Four fantastic weekday wines to drink with dinner at home

While there’s less than four weeks remaining until spring the final days of winter still feel like they are literally crawling by. We’re between major holidays, so there’s not much to look forward to…unless you can find a way to get excited about the tasty, homemade (or, let’s be real…

Best King Soopers memory gets you $50 in groceries

Pardon the interruption, but over on Latest Word, our news blog, we’re holding a contest for the best memory of the King Soopers at Ninth and Corona, which unveiled its new look at a grand opening today. The winner gets $50 in groceries from the neighborhood grocer: Enter here! Also,…

Lon Symensma, exec chef of ChoLon, rips on bird’s nests, extols the virtues of lop chong and admits that his favorite macaroni and cheese is made with Velveeta

Lon Symensma ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro 1555 Blake Street 303-353-5223 www.cholon.com This is part one of my interview with Lon Symensma, executive chef of ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro. Part two of that interview will run in this space tomorrow. Lon Symensma talks faster than a hyped-up auctioneer, the words rolling…

Tonight: Raw Foods 101 at Colorado Free University

Get raw at Colorado Free University, which will be presenting a Raw Foods 101 class from 6 to 8:30 p.m. tonight at the Lowry Campus, 7653 East First Place. Admission is $44 to $56, plus a $12 materials fee; call 303-399-0093 or go to www.freeu.com. For information on dozens of…

Review preview: Carmine’s on Penn

I love the dizzying pace at which restaurants open in this city, bringing us new culinary visions and new gastronomic possibilities from new (and sometimes not-so-new) chefs. But there are times when nothing beats a good old neighborhood joint, a place that’s settled into its surroundings over the years, an…

2011 Beerdrinker of the Year: Phil Farrell

The Wynkoop Brewing Company’s annual Beer Drinker of the Year competition — in which contestants must prove their knowledge of the brew, not how much they can drink — found its 2011 winner over the weekend: Phil Farrell, a Georgia-based commercial pilot. Naturally, Farrell is also a homebrewer who boasts…

Vina Pho & Grill expands into Boulder

When Allyson Tran opened her first pho joint, Vina Pho & Grill, in Edgewater in 2009, she’d really been looking for a spot in Boulder. “I always wanted to go to Boulder,” she says. “My first plan was to open there, but we couldn’t find a location.” Now she’s finally…

Guess where I’m eating?

I love a hearty Mid East feast, and I wanted to love the restaurant where the above sampler platter was snapped, but aside from the tabbouleh and beef shawarma, both of which were fine — not stellar, but fine — nothing here made me want to come rushing back, least…

Restaurant roll call for February

February saw a handful of high-profile openings, including a second Marco’s Coal-Fired Pizzeria in the upscale Vallagio project. But Denver also lost a couple of longtime restaurants, including the Rocky Mountain Diner and Deli Tech. Our Restaurant roll call for February:…

Reader: Taco Bell dishes up beef…or bull?

While you’ll find many of the meatier comments on our ongoing Denver Restaurant Week post (best DRW story wins an EatDenver deck), people are still talking about the beef (or lack thereof) at Taco Bell, which now has an ad with employees touting the 88 cent Crunchwrap Supreme. “The only…

Today: It’s Oyster Month at Jax Fish House — get shucked!

Both locations of Jax Fish House — at 1539 17th Street in Denver (303-292-5767) and 928 Pearl Street in Boulder (303-444-1811) — are celebrating Oyster Month in March, with specials including testing menus and an oyster-eating contest, and a portion of the proceeds benefitting EFAA and the Gathering Place. For…

Bigger isn’t better at Carmine’s on Penn

By the time our entrees arrived at Carmine’s on Penn, I had a nearly irrepressible urge to turn to the next table — a gaggle of beefy men who’d just sat down — and explain that we three relatively normal-sized women had not come in to eat like pigs. We’d…

Gaetano’s on Tejon Street serves up great food

While I nursed a glass of cheap house red at the Gaetano’s bar, I watched neighbors cycle in to pick up their to-go orders. First came a couple in running gear, talking with a little too much enthusiasm about how great their workout was. They were replaced by a young…