The lunch bunch gives a thumbs-up to Phoenician Kabob

Foodies Eating Diverse and Unusual Platings (FEDUPs) is what we call ourselves. There are ten of us, plus the occasional “understudy” who is invited when not everyone can attend our once-monthly get-togethers at restaurants across the vast ethnic spectrum in and around Denver. (We have long joked that to withdraw…

Happy Hour Hunt: Encore

The Place: Encore Restaurant, 2550 East Colfax Avenue, 303-355-1112. The Hours: Monday through Saturday from 3 until 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. until close. The Deal: Half price well drinks, beer, and wines by the glass; small plates range from $4-7 and artisan flatbreads are priced from $5.50 to $6.50…

Guess where I’m eating?

They laughed at me, all of them, when I snapped the above pic. “What, you’ve never seen ducks like that before, or chickens?” inquired the owner, whose bewilderment (or maybe it was disgust) didn’t go unnoticed by the other tables of Chinese families. I mumbled something about “work” and “photos”…

Argyll extends Denver Restaurant Week by two days

Denver Restaurant Week is already two weeks long this year — but fourteen days aren’t enough for some restaurateurs. Reports of places extending their $52.80 (for two) deals are beginning to trickle in. First up? Argyll Gastropub, at 2700 East Third Avenue, which will offer it through Sunday, March 7…

Ben & Jerry’s giving out $1 cones today

To celebrate Olympic snowboarder Hannah Teter’s silver medal win, Ben & Jerry’s is offering a sweet deal: Stop by any of the shops today and you can get a scoop of Maple Blondie for just a buck. The limited batch flavor was made especially for the towheaded Vermont native, and…

Chef and Tell with Kate Horton from Black Pearl

Kate Horton Black Pearl 1529 South Pearl Street 303-777-0500 Kate Horton is a self-described late bloomer, Top Chef reject and has-been nanny. “Yeah, I tried out for Top Chef, but didn’t make it past the first round, probably because I didn’t do very well during the on-camera interview,” muses the…

Avenue Grill starts serving brunch this Saturday. Really

The third time could be a charm for Avenue Grill. The restaurant at 630 East 17th Avenue was originally supposed to introduce its new Saturday brunch in mid-February, then late February. Now, that brunch will debut on Saturday, March 6. “We’re on, no matter what,” promises Dallas Massey, director of…

Fed up with restaurants? You’ll never be a member of the FEDUPs

Foodies Eating Diverse and Unusual Platings (FEDUPs) is what we call ourselves. There are ten of us, plus the occaisonal “understudy” who is invited when not everyone can attend our once-monthly get-togethers at restaurants across the vast ethnic spectrum in and around Denver….The FEDUPs have made it a mission to…

Russian River’s Pliny the Younger goes fast at Falling Rock

It wasn’t the fastest a keg has been drained at Falling Rock Tap House, but it was a close second to the all-time record. Two five-gallon kegs of Russian River’s Pliny the Younger went down in fifteen minutes last Friday. A packed house of hop heads was waiting to pounce…

Swirl Girl: Vegetarians need wine, too

This time of year makes me crave and consume copious amounts of meat. You could chalk this up to evolution. Once upon a time, a diet that included meat-based protein greatly increased your chances of surviving what must have been some pretty brutal pre-historic cold spells. So in that very…

Campagna opens today

Just got confirmation from Alex Gurevich that at the tick of 4 p.m. today, Campagna, his new salumi bar and pizzeria that now occupies the former Mojitos space at 1120 East Sixth Avenue, will be the latest food temple to vie for a slice of the neighborhood pie. For the…

RIP: A dozen dead (or almost-dead) soft drinks

Soda, like most everything else in the world, has a lifespan. Some sodas live long and prosper, while others die and fade away (or, as is true of a few on this list, end up in the bargain section at Walmart). This list is devoted to those drinks that quenched…

Guess where I’m eating?

Only in Denver will you find mashed potatoes muffled with green chile. There’s absolutely no chance that squashed spuds swamped with chile verde will ever become my guilty indulgence, but the clock had ticked way past the dinner hour, I was hungry, and there was a cold pint at my…

Tipping the scales: Be glad this cheapskate doesn’t live in Denver

During Denver Restaurant Week, one of the most common complaints from servers is that bargain-hunting customers just don’t tip. They should just be glad that Monica Covington does not live in Denver, Colorado. I’m not sure what would be worse: having to suffer through serving Covington and then not getting…