Sometime during the second week in December, most likely on December 13, Voodoo Doughnut, which got its start in Portland, Oregon and commands lines of epic length for its wacky — and often naughtily named — doughnut combinations like the cock-and-balls, a doughnut oozing with cream, will open its first…

There are still remnants of a winter wonderland outside, and when there’s snow on the ground — even a dusting — I gravitate toward a big bowl of chili, which I found at this pub that serves its boldly seasoned chili in a saucepan. Can you guess where I’m eating?…

Cafe Society dished up five Guess Where contest posts last week, ranging from a smashburger and fries from Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs to a downright awful platter of nachos from Buffalo Wild Wings, to a a bowl of sensational mussels that were drained dry of every last bit of liquid…

Just a few days after the Archive Room closed in Arvada at the end of September, it was swept up by three prolific names in the Denver/Boulder restaurant scene: Etai, Robin and Udi Ba-ron, the faces behind the Udi’s empire, which now has nine restaurants in its pocket, plus a…

In this week’s chef and tell interview with Nate Booth, chef of the Rio Grande in Boulder, he makes a bold declaration: “We have the best damn margaritas and Tex-Mex food this side of the Rio Grande,” he insists. And while that may be a stretch, it’s certainly true that…

Earlier this week, after taking my kid to the doctor to get eight stitches removed following an incident involving a can of soda and his cheekbone (thanks, Kyle!), he wanted sympathy, which, for him, means a burger and fries. So off we trotted to this restaurant, one of his favorites,…

Back in July, when we announced that Matador Restaurant and Tequila Bar, a Seattle-based Tex-Mex restaurant, had signed a lease on the now-shuttered Heidi’s Deli space in Highland, outspoken opponents weren’t particularly shy about voicing their dismay: “I think most of us in the Highlands could really care less. We…

It’s rare that I eat dessert at all, and I can count the number of times I’ve eaten dessert first on less than one toenail. But this dessert — a glorious butterscotch pudding crowned with salted caramel — might be enough to convince me that it’s absolutely okay to bend…

Nate Booth Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant 1101 Walnut Street, Boulder 303-444-3690 riograndemexican.com This is part two of my interview with Nate Booth, exec chef of the Rio, Boulder; part one of our chat ran yesterday. What cookbooks and/or food-related reading material do you draw inspiration from? My mom has my…

Sometimes a spoon just doesn’t serve its purpose, especially when the sauce, the broth, or the soup is just too good to leave anything behind — even a drop. And there are those of us who will unabashedly tilt the bowl to our mouths in order to make sure that…

Four years ago, when I interviewed Peter Ryan, then the executive chef/instructor at Cook Street School of Culinary Arts, I asked him what he wished would disappear from Denver’s culinary landscape. “Acceptance of a lousy performance by a restaurant,” he told me. “Everything counts in the hospitality industry, but a…

Nate Booth Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant 1101 Walnut Street, Boulder 303-444-3690 riograndemexican.com This is part one of my interview with Nate Booth, exec chef of the Rio, Boulder; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. It’s a question that just about everyone has asked: What’s in those potent margaritas?…

Pho Duy & Grill, which is not affiliated with Pho Duy on Federal Boulevard — but shares family ties with the Pho Duy in Aurora — opened last week in Centennial with a menu that, not surprisingly, bowls over with pho. Seventeen versions of the Vietnamese noodle soup, including rare…

Sometimes things just suddenly appear out of the blue — in this instance, the ocean blue — at my table. Such was the case over the weekend, when a plate of jellyfish head was ceremoniously thrust upon the table. Jellyfish head, it turns out, isn’t the head of the jellyfish…

What defines an essential restaurant? Several opinionated friends and I were recently discussing that topic during dinner at a trendy newcomer that’s amassed a flurry of flattery since opening its doors. It’s a restaurant-of-the-moment, but will it still be relevant in six months? Will the crowds continue to jam the…

Stuck in the suburbs, I wound up at this labyrinth of TVs — ninety, according to the hostess, who may have been exaggerating — and shrine to below-average bar food, including these abysmal nachos topped with chile that tasted like a tin can, jalapenos that were definitely from the can,…

Cafe Society served up five Guess Where contests last week, ranging from a pair of boba smoothies from Cowboba’s to a bowl of unimpressive lentil soup from Cafe Byblos, to a stellar plate of pork belly and mustard greens from a restaurant, whose “secret” Chinese menu is full of wonderments…

On Friday, November 29, Noah French, pastry chef of TAG, will open Sugarmill at 2470 Broadway, finally unleashing the visions of sugarplums that have been dancing in his head for the past 25 years. It’s a lifelong sweet dream for French, who partnered with Troy Guard, exec-chef owner of TAG,…

Neon green relish, check. Yellow mustard, check. sport peppers and onions, check. A Chicago-style hotdog? Nope. No wieners here — just sandwiches and cheesesteaks, one of which is plopped with all the condiments that you’ll typically find on a Chicago-style frankfurter. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone…

UPDATE: We have a winner of our First Bite Boulder contest, in which we asked Cafe Society readers to answer this question: How many total meals were served during last year’s First Bite Boulder? Congrats to Katie602, whose guessed 42,000 meals. The actual number is 48,880. Katie602, we’ll send you…