100 Favorite Dishes: Curried split pea soup from Modmarket

No. 70: Curried split pea soup from Modmarket Laptop geeks? Everywhere. Colorado-centric surfaces, most of them reclaimed, recycled or re-purposed? Definitely. A futuristic, fashion-forward restaurant design? Yes, that, too. Bubbling brick-oven pizzas, housemade sparkling waters, organic iced teas and leafy salads mixed with good-looking, mostly organic ingredients? Check. A vegan,…

Smashburger makes Inc.‘s list of ten most promising franchises in 2011

Things have gone, uh, smashingly for Denver-based Smashburger since it first opened on Colorado Boulevard back in 2007, serving American classics that have won over many burger-hungry diners. The chain has readily expanded since then, opening close to one hundred additional outposts from sea to shining sea. It’s about to…

Guess where I’m eating?

Ever time I blow through the door at this, one of our favorite Denver restaurants, I fall completely head over heels for the menu, easily one of the most playful and provocative in the city, in part, thanks to the chef, who continues to push the culinary envelope, dropping bombshells…

Valentine’s Day: What not to serve your beloved

That special day is coming right up. The day when your significant other — whether it’s on credit or true love — will ask what you’re going to make for dinner. If it’s not reservations, you need to plan your Valentine’s Day evening very, very carefully. Here’s what not to…

Tonight: Bachelorette Auction at Twisted Pine Brewing Co.

Hey, fellas: Need a date for Valentine’s Day? Twisted Pine Brewing Co., 3201 Walnut Street in Boulder, has you covered: At 7 p.m. tonight, it will host a Bachelorette Auction, with seven lovely women on the auction block for a date. Proceeds will benefit Kickstart My Heart; for more info,…

How to ruin Valentine’s Day

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…

100 Favorite Dishes: Celery and lime popsicle from Spuntino

No. 71: Celery and lime popsicle from Spuntino Cupcakes? Done (unless you’re Chris Romer or one of his minions). Pies? Yes, I adore them, especially when they’re plumped with fresh fruit. But, as of about noon yesterday, I’m hot, like California boys on California “Gurls,” for popsicles. But not –…

Guess where I’m eating?

The best thing about yesterday? The pies that flanked the tables during an early morning meeting that revolved — around what else? — food. The two slices in the above snap — banana cream and apple drizzled with caramel — made for a sweet breakfast this morning for a kid…

Big Papa’s BBQ bumps business using social media

Barbecue is a Southern and warm-weather food. So how is Big Papa’s BBQ seeing an increase in sales in the middle of a Colorado winter? In much the same way other businesses are driving revenue, it’s utilizing social media. In mid-November, Big Papa’s set out to see if it could…

Ten beers to drink alone on Valentine’s Day

There are plenty of lovey-dovey beers to drink with your honey on Valentine’s Day — the Coupler from Wynkoop Brewing, Red Ale from Odell’s, and Cherry Dip Stout at the Vine Street Pub, to name a few — but you’re drinking alone this year, right? For that, you need something…

Reader: Dump dill

Weed it and weap. Laura Shunk championed dill on her recent list of five things we should see on menus more often, prompting this from Angry Taste, Bud: You lost me at number 1. Dill? Really? A weed that tastes so much like ass it takes pickling brine to take…