Guess where I’m eating?

Once upon a time, the French onion soup at this convivial cafe was the best in the city, but the bowl that recently landed on the counter — disappointingly watery, insipid, thin and devoid of salt and pepper — left me scratching my head. Can you guess where I’m eating?…

Reader: All aboard for a Frasca food hall at Union Station!

The RTD board won’t decide which of two competing partnerships will redevelop Union Station until next Tuesday, but the Union Station Neighborhood Co. upped the ante this week by revealing that the market/food hall it’s proposed to put in the historic space would be run by none other than the…

Union Station redevelopment may include a food hall run by Frasca

The area around Union Station has recently gained several high-profile restaurants, including Coohills and Charlie Palmer’s pair of spots, District Meats and Wazee Wood-Fired Pizza (opening next week), with The Kitchen and the Squeaky Bean coming next year. Now Union Station itself could gain some flashy new tenants. On Tuesday,…

Silver Vines Winery opens in Olde Town Arvada

Brothers Jeff and Danny Chayer are originally from Minnesota, but they’ve spent the past four years working in the Texas wine industry. “He was a winemaker,” Danny says of Jeff. “I was a manager of one of the wineries.” There, they learned the ropes of the craft, and, Danny says,…

Lone Tree Brewing opens today

Lone Tree Brewing Company opens today at 4 p.m., bringing Denver’s craft beer revolution to the southeastern suburbs. Two years in the making, the brewery is owned by business partners Jason Wiedmaier, a high school teacher and former Dry Dock Brewing employee, and John Winter, a homebrewer who met Wiedmaier…

Citizens Cropland Policy says no to GMOs in Boulder County

“We, the citizens of Boulder County, in order to create a more perfect food system, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common need, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of a food system free from the influences of corporate power, and ensure public land free from…

Avery adjusts its brewing schedule to deal with cramped quarters

Avery Brewing, which jumped its first hurdle on Tuesday on its way to building a brand new, multi-million-dollar facility in Boulder, has adjusted its brewing schedule slightly to deal with cramped quarters and a rising demand for its beer. Instead of releasing Maharaja imperial IPA in March, Avery will brew…

Round two with Annabelle Forrestal: Matt Selby, markets and mussels

Annabelle Forrestal Vine Street Pub, Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery and Southern Sun www.mountainsunpub.com This is part two of my interview with Annabelle Forrestal, exec chef of Vine Street Pub in Denver and Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery and Southern Sun in Boulder. Part one of my interview with Forrestal…

Cooking with Pete and Barb Marczyk: turkey hash

Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. If you’re one…

Readers: Could an over-glorified prep cook make gnocchi this good?

Denver chefs can be amazingly supportive of each other. Witness the comment that Matt Selby (Steuben’s, Vesta Dipping Grill) posted after the first installment of the Chef and Tell interview with Annabelle Forrestal, exec chef of Vine Street Pub, Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery and Southern Sun: Writes Selby: Chef…

Books, Wine, Cheese: Perfect Pairings for the Holiday Season

Books plus wine plus cheese add up to one of our favorite combos ever, and starting at 7:30 p.m. tonight the Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street in Boulder, will host “Books, Wine, Cheese: Perfect Pairings for the Holiday Season.” Local author Erin Blakemore will discuss recent releases that might…

Rye Chai Stout tapping at Highland Tap and Burger

There’s a new stout in town: Highland Tap and Burger will host the Crafty Ladies Oskar Blues Stout tapping at 6:30 p.m. tonight, with Rye Chai Stout on the roster. For more information, call 720-287-4493 or visit www.highlandtapdenver.com. For information on dozens of culinary events around town, visit our online…

Club 404 announces last call

For over sixty years, Club 404 has been a landmark on Broadway. But owner Jerry Feld — who bought the place before he was legally old enough to have a liquor license — has issued last call for the legendary dive, which I profiled here three years ago, when it…

WaterCourse dumps weekday breakfasts to focus on lunch and dinner

Jonesing for breakfast on 17th Avenue on a recent weekday, we stopped by WaterCourse Foods, hoping to score some breakfast tacos, a plate of French toast, even a vegan pastry. But sadly, our plans were foiled: The restaurant was dark, and new hours posted indicated that WaterCourse now opens at…

That’s the way the “Crummy Cookie Bandits” crumble

The Denver Police Department has arrested two men suspected of several robberies in the metro area who’d been dubbed the “Crummy Cookie Bandits.” Nineteen-year-old Rodney Mitchell and 33-year-old Dartanian Mitchell were taken into custody last night at the Blockbuster video parking lot on Colfax Avenue. Both are being held in…

Oak at Fourteenth will rise up from the ashes next week

After six months in business, Oak at Fourteenth was really building momentum this past spring, nabbing accolades from around the country that culminated in its listing in the March Food & Wine as one of the country’s best new bars. That honor arrived the same week that a fire erupted…