Restaurants have a tough time making a go of basement space, and the 250 Steele Street address has been a particularly black hole. Although Bistro Adde Brewster had a long run there, the spot has since swallowed up French 250 and a couple of Mexican joints on one side (Ondo’s…
Five restaurants debuted in as many days this week (and is that a record?): Russo’s Kitchen + Tavern, TAG|Raw Bar, Row 14, Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dog’s and Hideaway Steakhouse. And while all of them are welcome additions to the Denver dining scene, Hideaway, which chef Chris Cina opened Wednesday in…
Andrew Fejer and his wife, Adriane, were in Atlanta when they stumbled on a class that led them through painting — while providing adult refreshment at the same time. “I went in kicking and screaming,” says Andrew. “I ended up having a really good time.” Although both Highland and Cherry…
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but it’s National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day. In fact, by now your chocolate-covered raisin party is likely in full swing, and all your friends are tanked on prune juice and gin. Another memorable March 24, indeed. For those of you who…
After getting derailed by a rogue electrician, Biker Jim wasn’t sure that he’d be open by the first home game of the Colorado Rockies, but after years of hustling wieners from a cartel of downtown carts, he unlocked the doors to his brick-and-mortar, a long labor of love — and…
If you’ve given up on finding great pasta at local restaurants, here are five mechanical contraptions that might help you make great pasta at home:…
No. 64: Chongqing Chicken from East Asia Garden Some of the best cooking in Denver comes from restaurants that are completely off the grid — those with generic names, facades as forgettable as last night’s one-night stand and featureless dining rooms where the color scheme clashes. East Asia Garden, which…
While the new food truck guide spells uncertainty for a number of mobile concepts in Denver, Pizzeria Basta is undeterred in its plan to unleash a mobile wood-fired oven on the state of Colorado. The crew is ramping up to unveil Basta Mobile, a portable extension of the Boulder-based restaurant…
“This restaurant is my passion, I own the real estate — we have zero debt — and as soon as I get the money that was stolen from us back from the banks. I’ll reopen Skew.” Those were the words of Ton Phairatphibon, the former owner of Skew, 2070 South…
Enrique Socarras Cuba Cuba 1173 Delaware Street 303-605-2822 www.cubacubacafe.com This is part two of my interview with Enrique Socarras, executive chef of Cuba Cuba. In part one of this interview, Socarras raps on integrity, stomaching raw bacon and his new Boulder restaurant. Best food city in America: I’m going with…
Vicente Domingo opened Viejo Domingo, an Argentine spot, quietly last year in the West 38th Avenue space that had housed Playa de Oro. And now Viejo Domingo has left left quietly, too. The Viejo Domingo sign is down, the phone rings without going to voicemail, and a handwritten scrawl in…
As mayor, John Hickenlooper frequented the gourmet food trucks that parked outside City Hall for Civic Center Eats. Now Denver City Council representative Carla Madison, as head of the city’s truck task force, is overseeing a study of the rules governing the operations of those trucks. She hopes to have…
Talk about getting your just desserts! And, no, we didn’t wipe the plate clean, but we did mange to make a small, rather insignificant, dent. 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…
In some circles, sushi is synonymous with “raw fish” — and clearly not on the menu for vegan or vegetarian diners. Thankfully, even in landlocked Colorado most sushi houses offer at least one or two veggie rolls — and Japango, 1136 Pearl Street in Boulder, offers a multi-course veggie spread…
“Where should I start?” responds Chris Cina, when I ask him about his new restaurant, Hideaway Steakhouse, that opens today in Westminster. Cina, whose name is synonymous with the Fourth Story, a long-gone restaurant that resided on the top floor of the former Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek, and, more…
When Georgia natives Matt Alexander and Nick Reckinger were simultaneously laid off from their jobs a few months back, they were looking for a way to make some quick cash. So they turned to a hobby: barbecue. “We started selling barbecue to friends and co-workers. You know, like Paula Deen…
Enrique Socarras Cuba Cuba 1173 Delaware Street 303-605-2822 www.cubacubacafe.com This is part one of my interview with Enrique Socarras, executive chef of Cuba Cuba. Part two of that interview will run in this space tomorrow. Enrique Socarras puffs on a cigar, intently studying the squiggles of smoke that swirl through…
The pot-for-food campaign seemed like such a smart idea to do some good and get some attention: Urban Cannabis, a medical marijuana dispensary on South Downing Street, would give away pre-rolled joints in exchange for customers donating canned goods to local food banks. Between March 1 and April 20 (a…
A couple of restaurants in town are now listing items that diners can order for the back-of-the-house, including a six-pack for the kitchen crew, in order to further enhance their meal. In a post about these new drink-list requests yesterday, Laura Shunk wondered if this trend was charming — or…
Americana is a pop culture celebration of this country’s history, a glorified representation of such symbols as Route 66, fried chicken and the blues, sexed up in a way that panders to our collective consciousness and makes us proud of a past we may never really have experienced. And Americana…
“I’ve spent the last month as a babysitter, as a life coach and as a hustler,” quips Arik Markus. “Now, I finally get to do what I should be doing — cooking and feeding people.”…
When I first ate at Japoix for my review, a server told me that the restaurant’s name came from a desire to emphasize the marriage of Japanese and French cuisines, the focus of then-chef Jay Spickelmier, who’d done stints at Spago and Jing before moving to Japoix when it opened…
