My discovery of Camembert took place at an unmarked crossroads — one of late adolescence and early adulthood. I could have gone either way. It was a shaky yet impressionable time. The place was Normandy, France. The year was 1973. It took an afternoon. It included a nap. It involved…
The drink: Absinthe has such a splendid, uninhibited history — inspiring Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh and Oscar Wilde — that it must be great, right? And more of it must be even greater, right? Wrong. For its Sazerac — known as a Shazzerac ($10) — Shazz pours on the absinthe,…
Drink minimums make me think of strip clubs. Strip clubs make me feel dirty. By the transitive power of logical inference, then, drink minimums should make me feel dirty. Which they do, sort of — just not in the I-hate-to-see-you-subjugating-yourself-like-this kind of way. More in a defiant, dumbfounded, I-just-got-taken-advantage-of kind…
When Star Bar at 2137 Larimer Street received a liquor-code violation late last year, it had to close from January 1 to March 1, and the future looked dim for the last surviving saloon from the days when this area was Denver’s Skid Row. But new owners just took over…
Peter Ryan, the former chef of Z Cuisine, Denver’s best French restaurant at 2239 West 30th Avenue, is returning to his roots as an instructor at Cook Street School of Fine Cooking, the culinary institution from which he graduated in 1999 and then taught at for eight years as a…
The Place: Venue, 3609 West 32nd Avenue; 303-477-0477 The Hours: Monday through Friday, from 4 until 6:30 p.m. The Deal: Small plates are priced between $3-12; all beer, wine, and cocktails are half-price The Digs: Contrary to what one would assume, Venue does not have a bar. The space is…
The annual Snowmass Chili Pepper Brew Fest in June attracts some of the best chili cooks in the state to an International Chili Society-sanctioned cook-off. It also attracts beer geeks looking to sample some of the best brews made in Colorado. So you would think that Twisted Pine Brewing Company’s…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up, in no particular order, a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…
Blue drinks always remind me of a trip I took during college to Curacao, where they make, not surprisingly, Blue Curacao. Thank goodness I took that trip, because most drinks made with Blue Curacao are gross. This cocktail was an exception. Where am I drinking this blue martini that I…
I’m collecting menus, pictures and diner notes like a klepto right now, hoarding them up in my culinary bank, remembering and instantly rehashing. Chicago restaurants are ridiculously good. I want to say more, but I’m too busy eating to stop and recount them all, at least right now. Suffice it…
The dish in the above snap doesn’t appear on any Denver restaurant menu. That’s because it’s an amuse-buche, which you’ll likely receive from the kitchen, just so long as you sit at the chef’s counter. Can you guess where I’m eating?…
Samir Mohammad The Village Cork 1300 South Pearl Street 303-282-8399 www.villagecork.com Long before Samir Mohammad could legally drive a car, he’d flipped burgers, rolled taquitos, tossed pizzas, blistered his hands cooking red and green chile, washed dishes, waited tables, prepped and drunk from the bottom of a keg. “Yeah, I…
It’s all over but the shouting — and the counting — for the Readers’ Choice for the Best New Restaurant to open in 2009. More than fifteen noteworthy restaurants opened last year — add Cafe Options, Interstate Bar & Grill and the Lobby to the list here — which could…
Looking for something special tonight? The good news is, you’ve got choices; the bad news is, you’ll have to decide between three great dinners. Here’s what’s going on around town:…
Is creating an Easter display out of Peeps an evictable defense? That’s what a Boulder court may determine next week, when the case of AIMCO versus Carol “Chay” Burdick finally goes to court — and there are plenty of issues to chew on. As Michael Roberts notes, it “could impact…
At 7 a.m. this morning, the former Daphne’s Deli space at 393 Corona Street officially became the new storefront location for Waffle Brothers, making it the second outpost for waffle engineers Rod Dupert and John Power, who already run a waffle cart on the 16th Street Mall. “Even though Rob…
El Rancho, which bills itself as “a Colorado landmark since 1948,” is such a landmark that it has its own El Rancho exit off I-70. And now it looks like the current owners of the restaurant/event center are looking for their own exit. Although the restaurant’s still open, the 16,000…
Paula Deen, Food Network star and restaurateur, is being sued by Celebrity Chefs Tours LLC for an alleged breach of contract involving a ten-city promotional tour with Paula, her two boy-toy sons and her bearded snowman husband. In its suit, CCT claims it had multiple problems with the Deens, including…
People sure are funny about buying wine. Some go with a friend’s recommendation. Lots of people buy whatever’s on sale, or falls within their own personal “less than $12 is too cheap, but more than $20 is too expensive” wine price-to-quality indicator scale. Certain folks only buy wines which have…
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Vodka is not my friend. Nonetheless, I recently knocked back a few shots of the clear liquid, which had been infused with murderously spicy Fresno peppers, and mellowed by a plate of pickles. And much to my surprise, I didn’t gag,…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up, in no particular order, a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…
While Denver chef and restaurant consultant Michel Wahaltere scours the city for a space to open a new steakery, tentatively called Meet, he’s also teamed up with Cucina Colore owner Venanzio Momo, who hired Wahaltere to tinker with the menu. “I’ve started to work with Venanzio to bring new ideas…
