Corner House 2240 Clay Street 720-287-1895 cornerhousedenver.com This is part one of my interview with Sharif Villa Cruz, exec chef of Corner House; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. It’s a tradition in Mexico to “gather our families together for big meals, usually at our grandmother’s house,” says…
When butcher Kevin Klinger, one of the original tenants of the Source, Denver’s airy indoor food-beer-wine-and-restaurant emporium in RiNo, closed Meat Head last month, there was, not surprisingly, a lot of interest in the diminutive square footage that shares real estate with Comida, Acorn, Babettes Artisan Breads, the Proper Pour,…
“During the winter season, we hibernate inward,” says Daniel Asher, culinary director of Root Down and Linger. But spring? Spring, he counters, “represents turning outward, feeling the sunshine on our skin and setting the tone for seasonality that takes us through the rest of the year.” Spring, he adds, “gives…
I didn’t partake in pot this weekend, but that’s not to say that I didn’t have the munchies. Still, instead of stuffing Twinkies and chips down my gullet, I satisfied my hunger pains with a hearty sandwich of chicken salad, melted cheddar, tomatoes and arugula. Not exactly the kind of…
“I don’t know if I could have predicted how popular it would become,” acknowledges Jeff Osaka, referencing the wave of Japanese ramen mania that’s sweeping the nation. “Ramen is something I’ve been eating since I was a kid, so it’s not new to me, but it seems like the nation…
Cafe Society served up five Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from the highly addictive house-baked pretzel twists at Old Major to a plate of completely forgettable sushi rolls from Red Ginger to a Mid-East kabob feast from a suburban strip mall joint…
When will the mooing stop? Anyone who lives in Denver, around Denver, even miles from Denver, knows that the last thing this city needs is another burger barn, but that’s not stopping cattle herders from other cities from stampeding our stamping grounds with the next latest and greatest burger mania…
If you’ve ever been to this restaurant, then you’ll recognize these pretzel twists immediately — and you’ll understand, too, why two is never enough. I have no plans to partake in 4/20 this weekend, but if I did, this is where I’d go for my munchie fix, and it’s not…
The concept behind Mile High Italian Deli, a small, 800-square-foot storefront in Highland, is sandwiches, panini, salads, and, on Saturday, pizzas, the latter of which is an extension of Mile High Pizza Pie, a pizza joint that rose — and fell — downtown, after the landlord threatened to raise the…
UPDATE: We have a winner of our Trillium Easter brunch contest, in which we asked Cafe Society readers to answer this question: How many mimosas did Trillium serve during last year’s Easter brunch? Congratulations to Mlp48, who came the closest with a guess of 142; the actual number is 167…
Easter brunch is the official culinary transition into spring, and dozens and dozens and dozens of restaurants around the city are gearing up for what’s traditionally one of the busiest feasting holidays of the year. Trillium, Ryan Leinonen’s Scandinavian-biased restaurant in Ballpark, already boasts one of the loveliest brunches in…
It’s an attractive offer: all sushi rolls priced 50 percent off, all day long. But like a lot of things in life, you get what you pay for, and aside from the fact that the fish tasted faded and the rice was even duller, with no hint of the obligatory…
When I was in my late twenties and early thirties, I avoided eating meat. The reasons why aren’t important, but looking back on that phase, I wish I’d chosen a different time in my life to go meat-free, because I was living in Chicago, where militant vegetarians were few and…
Matt Stein Bruxie 1000 South Colorado Boulevard, Glendale 303-963-9045 bruxie.com This is part two of my interview with Matt Stein, chef of Bruxie; part one of our conversation ran yesterday. Most memorable meal you’ve ever had: I had dinner in a seafood restaurant in Bari, Italy, with my partners, my…
Yesterday, after briefly stopping at a restaurant that made me sprint to the nearest wash sink to slather my hands in soap, I didn’t have much of an appetite, but that all changed when I took a seat at a well-known deli and ordered a corned beef sandwich stacked with…
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…
Matt Stein Bruxie 1000 South Colorado Boulevard, Glendale 303-963-9045 bruxie.com This is part one of my interview with Matt Stein, chef of Bruxie; part two of our conversation will run tomorrow. Even after three decades in the kitchen, Matt Stein still shakes his head in denial as he recalls what…
In 2004, four years after Oshima Ramen, a Japanese noodle shop, opened on Hampden, then-Westword restaurant critic Jason Sheehan made us all aware of how lucky we were to have Oshima — part of a chain of ramen noodle shops that started in Japan — in a city that was…
It’s been fifteen years since Olga moved to Denver from Russia and began a career as an accountant. But the grind of crunching numbers all day, plus working for other people, she says, wasn’t giving her the fulfillment she was looking for. “I was a CPA and working in the…
It was a chef who recommended that I drag my butt to the suburbs — and to this joint, in particular — to get my Middle Eastern fix, and so I did, feasting on a well-dressed plate of meaty kabobs, baba ghanoush and spicy hummus. Can you guess where I’m…
It’s normal for a restaurant owner to be nervous on opening day — even if it’s not your first rodeo and you’ve assembled an experienced staff. There’s often chaos, flared tempers and a general reaction of palpable fretfulness. But this morning, at the new Maria Empanada, the vibe was pure…
With the flurry of new restaurant openings, it’s all too easy to sweep some of the older ones — like the restaurant where this photo was snapped — under the rug, but this lively spot, which is celebrating ten years feeding the neighborhood in which it resides, continues to command…
