I’ll never forget my first Irish breakfast. I was sitting in a small Dublin pub whose bartender looked startlingly like a well-known painting of Jesus, reproductions of which hung in the dining rooms of my parents, my grandparents, my cousins and every other good Irish-Catholic family in Pittsburgh (usually with…
Comings and goings: Boy, there’s nothing like raving about a general manager in a review only to find out on the day the paper hits the stands that the general manager has packed up and moved on. Salvatore Galati was reason alone to visit Mediterra at 1475 Lawrence Street (“Med…
School’s in: If I needed more education in the culinary arts, I would go to a place like the Cooking School of the Rockies in Boulder. After spending a recent afternoon there to observe a class and–my favorite part–eat lunch prepared by the students, I came away impressed with the…
It’s good to be at the top of the food chain. I get letters all the time from diehard vegetarians who don’t want to see animals killed for meat–but who delight in describing my impending demise in less than humane ways. And some of these letter-writers are quite articulate, such…
Top this: The tapas craze continues as a new bar pops up in Denver about every forty seconds. Add Sevilla at the Ice House (1801 Wynkoop Street) to the list; it opened last week in the mini-restaurant row that’s formed at the base of the historic building (Sevilla joins Rodizio…
Salvatore Galati could be the ideal restaurant manager. He’s personable. He’s easygoing but serious about the restaurant business; he’s knowledgeable about wine and food and passionate about both. He knows how to make people feel welcome. He’s traveled extensively, and he understands that there’s a world of difference between canned…
After a mere ten minutes of standing by the door to Sushi Den, waiting to get a table and watching diners come and go, I realize the tragic truth: I am not one of the beautiful people. But just about everyone else who frequents Sushi Den is. The fourteen-year-old Japanese…
The sweet taste of success: Black tie and breast enlargement were optional at the eighth annual Taste of Vail earlier this month, when more than a thousand really beautiful people gathered for the Grand Tasting (read: great gorgefest). After sipping about twenty of the hundreds of wines available, my tastebuds…
French kissed: I’ve just returned from a two-week vacation in France, and, boy, am I pissed to be back. Spending most of the time in Provence–and primarily eating meals we cooked in the kitchen of the house we’d rented–gave us a native’s perspective on the day-to-day procuring of quality ingredients…
In France, love and food and passion and wine and sex and cheese are all mixed up, a steamy potage of appetites as intoxicating as it is exhausting. How fitting, then, that La Chaumiere, a charming French restaurant just outside Lyons–Colorado’s Lyons, that is–is the culmination of a decades-old romance…
Got milk? While Broncos lobbyists continue to press the flesh at the Colorado Statehouse, John Elway is doing his bit to remind fans of the Super Bowl victory–through poster versions of Elway’s milk-mustache advertisements published in USA Today and Sports Illustrated after the win in San Diego. “The only thing…
A waiter is never just a waiter. He also serves as a restaurant’s ambassador, guiding a diner through unfamiliar territory. A good waiter can make a bad meal better and a good meal great. But when a server is bad, it flavors the entire meal. Morocco was in dire need…
Authenticity–now, there’s a concept. If more restaurateurs understood what they were trying to do–and why–there would be more good restaurants out there. Instead, all too many restaurateurs cook up some half-baked “concept,” then proceed to force-feed it to customers. Exhibits A through Z: the Olive Garden. This national chain recently…
Aspen extremes: James Caan glanced over the booth in Aspen’s Boogie’s Diner and gave me that look of his that says, “You want a piece of me?” No thanks, I decided. I’d rather have another piece of Boogie’s banana cream pie. Or anything at Boogie’s, for that matter. Although the…
As you get older, your ability to consume enormous quantities of food at one sitting noticeably decreases. I can remember college all-you-can-eat spreads that saved me from starvation, because I’d pack enough food into my stomach to sustain me for at least two days and a couple of all-nighters. But…
Good taste: The Fourth Story has more going for it than just Sunday brunch (see review above). At 6:30 p.m. March 24, the eatery will host the Great Divide Brewing Company for a beer tasting accompanied by a four-course dinner (cost still to be determined). Two days later, at 3…
Standing Pat: McCormick’s Fish House & Bar, at 1659 Wazee, has established several fine traditions (not counting its oysters) in the dozen years it’s been in business here. First there’s the $1 Irish coffee offered in the bar whenever it’s snowing. The second tradition is a daily event (more on…
If the test of a good ethnic restaurant is the number of customers from the cuisine’s alleged country of origin, then the Armadillo fails miserably. After eating twice at the lower-lower downtown location of this homegrown mini-chain–the Armadillo operates nine eateries in Colorado and one in Cheyenne–and a week’s worth…
Uncle Sam’s wants you–and, believe it or not, your kids. For that alone, Denver families should stand up and cheer. At most area restaurants, children are about as welcome as anthrax–and twice as deadly to the diners around them. But not only does the four-month-old Uncle Sam’s truly welcome families,…
To the Manor born: Sure, Uncle Sam’s (reviewed above) specializes in American food–but is there anything more red-white-and-blue than a really bad-for-you burger? A recent 1 a.m. run to My Brother’s Bar (2376 15th Street) to quell a post-booze craving for a cheeseburger–which Brother’s satisfied by once again handing me…
If you’ve survived the fall of Saigon and fled your native country, how frightening can it be to start a restaurant? Very, it turns out. “It has been scary,” says Van Vo, who opened Tay Do seven months ago. “I admit that I know very little about cooking, but I…
Noodlin’ around: People always think that the best part of my job is getting to stuff my face. They’re wrong–that’s the second-best part of my job. The best part is letting people know about out-of-the-way, unheard-of eateries that serve excellent food, like Tay Do (reviewed above). Of course, in the…
