Sugar House expanding into the hotel business

Looks like Sugar House, at 1395 West Alameda Avenue, is making its long-promised push into the rooms-for-rent business. According to a new post on Craigslist, the place is expanding, and one of the job openings includes “night auditor/hotel customer service,” graveyard shift, when responsibilities will include: “Greet, register, and assign…

The List: Top ten pubs with good grub

Argyll might have saddled itself with the horrible label “gastropub,” but by any name, Robert Thompson’s new place is a pretty sweet bar, with seriously great food. But while the menu at Argyll, which I review here, is more ambitious than what you find in most pubs, there are many…

Lovely Confections hits the big time (sorta)

Leave it to those trend sniffers at the New York Times to jump on a fad that had already begun to get stale a year ago and now declare it the next big thing. Leave it to the NYT to somehow insult every city that isn’t New York or L.A…

Sugar High: Novo peppermint mocha

Black Friday is upon us. Whether you’re nuts and arrived at stores pre-dawn to snag the deals, or you’re a stay-away-from-the-malls-at-all-costs type, everyone can benefit from a little caffeine boost after a day of carb-loading. If you’re near downtown, where better to fuel up than at Novo Coffee? The Denver-based…

Guess where I’m eating?

My server leaned toward me intently, as if she was either going to make out with me or tell me her darkest secret. “It’s the best thing on the menu, hands down,” she said. I hadn’t eaten in days. At least, that’s what it felt like. I needed a huge…

Top five gadget infomercials that cluttered your kitchen

It’s late. You’ve had a few. Or ten. And even though there’s nothing on the tube, you crack another beer and keep on channel surfing. A week later, the mailman arrives bearing mysterious packages and the next thing you know, you’re sweatin’ to the oldies in your Snuggie and cutting…

Chef and Tell part two: James Rugile of Venue

This is part two of my interview with James Rugile, executive chef of Venue. To read part one of this interview, click here. Culinary inspirations: Thomas Keller of the French Laundry for his pursuit of perfection and emphasis on technique, and Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns for…

Guess where I’m drinking?

The night before Thanksgiving is always a busy night for bars. After all, when your biggest mental challenge the next day will be choosing between pumpkin or apple pie, a hangover doesn’t seem like a big deal. So my friend decided shotgunning beers and dancing till closing sounded like a…

SkyBox is open at SouthGlenn, and it’s no gastropub

Originally, Hollywood Theaters was boasting that SkyBox Lounge, the restaurant that’s part of the new Southglenn Stadium 14 in Centennial, would be a “gastropub.” But now that the place has opened, that label has been dumped in favor of “a creative twist on American cuisine.” Although it’s unlikely that any…

Today: Christmas, Southern Living style

Stop by the Dillard’s at the new Towne Center of Aurora from 1-4 p.m. today, and you can pick up a copy of the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook for just $10. It’s packed with recipes for good food, and buying it benefts a good cause: proceeds from the sales will…

Today: Escape your relatives at Bass Pro Shop or La Rumba

Going stir crazy on Thanksgiving? The Bass Pro Shop at 7970 East 49th Avenue is open until 6 p.m. today, and starting at 5 p.m., the store will host the Great Turkey Campout with free hot chocolate and s’mores at outdoor firepits, with prize giveaways until 8 p.m.; for more…

After my first bite at Argyll, I was ready to eat my words

It worried me that Argyll, the new restaurant from Robert Thompson, called itself a “gastropub,” a word I hate with a rare and white-hot passion that only a true word geek can muster for the hating of a bunch of letters. It worried me that the very first word on…

Leo’s Manhattan at Jax Fish House

I was sitting at the bar at Jax in LoDo on a snowy Sunday afternoon, enjoying the quiet while also enjoying Leo’s Manhattan ($10), made with New York Apple Whiskey, Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry, muddled apple and pumpkin pie spice. And I couldn’t have been happier. As the snow piled…

The good times keep rolling at Lucile’s

There are two things they do real well in New Orleans: drink and eat. New York might be a great town for chefs; San Francisco might be a Garden of Eden for foodies. But New Orleans is a town made for eaters — men and women for whom dinner isn’t…

Guess where I’m drinking?

I’ve lost track of all the cocktails I’ve drunk this week, but the one in the above pic stood out from among the usual suspects. This is very much a holiday slammer, complete with a housemade cinnamon-apple chip garnish. Question is, where’d I slam it? Special bonus: Every Friday, anyone…

Mellow Mushroom to open at Tabor Center

Mellow Mushroom outlets are popping up like, well, mushrooms. Another outlet of the Georgia-based pizza chain is slated to open next June in the Tabor Center, joining a line-up that already includes the Cheesecake Factory, Green Fine Salad, Corner Bakery and Ling & Louie’s. There are over a hundred Mellow…

Guess where I’m eating?

You want to talk about bad food photography? This is bad food photography — mostly because there’s just no good way to make a lump of meat and cheese like this look tasty until someone invents Smell-O-Vision or scratch-and-sniff websites. Still, buried in the middle of this photographic nightmare are…

Argyll’s Sergio Romero, under the lights

Before I ever ate at Argyll, I was worried about the place. I worried about the space that Argyll occupies (the ex-Squealing Pig location in Cherry Creek) and the guy running the show (Robert Thompson, ex of Brasserie Rouge). I worried that it was calling itself a gastropub, a word…

What’s cooking: Pete Marczyk makes chocolate chunk pecan pie

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. Last month, Pete…

Steuben’s going mobile

After I chatted yesterday with Josh Wolkon of Steuben’s and Vesta, he kindly forwarded me an article from the travel section of the Los Angeles Times about the sudden, fierce boom in food trucks that has gripped the foodie Shangri La of Portland. That city now has about 400 trucks,…