This year has been an interesting and generally productive one for food trends, with global tastes well-established, house-made fruit and vegetable pickles all the rage, gourmet burgers and craft brews holding steady, and Peruvian and Thai fusion cuisine everywhere. But with the good comes the bad, and there are definitely…
Josh and Jen Wolkon and their talented crew put plenty of time and planning into Ace, the ping pong hall/bar/restaurant in a renovated 9,000 square foot garage next to Steuben’s, their second restaurant. (They opened the first, Vesta Dipping Grill, fifteen years ago.) And when Ace opened in August, it…
Twin Peaks is celebrating the holidays by offering patrons the chance to stuff a stocking with a free $20 “Man Card” — for every $100 gift card purchased, a diner will be rewarded with that present. Additionally, employees of the breastaurant-chain will “bust out their jolliest Santa outfits” throughout the…
Cheers erupt from the back table. A thirty-something, slightly sweaty in dark jeans and collared shirt, pumps his fist, Tiger-style, celebrating a zinger that caught the corner and kept on going. High-fives are given, drinks are spilled — but in the rush of victory, no one cares, just as no…
Cheers erupt from the back table. A thirty-something, slightly sweaty in dark jeans and collared shirt, pumps his fist, Tiger-style, celebrating a zinger that caught the corner and kept on going. High-fives are given, drinks are spilled — but in the rush of victory, no one cares, just as no…
Pottery and cuisine don’t have an obvious connection in American culture, but it’s common in Japan for people in the food business to also be interested in ceramics. It’s not as common for restaurant veterans to become fulltime artists — but that’s the course that Kazu Oba, a native of…
While restaurateurs in Denver are scrambling to open new spots before the end of the year — and the end of all that holiday business — the founders of 35-year-old Sweet Basil in Vail just opened Mountain Standard today. Mountain Standard — which is around the corner from Sweet Basil…
Yard House is celebrating a mutual sixteenth anniversary with Firestone Walker Brewery — both California-based businesses got their start in 1996 — by tapping a limited-edition IPA brewed exclusively for the beer-centric restaurant. The “hopped-up” ale — which is made with seven varieties of hops — is currently available at…
Last week, we poured out a little guidance on what you might sneak under the tree (or Festivus Pole, or whatever) that would add a little splash of joy in the lives of any wine lover on your list. But we failed to include any actual wine in that grouping,…
Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. “People, people, people:…
It was a big week for beery expansion announcements: Oskar Blues brewed its first batch of Dale’s Pale Ale at its new brewery in Brevard, North Carolina, while New Belgium spent $10 million to add twelve massive new fermentation tanks and and four brite tanks so that in can increase…
I like green chile as much as the next person — probably more — but this burrito, ordered with steak (non-existent), was swamped with the stuff, wasteful inches of it, and for all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the green chile at this joint, it flat-out sucked, as did…
Daniel Ramirez Gaetano’s 3760 Tejon Street 303-455-9852 www.gaetanositalian.com/ This is part one of my interview with Daniel Ramirez, exec chef of Gaetano’s; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. Daniel Ramirez was just shy of twenty when he left Acapulco for Los Angeles to pursue a career in architecture…
Cost Plus World Market is usually a one-stop gift shop for foodies, but during the holiday season it becomes a wonderland of seasonal edibles, drinkables and everything to create and serve them, including winter-themed cookware and dishes that you’ll only use once a year. The prices are reasonable for imported…
The McRib has been resurrected for the holiday season, and Jenn Wohletz celebrated its reappearance yesterday in her Merry McRibness ode. But not everyone is celebrating its return (or another fast-food post on Cafe Society). See also: – Merry McRibness! A holiday poem -The McRib is back, and Denver’s got…
Lucky Pie Pizza & Tap House, 1610 16th Street, is tapping a spiced holiday ale from River North Brewing at 5 p.m. today. The beer-centric pizza joint is also midway through its Twelve Beers of Christmas celebration, so there will be a special release from Sierra Nevada on tap as…
Denver has been very, very good to some New Jersey transplants — and now they want to give back to the state where they got their start. From 5 to 11 p.m. tonight, they’ll gather at Vesper Lounge, which Frank and Jacqueline Bonanno opened this past Saturday, to “raise a…
With out-of-town guests beginning to trickle in for the holidays, it’s a relief to know you won’t have to house, feed and entertain them all by yourself. Well, make that “yes” on house, but with restaurants that double as entertainment zones, there’s plenty of help in the other two areas…
All this week, I’m featuring my favorite culinary stocking stuffers and presents for the fervent foodnik, cook and restaurant fiend in your life (yesterday’s pick was the indulgent hot chocolate and salted caramel marshmallows from Spuntino). These are all gifts that are available locally — and locally made or produced…
Never mind that the guy behind the bar, a self-described beer geek since 1995, had never heard of sour beers. Weird, but forgivable, particularly since he suggested I try The Abyss, an inky special reserve Imperial stout, from Deschutes, with hints of caramel and licorice. Get it now, before I…
It’s not that easy to find vegetarian-friendly (let alone vegan-friendly) Mexican food; between lard in the refried beans and chicken stock in the rice or green chile, there’s no telling what animal products might be lurking in the foods you order. That’s why we just love places like Tarasco’s New…
Back in September, we spilled the very good news that Paul Reilly, the former chef of Encore, which closed early this spring, would open a new dining mecca called called Beast + Bottle, a restaurant, he told me, that would be nose-to-tail and “much more about the food and food…
