When a fine-dining establishment is 34 years old, sits in a 128-year-old historic landmark and has an owner who refers to himself as “the third,” you might imagine that a meal within its stodgy confines would prove palate-numbingly boring. Prime rib and Yorkshire pudding. Beef Wellington and duck a l’orange…
Q: My fiancée is flying in over the holidays, and I’d like to take her out for a romantic dinner with some slow dancing afterward. Is there such a place in downtown Denver? A: Not only is there no such place downtown, but you’d have to drive pretty far out…
Cookbooks are always popular gift options at local bookstores. This year, the surprise is what’s flying off the shelves: Anything with the word “American” in the title and books touting American-style foods are all the rage, according to one of the buyers at the Cherry Creek Tattered Cover. The hottest…
In the Bonnie Brae neighborhood, the more some things change, the more others stay the same. When Carl and Sue Dire opened the Bonnie Brae Tavern in 1934, South University Boulevard was a dirt road running through the sticks. That year, tens of thousands of people left the Dust Bowl…
Q: Can you tell me what nice places will be open on Christmas Day this year? A: I’ve received so many inquiries regarding restaurants open on Christmas that I’m wondering if anyone will be staying home this year. So many people want to eat out that they may have trouble…
Me-oh-my-oh: Life in Cherry Creek North just got a lot less interesting. The Cajun/Creole party spot Petra’s (2700 East Third Avenue) has closed, abandoning its high-rent, below-street-level space for the plum opportunity of running Denver’s City Park Golf Course club, at 2500 York Street. Petra’s on the Park will have…
The Leonid meteor shower shows itself every year in mid-November, and while the display is spectacular only every 33 years or so, even on an off night, the Leonids provide an eye-opening experience. They give us a glimmer of what’s beyond our limited understanding, some insight into life’s eternal glories…
Q: Are there any good Italian markets in town that sell groceries as well as sandwiches? A: Italian we got. One of my favorites is Cosolo’s Italian Market (8000 East Quincy Avenue, 303-290-8950), which not only stocks a great selection of imported Italian foods, deli meats and cheeses and homemade…
My standard for Denver’s definitive slice has always been Anthony’s, truly the closest you’ll come to East Coast pizza in this Western town. The $1.75 slice always has a delectable slick of cheese on top, it’s the perfect size for folding in half, and as you bend over to eat…
There isn’t a foodie in the world who’d deny his appreciation of truffles or foie gras, caviar, Swiss chocolate or triple-cream cheese. But none of those delights begins to approximate the glory of the drippy, cheese-covered, orange-tinted triangle that is The Slice. Like a bazillion other students, I lived on…
Q: With the weather turning colder, I keep thinking about French onion soup. Where can I get the best in town? A: Homemade French onion soup is hard to come by, since so few places make beef stock from scratch. But Le Central (112 East Eighth Avenue, 303-863-8094) and Le…
The combination gourmet-takeout/eat-in Tasteez (9595 East Arapahoe Road, Englewood), a great concept that has yet to find the right approach, is for sale; while Tasteez is still open, executive baker/executive chef/assistant general manager Michael Bortz is going to loaf somewhere else. “I was doing a lot there at the end,”…
Aix not only marks the spot for a marvelous meal in this city, it hits the spot, dead-on, for local foodies longing for the sort of Provençal dishes that put the South of France on the culinary map. Naming a restaurant after Aix-en-Provence, considered by many to be the heart…
Q: Where can we go to get a good meal on Thanksgiving? A: Restaurants seem to be catching on to the fact that a lot of folks can’t or don’t want to make their own turkeys on T-Day. So there are a number of places open on November 22, but…
This time around, Panzano is the real deal. When I first reviewed the snazzy spot on the ground floor of the then-new Hotel Monaco (“Bread Alert,” July 1, 1999), the lacquered focaccia in the window was a good indication of just how authentic and interesting the Italian fare inside would…
One of the reasons this town doesn’t have more kosher eateries like East Side Kosher Deli is that maintaining a commercial kosher kitchen is a big pain in the tuches. Just ask Jeff Auerbach, who’s had lots of trouble keeping his kosher Jeff’s Diner (731 Quebec Street) up and running…
When it comes to kosher food, I’m the goy next door. I live in the largest Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in town, within walking distance of four temples and the only King Soopers in Colorado that regularly offers kosher baked goods. My neighbors’ biggest complaint with Denver’s dining scene is the…
Q: I’m new to Denver and would like to pop the question in a downtown restaurant that overlooks the city. Is there a fine-dining place with a great view? A: For all the great views Denver offers, a good one of its own downtown from an equally good restaurant is…
As far as I can tell, the major draw of White Fence Farm — and perhaps its only draw (see review, previous page) — is that the eatery is kid-friendly. In fact, in the restaurant’s own words, “We are pleased to serve young children, but remind parents that the pleasant…
We felt like we’d stumbled into the pages of Charlotte’s Web. In one pen, a donkey slowly and thoughtfully chewed his hay. In another, a pig scratched his butt against the fence, stopping only to take a whiz. Goats fell all over each other trying to get at the food…
Q: We just got back from Europe and had the most incredible experience at an Indonesian restaurant. Do we have any in Denver? A: While no local restaurant bills itself as strictly Indonesian, the few-months-old Singapore Grill (7923 South Broadway, Littleton, 303-347-1477) offers the cuisines of Malaysia and Singapore, both…
While the restaurant business is down across the country, eateries have reported that sales are up for two things: comfort foods and alcohol. “We’ve just been selling the heck out of mashed potatoes,” says a server at the Buckhorn Exchange (1000 Osage Street), one of my many stops during Dine…
