Vail’s Terra Bistro is so 17 years ago

Terra Bistro, the restaurant inside Vail Mountain Resort & Spa, is celebrating its 17-year anniversary through Wednesday, December 16 with a special menu that features dishes from the past 17 years, including a “drunken” pork chop and sweet potato ravioli salad with crumbled blue cheese, walnuts, sage and thyme in…

Ask the Critic: No reservations

One of the great things about living, eating and working in this city has always been that there are virtually no restaurants in the entire city that can’t take me as a walk-in any time I feel like putting on the feedbag. Sure, there are exceptions. Friday and Saturday nights…

Red Robin: Helping kids one patty at a time

The Denver-based burger chain, Red Robin, is sponsoring its annual Kids Cook-off event, a shout-out to aspiring young burger junkies who want to submit their burger creation ideas to Red Robin for a chance at the grand prize — the title of “Fan Favorite” from online voters, an award of…

Culinary calendar for the week ahead

Our online Food & Drink listings contain dozens of culinary events around the state; we put together a list of what’s coming up this week so you can get a taste. Tuesday, December 1: A community pancake party benefiting Parade of Lights will be held from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30…

Top five most shocking food facts from Food, Inc.

Following a recent birthday barbecue feast, I woke up before the sun with a wretched bellyache and proceeded to hurl my guts out. Nothing reminds you that you aren’t 21 anymore like puking bacon cheeseburgers and red wine and going up against a hangover that feels like a jackhammer trying…

GB Fish and Chips opens in Edgewater

Directly across the street from Sloans Lake, home to alligators bobbing carp, coy, perch, catfish and other maligned bottom feeders, sits the second outpost of GB Fish and Chips, which opens today at 2175 Sheridan Boulevard. And just like the original location at 1311 South Broadway, this GB’s will turn…

Wall Street Journal highlights “Rocky Mountain Haute Cuisine”

“Truffles and saffron edge out Red Zinger tea and granola in Boulder,” reads the start of Raymond Sokolov’s piece in the weekend Wall Street Journal. But what “used to be the “hippiest, dippiest town around” is now the site of a major “gastro-boom.” Sokolov proceeds to prove that theory with…

Guess where I’m eating?

If the thought of some sweet breakfast offering leaves you feeling flat as a pancake, wake up and smell the chicken-fried steak. And the homemade hash browns and tomato gravy… Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Every Friday, anyone who gave the first correct answer to any of…

Tonight: Drink up at Frasca

Frasca Food & Wine, 1738 Pearl Street in Boulder, will host its weekly Monday Night Wine Dinner tonight; this round features Mario Scanu of Winebow Imports, who will present the wines of Valle Reale in Abruzzo, all paired with a four-course meal. The dinner is $30 without wine and $45…

Today: Buy Local, eat local, drink local

The Mile High Business Alliance will kick off its third annual Buy Local Week week at 6 p.m. tonight,at an informal reception with complimentary appetizers, desserts and beverages from Avenue Grill, Mulberries Cake Shop (that’s one of its creations, right), Great Divide Brewing, Balistreri Vineyards and Oogavé Natural Sodas, as…

Cafe Society: Week in review

What you may have missed this week on Cafe Society while you were buried in gravy, a slave to stuffing or checking out Sheehan’s roundup of Denver’s best pub grub, which is exactly what you want after too much tryptophan: Saul Hudson learned that Chipotle Mexican Grill is entering the…

Corner Office gets some new blood

Just got off the phone with manager Michael Torres of the Corner Office, talking about the new man behind the burners at that most Mad Men-y of restaurants at the Curtis. Carlos Ruiz (most recently ex of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, making him well-versed in both hotel cookery…

Sugar House expanding into the hotel business

Looks like Sugar House, at 1395 West Alameda Avenue, is making its long-promised push into the rooms-for-rent business. According to a new post on Craigslist, the place is expanding, and one of the job openings includes “night auditor/hotel customer service,” graveyard shift, when responsibilities will include: “Greet, register, and assign…

The List: Top ten pubs with good grub

Argyll might have saddled itself with the horrible label “gastropub,” but by any name, Robert Thompson’s new place is a pretty sweet bar, with seriously great food. But while the menu at Argyll, which I review here, is more ambitious than what you find in most pubs, there are many…

Lovely Confections hits the big time (sorta)

Leave it to those trend sniffers at the New York Times to jump on a fad that had already begun to get stale a year ago and now declare it the next big thing. Leave it to the NYT to somehow insult every city that isn’t New York or L.A…

Sugar High: Novo peppermint mocha

Black Friday is upon us. Whether you’re nuts and arrived at stores pre-dawn to snag the deals, or you’re a stay-away-from-the-malls-at-all-costs type, everyone can benefit from a little caffeine boost after a day of carb-loading. If you’re near downtown, where better to fuel up than at Novo Coffee? The Denver-based…

Guess where I’m eating?

My server leaned toward me intently, as if she was either going to make out with me or tell me her darkest secret. “It’s the best thing on the menu, hands down,” she said. I hadn’t eaten in days. At least, that’s what it felt like. I needed a huge…

Top five gadget infomercials that cluttered your kitchen

It’s late. You’ve had a few. Or ten. And even though there’s nothing on the tube, you crack another beer and keep on channel surfing. A week later, the mailman arrives bearing mysterious packages and the next thing you know, you’re sweatin’ to the oldies in your Snuggie and cutting…

Chef and Tell part two: James Rugile of Venue

This is part two of my interview with James Rugile, executive chef of Venue. To read part one of this interview, click here. Culinary inspirations: Thomas Keller of the French Laundry for his pursuit of perfection and emphasis on technique, and Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns for…