Q. Where do you go for good, inexpensive, red-sauce Italian? You know, the kind of place where Frank Sinatra would eat if he visited Denver. A. Even dead — okay, especially dead — Ol’ Blue Eyes would cause quite a stir if he walked into an eatery around here. Should…
What’s in a name? Plenty, as the owners of the Havana Diner quickly discovered. “People who came here regularly were getting to know us well enough that they’d just tell other people, ‘Hey, we’re going over to Kathy and Bill’s,'” says Kathy Frangiskakis. “The problem was, we weren’t listed as…
The Colorado Restaurant Association is predicting that the state’s diners will spend $20 million per day in restaurants in 2002 — but that money won’t help the eateries that couldn’t make it past December 31. Several of the closures were no surprise. Exhibit A: Tasteez (9595 East Arapahoe Road, Englewood),…
Emilia Rickey originally envisioned Emiliana’s as a dessert house, a place where Boulderites could go after dinner or the theater for coffee, a cheese plate, an elegant dessert. Although she ultimately expanded the theme to include a full menu, Rickey still offers the most extensive selection of desserts in town…
Q: I have a friend visiting from Iowa who just came back from Budapest. Her hometown has no Hungarian restaurants. Are there any in Denver? A: Finally ‹ proof that Denver is culinarily superior to a small town in Iowa. The Budapest Bistro (1585 South Pearl Street, 303-744-2520) is a…
The term “tirami su” is Italian for “pick-me-up,” an apt label for a confection filled with enough sugar, chocolate, espresso and liqueur to elevate the blood sugar of a dead person. A relatively recent creation, tiramisu (sometimes seen as one word, sometimes as two, and sometimes with an accent over…
Both the owners and employees of Tiramisu (see review above) could use a copy of The Main Course on Table Service, the new book by veteran server David Rothschild, who co-owns the Phoenix-based EATiQuette waitstaff-training and dining-etiquette company. In fact, at $19.95 a copy, The Main Course wouldn’t be a…
For Dave Bryan and his West Washington Park neighbors, nothing sucks like success. Four years ago, Dave achieved his lifelong dream of buying a neighborhood bar, the 43-year-old Candle Light Tavern, just south of Alameda Avenue on Pearl Street. Since then, Dave and his wife, Lisa, have cleaned up the…
Q: I’d like to start off the new year by supporting small mom-and-pop eateries. Can you recommend some in a variety of ethnic types? A: Denver’s lucky to have so many mom-and-pop ethnic places to choose from. For good, family-oriented Mexican, try Rosa Linda’s Mexican Cafe (2005 West 33rd Avenue,…
When Napoleon said, “An army marches on its stomach,” he was referring to the soldiers who did the actual fighting — not the sympathetic sublimations of folks sitting on their sofas watching it all unfold via videotape. This nation is at war, all right, and if we keep eating the…
At this time last year, I was lamenting Denver’s lack of great restaurants, as well as its excess of lousy service. Well, the service hasn’t improved much, but several wonderful eateries opened in 2001, and many other eateries got better, so picking my annual dream meal was a little tougher…
When a fine-dining establishment is 34 years old, sits in a 128-year-old historic landmark and has an owner who refers to himself as “the third,” you might imagine that a meal within its stodgy confines would prove palate-numbingly boring. Prime rib and Yorkshire pudding. Beef Wellington and duck a l’orange…
Wow — it’s not even the first of the year, and the restaurant fallout has already begun. I’ll miss the St. Mark’s Coffeehouse at 1416 Market Street, although the second St. Mark’s location, at 2019 East 17th Avenue, is still going strong. The sign on St. Mark’s Market Street door…
This Christmas, Stan Hendrickson will wish for a gift he cannot have. It’s a gift he possessed for over seven decades before losing it three years ago: the ability to taste. Since 1998, the Boulder resident has been living a foodie’s nightmare, unable to savor the things that once brought…
Q: Do you have any suggestions for good restaurants that large groups (ten to thirty people) can go to for breakfast, lunch and dinner? A: Big parties can be a big strain on eateries ‹ and if you’ve ever tried sending out thirty perfectly timed dinners while simultaneously preparing, oh,…
In the Bonnie Brae neighborhood, the more some things change, the more others stay the same. When Carl and Sue Dire opened the Bonnie Brae Tavern in 1934, South University Boulevard was a dirt road running through the sticks. That year, tens of thousands of people left the Dust Bowl…
Cookbooks are always popular gift options at local bookstores. This year, the surprise is what’s flying off the shelves: Anything with the word “American” in the title and books touting American-style foods are all the rage, according to one of the buyers at the Cherry Creek Tattered Cover. The hottest…
Q: My fiancée is flying in over the holidays, and I’d like to take her out for a romantic dinner with some slow dancing afterward. Is there such a place in downtown Denver? A: Not only is there no such place downtown, but you’d have to drive pretty far out…
The Leonid meteor shower shows itself every year in mid-November, and while the display is spectacular only every 33 years or so, even on an off night, the Leonids provide an eye-opening experience. They give us a glimmer of what’s beyond our limited understanding, some insight into life’s eternal glories…
Me-oh-my-oh: Life in Cherry Creek North just got a lot less interesting. The Cajun/Creole party spot Petra’s (2700 East Third Avenue) has closed, abandoning its high-rent, below-street-level space for the plum opportunity of running Denver’s City Park Golf Course club, at 2500 York Street. Petra’s on the Park will have…
Fruitcake is the most maligned food in America, the dessert world’s equivalent of polka music. Especially this time of year. Come Christmas morning, shabbily made fruitcakes will be the coal in the bottom of the stocking, jokes to be passed from person to person. Seasonal Spams, they’ll end up in…
Q: Can you tell me what nice places will be open on Christmas Day this year? A: I’ve received so many inquiries regarding restaurants open on Christmas that I’m wondering if anyone will be staying home this year. So many people want to eat out that they may have trouble…
