Just got off the horn with Chad Clevenger, chef/owner of Mel’s Bar and Grill, who called to say he was done — finito — with the restaurant that he took over from Mel Master in July 2008. “I’m pretty much over Mel’s, over making Cobb salads and salmon for old…
Yesterday, while interviewing a Denver chef, I asked him what he’d want to put on his menu, even if it wouldn’t sell, and he said “white cheese dip.” Sort of like the oil-slicked swamp of cheese and chorizo in the above snap. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus:…
Chipotle Mexican Grill, the big-ass burrito-monger that started in a tiny renovated ice cream shop at 1644 East Evans in 1993 has reached a couple of milestones recently. The first European Chipotle started hawking the goods to Londoners in May, and yesterday, the chain opened its 1,000th restaurant in Flower…
Olivea is one of the seventeen 17th Avenue businesses joining together for the Seventeen on 17th benefit tonight, when they’ll all donate 10 percent of their sales to the National Wildlife Federation Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. That alone is a good reason to visit Olivea. But here’s another one:…
As part of an upcoming photo essay project spotlighting Denver restaurant pros whose tatts are as prevalent as their dissections, burns, blisters, knife slashes and stabs, we promised that we’d post some of the best ink on the Cafe Society blog…
When Leigh Jones first moved to Denver a decade ago and was living in Park Hill, the Recovery Room, at 819 Colorado Boulevard, was her neighborhood bar. She went on to open several bars and restaurants of her own — Brasserie Rouge and B-52 (both of which she owned with…
This is part two of Lori Midson’s interview with Bob Wiltshire, exec chef of Morton’s LoDo. To read part one of that interview, click here. Proudest moment as a chef: I was hired as a line cook at Jay’s Bistro in Fort Collins, and like a lot of chefs, I…
The early episodes of any Top Chef season tend to feature nonsensical challenges, probably because a large number of chefs are still in play. (I constantly have to remind myself who in the current sixteen is whom. Is that Ed over there? Alex?) Someone has to get sent home each…
Food activist and social-justice expert Bryant Terry will be lecturing tonight at the Denver Botanic Gardens — but don’t expect a garden-variety talk. Terry, whose most recent accomplishments include writing Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy & Creative African-American Cuisine, takes a creative approach to food; Vegan Soul Kitchen includes a…
Food Network magazine just crowned King’s Chef Diner in Colorado Springs with the best breakfast in Colorado award in its July/August cover story touting the best breakfasts in the country. It wasn’t “The Thing” (The Food Network recently featured “The Thing” in its Outrageous Food show) or “The Grump” –…
We’re pretty sure you don’t need any further reasons to drink. But just in case, here are two: Today, Telluride kicks off the Telluride Wine Festival, a multi-day event that runs through Sunday, June 27, and includes luncheons, cooking demonstrations, programs, seminars, tastings and live music. For details, go to…
Legend has it that the first owner actually was Brazilian,” our waiter muses as he admires the caramel-colored crema on top of our post-dinner espressos. “He left town after a year and a half because he couldn’t find fresh mangoes in the state of Colorado.” This is my aha moment,…
I avoid perky waitresses. I can handle friendly, even cheery, but perky annoys me the way that a tennis-ball-obsessed golden retriever annoys me. With so much panting and slobbering around me, I find it hard to relax and enjoy myself. So when I sat down at Q Worldly Barbeque and…
Cafe Brazil isn’t a trend-follower. The owners have had a good ride for close to twenty years without jumping on any passing bandwagons, and it’s worked just fine. But last year, as cocktail culture amped up, Marla, Tony and Mauricio opened the Rum Room to give the Front Range a…
Today’s a big day in the local supermarket world, and by big, we mean lines that reportedly started as early as 10 p.m. last night in anticipation of wee hour openings and accompanying giveaways and promotions. The newest of the new kids on the block, SmartCo, opened its first supermarket…
With the concentration of eateries in Larimer Square comes endless opportunities for roving culinary events, although the next manifestation of that won’t be roving, exactly. On Wednesday, July 21, the Square will be closed to traffic from 6 to 9 p.m. so diners can converge on the street for a…
Ever since I made my first trip to Oaxaca, six years ago, I’ve been enamored with mezcal, the distilled counterpart to tequila whose most recognizable asset is its smoky aftertaste. I once sat at the bar with a convoy of cowboys at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Santa Fe…
Pho 95, 1002 South Federal Boulevard, has won over other writers on these pages: first, Jason Sheehan, who titled his August 2009 review “Bowled over by Pho 95”; and again when the restaurant won Best Pho in this year’s Best Of Denver. I haven’t been to the new location at…
A permit application has been posted in the front window of Frasca Food and Wine, 1738 Pearl Street, for some time now, indicating the Boulder restaurant’s plans to erect restaurant or retail square footage in the empty space next to their existing dining room. The permanent modification and liquor license…
The Comfort Cafe has been a dream more than 20 years in the making, and today, that dream became a reality when the restaurant opened for lunch at 3945 Tennyson Street on a tree-lined stretch of sidewalk in Berkeley Park that includes Big Hoss Bar-B-Q, Kyle’s Kitchen and Brasserie Felix…
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of la cocina. Back in 1995, Saul Sierra was a nineteen-year-old high-school drop-out and dishwasher when he opened Mi Cocina Grille at 4935 West 29th Avenue with the help of his mother. Three years later, he sold that location (it’s now LaCocinata)…
Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them, and cook up a feast. “I love a…
