Though it pains me to say it, seeing as how it signifies the fast-approaching end of hiking season, fall has begun. I do enjoy this time of the year though, mostly for its comforting nature: chilly enough to bundle up, but not uncomfortably so; colorful enough to lift the spirits,…
Just when I thought I’d seen foie gras done every which way, it lands on an effing pizza! Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I drinking/eating posts is entered into a pool — and every Monday,…
Ever since Pot of Pho closed, finding good (meat-free) pho in the west suburbs has been a challenge. We still think Pho 95 makes the best veggie pho in the city, but sometimes, driving to Federal Boulevard seems like more trouble than it’s worth. So we were happy when Pho…
Charlie Palmer wants to know how the weather is in Denver. “Is it raining? Snowing?” he asks. “No, it’s beautiful,” I tell him. “That’s one of the reasons why I like Denver so much,” says the New York-based chef and restaurateur, whose portfolio of restaurants, which spans the country, includes…
For years, Que Bueno — by gate 52 on Concourse B — was the best reason to get through security early at Denver International Airport. And when this locally owned joint closed last fall for a rehab and expansion — from 1,118 square feet to 1,490 square feet, with a…
While some readers were splitting hairs over splitting plates, others were getting ready to welcome La Merise to Cherry Creek, where it will open on Wednesday in the former home of Argyll, at 2700 East Third Avenue. In a basement, if not necessarily a temple…
I stopped short right outside the entrance to Satchel’s on 6th. Past the threshold, I could see people sitting and sipping wine at a U-shaped bar in the center of the simple, beautiful space, illuminated by the sexy glow of candlelight reflecting off dark walls. But on the patio, where…
When Andrew Casalini and Jen Dactano packed up Satchel’s Market, it didn’t take long for another pair of restaurateurs to pick up the lease on their former spot in Park Hill. After years in the catering business, Pam Read partnered up with her cousin, Gary Fink, to turn the space…
The seeds for Moon Dog Farms, the massive urban garden at 333 22nd Street that’s run, in part, by the Mercury Cafe, were sown during a walk in the park…
There’s never been a particularly compelling reason for Denverites to waste their mileage on traveling to restaurants in Lakewood, unless you were headed to Cafe Bisque, a vibrant cafe that managed to make a longstanding name for itself with its stellar brunch menu that eventually expanded into dinner. But early…
In 2001, Matt Robinette sat with his wife, Roberta, brother Jonathan and sister-in-law Cristina in a Tahoe cafe, where they pondered selling Roberta’s Pueblo-style green chile in California, an area of the country that wasn’t familiar with the stuff. It took nearly a decade — as well as a move…
When Elena Zasytiene moved to Denver from Colorado Springs, she knocked on restaurant doors looking for a job, but no one would hire her, so she shrugged it off and followed her gut: She, along with her partner, Baiba Sisco, signed a lease on their own restaurant, La Merise, a…
People driving by the Capitol building at Broadway and Colfax will notice many things about the Occupy Denver demonstration site, including energetic protesters chanting and waving signs, a Hooverville-style collection of tents and tarps for the 24-7 campers and, right in the middle of this organized chaos, the Thunderdome. This…
I’m not a big proponent of tofu — except when I have it here, at a restaurant that’s definitely not vegetarian, but whose vegetarian dishes are among Denver’s best. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I…
Cafe Society served up five guess where contests last week, ranging from an elk-jalapeno-cheddar dog smothered with pedestrian chili and nacho cheese at Coney Island to a superlative Philadelphia cheesesteak at Large Marge’s to these street tacos . For correctly identifying them as coming from Tacos Marlene, Joey M. Wins…
No one’s saying you have to go meatless just because it’s Monday — but as an incentive to join the growing Meatless Monday movement, we’re featuring an animal-free recipe each week. Biscuits and gravy are a common comfort food, and sadly, it’s very rare to find a good vegan b&g…
Laura Shunk just served up the “five things that should always be free at a restaurant,” including the glass of water she requested after ordering a round of drinks. And while some readers added a few she’d missed — chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant, tea at a Chinese…
Open just five days, Maria Empanada, a tiny storefront that’s dispensing food from South America, is one of those restaurants that makes me happier than an elephant freed from the circus to live in Denver. And Lorena Cantarovici, who owns Maria Empanada, which is named for her mother, couldn’t be…
A one-mile strip of Havana out in Aurora can pretty much cure any craving you might have for Korean food, so after making the sad discovery that Sae Jong Kwan, one of my favorite restaurants in Denver for bibim naeng myun, was (at least) temporarily closed, I was consoled by…
Oblio’s Pizzeria, 6115 East 22nd Avenue, makes great pizza, and now the owners want you to eat it all at once. The Park Hill joint is offering an eating challenge that they call “28 inches of pure madness. Two people, one hour, no upchucking.” If you pull it off, Oblio’s…
Leave it to British winemaker Ben Parsons, founder of the Infinite Monkey Theorem, the gritty winery in the Golden Triangle, to release a tap wine fittingly called Monkey Shine. Parsons, who rolled out a sparkling wine in a can during a blowout bash at the Food & Wine Classic in…
The strip along South University and Exposition is stamped with merchants, bars, cafes and restaurants, including the (inexplicably) long-standing Saucy Noodle and the Bonnie Brae Tavern, but the space at 723 South University Boulevard, next door to the Saucy Noodle, is cursed with bad luck…
