Thai Mai Tai at Nocturne “I had very little exposure to music growing up,” says Topher Hartfield, lead bartender at Nocturne, a new jazz venue and supper club that opened in March in the Ballpark neighborhood. But when he opened Nocturne with owners Scott and Nicole Mattson and chef Dustin…
There is no food more evocative of the Fourth of July in America than watermelon. It comes into season right about now and serves as the perfect refresher on a hot summer weekend full of barbecues and beer. But, what’s that? You’d like to combine your watermelon with your beer?…
As Colorado’s brewery scene expands, there continue to be changes at the top of the brewhouse ladder. The most recent comes from Dry Dock Brewing, which has hired Alan Simons to run its production facility. For the past seven years, Simons held the top job at Backcountry Brewery in Frisco, where…
As if the brewery scene in River North wasn’t hot enough, now Great Divide is getting ready to open its new tap room, the Barrel Bar — probably sometime next week. It’s the first phase of a $38 million new brewery that the company is building on five acres of…
The Bindery on Blake building in River North will soon be home to a trio of new food and beverage establishments, notably the new location of the Rackhouse Pub (after owner Chris Rippe’s original spot was closed to make way for the expansion of Stranahan’s distillery), and Bierstadt Lagerhaus, a brewery…
Need a little zest in your life? Craving some pep in your step? Want to add a little “zip” to your daily “a-dee-do-dah?” Here’s a hint: Take the parts of your daily routine that bug you and spice them up, Cajun-style. Boring commute? Cajun-style. Unfulfilling relationships with your step-children? Cajun-style…
Denver’s southern suburbs continue to chug along when it comes to new craft breweries. The latest to start pouring beer: Barnett & Son, which quietly opened earlier this month in Parker at 18425 Pony Express Drive, #125, with several beers on tap and a rotating caravan of food trucks. Owned by…
The Phuket at Fuel Inspiration often comes from the unlikeliest of places. For Jaci Hernandez, it happened on a vacation to Mexico. In early June, the bar manager at Fuel Cafe left Denver for a friend’s wedding in Puerto Morales, near Cancun. The idea for her newest cocktail didn’t actually…
Few adults willingly walk into Casa Bonita without having first enjoyed an alcoholic beverage or two: It takes a lot of fortification to stomach the Casa Chilada platter while trying to keep track of your kids in Black Bart’s Cave, plus, most of the Skee-Ball machines are usually broken. Then…
Denver will lose its biggest brewer this weekend when Breckenridge Brewery officially opens its massive, twelve-acre campus on the banks of the South Platte River in Littleton. But the city’s loss will be a major gain for Colorado beer drinkers and beer tourists, who will gain a malty, hoppy adult…
LoHi SteakBar is in an enviable position in Highland: by the standards of this ever-changing ‘hood, the modern steakhouse is an elder statesman, about to celebrate six years at 32nd Avenue and Tejon Street. But it’s also facing competition up and down the street, a quiet, polite battle that only…
For the second year in a row, McLain Hedges has won the Viva Sangrita cocktail competition, held on Tuesday afternoon at Linger. A group of 150 cocktail fans packed Linger’s rooftop patio for the annual event, which tasked all nine competitors with creating a sangrita, a non-alcoholic accompaniment to a…
The Post Brewing in Lafayette will begin canning two of its beers this month: Howdy Beer, a 4.5 percent ABV American-style pilsner (and Great American Beer Festival silver medal winner last year), and Townie Ale, a 6.2 percent ABV English-style pale ale. The brewery and fried chicken specialist says the…
Beer festivals are a dime a dozen in Colorado, which is why organizers — especially the ones who have been doing it for years — are always looking for ways to make the experience better for both attendees and the brewers involved. The Colorado Brewers Festival in downtown Fort Collins, which…
If you haven’t been to Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery for a while, you may notice some changes the next time you order a pint. Over the past few months, the brewery has completely replaced its old lineup with brand-new beers and a new approach. The overhaul is a result of the exit…
The Bourbon Renewal Project at Dunbar Kitchen & Taphouse Becky Alter, bar manager at Dunbar Kitchen & Taphouse, has a saying that she instills into all the bartenders that work with her: When in doubt, go the classic route. That mixological mantra is a rule she lives by, too; her…
Al Laws is passionate about what he loves. As the owner and founder of Laws Whiskey House, it’s obvious that what he loves is whiskey. “I really, really like rye whiskey,” he says. “I think it’s the most sensual whiskey.” This week Laws and head distiller Jake Norris released the…
On the NBC show Hannibal, the titular Dr. Lecter dazzles his dinner guests with an parade of effortless, elegantly crafted dishes made with, ahem, distinctive ingredients. The two-month old Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox doesn’t offer “long pig” on the menu, but it shares the show’s atmosphere of haute cuisine, lust, and music. It’s…
New Belgium Brewing is a great place for twenty- and early-thirty-somethings to find a job. The Fort Collins brewery — Colorado’s largest craft beer maker — was named one of the best places to work for millennial employees in America. To create the list, the Center for Generational Kinetics partnered…
With hundreds of craft breweries already pouring beer in Colorado and dozens of new operations planning to open, it’s important for each one to find a way to stand out. “Everybody is always trying to do something different,” says attorney Robert Runco, who specializes in liquor laws. But “something different” can…
Bonnie Lass at Adrift Tiki Bar Every bartender has a go-to drink — the drink they order when they get off work and slide into the solace of the quiet corner of a darkened bar somewhere. They wouldn’t think of burdening their bartender with a high-maintenance cocktail consisting of six…
“Cinq a sept” is a winking French idiom for the happiest hours in a day — the evening time just after work and before dinner, to be filled with drinks, food and conversation…and maybe even a rendezvous with your lover. Happy hour is a little bit different in this country,…
