100 Favorite Dishes: PB&B Acai Bowl at ProsperOats

No. 52: PB&B Acai Bowl at ProsperOatsFew foods have attained the kind of cult worship currently reserved for acai: The Brazilian fruit has been lauded for its antioxidant properties, making its way onto lists of ingredients that supposedly cure all kinds of ills. But while we practice healthy skepticism when it…

Jensen Cummings on Tightening Up His Chef Game Through Consulting

In part one of our interview with Jensen Cummings, the chef tells us about his attempt to launch a Colorado movement by combining food and beer in a novel way. When he’s not working on that, though, he also does a fair amount of consulting for local restaurants, including VoiceBox Karaoke,…

Jensen Cummings on Bringing Beer and Food (and Fans of Both) Together

The Great American Beer Festival descends upon the Mile High City every October, reaffirming Denver’s place as a beer beacon and craft-brewing industry leader. Our local brewers are among the most creative and respected in the world, and their creations attract beer geeks from all over the globe. So it’s…

100 Favorite Dishes: Orecchiette at Coperta

No. 54: Orecchiette at Coperta When Paul and Aileen Reilly threw open the doors to Coperta two months ago, they revealed an inviting neighborhood joint with a menu brimming with tempting southern-Italian specialties. Here you can traipse through buffalo mozzarella, Roman-style fried artichokes and a generous platter of salumi, put…

100 Favorite Dishes: Lobster, Egg and Caviar Bruschetta at Bar Fausto

No. 55: Lobster, Egg and Caviar Bruschetta at Bar Fausto There’s not exactly a tricked-out kitchen at RiNo cocktail haunt Bar Fausto (which made our list of the ten best in town) — this venue from neighborhood veterans Jonathan Power and Koan Goedman offers a menu of bites simple enough that…

100 Favorite Dishes: Griddle-Cooked Bullfrog at Yum Yum Spice

No. 58: Griddle Cooked Bullfrog at Yum Yum Spice Skip the sizable menu of pedestrian Chinese-American offerings at Yum Yum Spice and head straight for what makes this DU strip mall joint special: a collection of dry-pot hot pots, listed as “griddle cooked foods,” which will give you a glimpse…

William Tuggle and Steven Waters on Coffee, Cocktails and White Lies

When Steven Waters started working with Black Eye Coffee, the team was preparing to spin out a second shop, building on its lower-Highland success with a more ambitious space in Capitol Hill. “We love the neighborhood, and wanted to do something different than the LoHi spot,” Waters says. “We wanted…

Juan Padro on Neighborhood Spots, Talent Gaps and the New Tap & Burger

Juan Padro Highland Tap & Burger 2219 West 32nd Avenue highlandtapdenver.com Sloan’s Lake Tap & Burger 1565 Raleigh Street, Unit 100 sloanstapandburger.com Juan Padro, co-owner of Highland Tap & Burger and Bar Dough, swears that his initial foray into the restaurant industry was a mistake. He and his wife, Katie…

China Town: Where Can You Find Authentic Dishes in Denver?

As the sun sets over Beijing’s Gui Jie, crowds throng what’s known as Ghost Street, posting up on short stools, surrounding eatery entrances and clutching numbers doled out by aloof hostesses. The rising chatter is punctuated by blaring microphones as restaurants call in parties and men with megaphones accost passersby,…

Session Confession: We’re High on Low-Alcohol Beer!

Some years back, when the craft-beer renaissance was really picking up steam, there seemed to be an unwritten doctrine that more was more: The bigger the beer, the better. And I was on board. “I want something that punches me in the mouth,” I’d tell bartenders. I wanted a statement…

Hey, Douglas Tirola! Let’s Talk!

By weaving together the stories behind New York City cocktail lair Employees Only and Westport, Connecticut, corner bar Dunvilles, director Douglas Tirola takes on the changing world of bartending and the rise of craft mixology in his recently released documentary Hey Bartender. And while the film focuses on a pair…

Paul Attardi steps in at Old Major, replacing Jonathan Greschler

Jonathan Greschler’s departure from Old Major last week came as a shock to those who’d watched his partnership with chef Justin Brunson survive the shuttering of Wild Catch, and then find a new home over in the Lower Highland neighborhood. But it looks like Old Major owner Juan Padro –…

African Grill and Bar will add a second location

We’ve been enamored of African Grill since we first stumbled into this Aurora strip mall spot a couple of years ago. Not only does the restaurant serve up tasty, tomato-tinged jollof rice and pungent goat stew, it’s also operated by some of the most hospitable owners we’ve ever encountered. Osei…