Photos: Aurora’s Pacific Ocean Marketplace and A+ Food Station

Aurora’s Asian food scene keeps heating up. The already expansive H Mart got a new tenant late last year in A+ Food Station, which serves Korean dumplings, noodles and more inside the grocery and retail market. A little farther east, Pacific Ocean Marketplace opened its third and largest grocery, with…

Video: Coffee and Cats at the Denver Cat Company

The Denver Cat Company opened last month as one of the first cat cafes in the U.S. Customers can sip coffee and cuddle with a number of cats, provided by Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue, while perusing books, jewerly and other items for sale. Videographer Andrew Batemen dropped in to visit…

Novo Retail Cafes Showcase Roasting Quality

There’s no better way to try Novo Coffee than in one of the company’s two Denver cafes, one on East 6th Avenue and one downtown. “Our retail locations are a great way to showcase our coffee,” says president and co-founder Jake Brodsky. “The fact that we do it in our…

El Chalate Serves Salvadorean Warmth in the Form of Pupusas

When hunting for the cuisine of any country or ethnic group, Colfax Avenue is not a bad place to start. This month I’m looking for pupusas, the stuffed tortillas of El Salvador, and there are at least three restaurants on Colfax east of Quebec Street that either specialize in Salvadorean…

Lower48 Kitchen launches Tuesday Tastings Today

Lower48 Kitchen’s Mario Nocifera and chef Alexander Figura are launching a new weekly dinner series today. Tuesday Tastings will give guests a chance to indulge in an accessible, three-course menu for $36 per person. And in this initial run, the restaurant will help you stick to your New Year’s resolution…

First Look: Snarf’s Opens Colorful New Sandwich Shop on 38th Avenue

Jim Seidel just opened his eleventh Snarf’s in the Denver-Boulder area; this one brings his sub sandwiches to a former convenience store on 38th Avenue on Denver’s western border. The pagoda-style building, originally part of a chain of convenience stores in the 1960s, has been decked out in Snarf’s familiar…

Five Food Trends to Watch For in 2015

2015 is already proving to be an strange, even contradictory year for foodies to follow. Between the weird-ass buttered coffee micro-trend and major fast food chains putting out feelers to re-brand burgers, fries, tacos, pizza and fried chicken as being fresh and less processed, 2015 is already shaping up to…

Ten Breweries That Plan to Open in Denver in 2015

Sixteen new breweries opened inside Denver city limits in 2014, a record year that brought the total number of breweries here to 44 — and that doesn’t include beer makers like Joyride Brewing in Edgewater and other nearby suburbs that helped the Mile High City’s beer culture bubble over. At…

Happy Hour at Beatrice & Woodsley: Magical Mystery Tour

It’s winter; now all we need is a wonderland. Might I suggest Beatrice & Woodsley, the venerable purveyor of whimsy on South Broadway? For years, its Nosh & ‘Tails cocktail hour, every weekday from 5 to 6:30 p.m., has been a mix of sophisticated soiree and playful bar time. With…

The Ten Best New Bars in Metro Denver in 2014

The best new bars in Denver in 2014 are pouring Colorado beers from multiple tap handles, mixing killer cocktails with local ingredients and providing a high level of professional service to both educate and entertain customers. From laidback and loungey to lofty and luxurious, a wide variety of top-notch watering…

The Five Best Restaurant Apologies — Translated From Lawyer Speak

Last month, Chipotle got a public hand-smack because an employee did a “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture to nine visiting NYPD officers who blew off the burrito bowls and left, sparking a store boycott by local cops and a pile of customer complaints. Chipotle co-CEOs Steve Ells and Monty Moran…

Three Vegetarian Ramen Options That Will Bowl You Over

People swoon over tonkotsu ramen, with pork bones — including heads and trotters — boiled for twelve or more hours until the broth turns opaque. Vegetarian versions don’t have quite the same heady effect, but some chefs are trying to change that. In my current review of Tokio, I write…

Can Craftsy, Denver’s Arty Online Education Company, Turn You Into a Top Chef?

This week’s cover story profiles Craftsy, the Denver start-up that’s thriving by teaching people new hobbies through high-end online tutorials. Cooking and cake-decorating classes are among the most popular courses on the site, with baking instructors turning into online celebrities and students launching their own pastry businesses. But can Craftsy…