Photos: Scenes from Art Meets Beast 2012

The second annual two-day celebration of the bison that is MCA Denver’s Art Meets Beast kicked off on November 10 when Pete Marczyk of Marczyk Fine Foods carved an entire bison. The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver shared these fun photos of the festivities, which combined art and education through…

Vita reopens today after a week of renovations

Would-be visitors to Vita Restaurant, 1575 Boulder Street, were surprised to find the place dark this week. Thankfully, the situation was only temporary: Vita had closed last Sunday for a week’s worth of renovations to the floor. The Highland spot reopens today, however, and will be serving up its recently…

Photos: Santa and his reindeer visit El Diablo

There’s no telling what the rest of his reindeer are up to (Thanksgiving obligations?), but Santa and at least a couple of his reindeer came to Denver early this year with a stop at El Diablo’s “Holiday Spectacular.” The Broadway hotspot invited family and friends to visit as it lit…

Guess where I’m drinking Barracuda Punch?

I love a wonderful handcrafted cocktail made meticulously by a professional mixologist. But at times, I get extremely annoyed waiting for it. Punch is a perfect way to have a fantastic cocktail with interesting depth of flavors without the wait. According to the Startender at this bar, punch requires five…

Round two with Drew Hardin, exec chef of Lola

Drew Hardin Lola 1575 Boulder Street 720-570-8686 www.loladenver.com Part one of my interview with Drew Hardin, exec chef of Lola, ran on Wednesday; this is part two of our chat. Favorite Denver/Boulder restaurant(s) other than your own: I’m probably biased when it comes to answering this, but I love Vesta,…

Red Robin does the time warp — with burgers from the past

I’d love to see chains bring back some of my old favorites that have been erased from menus over the years: the Bellbeefer from Taco Bell, the McOnion nuggets from McDonald’s, the 5 Alarm burger from Red Robin. And now that the folks at the Denver-based Red Robin are giving…

Makan Malaysian Cafe could turn you into a roti rooter

It doesn’t matter whether you brine and cook the bird yourself, pick one up from Whole Foods or hand a bottle of bubbly to the friend who invited you over for the feast. Regardless of who does the holiday cooking, chances are good that before your alarm rings on Monday,…

Makan Malaysian Cafe: a taste of this week’s review

It doesn’t matter whether you brine and cook the bird yourself, pick one up from Whole Foods or hand a bottle of bubbly to the friend who invited you over for the feast. Regardless of who does the holiday cooking, chances are good that before your alarm rings on Monday,…

Where to drink on Thanksgiving in Denver

There’s no shame in giving thanks at the bar as opposed to the table, or in taking a break from the family to catch a quick buzz — which is why many local watering holes will be open on Thanksgiving. Here’s a rundown of some of the best spots in…

Pasquini’s Pizzeria on 17th plans to add live music

Tony Pasquini has had a very wild year…and it’s not over yet. His history in the local restaurant business stretches back to 1986, when, barely of legal age to have a liquor license, he founded the first Pasquini’s Pizzeria, at 1310 South Broadway. He later sold it to his sister…

Guess where I’m eating lamb kabobs?

Most of you will be eating turkey tomorrow, which was always the tradition in our family, too, until this year, when my mom suddenly announced that she was doing a leg of lamb instead. Nonetheless, I embrace the change and even started celebrating early with skewers of grilled lamb at…

Four unique wines that will keep the Thanksgiving love alive

If your family’s anything like ours, then it’s not so much the turkey, stuffing and cranberry you’re looking forward to inhaling tomorrow — it’s the booze. There’s a reason why most of us make sure we only commit to spending several hours in the company of these people two or…

Drew Hardin, exec chef of Lola, on cooks who don’t have passion

Drew Hardin Lola 1575 Boulder Street 720-570-8686 www.loladenver.com This is part one of my interview with Drew Hardin, exec chef of Lola; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. Drew Hardin grew up watching Julia and Jacques, sometimes begrudgingly, but when dinnertime came around, he appreciated the fact that…

Five reasons why Thanksgiving is a fly-over holiday

Thanksgiving is a fly-over holiday. While other holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, have an entire month’s worth of ramp-up –and special heart-shaped candy to boot — year after year this noble-sounding, federally-approved holiday is relegated to a mere day’s worth of turkey-munching and football-watching, followed by a trail of stores…

Reader: Sour cream turns tasty enchiladas into cream poo

Every day, Lori Midson serves up another entry in her Guess Where I’m Eating series, asking readers to identify the restaurant serving a particular dish — in yesterday’s case, enchiladas. But one reader declined to play along, citing a major problem with that dish. See also: – Guess where I’m…