When I last spoke with Tom Botelho, he was in an airport lounge, looking at Gerard Depardieu (foreshadowing!), heading to Europe on a family vacation, and not talking about anything but that. He was certainly not talking about the rumor that he was about to be named the new executive…
Spam is enjoying unprecedented popularity in these trying economic times, which means that the 2009 Great American SPAM Championship, a recipe competition that includes a qualifier at the Colorado State Fair, could be the toughest contest on record. Last year, a Colorado man, Ron Pearman, took the national prize with…
Yes, the University of Colorado has big budget troubles — so, of course, school officials have done the only thing they could do: issued a $780,000 contract to an international branding company, Landor, to design a new logo that will unite all branches of the CU system under one common…
Denver District Court Judge Larry Naves played the tough guy last week when he issued his ruling in the Ward Churchill case — not only refusing to give the controversial former University of Colorado prof his job back, but also tossing the entire lawsuit, determining that the CU Board of…
Gustavo Arelleno, author of Ask a Mexican, is getting ready to travel around Estados Unidos to do research for his upcoming book on the history of Mexican food in the U.S.– and he could use your help. He’s looking for favorite Mexican restaurants, and is running a contest for the…
Buca di Beppa is touting a new beginning — or “beggining,” if you look closely at the subject line — by sending a half-off coupon to prospective members of its club. You can’t use those coupons in downtown Denver, of course; the Buca location at 1400 Market Street has been…
The original casket of Emmett Till was among the missing items uncovered in the Alsip, Illinois, cemetery scandal. After the body of the fourteen-year-old civil rights martyr was exhumed in 2005 for an investigation into Till’s lynching back in 1955, when the Chicago boy dared to talk to a white…
The Cherry Cricket’s expansive new patio is a hit — and the kitchen has taken a major hit trying to handle all the business. “Needless to say, the patio has been an overwhelming success,” says Mark Schiffler, the chef who was an original partner in the Wynkoop Brewing Co., which…
Pulling up to Denver International Airport yesterday, I was already feeling nostalgic. New aviation director Kim Day is working on a master plan that could turn the grand, tented terminal into a giant mall that would be off limits to anyone who hasn’t gone through security — and security itself…
The Wazee Supper Club was just three years old when I first walked in — but it felt like it had been there forever, a great hideaway tucked under the still-standing 15th Street Viaduct, in an area of lower downtown that was still a decade away from being nicknamed “LoDo.”…
On Saturday, as railroad enthusiasts chased the 65-year-old Union Pacific steam engine powering the Denver Post train to Cheyenne Frontier Days, the chase was also on inside the train: to find out if Bob Beauprez is going to throw his cowboy hat in the ring for the U.S. Senate seat…
McDonald’s is celebrating the thirtieth birthday of the Happy Meal by bringing back a favorite Happy Meal toy: Ty Teenie Beanie Babies. The happy chain kicked off its four-week celebration this weekend in Minneapolis, which McDonald’s has named the “Happiest City for Families,” based on such “family-fun criteria” as the…
This could have been the quietest closing in town: Sengers on the Fax filed for Chapter 7 on July8, according to a legal notice in today’s Denver Business Journal. The watering hole at 3014 East Colfax Avenue got off to a fast start when it opened two years ago, but…
If Mark Huebner got booted from The Bachelorette, it’s only because Jillian never got to try one of his Cripple Creek pizzas.We did yesterday, and the meat-heavy pie (sausage, pepperoni, Genoa salami) on an ideal crust was a big hit. “Not too thick, not too thin,” Huebner says of the…
Yesterday, a reader sent me this note: The other day I got a letter in my mail box from Governor Bill Ritter about Long Term Care. It is great to see him helping out Coloradans with a very important life experience issue. I applaud his efforts. However, it pained me…
After a kitchen fire at the end of June, Big Hoss Bar-B-Q had hoped to reopen by the Fourth of July weekend. When Hoss Orwat’s barbecue joint blew through that deadline, it set July 15 as a goal. But Big Hoss didn’t make that one, either. The tentative reopening date…
Life on South Pearl Street will be a little less sweet when Mulberries Cake Shop leaves its longtime spot at 1570 South Pearl and moves to Colfax and Vine — where the baked goods will be just as impressive, they promise, and the new place will have the added amenity…
At the entrance to my local Safeway, just off Federal at 26th Avenue, a small plaque in the ground commemorates two grocery-store workers who were killed when a car crashed into the store’s parking lot back in 1996. On a door to the store are fliers advertising job opportunities at…
After almost two years of searching, Walnut Room owner John Burr has finally found a spot for his next venture, the Walnut Room Pizzeria. It’s the former home of Freaky’s, at 2 Broadway. There was a fire in the building at Broadway and Ellsworth back in March 2008 and the…
Westword’s first office was located in the 1400 block of Market Street, before that area was nicknamed LoDo, before Larimer Square a block away was one of the hottest restaurant neighborhoods in town, back when our neighbors were parking lots and restaurant and hospital supply companies. The space right below…
As reported here in March, the Wine Cellar could soon uncork in Highland. This morning, the prospective owners of the joint, which would take over the spot at 2556 15th once occupied by the Red Door shop, are at their liquor-license hearing before the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses…
Mayor John Hickenlooper delivered his seventh State of the City speech yesterday, standing on the Greek Pavilion in Civic Center Park at the start of the work day. It was a stunning setting for a sobering speech; the park’s lushness made Hickenlooper’s message all the more stark: There’s no money…
