The Frasca Food & Wine expansion into two new concepts has been a trying experience for everyone involved, largely because of a specially built Italian oven that was slated to anchor the project. The first oven, shipped in pieces, was held up in Customs before it was eventually destroyed. The…

Think caffeinated malt liquor was the most creative thing you’d ever find in a can? Wrong. A Panamanian company just put twelve ounces of hard liquor in a can, and it’s on sale right now in the Caribbean and South America…

If you’re heading up to Copper Mountain to take advantage of the foot and a half or so of snow that has fallen on the ski area in the past 24 hours, you might want to make time in all that powder thrashing for a powdered doughnut. After three months…

After a two-week trip, I’m back at Cafe Society, picking up where I left off at the beginning of the year. Where was I?In Southeast Asia, where, amid the obligatory adventures in tourism, I attempted to gain a better understanding of the cuisine of that region. I made my way…

Until very recently, beer was the alcoholic beverage I drank when I wanted something refreshing that would give me a buzz, but didn’t want to have to think about it too hard. But in the past year or so, it’s become less easy to do that. Beer has claimed a…

On a bitterly cold December night, I was huddled in a booth at Freshcraft. In front of me at bar seats and high tables, a lively crowd was sipping from pint glasses and conversing jovially with the bartenders. Behind me, a massive group of beer brewers filled most of the…

There was a time in my life when I ate ramen once a week, and I’m not talking about that cheap brick of noodles that came with a sodium-loaded packet of flavoring. I’m talking rich broth, thick with animal fat and laden with noodles, pork belly, seaweed, scallions and a…

The sommelier title hasn’t always been a glamorous one. In fact, according to Rajat Parr and Jordan Mackay’s new book, Secrets of the Sommeliers, it was once a title relegated to restaurant workers who proved themselves unworthy of the kitchen, a lowly crew banished to the wine cellar for life…

There are three sushi restaurants within a three-block radius in downtown Boulder — and each of them is almost always full. One caters to college kids who come for fusion rolls and cheap drink specials, another attracts crowds with sake bombs and a wide selection of nigiri. And then there’s…

I checked the clock nervously, willing the car in front of me to step on the gas. “GO!” I yelled, six inches from the guy’s bumper. Mercifully, there was a break in the traffic and I zipped around the old white sedan, resisting the urge to cut it off entirely…

We’ve got high hopes for The Pinyon, 1710 Pearl Street in Boulder, which wowed us so much with its fried chicken just two days after it opened, it earned a coveted spot on our 100 Favorite Dishes roster. The Pinyon has been open since mid-December for dinner, but chef/owner Theo…

On the evening of January 1, we were traipsing around the ghost town that LoDo becomes in the aftermath of one of the biggest party nights of the year, and noticed that one restaurant missed the festivities entirely. D’Corazon Mexican Restaurant, 1530 Blake Street, has been on break since December…

In this week’s Westword, I headed down to Alameda for a glimpse of the loncheras that ruled the streets before this year, when tricked out mobile vendors (or luxe loncheras) became a hot trend. And in the course of the time I spent with the family who owns La Villa…

We reported yesterday that Primebar, the 300-seat restaurant at 1515 Arapahoe Street, had closed without warning a year and a half after it had opened. We received no comment from Restaurants America, the company that owns the place as to why the sudden shutter, but the word’s out now: The…

Early this month, Jason Sheehan gave Chipotle Mexican Grill a glowing review in the Seattle Weekly, our partner publication where he now works — and where the haters haven’t stopped rolling their eyes and asking why he’d bother writing about such a ubiquitous fast-casual joint. His piece provided the perfect…

At the risk of riling up those readers who like to tell me I drink too much, I plan on ringing in 2011 the same way I welcomed 2009 and 2010: with plenty of bubbly followed by a cocktail or five. And I’m sure there are at least a few…

National brand Restaurants America dropped Primebar into its massive space at 1515 Arapahoe Street back in May of 2009, using the former Palomino digs to turn out New American fare in lodge-inspired decor, animal heads and all. A year and a half later, the place has called it quits…

The most bizarre restaurants in the country include Casa Bonita — and another Colorado joint. Forbes just published a list of the most bizarre restaurants in America, giving credence to gimmicky places that lure diners with everything from ninjas and spy themes to goats. And of the eleven restaurants featured,…

We’re just about to say goodbye to 2010, but we’re betting that this year’s top trend, the new-school food trucks that hit the pavement in Denver, will be holding on through 2011. Before those trucks were even a twinkle in their owners’ eyes, though, there was another fleet of mobile…

Since Noodles & Company opened its very first location in Cherry Creek in 1995, it’s expanded into a fast casual chain with 250 locations in eighteen states, offering noodle bowls that run the gamut from Wisconsin macaroni and cheese to an Indonesia peanut saute. And now, after fifteen years, the…