First look: Pho Saigon Star opens near the DU campus

In this week’s Chef and Tell interview, which runs tomorrow, I chat with Drew Hardin, exec of Lola, and when I asked him which food trend he’d like to see fall by the wayside, he had this to say: “I don’t know if it’s the worst trend, but it’s definitely…

Pizza Pizza taking over former Luciano’s space

The space that once held Luciano’s Pizza & Wings has been vacant since the pizza place closed in March, seized for back taxes. But there are signs of life at 1043 Broadway. Specifically, a sign that Pizza Pizza has applied for a liquor license at the address. See also: -Luciano’s…

Volcano’s veggie sushi lunch explodes with flavor

Vegetarian lunch specials are special indeed, because while restaurants around town offer meaty specials at the noon hour, vegetarian specials are usually only offered at vegetarian restaurants. Volcano is an unexpected exception to that rule. It’s one of a growing number of non-chain restaurants in the southeast Denver area, prime…

Guess where I’m eating enchiladas?

I’m not an advocate of the tacos at this taqueria, but the salsa bar has merit and the enchiladas, draped with a tomatillo green chile, aren’t bad, either. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where posts is…

Photos: Scenes from Beaujolais and Beyond wine festival 2012

Last Thursday night at Infinity Park Event Center, the Rocky Mountain French-American Chamber of Commerce celebrated the arrival of the 2012 Beaujolais Nouveau by inviting local chefs to create French-inspired dishes and pair them with the grapey, fruity French wine as part of the annual event’s culinary competition. The battle,…

Photos: City Spirit reunited at Taxi over the weekend

Years before the seedy side of downtown was officially named the Lower Downtown Historic District, artists and other hipsters recognized that it was the creative heart of Denver. And at its heart? City Spirit. Although the cafe closed fifteen years ago, it’s spirit lives on — and was much in…

Photos: Chef & Brew 2012 crowns food and beer winners

If you needed (more) proof that Denverites are madly, wildly obsessed with craft beers, all you had to do was eyeball the packed Oriental Theater last Thursday night, the stage for the city’s first annual Chef & Brew event, which was sold out to the tune of 500 revelers downing…

Exclusive first look: Patxi’s Pizza opens in Englewood

First thing’s first: Patxi’s is pronounced “pah-cheese” (‘t’ before ‘x’), and its name, which is Basque, also happens to be the first name of co-owner Patxi Azpiroz, who opens his namesake restaurant — a shrine to pizza — late this afternoon at Cherry Hills at Kent Place, a new mixed-use…

Pasquini’s on 17th goes for cabaret license today

So far, much of the talk about the Pasquini’s Pizzeria that opened on East 17th Avenue in early November has focused on the new paint-job outside. Today, the discussion will move indoors, when Pasquini’s applies to the city for a cabaret license, which would allow the venue to offer live…

Photos: Il Mondo Vecchio loaded its last stock on Friday

On Friday, Il Mondo Vecchio sold its final sausages. Since opening in 2009, the salumeria has garnered all kinds of praise for its cured meats, but in August the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it had a beef with the business’s salmonella testing procedures and issued an ultimatum that co-founder…

Reader: Papa John’s needs the dough to pay Peyton Manning!

Since Peyton Manning doesn’t work fulltime as a Papa John’s spokesman, CEO John Schnatter doesn’t have to cover the quarterback’s health insurance (which has to be hefty). And he’d like to make sure that as many Papa John’s employees as possible work under thirty hours a week, so that the…