In the virtual reality of the future, we won’t need to leave our La-Z-Boys to travel (much less venture out to Denver International Airport)–we’ll just insert tapes in our video monitors and play tourist without suffering through the hassles of sore feet, lost luggage and stolen wallets. In the meantime,…
It’s Chiffon: Dozens of victims have come forward with more tales to tell about Westword cover girl Ruth Chiffon von Seeburg-Schausten Prager, better known in these parts as Chiffon (“Would You Buy a Used Restaurant From This Woman?,” February 15). There seem to be quite a few people who loaned…
For years Village Inn has encouraged people to drop on in at Cherry Creek–and no one complains. But let some of the newer, hipper chain restaurants move into the area and all hell breaks loose. Chains rattle other restaurants for two reasons. The first, and most galling, is that the…
Beer today, gone tomorrow: The upscaling of LoDo continues, with a facelift of the venerable–and appropriately named–Terminal Bar now under way. The last time this watering hole at 17th Avenue and Wazee tried something new, owner Nancy Archer–herself an Aussie–succumbed to lower-downtown duenna Dana Crawford’s suggestion that Archer cash in…
It usually starts with the word “ribs.” Maybe someone tickles me there, or a television commercial talks about something sticking to them, or I’m at church and the preacher mentions Adam. No matter how the word gets there, though, once it’s in my brain, it begins turning over like a…
Bust of Denver: It has been brought to my attention that an impostor lurks in some of the town’s better neighborhoods. A glossy publication called Entree bills itself as “The Best of Denver Menus,” but it has nothing to do with Westword’s annual Best of Denver issue, for which I…
The bleached blonde wet her lips, leaned forward and pressed her hand dramatically against the mammoth mammary glands that were on the verge of busting out of her black evening dress like two fat kids escaping an overheated car. “The problem with DIA,” she said, “is that a minority mayor…
Brew send me: Colorado is becoming the “Napa Valley of the beer world.” Or so says the Association of Brewers, a national organization that just happens to be located in Boulder, in close proximity to some of the finest beers being produced in the United States. There are 44 breweries…
Either they’re uptight about wearing pajamas in public, or that salmon was the last friend they had, because the guys behind sushi bars rarely smile. They solemnly wield their knives like sculpting tools, quietly creating works of art and then handing them over like so much dead fish. But then…
At your service: One of the questions I’m asked most frequently (though not always this bluntly) is, “Who the hell do you think you are to review restaurants?” The easy answer is that Westword told me I was the restaurant reviewer. But my background was one of the reasons I…
Good things come in small packages. And truly exceptional things are coming out of a tiny, nine-table restaurant in northwest Denver. Reservations have been a must almost from the moment the clumsily titled Today’s Gourmet Highland’s Garden Cafe opened seven months ago. Its modest size was only part of the…
In the suds: What Coors Brewing Company and Anheuser-Busch each want you to learn on a tour of their breweries is that their product is the tastiest beer made from the finest ingredients by a corporation dedicated to honesty, integrity and whatever other really honorable characteristic they can get the…
My husband was born in the United States, but trust me–that doesn’t make him qualified to open an American restaurant in another country. Yet many restaurateurs who move here would have you believe that the only credential they need to establish a credible kitchen is a birth certificate from a…
Chew on this: The Colorado Restaurant Association predicts that $4.2 billion will be spent at Colorado restaurants in 1995. If the number of establishments that have recently opened is any indication, half of that money will flood Cherry Creek. Ready for the dollars to start rolling in is Tazu, at…
The north Boulder neighborhood has always seemed slightly out of step, a modest Fifties enclave in a town that’s otherwise consciously–and constantly–at the cutting edge. But the area took a great leap forward with the update of the North Broadway Shops and the adjacent Community Plaza. The design company on…
Movers and bakers: In an attempt to save the noble art of pie-making from extinction, Scott Meyerson opened Granny Scott’s Pie Shop at 3333 South Wadsworth a few weeks ago. Although there’s no actual Granny here–just Scott, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and former pastry chef for Blue Point…
Although I’ve done time in several major cities, I’d never before encountered the number of so-called Mexican restaurants I found in Denver. Miami certainly has more than its fair share, but at least in that city the repertoire stretches far beyond the standard beans and rice. Sure, you’ll find those…
Wheels of misfortune: In November, the U.S. government fined Barolo Grill for violating Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act. That’s a short summary of a convoluted case that’s left a bitter taste around town. Much of the restaurant community is now disgusted with the ADA, Denver citizens with…
It’s a brilliant concept: Let diners cook their own food. Not only does the restaurant save the cost of a grill man, but it also erases any annoying misconceptions about how long it takes food to cook–and how fast a kitchen should work. The idea is not exactly new, though…
Gift of Gabby: Nothing I’ve written in over a year at Westword has garnered more response than my December 21 Mouthing Off column about Pat “Gabby Gourmet” Miller. Not surprisingly, no one called to defend her practice of eating free at local restaurants. What did surprise me, though, was that…
My family was always known for its progressive thinking, but never more so than on New Year’s Eve. Every year, instead of driving downtown and getting drunk, we stayed close to home and got drunk. This happened during the annual progressive dinner, a tradition that originated in Britain but took…
It’s that time of year when your company, which is filled with employees who normally can’t stand each other, hosts a festive luncheon outside the office where those same employees can overindulge and exchange such enchanting, thoughtful gifts as coffee mugs shaped like breasts or cows. It’s also that time…
