Five places to celebrate National Chocolate Cake Day

Time to get your sugar high, Denver. Today is National Chocolate Cake Day, which is an excellent reason to stop into a favorite spot for a slab of something rich, delicious and, above all, packed with chocolate. Need a suggestion? Here are five places that will give you a fix…

Guess where I’m eating?

I’m not much of a fan of flour tortillas — I’ll order corn 99 percent of the time — but the flour tortillas here, at this joint that makes and presses their own, have given me pause for thought. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives…

No Reservations crew spotted in Denver — but no Anthony Bourdain

Two years ago, Anthony Bourdain dropped in on Denver, where he waxed rhapsodic about the blood sausage at Mizuna and wrapped his jaws around wieners at Biker Jim’s, the footage of which was nicely packaged in an episode of No Reservations. And if the sightings of Bourdain’s film production crew,…

Frank Bonanno asks: “Is it my fault somebody stunk up the bathroom?”

Frank Bonanno is one of the most successful chefs and restaurateurs in Denver, presiding over a commonwealth of food temples (and one speakeasy) that, for the most part, generate positive reviews and comments from professional restaurant critics and amateur key strokers alike. But even the best restaurants make mistakes, and…

The Garden will grow in former Kate’s at 35th Avenue spot

Aleece Raw, who’d been in internet marketing since the early 1990s, suddenly found her trajectory shifting a few years ago. “I woke up to food three years ago,” she explains. “My mother and sister are cancer survivors, and I decided to go to natural chef school. I told them, ‘I…

My top five McDonald’s horror stories

McDonald’s proved this week that the road to public relations hell is paved with good intentions — and hashtags. The company introduced a Twitter hashtag crusade, asking customers to share their happy fee-fees and heartwarmingly poignant stories about dining at McDoo’s, but as with most things that start out with…

Barrel-aged cocktails hit drink lists all over town

Six months ago, Eric Dutton, bar manager at Vesta Dipping Grill, unveiled a Vieux Carre he’d let sit in wood for a few weeks — the first barrel-aged cocktail we’d seen on a Denver menu. Since then, though, we’ve noticed barrel-aged cocktails popping up on a handful of lists, making…

Guess where I’m eating?

If you’re looking to chase away the chill, it’s worth making the pilgrimage to this wiener joint that just introduced its first chili dog — and will soon celebrate its sixth anniversary. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s…

Round two with Hunter Pritchett, exec chef of Luca d’Italia

Hunter Pritchett Luca d’Italia 711 Grant Street 303-832-6600 www.lucadenver.com This is part two of my interview with Hunter Pritchett, exec chef of Luca d’Italia. Part one of my chat with Pritchett ran in this space yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: I just had an amazing meal at Red Medicine in…

TAG|RAW BAR plans to expand — both its size and menu

TAG|RAW BAR, Troy Guard’s house of (mostly) raw foodstuffs that are good for your body and soul, is one of the city’s most petite restaurants, but by the start of Denver Restaurant Week(s), Guard and his gang will have doubled the size of the below street level space in the…

Leopold Bros. Distillery keeps rolling with two new spirits

Brothers Todd and Scott Leopold have been distilling since 1999, but only in the last two or three years have they really had the freedom to exercise their creativity in the market. “We’ve been in the business for thirteen years, and it’s almost like there weren’t bars for the first…

SIA Ski Pass Promotion at the Corner Office

Don’t let the lack of snow get you down — if you have a ski pass, the Corner Office Restaurant + Martini Bar, 1401 Curtis Street, has a deal for you. Today through Tuesday, January 31, bring your ski pass into the Corner Office and receive a free drink as…

At Hana Matsuri, the chef knows his way around good fish

A friend once trained under a master sushi chef for a couple of years, and it was mesmerizing to watch her work a knife around a vegetable or piece of fish. She was slow and methodical, paring precisely to shape each element of a dish into a delicate, edible work…

Photos: Hana Matsuri, the subject of this week’s review

Always on a voyage for good sushi in this landlocked state, this week’s review took me to Hana Matsuri, a Westminster restaurant where the sushi counter is helmed by Eddie Wang, who knows his way around a fresh fish. I enjoyed much of what he cut and arranged, even if…