The West Highland neighborhood and Highland Square complex have experienced ups and downs as gentrification continues and tastes change. Frasca duo Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson recently opened Pizzeria Locale on West 32nd Avenue not far from Frank Bonanno’s Salt & Grinder, bringing new energy to the street. But there’s…
The sunlit interior of Maria Empanada, Lorena Cantarovici’s rendition of an Argentinean bakery and cafe, invites guests to linger, with three distinct spaces that capture various aspects of the South American country’s social culture. The front section adjacent to the bakery cases and coffee bar is “a little bit of…
Wedging four people into a tiny booth at Golden Europe was no easy task: accommodating the lefties in the group, making sure I had room to take photos of my food, sitting comfortably without becoming entangled in the lace curtains above the table. It was a tight fit, and made…
The Denver Adventurous Eaters Club may be calling it quits, but there are still plenty of places for adventurous eating in Denver. From the pho houses of Federal to the fine dining establishments offering offal in many forms, the variety and quality of unusual eats has never been better in…
Denver Restaurant Week started more than ten years ago to showcase the metro area’s dining scene in February — the time of year when restaurant traffic is generally at its slowest. A half-dozen years ago, to boost business at the beginning of the Great Recession, a second week was added…
Cliff and Zachary Young opened a bar,restaurant and live music venue around the corner from CY Steak — Cliff Young’s other venture — last year under the name BaRed. The intention was for the name to be pronounced “Bar Red,” but to avoid confusion, the Youngs have updated the name…
Only three months ago, we reported that Pho De had opened in the spot previously occupied by Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant and, before that, Vietnam Grill — the quaint bistro that had won Best Vietnamese Restaurant in our 2013 Best of Denver edition. But the stock pot at Pho De had…
It seems a shame to not have a baker in the Baker neighborhood. Pie specialists Humble Pie moved out in September to find bigger digs, leaving a void in the market. Now Waffle Up, which started as a food truck just over a year ago, will be filling that void…
Chef Jon Emanuel is just back from a sabbatical on his family’s farm in Missouri, refreshed and ready for the challenges of his job as executive chef of Project Angel Heart, the organization that delivers meals to people living with life-threatening illnesses. In addition to planning menus, cooking specialized dishes…
Think you’ve got what it takes to bone a chicken in front of a camera, smile as you eat your way through the diners and drive-ins of small-town America or explain the difference between salami and salumi to an audience of millions? The Food Network is hosting a casting call…
“It’s great — but it’s also been stressful,” says Hosea Rosenberg on being so close to finally opening his own restaurant. Blackbelly Market has been slowly taking shape in its shopping center location on the east side of Boulder, and the Top Chef winner, food-truck operator and caterer says that,…
LYFE Kitchen, the healthy lifestyle restaurant chain that got its start in Palo Alto, California, and made its Colorado debut at the Park Meadows mall in June, opened Wednesday in Boulder under the ownership of Rachel and DJ Mitchell, who also operate the Park Meadows location. Jeremy Bringardner, one of…
Beer, tequila and pulque have been a part of Mexican culture for centuries. A new exhibit titled El Brindis Remixed, debuting tomorrow tonight at the Museo de Las Americas , features photography from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries celebrating el brindis — the toast. The exhibit, which the Museo calls…
Eric Skokan opened Black Cat Bistro in 2006 and added a kitchen garden the same year, “originally just to relieve stress,” says the chef/restaurateur, who now also operates Bramble & Hare just two doors away from his original Boulder restaurant. He remembers “puttering around in slippers with a cup of…
Aurora’s restaurant scene may not be on the cutting edge of national food trends or garnering acclaim for its food “concepts” and bar “programs,” but the sprawling city has long been an international zone for cuisines not common in Denver. Competition is fierce and multiple restaurants come and go in…
In a statement released today, Chipotle is officially asking Colorado voters to check “Yes” on Proposition 105, the ballot initiative that would require food that has been genetically modified or treated with genetically modified material to be labeled, “Produced With Genetic Engineering.” Although Chipotle — and other restaurants — would…
Sitting alone at the bar early on a Tuesday evening probably isn’t how the management at Polished Tavern envisions guests experiencing the full impact of the place. But I’m not the only one going solo; a few other single drinkers and diners occupy other bar stools, while one or two…
Residents of West Highland will have to get their oyster fix in another part of town; the windows at the Highland Pacific Restaurant and Oyster Bar are covered with paper and the phone isn’t being answered. A message on the the neighborhood seafood joint’s Facebook page, though, assures us that…
Restaurateurs around Denver are really hoping you’ll get on board with their fast-casual pizza concepts; time and money are being spent perfecting dough recipes, building health-conscious angles, and firing up custom ovens to blister crusts in the amount of time it takes you to swipe a debit card. Businesses are…
Belgium is known for two things in most of the world: chocolate and those miniature cabbages from Brussels. Food does seem to be their thing in the tiny country that’s split geographically and culturally between the Flemish and the Walloons, but an equally tiny Arvada beer and Belgian street-food bar…
Golden’s State 38 Distilling hates to see fermentable sugars go to waste. Fortunately, owner and head distiller Sean Smiley has an way to fix that: He’s taking donations from your fruit trees through the end of October so that he can make an all-Colorado, community-sourced fruit brandy, which he thinks…
No. 70 Venezuelan Tostadas at Empanada Express Grill 4301 West 44th Avenue 303-955-8362 We’re fans of the namesake Venezuelan savory pastries from Empanada Express Grill; we also have a soft spot in our hearts for the mouthwatering arepas made with griddle-crisped corn flour. But it’s a hybrid dish, not a…
