It’s time to start planning the biggest event of the year, your Super Bowl party. I don’t get as riled up about the game as I used to — I think it’s because players now change teams as often as they change their jockstraps — but I do still love…
For centuries, being banished to snowy Siberia was a fate worse than death for citizens of Russia. If you’d like to experience some authentic, icy Russian culture, without the forced labor, stop by Red Square Euro Bistro in Writer Square. On a blustery January evening, our thickly accented bartender poured…
I am on a roll in this new year, and I’m pretty sure I may be a candidate for sainthood. While I know that bleary-eyed readers are already well-acquainted with my piety, I’ve recently performed the requisite three miracles that should get me an all-expenses-paid trip to Rome and the…
In unofficial (and perhaps unintentional) homage to Chicago’s entertainment ringmaster Billy Flynn, the spirited Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge performs lots of alcoholic hocus-pocus with its Razzle Dazzle martini. The delicious, bright yellow Razzle Dazzle ($7) is made by combining Bacardi Raspberry with orange juice and champagne, then served up in…
I wasn’t able to go home to Minnesota over the holidays, but I did manage to find an enclave of natives at Cadillac Jack’s (2250 South Monaco Parkway), where my world ended a few weekends ago. Perhaps you remember this particular Sunday: The Vikings lost to the Arizona state high…
I have multiple vices, and the latest addition to my addictions is Indian food. When I need a fix, I head straight to Little India’s enclosed patio on Sixth Avenue. And since I rarely eat a meal without a cocktail accompaniment — what’s the point? — I promptly settled on…
For most of us drinkers, January 1 isn’t a particularly pretty day. When I’m hung over, I want a Coke, greasy bar food and a Bloody Mary — in that order, please. And that kind of misery loves company, so on the first day of 2004, you might want to…
If you’re still wondering how to down your bubbles this New Year’s Eve, let me suggest the Champagne Mojito ($6) at Agave Underground, a concoction powerful enough to blast you into one hell of a 2004. Agave, which opened last month, makes this drink by combining Brut Champagne and Bacardi…
Merry Christmas. Only 24 hours left until some of you (all women) can run out to catch all those post-holiday steals. You’ll say you’re going so that you can get your shopping done early, but you’ll still be back at the malls come Halloween, checking out all the new fads…
Following Toby Tyler’s lead, Santa Claus is running away and joining the circus that will be at Mario’s Double Daughter’s Salotto this weekend. Named for Italian ringmaster Mario Guccio’s ax-juggling conjoined-twin daughters who died in 2001, Mario’s Double Daughter is truly one of the greatest shows in town. And in…
Knowing what I know now, I would never have voted for the sweeping change in attitude embodied by John Hickenlooper’s administration. While I wholly approve of reversing parking rates to a level that does not require a second mortgage or a successful second career in narcotics trafficking, I expected a…
Do you remember your first experience with hard alcohol? For me, it was sneaking the liquor-soaked cherries out of the Manhattans that my grandparents drank each evening. As a child, I both hated and loved the bittersweet taste. Still, I’d never sat down and ordered a Manhattan until I bellied…
To any of you who were present at the Stout Pub (2052 Stout Street) the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I want to apologize on behalf of our entire group. I want to, but I won’t. Because the blame really belongs to bleary-eyed reader Andy Anderson, a fellow Minnesotan who suggested this…
I’ve always wanted to be the lead singer in a band. Not like Mick Jagger fronting a band rockin’ out large stadiums, but more of a Janis Joplin type, pouring my heart out on a small stage in a dark, smoky enclave. Sadly, I can’t carry a tune. My own…
Apparently the only Ted-free place in town is Denver International Airport. These days, you can’t turn on the television or open the paper without seeing that single word emblazoned on a blank field, or even go to a bar without having a cheap Frisbee proclaiming “Ted is fun” foisted on…
If your houseguests have been in town for a full twelve hours and are already grating on your last nerve, impress them with a trip to Denver’s newest power center, the Capital Grille, where you can get them nice and sauced up with a few Stoli Dolis (a drink that…
Let’s have a show of hands: Who did something this past weekend that he or she regrets? Okay, me too. But despite my being “overserved” by the Hornet (76 Broadway), I’m pretty sure I have the same complement of friends that I went into the weekend with. And that’s no…
Let’s be honest: No one goes to the Diamond Cabaret & Steakhouse for its specialty cocktails and rare steaks — they go for the tits and ass. With its dark-red walls, leather chairs and neon chandeliers, the currently controversial Diamond was the perfect spot to pop my strip-club cherry. This…
The new SAT is the final step in the coddling of America’s children, which is ruining society. It started with allowing snowboarders at Vail and continued with the acceptance of ridiculous baggy pants — the ones with crotches hanging around the knees, making kids look like clown-school rejects or young…
After my friends and I grabbed two open spots at Bowlero Lanes one Saturday night and strapped on our snazzy rental shoes, we placed a friendly little wager: The losing team must buy the next round. And even with a 49-point spread to make up for my ball-handling deficiencies, my…
Now that Halloween is over, I’m sure you’re counting the days left during which every Target, Barnes & Noble and Best Buy will be filled with a miserable quagmire of people who are apparently unaware that other humans populate the Earth — running you down with their shopping carts, blasting…
I didn’t get out last weekend, and I doubt that you did, either, because we are apparently under biological attack. I don’t know for sure where this bug came from, but it’s probably hell. The bug ravages your body until you’re so sensitive that even your hair hurts and you…
