Alto space snapped up

The space at 1320 15th Street occupied by Alto until the end of June has been leased by Paul Piciocchi, who owns Tryst and last fall bought Theorie, the club that was formerly the Real World: Denver home (and B-52 before that). No word yet on what will go into…

Wake-Up Call: Ted Kennedy in Colorado

Remembering Denver at this time last year during the Democratic National Convention — the downtown sidewalks full, the downtown cash registers ditto — it all seems like a mirage. Like that season of Dallas that ended with Pam finding Bobby in the shower, and realizing that the entire plotline had…

Chili today, hot tomorrow

We’re hearing good things about Chili Verde, a new restaurant cooking up southern Mexican cuisine at 3700 Tejon Street. Good things, that is, about everything but its lack of alcohol — but that could change next month. Owner Eder Yanez-Mota has a liquor-license hearing with the Denver Department of Excise…

Brio Tuscan Grille to open next week in Cherry Creek

The economy has slowed some restaurant projects and killed others, but Brio Tuscan Grille is right on track to open Wednesday, September 2 in the former (and much renovated) Macaroni Grill space at 2500 East First Avenue, in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. Brio is brought to us by the…

Wake-Up Call: Beauprez decides against a Senate run

In politics, timing is everything. Timing and money — big money, in the case of anyone who’s going to take on barely incumbent Senator Michael Bennet, who’s already raised over $2 million to retain an office he’s held for fewer than eight months. The money was a major obstacle in…

Hot dog! An award-winning Colorado recipe

Maria Carrion-Kozak of Colorado just took home the grand prize from Oscar Mayer’s Sabor de Mama recipe contest. Carrion-Kozak’s award-winner, “Tortilla Mama Luisa,” is a variation on her grandmother’s original Tortilla Espanola recipe — the hot dogs are new — and dedicated to her mother Luisa. “Oscar Mayer congratulates Mrs…

Wake-Up Call: The DNC’s island of misfit toys

I’m looking across the highway at the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field at Mile High, the settings for so many memorable sights during the Democratic National Convention, which kicked off exactly a year ago today. And between them — at least from this vantage point — is Elitch Gardens, where,…

Andrews on Lincoln reopens, Brandon’s does not

After closing earlier this week for a quick remodel, Andrews on Lincoln, at 1111 Lincoln Street, will reopen tonight with a full menu and an alter-ego: While one side of the space will remain a bar/restaurant, the other will be The Stage at Andrews, with live entertainment. For full details,…

Wake-Up Call: Pinned by a PIN

I was running late for a plane and needed some cash very early last Thursday, so I stopped by a local Wells Fargo, put my bank card in the ATM and keyed in my PIN. And nothing happened. Beyond a notice that occasionally blinked “Your PIN must be between 4…

Tomatoes thrown at Chipotle miss target

This week’s Time magazine story on “America’s Food Crisis and How to Fix It” cites Chipotle, Denver’s homegrown success story, as one of the companies doing things right — which made yesterday’s petition delivery to Chipotle headquarters in LoDo, calling on the company to work with the Coalition of Immokalee…

What’s Cooking? Pete Marczyk conquers zucchini

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 the big, new kitchen. They usually bring a selection of some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them, and cook up a feast…

Silver Mine Subs tapped out in Denver

“Around 1996, two guys were sitting around discussing their future. It was soon decided to leave the Midwest and travel to the base of the Rockies to seek fame and fortune, and that’s when they developed a ‘nugget’ of an idea for a fast food operation,” says the Silver Mine…

Wake-Up Call: Parking meter monitors

As Denver struggles to close its budget gap, ideas are flying. In his monthly e-mail to constituents, Doug Linkhart, an at-large member of Denver City Council, offers this: “How can a bunch of quarters help fill our $120 million budget gap? By doing what Chicago recently did, and letting someone…

New York, Houston’s has a problem

With more than thirty restaurants across the country (including one that opened at 303 Josephine Street in Denver in April), the Houston’s chain falls under the fourteen-month-old New York City rule that requires it to put calorie information its menus. But as Crain’s New York reports, Houston’s is refusing to…

Chipotle gets a special delivery today

No good deed goes unpunished. This summer, Chipotle sponsored 32 free screenings across the country of Food, Inc., the documentary that’s more frightening than any Friday the 13th movie. As thanks, this morning activists will deliver petitions with 16,000 signatures to Chipotle’s headquarters in LoDo, calling on the homegrown chain…

Wake-Up Call: Good riddance to First Data

First Data has flown the coop. The financial firm that moved its corporate offices to Greenwood Village in 2001 is now moving those offices back to Atlanta. First Data certainly made its mark while it was headquartered here. With its then-subsidiary Western Union doing a booming business in sending money…

A taste of restaurant history before LoDo Bites

We just heard that tonight’s LoDo Bites is sold out — bad news for procrastinators, great news for the LoDo District, which is putting on the event. It also says a lot about how far this part of town has come from the days when the Wazee Supper Club was…

Colt & Gray to open today

Colt & Gray, the city’s latest gastropub with an emphasis on ‘farm-to-plate” fare, promises to finally open today at 1553 Platte Street. The project met with several months of delays, but judging from the menu posted on the Colt & Gray website, this restaurant should be worth the wait…

Wake-Up Call: A very civil insurrection

At a round of town-hall meetings on health care that kick off today, first-term congresswoman Betsy Markey will hand out copies (abridged) of a George Washington favorite, “Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation,” originally a 110-item list of Jesuit guidelines for civil behavior. Great idea, but…

Brandon’s is still dark, dark, dark

Despite the sign posted in front of Brandon’s Pub last week, promising that “Bradon’s” would reopen last Friday “for real”, neither Bradon’s nor Brandon’s made an appearance. The doors were still locked up tight at 5 p.m. tonight, the room is dark, and the phone number just rings to voicemail…

Wake-Up Call: Civic Center’s past, present, future

Past, present and future all meet in Civic Center, the park at the heart of the city. To get a real feel for the park now, head to Civic Center Eats, the weekly marketplace that runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday in the summer. But stick around,…