Restaurateurs must have taken the same continuing education class on how to choose a name for their new ventures. I’ve lost count of how many spots have opened lately that were christened either with two words smushed together (as in Lower48 Kitchen) or joined by an ampersand or “and.” Pastry…
It’s been fifteen years since Olga moved to Denver from Russia and began a career as an accountant. But the grind of crunching numbers all day, plus working for other people, she says, wasn’t giving her the fulfillment she was looking for. “I was a CPA and working in the…
It was a chef who recommended that I drag my butt to the suburbs — and to this joint, in particular — to get my Middle Eastern fix, and so I did, feasting on a well-dressed plate of meaty kabobs, baba ghanoush and spicy hummus. Can you guess where I’m…
The city wants to make sure that no one lights up at Civic Center Park this weekend, but you will be able to drink — as long as you’re in the McNichols Building. As our Latest Word blog reported yesterday, Miguel Lopez, organizer of the 4/20 rally, submitted a special-permit…
After Mark Antonation reached the end of the Federal line with a stop at Viva Burrito, a reader weighed in with the best time to eat at Viva Burrito — when you’re drunk and without shame. Which prompted many other suggestions of the best places to eat when you’re drunk…
Tilman Fertitta of Landry’s has been on a buying spree over the last several years, picking up national chains with links in Denver, including Morton’s Steakhouse, McCormick & Schmick’s and Oceanaire Seafood Room. And this month, chefs at many of the Landry’s restaurants are strutting their stuff on Tuesday night…
It’s normal for a restaurant owner to be nervous on opening day — even if it’s not your first rodeo and you’ve assembled an experienced staff. There’s often chaos, flared tempers and a general reaction of palpable fretfulness. But this morning, at the new Maria Empanada, the vibe was pure…
This coming weekend promises some major events, including Easter and 4/20. But don’t save up all your appetites for then, because there are ample opportunities to eat out this week — everything from wine dinners to private chef specials. See also: Bistro Vendome’s “Adventures on the Wine Route” lands in…
The Pearl Street location in Boulder that used to hold Antica Roma has a new tenant dishing out an old-school cuisine: Sforno Trattoria Romana. See also: First look: Michael Bortz’s City Bakery Cafe opens today…
With the flurry of new restaurant openings, it’s all too easy to sweep some of the older ones — like the restaurant where this photo was snapped — under the rug, but this lively spot, which is celebrating ten years feeding the neighborhood in which it resides, continues to command…
Cafe Society dished up five Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from an Argentinean pizza topped with egg and hearts of palm from Buenos Aires Pizzeria to a sizzling platter of tandoori chicken from India’s Castle to a bowl of crab dip with housemade potato chips from a restaurant that…
When the Gypsy Cafe & Parlor popped up in an old garage downtown last summer, the idea was odd, but interesting. Owner Ray Derani — whose twin sisters own Capitol Hill’s Gypsy House Cafe, and whose mother was doing the cooking at both places — had planned to offer a…
Just a few days after the Archive Room closed in Olde Town Arvada, the Bar-On family took on the space, which was right across from an Udi’s Pizza Cafe & Bar, one of nine restaurants in the family’s homegrown empire. But for the new space, they chose a new concept:…
“Adventures on the Wine Route,” a Monday-night series at Bistro Vendome based on Adventures on the Wine Route, the 1988 book on the French wine country by Kermit Lynch, continues tonight with a new installment focusing on Languedoc, and featuring selections from Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant of Santa Barbara. See…
This week in Cafe Society, Gretchen Kurtz reviewed the Bar-On family’s latest restaurant venture: Braun Taphaus & Grille, a sports bar with an Austrian accent; meanwhile, Lori Midson reported on the new names — three names, actually — that the family will use for the rest of its empire, since…
As part of the ongoing Craft Brewers Conference celebrations, Denver Beer Co hosted a pizza part at its Platte Street taproom. With live music, plenty of brews and two Denver pizza trucks, Basic Kneads and Brava! Pizzeria, parked outside, this was not a party to miss. We sent our photographer…
Colorado has been the king of canned craft beers since Oskar Blues began packaging its brews in aluminum more than a decade ago. And although the Longmont beer maker continues to change the game, other breweries are getting in on the act as well. This week, Boulder’s Sanitas Brewing, which…
Sure, you can get a Hawaiian pizza here, and a pizza with the ever-present prosciutto, too, but most of the pizzas at this charmer zigzag in a different direction, most notably a pizza studded with ham, palm hearts and egg, its surface paved with a Latin American salsa rosada. Can…
Despite the fact that it wasn’t even open, zealous bread heads — 250 of them to be exact — rose to the occasion yesterday, forming long lines at master baker Michael Bortz’s City Bakery Cafe, the restaurant-retail offshoot of City Bakery, Bortz’s bread-baking emporium in north Denver, which supplies loaves…
The Capitol Hill neighborhood has changed a lot over the past twenty years, but through it all, Barricuda’s Restaurant & Lounge, at 1076 Ogden Street, has been a true neighborhood hangout, a place for stiff drinks, good food (served until 4 a.m. on weekends!) and very good times. And all…
The forecast is sunny, at least for tomorrow, so diners all over Denver are already making plans for brunch, this city’s favorite meal. After the Best of Denver 2014, in which we named Fooducopia the Best Brunch, we served up our list of the dozen best brunch spots in Denver…
Get out an enjoy Denver’s abundance of decks and patios today and tomorrow — snow is coming Sunday. Fortunately, there are plenty of activities to warm the heart and soul — and fill the stomach — through the weekend, including the fourteenth annual edition of DAM Uncorked and Taste of…
