In last week’s Chef and Tell interview with Joe Freemond, the executive chef of Cellar Wine Bar, he admits that as a kid, he wasn’t remotely interested in wieners or burgers. In fact, his favorite restaurant was Sushi Den, the logical choice of a five-year-old. He also grew up on…
Which Denver restaurant would make the best use of forty pounds of cherries from Washington? A PR firm from that state is looking for an iconic restaurant deserving of the fruit…and coming up with the right location is the pits. Should it be the Cherry Cricket, for its name alone?…
After closing his Happy Coffee kiosk inside Salvagetti Bicycle Workshop late last year, Scott Taylor started looking south. And last week, he opened a new Happy Coffee in the former Fancy Tiger Crafts space at 1 South Broadway. Here’s a look at the newest coffee shop in the Baker neighborhood:…
In 2010, when Jeff Lindauer and Russ Wall first began scheming to turn Lindauer’s Buckhorn Canyon water into craft spirits, they consulted with a private-label distilling company to come up with the formula and recipes. And by random chance, they worked with Rob Masters, who soon left that group to…
The former Pearl Street Grill may still be dark, while Yasu and Toshi Kizaki, the brothers who own Sushi Den and Izakaya Den, retool that space to make way for the relocation of Izakaya Den, but down the block, at 1859 South Pearl Street, Karen Wee Lin Beckman is gutting…
Just when we thought summer-like weather was here to stay, we woke up today to find that last night’s rainstorm lingered and outstayed its welcome like the last drunk patron at the bar. And since the prospect of staying cooped up inside more than two days in a row makes…
Ambria got off to a fast start at the end of last year. Just two weeks after Ling & Louie’s closed on the 16th Street Mall, the Mediterranean-New American restaurant opened its doors in the same spot, with Ambria’s kitchen manned by exec chef Jeremy Kittelson, who was a part-owner…
Eureka! I’ve searched all over the city — and beyond — for the best paella, and finally, after years of hanging my head in despair, I’ve found the holy grail. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where…
Cafe Society dished up six Guess Where contests last week, including a mint julep from Williams & Graham — or as one cheeky commenter quipped, Wallace & Gromit. And even though the Derby is done, when it comes to mint juleps, it’s just way too easy to say, “I’ll Have…
No one’s saying you have to go meatless just because it’s Monday — but as incentive to join the growing movement, every week we’re offering an animal-free recipe. The stores are starting to stock fresh, fat blueberries, which are perfect for muffins. These vegan offerings contain juicy blueberries and lemon,…
On Friday the Denver Business Journal broke the news that Trader Joe’s would be opening its second store at Eighth and Colorado Boulevard. (The first — which means the one that also gets to sell liquor under Colorado’s convoluted code — will debut next year in Boulder’s Twenty Ninth Street…
Mother’s Day is coming next Sunday, and restaurants throughout town are cooking up plenty of opportunities to show your appreciation. We’ll post a list of places that still have space later this week, for those in need of inspiration. In the meantime, here’s a rundown of what’s on the rest…
In early March, after Jeremy Kittelson, the opening exec chef of Ambia, was canned during a to-the-point meeting at the Cheesecake Factory, he made it clear that he wanted to stay in Denver: “I really want to find another restaurant, where we can do the same caliber of great cuisine…
Not only will the 16th Street Mall have a bigger range of food vendors than ever before this summer, but those vendors will be keeping much more extensive hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, under new contracts with the Downtown Denver…
Trader Joe’s has signed a deal for its first location in Denver, according to this story in the Denver Business Journal. The store will be on the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Eighth Avenue, where Annie’s Cafe was once located. The spot was supposed to become a hotel, but…
In this interview, Pizza Republica’s Rona VanSlyck weighs in on the importance of being open-minded, her current back-bar obsession and the dive bar she frequents when she’s not at work…
The warm weather has us constantly craving ice cream, and yesterday, we listed our five best Denver parlors. While those are the places we’re most likely to go for a double-scoop cone, ice cream parlors aren’t the only places in town that turn out the dessert we crave: there are…
Big Choice Brewing opens in Broomfield today, pouring a little beer culture into a craft beer gap along the Highway 36 corridor. The 2,500-square-foot brewery and tap room will have four beers to start with and eight within a few weeks…
I love bun — deep bowls of Vietnamese rice noodles tossed with fresh herbs, fish sauce, grilled meats and a Vietnamese egg roll — and here, at this citadel of Vietnamese cuisine, just about every table was devouring one. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives…
Happy Place: El Camino, 3628 West 32nd Avenue, 720-889-7946. The Hours: Daily from 3 to 6:30 p.m. The Deals: $1.50-$2.50 beer specials; $4.50 house margaritas; $1.50-$6 food specials. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…
By this time next month, the Lowry Beer Garden — the first bona fide beer garden in Denver — will be pouring suds, most of them local, from the confines of a new kitchen and bar that’s part of a larger 8,000 square-foot project in the new Hangar 2 project…
Mexican fare from fast-food chains usually isn’t authentic, healthy or even pretty, but it’s irresistible. And we all indulge from time to time — hitting the window at Taco Bell at 2 a.m. after a night of mainlining vodka gimlets; finding any excuse to grab a sunflower-seed-stuffed veggie burrito at…
