How was everything?” The server was looking at me expectantly, eyes flicking to the half-eaten plate of spaghetti, thick noodles lying listless in a lumpy tomato sauce that was beginning to separate, orange grease coagulating on the surface. I looked up. “Fine,” I said, giving the restaurant code word for…
I’m not sure I’ve ever been more excited for a place to open than I was for Green Russell. I’m a fan of the cocktail movement, even with all of its occasionally snob-tastic and overpriced nuances, and a sexy cocktail den, with pre-Prohibition libations and aloof, attractive bartenders spilling facts…
Frank Bonanno has built a formidable empire in Denver over the last decade, expanding out from his original spot, Mizuna, into Luca d’Italia, Osteria Marco and Bones. Last year, the restaurateur gave the city two new concepts: Green Russell, a speakeasy in Larimer Square, and Lou’s Food Bar, a roadhouse…
Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with almost 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program. You can…
Along with all the usual suspects offering Tuesday night taco deals in this town, you can add a less conventional spot: Row 14 just announced Taco Tuesdays, when it will add a board of tortilla-wrapped meats and salsas to its usual list of charcuterie, brandade fritters and duck crepes…
Breckenridge Brewing is hitting the airwaves with a TV campaign spoofing the big boys of the industry and the gimmicks that they use to sell beer. The four Truth in Beervertising ads feature Breckenridge head brewer Bob Harrington delivering one-liners in a deadpan voice that skewers the cold-indicator systems used…
The news that Cafe Berlin is moving to the 16th Street Mall reminded us that it was time to check in on the status of another longtime German restaurant, Chinook Tavern. When the Georg family closed their restaurant at 265 Detroit Street back in June 2008, they promised that Chinoook…
Justin Brunson is one of the busiest chefs in Denver right now. Masterpiece Deli, with which we have a serious love affair, is applying for a liquor license, Brunson is prowling to open a second Masterpiece Deli location, and while Lechon, a pig-centric restaurant project between Brunson and Ben Parsons,…
Upslope Brewing has a big summer on tap. The Boulder brewery has just tripled the size of its taproom — a grand reopening party takes place on Thursday, May 12 — and will add a fourth canned beer, Upslope Craft Lager, to its all-can lineup in the next two weeks…
The combination of beer and pizza is one of our favorite pastimes here at Cafe Society headquarters — and here, where the above snap was flashed, both ring in cheap during happy hour. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the…
I spent the past weekend preparing for summertime fun and frolic, and that means just one thing: vodka. Vodka not just in my glass, but vodka in my food. Summer is a great time to brown-bag both a beverage and a meal, and these libation-licious dishes are some of my…
Cafe Berlin just vacated its spot on 14th Street for the 16th Street Mall, saying it couldn’t move forward in a space so close to Civic Center. But another restaurant is ready to give that location a go: Belvedere Restaurant just landed its liquor license…
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines: The Great American Food Truck Race descended on Denver this past weekend, bringing lots of food and fun, as well as comments like this from Kay Ryan: Uhmm… try not to use the term, “paddy wagon,” which originated from a time when the Irish…
Russo’s Kitchen + Tavern in Englewood will host the Italia! Patio Wine Party; Massimo Bracco, owner of the Sartirano vineyards in Piedmont, will share his wines and knowledge with diners. The event starts at 6 p.m. and costs $27.99; for more info, call 303-799-9474 or go to www.russosvallagio.com. For information…
For concrete, unassailable proof that Denverites have well and truly embraced the street-food phenomena, all you had to do was walk outside this weekend — straight into food-truck utopia. As you all know by now, the Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race made an extended pit stop in the…
Not all festivals are as interesting as the Colorado Chocolate Festival, a Dana Cain creation that started out with chocolate-covered Twinkies, wine slushes, a guy dressed up like a box of Swiss Miss cocoa, some fine local chocolate makers kicking ass and winning awards — and ended with an introduction…
Spinach is in season at Berry Patch Farms, a family-owned certified organic farm in Brighton, and Berry Patch spinach — deeply forest green in color and bitter and sweet in flavor — is some of the best around. While I was munching on some of that spinach the other day,…
Luciano’s Pizza and Wings, a Buffalo-style joint that has attracted numerous fans over the years (including upstate New York native Jason Sheehan) and sparked some discussion after our recent “Denver’s five best wings” list, is closed — at least for now. The “open” sign is off, and there’s a lockout…
Pizza Fusion, which opens today at 571 East Colfax, in conjunction with Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, is pursuing a beer and wine liquor license that will add a roundup of liquid libations to go with its organically inclined, oval-shaped pies. The hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. on May…
Six years ago, Cafe Berlin gave up its longstanding Seventeenth Avenue address to move downtown, picking up the lease on a vast, bright space on Tremont and Fourteenth Streets. But the spot served its last meal in those digs on April 23, in anticipation of a new move just a…
Blink — and you’ll miss it. Not that Frankie Gallegos is worried about anyone actually doing anything of the sort, despite the fact that Frankie’s Cheesesteaks and More, his new cheesesteak joint, which opened promptly at 3:30 p.m. last Friday, is about the size of a button mushroom…
Tonight, chefs and restaurateurs from around the country will claim medals — shiny tokens that dub them the best in the country at their craft — at the James Beard Awards ceremony in New York City. In anticipation of the event, Andrew Knowlton, restaurant and drinks editor at Bon Appetit,…
