Barrel-aged cocktails are here, there and everywhere, in bars, restaurants, wineries and tap houses. But this orange essence-rimmed barrel-aged drink, by virtue of its name alone — Satan’s (Curled) Whiskers — grabbed my attention…and was drained in seconds flat. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives…
Not every work environment has cocktails on-site, but if your office is at Galvanize, that’s one of the amenities. Galvanize, the startup-tech common workspace in the Golden Triangle, has Gather to thank for that. Gather, the on-site cafe overseen by ChoLon chef-owner Lon Symensma, is mixing up cocktails inspired by…
Patxi Azpiroz Patxi’s Pizza 3455 South University Boulevard, Englewood; 303-783-2000 185 Steele Street; 303-331-1000 www.patxispizza.com This is part two of my interview with Patxi Azpiroz, exec chef/owner of Patxi’s Pizza; part one of our conversation ran yesterday. Favorite Denver restaurant(s) other than your own: I’m still exploring and trying all…
New restaurant and food concepts are conceived in all sorts of ways. Most owners and chefs spend months, years, even decades, slaving over the perfect idea, scribbling their dreams on napkins, their own bathroom walls, on coasters at the bar. But in the case of Chris Newell and his girlfriend…
When Patzi Azpiroz decided he wanted to introduce authentic deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza in California, he spent two years experimenting with recipes in his San Francisco kitchen. Today there are a half-dozen Patxi’s Pizza outlets in California, and this fall Azpiroz and his partner, Bill Freeman, opened the first Colorado Patxi’s…
Roast-chicken fanatics tout experiencing the bird with bread salad at San Francisco’s Zuni Cafe the way others talk about climbing the Eiffel Tower or bagging a peak. Some buy the restaurant’s cookbook and start on the recipe two days in advance, drying, salting and stuffing herbs under the skin in…
Steve Progar posted this note on Facebook earlier today: “After a successful 12 years in partnership at Abrusci’s, I’ve taken on a new challenge at the Hideaway Steakhouse. Great place, great food, great people! Hope to see you all come in! Thanks for all the memories at Abrusci’s!” But if…
Last week, we revealed Cafe Society’s choices for Denver’s Ten Best New Restaurants to open in 2012: Amerigo, Squeaky Bean, The Populist, Central Bistro & Bar, True Food Kitchen, Taita Peruvian Cuisine & Bar, The Universal, Pho Lee, Uncle and The Kitchen Denver. At the time, one of the restaurants,…
In most cases, anything with the name “prego” in its title conjures up weird food aversions and compulsions of fourteen years ago, when I was, in fact, “prego” with a fat fetus who’s now a skinny teenager that insists on wearing shorts, even when there’s a foot of the snow…
Patxi Azpiroz Patxi’s Pizza 3455 South University Boulevard, Englewood; 303-783-2000 185 Steele Street; 303-331-1000 www.patxispizza.com This is part one of my interview with Patxi Azpiroz, exec chef/owner of Patxi’s Pizza; part two of our conversation will run tomorrow. Denver lays claim to an infinite number of pizza joints, but deep-dish…
“Fucking awesome!” That’s the emotional sentiment of Sean Kenyon, whose Denver speakeasy, Williams & Graham, just waltzed away the 2013 title of Cocktail Bar of the Year, a prestigious award bestowed on the cocktail cocoon by Nightclub & Bar Media Group, a bar, nightclub and lounge enterprise overseen by president…
In A Federal Case, I’ll be eating my way up Federal Boulevard — south to north — within Denver city limits. I’ll be skipping the national chains and per-scoop Chinese joints, but otherwise I’ll report from every vinyl booth, walk-up window and bar stool where food is served. Here’s the…
For this week’s review (which will be published later today), Gretchen Kurtz ventured south to La Polleria, the Peruvian polleria that opened in a strip mall in 2011, bringing authentic ethnic flavor to a suburban space. And it was a welcome addition, says one reader: See also: – It takes…
The term “flavor profile” isn’t usually heard in reference to brown rice — unless “tastes an awful lot like water-logged wood chips” is considered a valid flavor descriptor. But Qdoba, the runner-up of Colorado’s homegrown, fast-casual Mexican chains, is introducing seasoned brown rice as an option in its restaurants. And…
When Governor John Hickenlooper was at the National Governors Association Taste of America Gala in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, he saw a familiar face: Tyler Wiard, culinary director of Elway’s Restaurant Group, who was there to champion Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. And no one who stopped by…
Jeff Bauman and his brother, Marc, have closed Pig & Block Charcuterie, their small but mighty cured meat and butcher shop, directly next door to Old Major, that opened in October of 2011 in Highland. Jeff, who also pimped wine, dried pastas, a collection of salts, salumi and fresh meat,…
It doesn’t matter what I order at this Japanese restaurant — sushi, sashimi, udon or oysters — because there’s never a miss. Truth be told, every time I have the opportunity to go here, I’m more impressed than the time before. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone…
Punch Bowl – Social Food & Drink has been a big hit since the giant eatertainment complex opened last fall, but the food has been a work in progress. “After almost three months of tweaking,” writes owner Robert Thompson, “we’ve finally landed on a menu that both we and the…
Yesterday we revealed the current Food & Drink leaders in our Best of Denver 2013 Readers’ Poll. In the Best Fried Chicken category, for example, the top five vote-getters are:Carrie’s Place, Steuben’s,White Fence FarmPopeye’s and KFC. And those last two just don’t fly with one reader. See also: – Best…
Y’all know how I roll: Tacos rule my universe, and now, there’s a new spot — Moontower Tacos — giving me (and the rest of you who agree that tacos are the equivalent to enlightenment) another reason to ballyhoo their virtue. See also: – Moontower Tacos will soon be serving…
The McCormick’s Fish House & Bar renovation project is finally done. After the Cruise Room got a facelift this fall, the dining room also got an update. The last space to be spruced up was the Corner Bar, which has looked largely the same since McCormick’s opened in LoDo 26…
Cafe Society dished out three Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a soul-warming hot toddy from a yet-to-be identified restaurant, to a sprawling plate of buffalo meatloaf, also unidentified, to a sign at a local watering hole that insists you’re lying to yourself if you don’t admit you want…
