Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with a spacious kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s best ingredients home with them and cook up a feast, and when they’re not…
Back in January, Bones, Frank Bonanno’s noodle house in Capitol Hill, celebrated its fifth anniversary with a smashing seven-course dinner, and at least one of those dishes, namely the soy-braised pork belly ssam, a duo of pork belly and hoison-glossed duck mounted in a bamboo basket and served with glistening…
I spent last weekend in Steamboat Springs, a mountain town with a soaring restaurant scene that made for very good eating. And one of the restaurants that made a lasting impression was this bustling breakfast joint, which turns out some of the best corned beef hash in the Rocky Mountains…
Daniel Bradley 5280 Burger Bar 500 16th Street Mall 303-825-1020 5280burgerbar.com This is part one of my interview with Daniel Bradley, exec chef of 5280 Burger Bar; tune in tomorrow for part two of our chat. When you grow up in Burlingame, California, where fields of fresh produce are within…
On Thursday, after several years lying dormant, Denver’s historic Colorado National Bank building, originally built in 1915 and still one of the most stunning architectural structures in the Mile High City, will reopen as the Renaissance Denver Hotel, a multi-storied masterpiece that features futuristic hotel rooms and a new restaurant…
When you travel around the world and devote the majority of your time to eating in restaurants, you take note of what you love, which sometimes turns into a wistfulness of what you wish you had at home: a neighborhood bistro, for example. That’s what happened with Mary Nguyen, chef-owner…
If Mary wanted a little lamb that mimicked the taste of beef, she wouldn’t come here, but if she wanted a hearty lamb shank that was strong-flavored, grassy and slightly gamey, which, in my opinion, is the way lamb should taste, then she’d likely be here every night. Can you…
You can always tell when a restaurateur is apathetic, even when it’s his first rodeo and the balls are to the walls. Phil Armstrong is the antitheses of the indifferent restaurant owner. Armstrong, who first made a name for himself five years ago, when he started an underground supper club…
“Honestly, I never thought I would have more than one place,” reflects Troy Guard, a prolific Denver chef-restaurateur, whose restaurant empire, which includes TAG, TAG|Raw Bar, TAG Burger Bar, Los Chingones and Sugarmill, stretches far and wide — and just keeps growing, with a second TAG|Burger Bar and TAG|Raw Bar…
Cafe Society dished up five Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a cocky, chocolate-frosted doughnut from Voodoo to a burger paved with cream cheese and rings of jalapeno chiles from Providence Tavern to a lovely slice of chocolate cake from a super-tiny restaurant that’s doing everything right…
In late February, Hash, a breakfast joint owned by Heather Haupman, closed in Sunnyside, but the charming space wasn’t vacant for long. Ryan Turano, a chef who spent the last several years cooking in Breckenridge, snatched it up shortly after Haupman shuttered, and two weeks ago, he reopened it as…
Back in early March, we reported that Restaurant Kevin Taylor and Prima Ristorante, the two in-house restaurants at the Hotel Teatro, were closing to make way for a multimillion-dollar renovation — a renovation that would include a new restaurant, operated by the hotel. And yesterday, the Hotel Teatro announced the…
Years ago, when my parents split (where was conscious uncoupling in the 80s?) and I spent the obligatory weekends with my dad, we’d usually go out to for a steak-and-crab dinner, which wasn’t always a particularly pleasant experience. But last week, as part of a birthday celebration, I ended up…
Diane Snider Row 14 Bistro & Wine Bar 891 14th Street 303-825-0100 row14denver.com This is part two of my interview with Diane Snider, exec chef of Row 14 Bistro & Wine Bar; part one of our conversation ran yesterday. Most memorable meal you’ve ever had: When I traveled to Estoril,…
I often get asked by chefs and restaurateurs to suggest ways to separate themselves from the competition — what they can do to stay relevant, especially in a city that’s exploding with new restaurants and a swell of culinary talent. It’s usually a long discussion, but if there’s one piece…
Ah, indulgence. An awesome burger and a glass of highly potent barley wine equals the kind of night out that’s all too infrequent. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a Guess Where post — on the Cafe Society blog, not…
Diane Snider Row 14 Bistro & Wine Bar 891 14th Street 303-825-0100 row14denver.com This is part one of my interview with Diane Snider, exec chef of Row 14 Bistro & Wine Bar; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. Diane Snider had her first food epiphany in the sixth…
Troy Guard is easily one of Denver’s most prolific restaurateurs, a chef-owner who, in the past year alone, has opened three restaurants: Los Chingones, Sugarmill and Guard and Grace, a trio that joins TAG, TAG|Raw Bar and Tag Burger Bar, the latter of which will multiply later this year, when…
There have been several occasions where I’ve admitted, much to the chagrin of compulsive chocoholics, that chocolate isn’t my jam, but at this tiny restaurant that’s turning out some of the best food in Denver right now, I’m at the mercy of the chocolate cake…and just about everything else that…
When chef Mary Nguyen opened Olive & Finch in December of last year, gracing the Uptown neighborhood with an adorable cafe that serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and baked goods, she was determined to create a European-style, community-driven cafe and market that was reminiscent of her travels throughout Europe, where cafes,…
Seven years ago, on a Thursday in November, not long after Connor Gushen, a sous-chef at Vesta Dipping Grill, had moved to Denver, the scent of roasting turkeys wafted through the air. It was Thanksgiving, a day when families congregate around the dining room table and squawk about politics and…
Cafe Society dished up four Guess Where? contest posts last week, ranging from a vegan cheese plate that was consumed at Nectar House to venison ragu punctuated with spring vegetables from Vesta Dipping Grill to a Vietnamese crêpe hugging fried duck meatballs, a dish that hails from the kitchen of…
