Zaidy’s liquor license up tonight

The lights were off on Monday, and the listing suddenly disappeared from the upcoming hearings schedule at the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses — but by all accounts, the liquor-license hearing at which the city will consider whether to expand Zaidy’s license to allow live entertainment at the Writer…

Guess where I’m drinking?

I HEART Harvest week. If there’s one week to go out to eat, it’s this one. The harvest menus available at your local independent restaurants are exceptional — and the cocktails are great, too. In fact, the cocktail in the above shot was so good that I actually forgot to…

Under Fire: Sugar and spice

Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen. Stir the sugar. There’s the secret key to making caramel. That’s it. No advanced degree in rocket…

Guess where I’m eating?

There are few things that piss me off more than restaurants that serve frigid tomatoes. I’m only going to say this once: Your walk-in, refrigerator — whatever — is a tomato’s mortal enemy, its murderer of flavor, its slayer of scent. Ever wonder why the flesh of a tomato is…

Our Weekly Bread: Cafe Options

The sandwich: Rare Roast Beef What’s on it: Rare roast beef, grilled red onions, lettuce, tomato, horseradish havarti and aioli on a baguette Where to get it: Cafe Options (1650 Curtis Street, 303-573-0733) How much: $7.25 Do you believe in second chances? I do. That’s why I’ll probably try a…

Chef and Tell: Paul Reilly of Encore

“Ever since I saw Grover waiting tables on Sesame Street, I knew I wanted to work in restaurants,” says Paul Reilly. And he didn’t waste much time following in Grover’s footsteps, considering that he got his first taste of restaurant life while washing dishes in a German joint at the…

Amnesia wins the Mix Master Bartender contest, appropriately enough

I took my judging job seriously during the DeKuyper Mix Master Bartender Contest at Saturday’s Denver Food & Wine event, tasting eight cocktails. Really tasting eight cocktails, since these were complex concoctions (a DeKuyper product had to be part of the mix) that demanded my full attention. The ultimate victor:…

Hosea Rosenberg hosts Colorado harvest dinner at Jax Boulder

Jax Boulder exec chef and Top Chef New York winner Hosea Rosenberg isn’t hanging out a whole lot in the People’s Republic of Boulder these days. His Facebook page says he’s “heading into San Fran to find the city’s best Bloody Mary,” but presumably he’ll accomplish that goal before 6:30…

Parties, dinners and desserts tonight

Feel like a road trip tonight? Head to A Grande Finale Patisserie, 489 North Highway 287, Suite 100, in Lafayette, at 6:30 p.m. for a Dessert & Beer Pairing. Pastry chef Nicole Hedlund and New Belgium Brewery’s Matt Furlong will satisfy your sweet tooth and your inner barfly simultaneously for…

1515 showcases Colorado wines this fall

With entrees like coffee-rubbed Kurobuta pork chops and horseradish crusted salmon, 1515 Restaurant, located at 1515 Market Street., has long been one of Denver’s premier fine dining establishments for New American cuisine. But don’t forget about the wine.1515’s wine list has received Wine Spectator’s “Award of Excellence” nine years in…

Macy’s and Food Bank of the Rockies aim to feed 10 million

September is Hunger Action Month, and department store giant Macy’s is partnering with Feeding America and food banks across the country to fight hunger here at home. Macy’s will launch its “Come Together” awareness and fundraising campaign, which aims to feed 10 million people suffering from hunger, from 6-8 p.m…

Guess where I’m drinking?

Don’t let the camera angle fool you. That’s a GIGANTIC margarita, made with well tequila and sweet and sour straight out of a gallon jug. Is it delicious? Nope. Not even close. But this venue has been serving these golden jugs for years. And the crowds can’t seem to get…

Behind the Bar with Holly Hartnett of Venue

Holly Hartnett has been a fixture on Denver’s restaurant scene for a long time, working at Table 6 and its previous incarnation, the Beehive. Last October, she finally opened her own place, Venue, at 3609 West 32nd Avenue, and with that came a new set of challenges for Hartnett, including…

Under Fire: Caramel Groundhog Day

Our former Cafe Society intern just decided to chuck college in favor of a real education: as a sous chef. In Under Fire, he chronicles his daily trials and tribulations in the kitchen. If tiny beads of fat begin to dawn on the surface of a Hollandaise, I know the…

Guess where I’m eating?

Colorado lamb: It’s what’s for dinner, at least this week — Harvest Week — when nearly forty metro restaurants are offering special menus focusing on ingredients local to Colorado. Like lamb paired with french fries (my favorite in the city), jus and drunken horseradish made with Stranahans Colorado whiskey. This…

Denver’s newest road trip: Interstate Kitchen & Bar

Interstate Kitchen & Bar made its debut on Thursday, September 10, at 901 West Tenth Avenue (the former Santa Fe Tequila Company space). It’s a kitschy urban roadhouse bedecked with utilitarian shelving — a la Home Depot — and a psychedelic robin’s egg blue paint palette. In the back, by…

Oktoberfest is for sale. Will someone buy it a drink?

Denver is playing host to the Olympics of beer games this month — and it could be a historic one if the city’s fortieth annual Oktoberfest also turns out to be its last. Larimer Associates, the real estate company that owns Oktoberfest as well as Larimer Square and numerous other…

Zaidy’s turns into Fusion Cantina and goes for a cabaret license…maybe

David Hannes, president of the Writer Square Condominium Association, has had his hands full dealing with the ongoing renovations at Writer’s Square, which have turned the downtown oasis into a concrete desert. He lives above the restaurant that had been Zaidy’s Downtown Deli, and he’s also kept a close eye…

A hypnotic evening with Hpnotiq

At 8 p.m. tonight, Suite Two Hundred, the upscale club up in in Larimer Square, will be the site of a bartender competition hosted by Hpnotiq — you know, the blue, 35-proof liqueur made from vodka, cognac and fruit juices. ‘Tenders will compete for their drink to become the official…

Confusion over Fusion Cantina, the former downtown Zaidy’s

Zaidy’s Deli, a mainstay at 121 Adams Street in Cherry Creek for decades, opened a downtown outpost several years ago in Writer Square. It did a decent breakfast and lunch business there, but the crowds flocking to LoDo and Larimer Square in the evening — and walking right past Zaidy’s…

Snaps from the Denver Food & Wine Classic

The three-day Denver Food & Wine Classic wrapped up on Saturday, September 12 with a Grand Tasting on the wet and sloppy grounds (thanks, rain) of Metro State College. To see a slideshow of all the fun, including some action snaps of Denver Five chefs Jamey Fader, Matt Selby, Troy…