Swirl Girl: Upgrade your wine drinking habit, part deux

Remember all that talk about how to break up with the same boring white wines you’ve been holding onto for years? Now it’s time to dig out of the red wine relationship ruts you’ve been stuck in. If you’ve been obsessively buying Pinot Noir ever since you saw the movie…

Mark Dym to open four restaurants at Vallagio at Inverness

Rachel Ray, the painfully annoying non-chef that everyone loves to loathe, just announced her top pick for pizza dominance — and she didn’t choose Marco’s Coal-Fired Pizzeria, Mark Dym’s pie palace at 2129 Larimer Street. Instead, she awarded the title of Best Pizza in America to Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix,…

Tarbell’s is now home at the Streets of Southglenn

Mark Tarbell’s new restaurant opened last fall in the Streets of Southglenn, at 6955 South York Street, but tonight it will finally celebrate its grand opening with a charity fundraiser. And it will do so under a new name: What had been Home is now Tarbell’s…

Western Beverage — and the beer warehouse — dry up

For years, the Saturday morning sales at the Western Beverage distribution center, aka Beer Warehouse, were the greatest deal in town — if you could find the warehouse in north Denver. “It was amazing. It was like that scene in Indiana Jones where they open the vault on the Holy…

Starbucks at the Grand Hyatt Denver will be pouring out history today

The expanded, full-service Starbucks in the Grand Hyatt Denver, 1750 Welton Street, reopens today — and 100 percent of the day’s sales will benefit the Denver Public Library. Which is appropriate, because among the new amenities at this Starbucks include a collection of historic Denver photos, culled from images available…

Billy’s Gourmet Hot Dogs hops on the wiener wagon

Billy’s Gourmet Hot Dogs, the brainchild of owner Bill Feid, a wiener-loving Chicagoan who says he couldn’t find a noble Chicago-style dog when he first moved to Denver, opened last week at 2445 Larimer Street. The menu, a catchall of eight different Vienna beef, Polser and salmon hot dogs and…

Guess where I’m eating?

Late last Valentine’s night, I stopped by one of Denver’s better bars to meet a friend for a drink and, as it turned out, nachos, which well and truly sucked. I love pretty much everything about this joint — the staff, the tunes, the stiff pours, the crowd — but…

Culinary calendar for the week ahead: Fat Tuesday, brews and tequila

There’s plenty going on this week for Fat Tuesday, but if you don’t feel like abstaining for six weeks until Easter, don’t fret; we’ve got all the indulgent food-and-drink events to keep the debauchery going for as long as you please, including Wynkoop’s 2010 Beerdrinker of the Year brew. Here’s…

Nv Lounge to take over One-Eyed Jack’s

Nv Lounge has a date with the Denver Department of Excise and License this morning for its liquor license application at 475 Santa Fe Drive. Does the address sound familiar? It should. For a brief, shining moment, it was the Continental Club, the hippest new bar in town — until…

Larimer Hot House goes cold

Larimer Hot House has gone cold, less than six months after it opened at 2810 Larimer Street, in the former home of Espo Gelato. Most of the contents have been removed, and the few that remain are tagged with a “sold” sign. And when you dial Larimer Hot House, you…

Syrup soon to pour over Cherry Creek

First, Cherry Creek got Toast — a second outpost of the popular Littleton cafe that moved into the old Village Inn space at 222 Columbine Street last summer. Now, it’s apparently going to get Syrup. A new sign is up at 300 Josephine Street, in the spot that the Egg…

Today: Happy birthday, George Washington!

We’ve got a lot to thank George Washington for, and now you can add something else to the list: Celebrate his birthday today at Randolph’s, 1776 Grant Street, where when you purchase a drink, you can buy an appetizer for just a buck. Thanks, George! For information on dozens of…

El Bulli closes permanently?!?

We interrupt the constant coverage of awkward sweaters and fake snow with an important alert. Sorry to rain on your Winter Olympics parade, but there’s some serious international food news we must deal with: El Bulli is closing permanently!As reported by the New York Times’ Diner’s Journal and Eater (which cleverly called…

Valentine’s Day: Five ways to say I love you with chocolate

Valentine’s Day is almost here, which means guys are hurrying to make sure they take care of their ladies — or at least get a dinner reservation for Sunday before they’re all gone. And while they’re scrambling to find a two-top at Denny’s, here are five ways that ladies can…

Hop to the Wynkoop tonight for some Auld Rabbit

At 5 p.m. today, the Wynkoop Brewing Company will pull the hand pump on the 2010 Beerdrinker of the Year beer, one of the perks of winning this august crown. The beer is Auld Rabbit, a cask-conditioned, molasses-infused brown ale that’s 6.4 percent ABV, brewed by Wynkoop head brewer Andy…

Strange Sauce: The week in national food news

Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity kicked off yesterday in full force. Among her goals are the demand for promoting more exercise within school curriculums, teaching children about healthy food choices, and ensuring that nutritional information will be less misleading. TED prize winner and chef Jamie Oliver has…

Guess where I’m drinking?

Sometimes, a cocktail requires the presence of pigs, in this case a male and female who were apparently as enamored as I with this Valentine’s Day flame. Who poured on the love? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I drinking/eating posts is…