An open letter to vegans and carnivores from a consummate omnivore

As Sartre wrote, “Hell is other people.” While you vegans and carnivores have been making plenty of noise, there is a population of omnivores silently creeping among you, ducking behind buildings and mailboxes, getting shot at by meat-mongers for ordering tofu on our noodles, and getting gently but firmly chided…

Tonight: Sasa Radikon at Frasca Food & Wine

“This one is really important to me,” says Bobby Stuckey, co-owner of Frasca Food & Wine. “I’ve wanted to get these guys out here since we opened, but I never thought I’d really be able to do it.” He’s talking about Stanko Radikon and his son, Sasa, who make wine…

Tonight: FIVE dinner at Il Mondo Vecchio

Tonight, at 5 p.m., the crew of FIVE, a bumper crop of local chefs who cook their hearts out in Denver, at the James Beard House in New York and at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, are gathering at Il Mondo Vecchio for their second collaborative dinner of…

Guess where I’m eating?

For my last meal of Denver Restaurant Week, which ended on Friday, I hit up a joint that did everything right — a joint that turned out a terrific menu stockpiled with all of my favorite things, including a dish with gnocchi, carrots, brisket and cabbage. Can you guess where…

Tonight: Pints & Bites at the Governor’s Mansion

The Governor’s Residence at Boettcher Mansion hosts Pints & Bites, a Colorado craft-beer tasting from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight. Admission is $30, and includes brew tastes, snacks and live entertainment, for more details, go to www.blacktie-colorado.com/calendar/event-detail.cfm?id=21209. For information on dozens of culinary events around town, visit our online Food…

Ditch bitch: Top five dine-and-dash types

A week after Virgilio’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar caught some dine-and-ditchers on video, the town is still buzzing about how these ditch-bitches managed to get away with hogging and jogging. But while the now-notorious YouTubed “meatball gang” from Virgilio’s may have scored some free eats, they’re paying for them with…

After months of repair limbo, Samba Room finally pulls the plug

It’s been many, many months since floor leaks forced the closure of Samba Room in Larimer Square, but as late as December of 2010, the company, along with Larimer Associates, the group that owns the space, were optimistic that the place would eventually reopen. It wasn’t to be. E Brands,…

Seven 30 South offers a tipsy happy hour

Happy Place: Seven 30 South, 730 South University Boulevard, 303-744-1888 The Hours: Monday through Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. The Deals: $2.50 draft beers, house wine, and well cocktails; $3 you-call-its; $4 premium wine and cocktails; $4-5 food specials. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…

Reader question: What makes a good server?

My recent review of Carmine’s on Penn, wherein I wrote about being egregiously upsold by a server who’d initially gained my trust, garnered this question from reader Matt: I was just hired as a server a few nights a week, and I’ve never done it before. I wondered if you…

Guess where I’m eating?

That, people, is some of the most amazing pizza I’ve sunk my teeth into in years — not just in Denver, but anywhere. Thin-crusted, paved with an herb-laden sauce, tricked-out with just the right amount of cheese, topped with quality ingredients and greasy in all the good ways, it’s fitting…

Pay it forward to servers during Denver Restaurant Week

Welcome to In the Weeds. Kyle will be right with you — most likely to complain about something. Usually he is pleasant, but this is his place to blow off some steam. Don’t take it personally; he just needs to vent because he’s been doing this for about thirteen years…

LoDo restaurants in the limelight at annual awards

Two decades ago, when the first LoDo Limelight Awards were handed out, restaurants were few and far between in lower downtown. But today the restaurant and hospitality industries are the heart of LoDo, and businesses ranging from the venerable Oxford Hotel to the brand-new ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro were honored…

Reader: Beware the cheesy, “foodie” people of Boulder

The news that Boulder, the “foodiest town” in the country, will finally get a specialty cheese shop when Cured opens next month was greeted enthusiastically by most readers — and with some skepticism from Dave M: There was a great specialty cheese shop in Boulder a couple years ago. The…