Just got off the horn with Michael Long, exec chef and partner at Aria, Long’s New American restaurant at 250 Josephine Street, and the news is good: After months of getting the dining room, kitchen and bar in tip-top shape, Aria will open tomorrow at 5 p.m. “My stress level…
This is part one of Lori Midson’s interview with Mike Adams, the executive chef of Racines. Part two of that interview will run in this space tomorrow. Mike Adams Racines 650 Sherman Street 303-595-0418 www.racinesrestaurant.com “Are you seriously going to write that?” asks Mike Adams, stretching over his chair to…
No. 89: Lemon-ricotta doughnuts from Olivéa They were an afterthought, those doughnuts. After desecrating the headcheese, swelling my jowls with pork cheeks, emptying a plate of tortellini bobbing in a pancetta-scented broth and reducing the guilt with a crock of cauliflower, the doughnuts just sort of appeared…
The sign dangling from the door of Wolfe’s Barbecue plainly says “closed,” but at 3:15 p.m., fifteen minutes after barbecue nobleman Louis Wolfe has closed for lunch to prepare for the impending dinner rush, in walks an optimistic latecomer who orders two pork dinners. “We’re out of pork,” laments Wolfe,…
Considering the woes of the past week, Olav Peterson is in a much better mood than you might expect. The chef/owner of Bittersweet, which, after a series of soft openings, was originally slated to open Saturday night (it didn’t), and again tomorrow night (it won’t), is frustrated by the delays,…
No. 90: Albóndigas meatballs from Solera Solera chef Goose Sorensen, who’s been turning out beautifully composed plates around Denver for years, can pretty much nail any dish, plunging mussels into a sea of fragrant green curry, slicking his calamari with a Thai red chile glaze, using truffle oil judiciously (which…
Jeffrey Musat, the former general manager of Black Pearl, who vacated that position a few months ago to join the mini empire run by Leigh Jones, who owns Jonesy’s EatBar, The Horseshoe Lounge and Bar Car, showcases some awesome conversation piece tatts on his buff bod, but one inky blot,…
Pizza: It’s what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you’re a kid, and these three kids, all of whom had gathered for a birthday party at a relatively new Italian joint, didn’t waste any time shoving slices down their pieholes. Can you guess where they’re eating? Special bonus: Anyone who…
Earlier this week, fifteen local mixology magicians converged behind the bar of Steuben’s, 523 East Seventeenth Avenue, as part of the retro diner’s annual holiday toy drive, a festive, spirited party that involves clever cocktails, lots of willing imbibers, good will, good cheer, generosity and a heap of toys, all…
I’m a sucker for skinny, salt-licked fries, and these hand-cut tubers, fresh and hot and sidekicked with a choice of dipping sauces — in this case, curried — are worth their weight in Idaho potato fields. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct…
No. 91: Hummus from Shish Kabob Grill For more than six years, Shish Kabob Grill, an East Colfax corner cafe, across the street from the Colorado State Capitol building and a million miles from Lebanon, has been a popular Mideast feast house for falafel and fattouch, baba ghanouj and beef…
No. 92: Breakfast burrito from the Taco Wagon in Lafayette Way back in April, I was summoned to Lafayette on unofficial business, when, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a taco wagon pimping all the foods that add bulk to my rear…
For those of you who will wake up with a colossal-size hangover on the first day of 2011, having damaged your brain and battered your belly the night before with too many vodka and soda pours, flutes of champagne, or worse, shots of vile Jägermeister, there will be a new…
Jorge de la Torre Johnson & Wales University www.jwu.edu This is part two of Lori Midson’s interview with Jorge de la Torre, dean of culinary education at Johnson & Wales University. Part one of that interview ran in this space yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: The Shed in Santa Fe…
No. 93: Posole from The Porker The pig-centric street food that’s slung from The Porker, swine sultan Chad Clevenger’s humble stainless-steel cart on the corner of Seventeenth and California, is, it must be said, some of the most insanely good grub that’s being peddled from Denver’s pavement…
Last weekend, during a birthday celebration of a bunch of kindred Sagittarians — those of us, allege the astrology experts, who are optimistic and freedom-loving, jovial and good-humored, honest and straightforward and intellectual and philosophical — the kitchen wizard who commands the line insisted on marking the occasion (a combined…
Last night, a posse of local food scribes got a sneak peek of Bittersweet, Olav Peterson’s new restaurant at 500 East Alameda Avenue, which will open to the public for dinner on Saturday. The garden-to-table, artisanal food temple, which Peterson oversees with his wife, Melissa Severson, sprouted — and grew…
Jorge de la Torre Johnson & Wales University www.jwu.edu This is part one of Lori Midson’s interview with Jorge de la Torre, dean of culinary education at Johnson & Wales University. Part two of that interview will run in this space tomorrow. “I’m a little worried about this interview,” confesses…
Back in September, Brendon Doyle, the head chef of Jonesy’s EatBar, parted ways with Jonesy’s owner Leigh Jones. “I want a chef that has kitchen manager capabilities, and that’s not Brendon,” said Jones at the time. Doyle, for his part, made it clear that he was looking for “some good…
At this convivial Italian joint, where the owner knows everyone’s name (and everyone knows hers), the menu is punctuated with homespun classics from the boot-shaped peninsula, including ravioli, slicked with marinara, sheeted with mozzarella and flecked with parsley and Parmesan. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who…
No. 94: Seafood soup from Farro Matthew Franklin spent nearly eighteen years hunched over the burners at 240 Union, elevating that restaurant to easily the best feedlot on the west side of town — and part of what made 240 Union such a smash hit was Franklin’s unassailable mad talents…
Despite the fact that this iconic institution got its start slinging pizzas, it’s the Mexican food, ironically, that keeps me coming back. Still, the pizzas, while definitely not the best in the city, have their legions of disciples, including my kid, who insists — wrongly — that it’s the pepperoni…
