It was “old home week,” Mayor John Hickenlooper proclaimed yesterday at the kick-off for a new event, Denver Beer Fest, which has the town overflowing with more than150 beery happenings between now and September 27. Hickenlooper was referring not just to the setting of the announcement — the Wynkoop Brewing…
“These are my peeps,” proclaimed Mayor John Hickenlooper, the geologist-turned-brewpub-owner-turned-politician. He gestured to the crowd of brewers and other beery folks who’d gathered at the Wynkoop Brewing Co., the brewpub that Hick and a hearty crew of entrepreneurs started in LoDo more than twenty years ago. The Mayor is no…
The residents of Writer Square were ready last night with their petitions complaining about a proposed liquor-license change for the former Zaidy’s Deli Downtown, which morphed into Zaidy’s Fusion Grill this spring and was planning to transform itself again into Fusion Cantina, offering salsa dancing and live entertainment. But the…
Bacaro Venetian Taverna already boasts a winning DeKuyper Mix Master bartender in Ken Kody. And now it has a new chef: Fabio Flagiello. Flagiello trained in Italy and France, and worked in restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco. During his time in L.A., he consulted with the film industry…
City officials and other Denver dignitaries will be on hand this morning when the Four Seasons project tops off with the placement of “The Mast,” a 75-foot capper to the 45-story hotel-and-residential development on 14th Street. There was a little less hoopla last Friday, when city officials cut a ribbon…
Steve Horner is not happy, and his unhappiness fills my voice mail, spilling over in message after message. The source of this bitter spew? A recent ruling from the Division of Civil Rights, an “amended determination” in response to charge No. P20090009X, a complaint that Horner had originally filed against…
I love the fact that my day goes by so fast,” says Craig Dixon, chef/manager at Cafe Options. That day starts plenty early: Dixon is at the fast-casual restaurant at 1650 Curtis Street by 6 a.m. every weekday, to unlock the doors and greet the customers who start coming in…
The lights were off on Monday, and the listing suddenly disappeared from the upcoming hearings schedule at the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses — but by all accounts, the liquor-license hearing at which the city will consider whether to expand Zaidy’s license to allow live entertainment at the Writer…
As she kicked off her campaign as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate yesterday, former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton promised to stand up to the “big spenders in both parties.” But big spenders in the Republican Party have certainly stood up for Jane Norton before. In fact, they helped…
The Best and Worst of National News for July according to GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is out, and Kenny Be — yes, Kenny Be,Westword’s sensitive and insightful staff cartoonist — is on the hit list. Here’s the story from GLAAD’s website: THE WORST The Denver Westword…
Zaidy’s Deli, a mainstay at 121 Adams Street in Cherry Creek for decades, opened a downtown outpost several years ago in Writer Square. It did a decent breakfast and lunch business there, but the crowds flocking to LoDo and Larimer Square in the evening — and walking right past Zaidy’s…
Independent restaurants across town are offering specials right now to celebrate Harvest Week. This order of albondigas is one of those specials; guess where we found it?…
The 2010 election is still more than thirteen months away, but the race for the U.S. Senate season occupied (for the past eight months) by Michael Bennet really starts this week. On Tuesday, former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton will formally announce her bid for the Republican nomination — taking on…
Juicy Lucy’s has given up the ghost at 250 Josephine Street — a ghost that’s claimed so many other restaurants, including Papillon, Indigo, Go Fish Grille and Tula. Although the restaurant closed suddenly last Thursday, the owners — who also own the popular Juicy Lucy’s in Glenwood Springs — have…
Apparently all the behind-the-scenes arm-twisting hasn’t convinced Andrew Romanoff to abandon the idea of running for Michael Bennet’s Senate seat. The former Speaker of the House hasn’t been speaking to the press since word of his possible Senate race leaked out two weeks ago, but yesterday, he issued one of…
The fifth annual Denver Food & Wine Classic kicked off last night, and it’s bigger and better than ever this year — in every way. “Art of the Cocktail and a Movie” brought several hundred people to the Quad at Metropolitan State College on a beautiful summer night for an…
Cross your fingers for Eder Yanez-Mota, the owner of Chili Verde, the spot at 3700 Teon Street that’s been cooking up southern Mexican cuisine for a few months now. He opened the restaurant without a liquor license, but all that could change after tomorrow morning’s hearing with the Denver Department…
“At long last,” proclaims the Coalition of Immokalee Workers website, “a grower steps forward.” And let’s not forget a restaurant company, Chipotle, which, as spokesman Chris Arnold had told us three weeks ago, was negotiating with that grower to get around a stalemate that had prevented the Denver-based outfit from…
There’s a promising sign posted at 1555 Blake Street, the future home of H Burger Lounge. Peter Pflum, the restaurateur (he’s the former operations manager for Dave Query’s Big Red F Restaurant Group and most recently the VP of operations for Quizno’s) who came up with the idea of putting…
In this week’s Westword, Joel Warner reports on the ganjapreneurs, economic adventurers exploring this state’s booming business in medical marijuana. Among the folks high on the field’s possibilities: the Candy Girls, three women who started a company that cooks up goodies made with cannabis-infused oils or butters. This medicine may…
I am not a lawyer, but lately I’ve been called upon to play one when visiting local watering holes — as a member of the bar, so to speak. The owners of these locales all want to know one thing: Can they hold a ladies’ night? I’ve developed an unwanted…
The fifth annual Denver Food & Wine Classic kicks off at 6 p.m. tonight with “Art of the Cocktail and a Movie,” which will pour on the drinks before an outdoor screening of Pressure Cooker, in which documentarians Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker follow three inner-city culinary students through a…
