Fly trap: Sunday brunch at the Firefly Cafe, 5410 East Colfax, left me baffled as to why the place always looks so jammed–as indeed it was during our Mother’s Day visit. I expect crowds on that day, but a place that’s been in business for over a decade should be…
Denver’s spring weather has me on a dietary seesaw: One day I’m outside firing up the grill, and the next I’m craving whatever requires enough oven time to heat up the house. It was during the recent cold wave that we got a hankering for the quintessential belly comforter: a…
It won’t fly: While waiting for a noteworthy chicken-fried steak at the Cherokee Bar and Grill last week, I had the good fortune to eavesdrop on some particularly interesting conversations. On one side of the room sat a large group from the Denver Aviation Commission discussing, among millions of other…
A restaurant claiming to serve Mediterranean food is in a good position–the menu possibilities are endless when you stake out a territory including such culinary strongholds as France, Italy, North Africa, Spain, Greece and Turkey. Then again, sometimes it’s better to stick with what you know best, which could explain…
A recent trip to Boulder provided plenty of food for thought. At Two Bitts Bistro on Baseline Road, we became concerned that the kitchen was baking brownies just for us, so slow was service on two desserts well after the lunch rush had ended. Were they worth the wait? You…
During the Vietnam War, one of the best-known roads in Saigon was Pasteur Street, a bustling avenue of commerce that housed a restaurant fairly famous in its own right–Pho Pasteur, a place frequented by locals who were not averse to visits from American soldiers, my father included, who’d fill up…
Calling all restaurateur wannabes: Thornton is looking for a few good eateries to serve its rapidly expanding population. “In 1990 we had around 55,000 residents in Thornton,” says Dave Bata, the city’s economic-development specialist. “Now we’re at well over 60,000.” An even more impressive Bata statistic: The average annual income…
In one of the most ramshackle dining rooms in one of the most rundown buildings in one of the worst neighborhoods in town, you’ll find the heart and soul of Denver’s restaurant scene. But Ethel Allen–Miss Ethel to those who’ve already discovered Ethel’s House of Soul–doesn’t mind the Five Points…
Scene and heard: I didn’t get to meet him, but at least Paul Bocuse had the good sense to dine at La Coupole, one of my favorite restaurants, immediately upon arriving in Denver. What did he eat? Normandy veal with a creamy mushroom sauce. What did he say? That he…
When the test kitchen’s been fired up since 1000 B.C., it’s hard to improve on old family recipes. Although some of the ingredients–lemons, honey, eggplant, phyllo–popularly associated with Greek food didn’t come along until many years and several foreign rulers later, the ancient Greeks were tending olive trees and grapevines…
Although it’s certainly not fair for a critic to review a restaurant after only two weeks of operation, there’s no law against dropping in for a bite, then writing about the place. And I just couldn’t help myself after reading an advertisement for The International, an intriguing venture that calls…
The name varies–sub, submarine, hoagie, grinder, poor boy, hero, torpedo, cosmo–but one rule remains constant: This is a sandwich that should equal more than the sum of its parts. Too often, though, the sub (apparently the preferred title in Denver) is much less–a sad pile of limp deli meats, wilted…
The battle for the bottle: Denver’s chapter of the Beer Drinkers of America met with state representatives Mike Salaz and Alice Nichol at a recent rally to protest ongoing attempts to raise beer taxes. “We’re hearing a lot of indecision from Colorado lawmakers on this issue,” says John Fajardo, BDA’s…
Given the miserable survival rate of new restaurants, Willie Nelson could have sung a different tune: “Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Restaurateurs.” Better the babies should grow up to be businessmen who buy a key piece of real estate and fill it with kitschy, pricey eateries…
End of an era: If, like me, you’ve never had the pleasure of participating in a Hotluck, well, hots of luck. Private investigator Scott Keating started the Hotluck ten years ago as a way of bringing together a diverse group of people–around a hundred each party, including such notables as…
The first Thai restaurant in the United States opened in 1961–in Denver, of all places. La-Iad “Lily” Chittivej fell in love with the area when her husband was serving in a Thai military unit stationed at Fitzsimons during the Korean War; she returned years later to open the Chada Room…
Male restaurateurs, chefs and managers who don’t respect their female employees had better take note: Finally someone has had the courage to say “no more” to the sexist, degrading treatment women are subjected to in the restaurant industry (and I’m speaking from experience). Ramona Brooke is the winner in this…
Ethiopian food makes me think of sex. Really sloppy, messy, no-holds-barred sex, the kind people in the movies have with things like clay and old Righteous Brothers tunes as marital aids. Sure, almost any food can be sexy (especially with the right dining companion), but few cuisines invite such total…
Bacon bits: Serious BLT fans might want to give J. Beatty’s, at 321 East Colfax, a try. I had their regular ($5.50) for lunch the other day and could barely finish the thing. It contained a half-pound of thick-sliced, hickory-smoked pork, fried to your request and layered with green leaf…
Pizza is not the first thing that pops into your mind when you think about the food of New Orleans. Oysters, sure. Crawfish, you bet. But pizza? Like most cities, of course, New Orleans has some decent pizza places (my favorite is Mama Rosa’s on Rampart Street), but few people…
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when I had my first Guinness Stout; I’d have to say it was somewhere around the age of five or six, when Grandma Donovan (a stout woman in every sense of the word) told me the head tasted just like milk. At the time I…
Food can be an icebreaker, an educational opportunity, even a great social equalizer. Never was this more apparent than on my first day of college, when my new roommate Kelli and I came face to face and realized that she is black and I am white. Up until that point,…
