January, that’s precisely what it’s become. “People would come down in their pajamas,” marvels Selby. Hugging the corner of…
Nine years ago, my husband and I put together a short list of cities where we’d want to raise our kids. New York, where we lived at the time, wasn’t on it. Denver was. Months later, to see if both his potential job and the city seemed like the right…
Potatoes are oft-overlooked workhorses (and will do extra duty in this weekend’s picnic potato salad), but the potato-based appetizers at Taita, the focus of my most recent review, are hard to ignore. Those fried, stuffed, mashed potatoes in the papa rellena and the cool slices in the causa got me…
When I first moved to Paris, I was insulted by the comments people would make about American food. “You call that cheese?” they’d say, referring to Velveeta, or “What’s for dinner tonight, hamburgers?” It didn’t matter that I never liked processed cheese — not even melted over macaroni as a…
According to CareerCast, my colleagues and I have the worst job in America. Low pay and high stress catapulted newspaper reporter to the top of the job portal’s annual worst-of list, ahead of both lumberjacks and meter readers. But how can I complain? I sat down at the computer this…
As fast-casual concepts go, meatballs make sense. They can be prepared ahead and finished to order, they’re bite-sized, and they travel well. The part that takes explaining, as I say in this week’s review of Slotted Spoon Meatball Eatery, is what this new place puts meatballs on. Bread makes sense…
After my first visit to Slotted Spoon Meatball Eatery, a locally owned fast-casual joint that’s a meatball-slinging version of Chipotle, I thought about giving the guys who own it a present. Two, actually. The first was a blender, so they could offer milkshakes for dessert instead of just Lucky Charms-crusted…
There’s a land rush under way in the fast-casual industry, with restaurateurs nationwide frantically trying to grab a piece of this fast-growing segment. Just how fast is it growing? According to Technomic, eight of the ten fastest-growing chains in America (with sales of at least $2 million) are of the…
It’s easy to eat seasonally when the fields are full of tomatoes and the trees are heavy with peaches, as I write in this week’s review of Potager. But abundance, whether in August or May, brings its own challenges. This counter-intuitive lesson is one I learned first-hand when I was…
If you’re looking for housemade honey-chamomile bitters, ice chipped off a block or a community counter where you can sit and grab a bite, don’t go to Potager. The place doesn’t have a soda gun, much less a mixologist. And Teri Rippeto, who founded this Capitol Hill institution with her…
After I’ve eaten a few times — sometimes numerous times — at a restaurant that I plan to review, I find it helpful to talk to the chef so that I understand his or her vision and inspiration. We always chat by phone, to preserve my anonymity, and it’s never…
The fact that Pho Lee, subject of this week’s review, serves up such terrific pho (not to mention Vietnamese egg rolls, grilled meats and boba smoothies) isn’t such a surprise, given that the owner, Dung Anh Le, worked at Pho 95, his brother’s pho shop, for years. What might catch…
Avocados used to be in the same class as pomegranates, hard to find in small grocery stores and displayed with growers’ signs for how to slice and use them. These days, though, avocados are everywhere: forming beds for scrambled eggs, lining bruschetta, mashed with garlic, lime and cilantro in the…
In last week’s fantastic ode, former Westword food critic Laura Shunk joined the chorus of raves for Uncle. If you haven’t been to this tiny noodle shop in Highland, by all means try it; we named it 2013’s Best New Restaurant for a reason. But on nights when you don’t…
Celebrity chef Mario Batali has done some controversial things over the years, some of them humorous (wearing shorts in all seasons), others not so much (comparing bankers to Stalin and Hitler). But his thoughts on how much easier it was to get into the business twenty years ago aren’t likely…
Celebrity chef Mario Batali has done some controversial things over the years, some of them humorous (wearing shorts in all seasons), others not so much (comparing bankers to Stalin and Hitler). But his thoughts on how much easier it was to get into the business twenty years ago aren’t likely…
If breakfast means more to you than a cup (or three) of coffee, you’re probably already acquainted with the pancakes, eggs and crepes at such perennial favorites as Gaia Bistro, Jelly, Snooze, Devil’s Food and DJ’s Berkeley Cafe. The latter’s sibling restaurant, DJ’s 9th Avenue Café, which opened in January…
