Denver Restaurant Week started more than ten years ago to showcase the metro area’s dining scene in February — the time of year when restaurant traffic is generally at its slowest. A half-dozen years ago, to boost business at the beginning of the Great Recession, a second week was added…
Chef Duy Pham’s culinary career in Colorado has been all over the map. Starting at the legendary Tante Louise on Colfax, he also ran Restaurant Fifteen Twenty-One in Pueblo for several years before heading back to Denver to man the kitchen at Epernay. His latest venture is in suburban Parker,…
Cliff and Zachary Young opened a bar,restaurant and live music venue around the corner from CY Steak — Cliff Young’s other venture — last year under the name BaRed. The intention was for the name to be pronounced “Bar Red,” but to avoid confusion, the Youngs have updated the name…
It’s Monday, October 13, and I’m sitting in a red Toyota 4Runner with Jake Norris, head distiller at Laws Whiskey House. The Toyota is idling outside the whiskey house, a new distillery in a warehouse district just off South Broadway. He’s very excited because, at last, he’s able to do…
Only three months ago, we reported that Pho De had opened in the spot previously occupied by Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant and, before that, Vietnam Grill — the quaint bistro that had won Best Vietnamese Restaurant in our 2013 Best of Denver edition. But the stock pot at Pho De had…
Gretchen Kurtz just reviewed The Noshery, a bakery-cafe that she says is the kind of place every neighborhood needs. But does the neighborhood itself need to change? That’s a big question across northwest Denver, including the area by Regis University where Andrea Knight opened the Noshery. See also: Five Bakery-Cafes…
Halloween is creeping ever closer, with events filled with spooky stories and fake blood, but this week you can still enjoy a few more civilized activities, including wine dinners, cocktail and restaurant crawls, fundraisers and a very elegant whisky-tasting. Keep reading for a taste of what’s on the culinary calendar…
The Sidewinder is for sale, as reported on Backbeat this week. The hundred-year-old building in Globeville has been home to numerous saloons, including one incarnation that served some of the town’s best green chile; for the past two years, it’s also hosted great live music acts in a room that…
It seems a shame to not have a baker in the Baker neighborhood. Pie specialists Humble Pie moved out in September to find bigger digs, leaving a void in the market. Now Waffle Up, which started as a food truck just over a year ago, will be filling that void…
Chef Jon Emanuel is just back from a sabbatical on his family’s farm in Missouri, refreshed and ready for the challenges of his job as executive chef of Project Angel Heart, the organization that delivers meals to people living with life-threatening illnesses. In addition to planning menus, cooking specialized dishes…
Brown. It’s not a sexy word or a sexy color, and to most craft-beer drinkers, brown ales typically signify a boring beverage. But brown turned into gold, silver and bronze earlier this month when Colorado breweries swept the American-style Brown category at the Great American Beer Festival. In other words,…
In a time when brick-and-mortar stores must compete with trucks in an industry that’s less predictable than North Korea, restaurateur/sommelier/chef Patrick Mangold-White has managed to thrive with fresh and affordable fare on South Pearl Street. He started with sit-down breakfast at Gaia, which he and Jon Edwards opened in 2006;…
No. 68 Ham and Cheese Tartita at Maria Empanada 1298 South Broadway 303-934-2221 Almost every country has its version of a portable dough pocket filled with savory ingredients: Polish pierogies, Welsh pasties, Indian samosas. In Argentina, empanadas are the snack of choice in cafes or on the go, whether with…
Have you decided how you’re voting on Proposition 105, the ballot measure that would require food that has been genetically modified or treated with genetically modified material to be labeled “Produced With Genetic Engineering.” This week, Chipotle officially endorsed 105– which does not apply to restaurants. “Fundamentally, we believe that…
I drink, therefore I am! This weekend you can sip South American wines and Colorado beers, or pour yourself into the entire craft of coffee. And then there’s chocolate…. Keep reading for a taste of what’s on the culinary calendar this weekend. See also: Food Network to Hold Open Casting…
Think you’ve got what it takes to bone a chicken in front of a camera, smile as you eat your way through the diners and drive-ins of small-town America or explain the difference between salami and salumi to an audience of millions? The Food Network is hosting a casting call…
Even If you’ve been annoyed by mediocre happy hours, stingy specials, and bad drinks, take a moment and appreciate your freedom to order that $5 Moscow mule. Restrictive happy-hour laws are on the books in 26 other states, banning such beloved Colorado traditions as drink discounts and two-for-ones. Take that,…
“It’s great — but it’s also been stressful,” says Hosea Rosenberg on being so close to finally opening his own restaurant. Blackbelly Market has been slowly taking shape in its shopping center location on the east side of Boulder, and the Top Chef winner, food-truck operator and caterer says that,…
The Manhattan cocktail has stood the test of time, due in part to its simplicity: two parts bourbon to one part vermouth, a few dashes of bitters and a cherry garnish. Six Denver bartenders offered up variations of that classic last night at The Manhattan Experiment cocktail competition at Ste…
Food is every bit as trendy as the clothes we wear. In the ’80s, sundried tomatoes were fashionable. These days, menus are accented with guanciale, kombucha and pickled everything, from onions to chard stems. One ingredient that’s stayed away from the spotlight? Cornstarch. But that could change. See also: Behind…
LYFE Kitchen, the healthy lifestyle restaurant chain that got its start in Palo Alto, California, and made its Colorado debut at the Park Meadows mall in June, opened Wednesday in Boulder under the ownership of Rachel and DJ Mitchell, who also operate the Park Meadows location. Jeremy Bringardner, one of…
This week Gretchen Kurtz reviewed The Noshery, a bakery-cafe that’s a welcome addition to northwest Denver — and just the kind of place that every neighborhood should have. Fortunately, many neighborhoods around town have their own great hangouts, including the five bakery-cafes profiled here. See also: Five Bakery-Cafes in Denver…
