Watching mold grow is the epitome of a boredom-inducing activity — unless your passion is making dry-cured meats. Then you notice every new speck of fuzz on your coppa, lonza, guanciale and sopressata. You catalogue with fascination the daily creep of white film over sausage casings and whole pork cuts…
No. 43: Italian combo #2 at Carbone’s We practically wept when the original Carbone’s closed its doors, making good on a longtime threat from Lonardo family matriarch Rosa to exit the business. The original 38th Avenue storefront was short on space but long on charm, and it frequently commanded long…
As part of the three-day Denver International Wine Festival, the Pairsine Chefs Fine Food and Wine Competition set up tasting tables at the Westin Hotel DIA last night. Ten Colorado chefs prepared two dishes each to match with award-winning wines. This was a judged event, so the chefs brought their…
The Little Pub Company has been running neighborhood bars since the Spot Bar & Grill opened in the mid-’90s at South Pennsylvania Street and Bayaud Avenue. Most are unassuming joints with basic bar food and a drink roster that flirts with crafty without ever getting esoteric — after all, a…
Sources tell us that some sort of contest will be decided this Tuesday — and not the kind of contest that will be shown on the Food Network. Even if you plan to spend that evening watching the election results roll in/prepping for doomsday, there are plenty of culinary events…
With the closing of the Squeeze Inn, the sale of the Kentucky Inn, and Rocky Flats Lounge still in limbo, it seemed high time to update our list of metro Denver’s ten best dive bars, adding the White Horse to a roster that includes the Hangar, Bar Bar, Lakeview Lounge…
From breweries to bakeries, there’s plenty of good stuff coming our way in the form of new restaurants, tap rooms, coffee houses and sushi bars — some as soon as this Monday, November 7. Check out these ten upcoming openings, along with links to the stories we’ve written about them…
Maybe restaurateurs were spooked by the idea of opening on Halloween week or the mood across town is tense as we hold our breath before Election Day. Because it was a quiet week for restaurant and bar openings, with only La Güera and La Loma welcoming new customers. And those two…
Tim “Barrel Man” McKernan, who died in 2009, was probably the most famous super fan that the Denver Broncos ever had; bearded and somewhat heavy-set, he attended every home game (missing only four) for thirty years. Banded Oak Brewing, which also has a love of barrels, had decided to honor…
We’ve all been faced with the “Where should we go?” question; sometimes the answer is obvious, but at other times we need help. Whether it’s finding the perfect place to celebrate the right occasion, determining what kitchen can accommodate an unusual dietary restriction, or maybe just discovering a new place…
No. 44: The Juicy Lucy at the Midwestern Saloon With plenty of imported foods and international cuisines coming to Denver, you may wonder why someone would open a restaurant dedicated to Midwestern fare. Such is the case at the aptly named Midwestern Saloon in Berkeley, and if you need a…
One of my favorite quick sandwich spots in Denver is Torta Grill on East Colfax Avenue. It’s a small shop that you might pass by without noticing, but that tiny kitchen turns out really good traditional torta sandwiches stuffed full of great ingredients. One of my favorite tortas there is…
Autumn is warming up — in the culinary sense, anyway — with beer, wine and football to help banish the encroaching chill. Grab a seating for day drinking and a bagel brunch on Brighton Boulevard, or visit Infinite Monkey Theorem for a pair of local wine parties. There’s even a…
The Rocky Flats Lounge has been a landmark on Highway 93 for more than sixty years. Before the building became a bar, it was the original payroll office for the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, and when it was moved from that top-secret facility across the road to a spot…
There are dive bars and then there are neighborhood bars. What’s the difference? Sometimes it’s difficult to define. But we knew that the Kentucky Inn had phased from a dive to something a little more genteel after the Pearl Street watering hole was purchased by Dave Bryan and Lisa Bryan,…
As the Baker neighborhood has grown over the years, few things have stayed the same in the area. In fact, Dougherty’s owner Wes Ingram counts 22 new bars and restaurants that have opened in the immediate vicinity of his own establishment (technically on the West Washington Park side of the…
This week we talked with developer Ken Wolf and restaurateur Jeff Osaka, who together just opened the Denver Central Market in the River North district. Both are pioneers in the neighborhood who have been working to gain recognition for the area since it was barely a blip on Denver’s culinary…
November is shaping up to be a tasty — and busy! — month for culinary events. In addition to our twice-weekly Culinary calendar, here are a few extra events for which you’ll want to plan ahead, including a pastry chef’s brunch, a week of good eats in Boulder, dining on…
“Are you tired of this election? Have you had to block friends on Facebook? Are the polls, ‘rigged’?” asks Boulder’s Fate Brewing. Then it’s time to vote — with your beer. The brewery has concocted two choices and will use sales of the beers to predict the winner of the…
No. 45: Hisbiscus-Flower Tacos at Comal Comal opened last month in the TAXI development in RiNo, with the dual missions of serving home-style Mexican cooking while giving Globeville and Elyria-Swansea residents career-oriented job training. The restaurant calls itself a heritage-food incubator, which means that menus shift regularly but always include recipes…
When developer Ken Wolf first cooked up his plan for Denver Central Market, he envisioned a neighborhood linchpin, a place where RiNo residents could buy meat, cheese and produce without getting in their cars and driving to a grocery store. He pulled in Jeff Osaka, with whom he’d worked since…
Chef/restaurateur Kevin Morrison is a believer in understated simplicity, at least when it comes to naming his eateries. His first Denver success came with the Spicy Pickle, which he founded and ran until the chain went public and he sold out of the business. Next came Tacos, Tequila, Whiskey (better…
