Cafe Society posted four Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a glass of barracuda punch from the new, aptly named Punch Bowl Social, to lamb kabobs from the recently opened Cafe Byblos to a plate of enchiladas smothered with verde and squiggled with crema from an Aurora taqueria…
Restaurant turnover isn’t anything new — joints shutter all the time in this city — but the space at 3555 West 38th Avenue has seen so many places come and go that we’re losing track. First, there was Playa de Oro, which closed in early 2011; that was followed by…
This is how I spent my Saturday afternoon — drinking flight after flight of craft beers. In case you’re wondering how that all turned out for me, suffice it to say that I suffered mightily on Sunday. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first…
Curried tofu is like super tofu — the “bland” flavor that many people find dull is eliminated with an explosion of spices. (Especially if you toast the cumin seeds yourself and grind them — yum.) This recipe is adapted from Moosewood New Classics; we’re cutting down slightly on the tofu…
Reindeer are real animals, and the proof is on the menu at Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs, which serves the “smoky, juicy and delicious” deer between two buns for $6.50. In light of the current cover story, “Santa Is Grounded,” which tells the story of a mall Santa named Bill Lee…
Thanksgiving is not over — at least, not at Denver delis that serve sandwiches featuring all the trimmings of the traditional meal a combo traditionally known as the Pilgrim. While some people are still demolishing the remains of their own meals — “Why would I go out for a Thanksgiving…
Would-be visitors to Vita Restaurant, 1575 Boulder Street, were surprised to find the place dark this week. Thankfully, the situation was only temporary: Vita had closed last Sunday for a week’s worth of renovations to the floor. The Highland spot reopens today, however, and will be serving up its recently…
I love a wonderful handcrafted cocktail made meticulously by a professional mixologist. But at times, I get extremely annoyed waiting for it. Punch is a perfect way to have a fantastic cocktail with interesting depth of flavors without the wait. According to the Startender at this bar, punch requires five…
Drew Hardin Lola 1575 Boulder Street 720-570-8686 www.loladenver.com Part one of my interview with Drew Hardin, exec chef of Lola, ran on Wednesday; this is part two of our chat. Favorite Denver/Boulder restaurant(s) other than your own: I’m probably biased when it comes to answering this, but I love Vesta,…
The former CEO and current chairman of Waffle House, Joe Rogers Jr., has his waffles in the iron right now over sex tapes allegedly made of him and his former housekeeper, who claims that Rogers demanded sexual acts as part of her job duties over the eight years she worked…
I’d love to see chains bring back some of my old favorites that have been erased from menus over the years: the Bellbeefer from Taco Bell, the McOnion nuggets from McDonald’s, the 5 Alarm burger from Red Robin. And now that the folks at the Denver-based Red Robin are giving…
Before she put the turkey in the oven, Gretchen Kurtz made many visits to Makan Malaysian Cafe, the restaurant she reviews this week. At Makan, Karen Beckman and her husband feature real Malaysian dishes, many of which Karen learned how to make at her mother’s side. And during her meals…
It doesn’t matter whether you brine and cook the bird yourself, pick one up from Whole Foods or hand a bottle of bubbly to the friend who invited you over for the feast. Regardless of who does the holiday cooking, chances are good that before your alarm rings on Monday,…
Thanks to years of cliche-building commercials for a certain steakhouse, you might think the only things in Australia are koalas, cars zipping across the empty desert and big steaks. But Karen Wee Lin Tan Beckman, chef-owner of Makan Malaysian Café, which I review this week, begs to differ. Born in…
Tony Pasquini has had a very wild year…and it’s not over yet. His history in the local restaurant business stretches back to 1986, when, barely of legal age to have a liquor license, he founded the first Pasquini’s Pizzeria, at 1310 South Broadway. He later sold it to his sister…
Most of you will be eating turkey tomorrow, which was always the tradition in our family, too, until this year, when my mom suddenly announced that she was doing a leg of lamb instead. Nonetheless, I embrace the change and even started celebrating early with skewers of grilled lamb at…
Drew Hardin Lola 1575 Boulder Street 720-570-8686 www.loladenver.com This is part one of my interview with Drew Hardin, exec chef of Lola; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. Drew Hardin grew up watching Julia and Jacques, sometimes begrudgingly, but when dinnertime came around, he appreciated the fact that…
Thanksgiving is a fly-over holiday. While other holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, have an entire month’s worth of ramp-up –and special heart-shaped candy to boot — year after year this noble-sounding, federally-approved holiday is relegated to a mere day’s worth of turkey-munching and football-watching, followed by a trail of stores…
Every day, Lori Midson serves up another entry in her Guess Where I’m Eating series, asking readers to identify the restaurant serving a particular dish — in yesterday’s case, enchiladas. But one reader declined to play along, citing a major problem with that dish. See also: – Guess where I’m…
When the Colorado Convention Center created an urban farm on the piece of land between the complex and Speer Boulevard, it forgot about one minor detail — the winter. But when cold weather descended, the fragile plants at Blue Bear Farm had to be relocated — or die. Enter “Adopt-a-Pot,”…
Last Friday, the world as we know it nearly collapsed when Hostess Brands announced that it would shutter all of its distribution centers and bakeries and file for bankruptcy in light of a worker strike. This, we cried, was the day the Ding-Dong died. And before you could mutter “icing…
In this week’s Chef and Tell interview, which runs tomorrow, I chat with Drew Hardin, exec of Lola, and when I asked him which food trend he’d like to see fall by the wayside, he had this to say: “I don’t know if it’s the worst trend, but it’s definitely…
