So here we are, 1,730 miles from Philadelphia, and we’re gonna argue about cheesesteaks. What is this, 1975 at the Jersey Shore? I think my flip-flops are broken. The winner of the Best Cheesesteak award in the Best of Denver 2002 was Santoro’s Brick Oven Pizzeria (9500 Heritage Hills Circle,…
Q: My husband and I are planning a weekend getaway in Glenwood Springs. Can you suggest some good restaurants? A: Glenwood is one of my favorite getaway spots, and although everyone goes to the Italian Underground (715 Grand Avenue, 1-970-945-6422), I like Florinda’s (721 Grand, 1-970-945-1245), which is next door…
Concentrating on Mateo’s classic food while sitting in Mateo’s trendy dining room was like trying to read The Grapes of Wrath in a strip club: Both the food and the setting were worthy of attention, but the combination drove me to distraction. You can’t blame chef Seamus Feeley for trying…
The Best of Denver 2002 was a resounding success, at least according to concert promoter Barry Fey, who is always quick to offer feedback. “This time I can’t find anything wrong with your food picks,” says Fey. “What’s up with that?” From steaks to cheesesteaks, Fey has strong opinions on…
Chuck E. Weiss, one of the coolest cats ever to escape Denver, is back in town to “take care of some business” and visit his mom. But although he’s got a new record out, Weiss doesn’t want to talk music. No, he wants to jawbone about his other love: diners…
Q: I’d happily patronize restaurants that don’t allow smoking. Where are they? A: The easiest way to find Denver’s smoke-free eateries is to get a copy of the Smoke-Free Dining Guide from Boulder-based GASP of Colorado (Group to Alleviate Smoking Pollution). The nonprofit will mail the booklet, which includes over…
Denver diners have been waiting for the right twist on Mexican food, and Lime just might be it. Over the last year, a number of eateries have opened that feature either upscale Latin-derived cuisines (Cuban, Peruvian) or upscale Mexican fare, with prices to match (ten bucks for tacos). Although such…
Coffee, table, books: Time to wake up and smell the coffee, Starbucks. The brand-spanking-new Schlessman Family Branch Library, at 100 Poplar Street, has a surprise in store for visitors: a full- service coffee bar run by the Baroness Coffee Company. “This is the first time we’ve tried this,” says Celeste…
Living in a rapidly improving neighborhood has its pluses and minuses. In the Old San Rafael section of central Denver — my stamping grounds — the upside includes increasing property values, decreasing crime and fewer addicts smoking crack beneath the Neighborhood Watch signs. On the downside, there are heftier property…
Q: I’m a big Thai fan. I know you love Thai Bistro, but where else can I get top Thai food? A: I do have a fondness for the superb Thai fare at Thai Bistro (5924 South Kipling Street, Littleton, 720-981-7600), but I also love to Thai one on at…
Recently I’ve had to face the fact that I’m never going to climb Everest. First, there’s the problem of my day job, which doesn’t exactly allow for the time commitment — or, for that matter, the tens of thousands of dollars needed to have a guide carry me up there…
I’d walk several miles to eat more of Sean Kelly’s food, so it comes as good news that his Clair de Lune, at 1313 East Sixth Avenue (in the space that was Merano), will be open soon. “I’m shooting for the first week of April,” Kelly says. “I don’t have…
In the pleasant Cook Street kitchen, Marilyn Kakudo is instructing a handful of us in how to make bread. We all have different reasons for wanting to learn. One student plans to buy and operate a sandwich cart on the 16th Street Mall. She won’t be making the loaves and…
Q: I am getting married in June. Where should I get a wedding cake? A: If I were getting married, I’d head over to Gateaux (1160 Speer Boulevard, 303-376-0070), which makes drop-dead stunning cakes that also taste great. And at a friend’s recent wedding, I tasted a cake from Das…
Lentils may be good for you, but they taste like the dried paste from a kindergartner’s Popsicle-stick project. They sort of taste like the Popsicle sticks, too. Since lentils are a staple of Indian food, resourceful Indian cooks long ago figured out how to spice up the legumes. Enough cloves,…
Smokin’ to the left, smokin’ to the right: It’s getting harder and harder to find a restaurant that still welcomes smokers — even the very casual Benny’s Restaurant y Cantina (301 East Seventh Avenue) considered taking itself off the list of possibilities. Earlier this year, the popular Mexican eatery printed…
Ask any craft brewer today how he or she got started, and the answer will probably point to Charlie Papazian and his book, Joy of Homebrewing. Twenty-some years ago, Papazian founded the Boulder-based American Homebrewers Association and helped launch the craft-beer industry in the U.S. Boulder’s David Myers is a…
Q: Do you have any suggestions for a special dinner in the Vail/Beaver Creek/Edwards area? We’ve already done Sweet Basil, the Bristol at Arrowhead, Zino’s, Larkspur and Mirabelle. So we’re willing to pay the Vail Valley price of admission. A: The restaurants you mention are definitely among the best, but…
Lynn Smith’s to-do list is a little longer than most. She’s a mom; she runs a restaurant; she also goes to graduate school. “Some days I wonder, ‘What was I thinking?'” Smith says. “But most days I love it. I’m always being challenged, and so far, everything’s working out.” It…
Between its answering-machine message, its local advertising and the way staff members drop the news every chance they get, Sacre Bleu wants to make it clear that the place is under new ownership and new management. And — mon Dieu! — that seems to have made all the difference. When…
The lunch bunch: Kate’s at 35th Avenue (see review above) offers a nice, cozy lunchtime repast — but sometimes nothing will do but a fat pastrami sandwich on rye, served in a noisy, crowded deli evocative of New York City. In which case, run, don’t walk, to Deli Tech (8101…
Q: I’m a big prime-rib fan. Can you give me a list of places that do it well? A: What we call prime rib is actually a boneless cut from the super-tender eye muscle of a steer’s primal rib, also known as the ribeye roast. The name may have come…
