Photos: Wacky Halloween treats from Rocket Fizz

Colorado is home to the highest number of Google searches for Halloween treats, according to NBC’s Today; fortunately, the Centennial State has plenty of places to get our sugar rush. And we just acquired one more: A second Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop (the original is at 1512…

Mile High Vienna Stand steps up on on Santa Fe

The original Mile High Vienna Stand has moved from 258 Santa Fe Drive to a larger space half a block away at 300 Santa Fe, in the heart of Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe. “People kept telling me we were too busy — something I didn’t think was possible,”…

Chapul Cricket Bars are full of protein — from actual crickets

Is the idea of eating insects for protein — rather than as part of a reality-TV show contest –really that weird anymore? John Beers of Chapul Cricket Bars doesn’t think so, and he’s on a mission to change hearts and minds — by chirping about the health and environmental benefits…

Guess where I’m eating a Chicago beef sandwich?

I’m a big fan of the hot dogs at this wiener joint, but the Italian beef sandwich, dipped in what the restaurant calls “gravy,” is my go-to guilty pleasure Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where posts…

Terroir closes in Longmont, but its owners keep cooking

Fans were shocked and saddened when Terroir, a much-lauded farm-to-table restaurant on Longmont’s Main Street, closed after five fruitful years. “It’s definitely bittersweet,” says Tim Payne, who ran the restaurant with his wife, Melissa Newell, and manned the line as executive chef. See also: – First look: Former Bitter Bar…

Round two with Ed Kammerer, exec chef of Highland Pacific

Ed Kammerer Highland Pacific Restaurant & Oyster Bar 3934 West 32nd Avenue 303-477-6644 www.highlandpacific.net Part one of my interview with Ed Kammerer, exec chef-owner of Highland Pacific Restaurant & Oyster Bar, ran yesterday; this is part two of our chat. Rules of conduct in your kitchen: We used to have…

Reader: Rockbar will be remembered — vaguely

Rockbar will close this weekend, after more than six years as a hipster hangout on East Colfax. While owner Jesse Morreale and the city continue to trade barbs, a few customers are spilling their memories of nights at Rockbar: See also: – Rockbar will close this weekend after a goodbye…

Shish Kabob Grill skillfully embraces both tradition and change

Even if you’re too busy to read books, there’s a good chance you’ve dog-eared the pages of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, or at least chatted with someone who has. Malcolm Gladwell’s book spent an incredible 193 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and its premise…

Turkish coffee in your own kitchen!

There are many stops along the road to adulthood: getting your driver’s license, going off to college, taking your first (legal) sip of beer. Before all those, however, there’s another: your first cup of coffee. I remember mine clearly. I was a teenager at an outdoor sporting event in Wisconsin…

Photos: Leaf & Crumb cake shop rises in east Denver

Leaf & Crumb, a bakery specializing in tea-infused cakes and cupcakes, just opened at 4416 East Eighth Avenue. Owner Jennifer Rocha, who gave up a career as a pharmacist to pursue her passion for baking, and her crew officially put the icing on the cake yesterday. Westword photographer Elyse Mitchell…

Cooking with Pete and Barb Marczyk: Coq au vin

Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. Pete just celebrated…

Guess where I’m eating a Calabrese pizza?

Despite a name change, everything about this charming suburban pizzeria is the same, including the notable pizzas, smeared with red sauce, or slicked with olive oil and garlic, and served by the pie, the slice or Sicilian-style. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first…

Looking good! Mayor’s Design Awards honor six eating/drinking spots

Restaurants aren’t just changing the way Denver eats; they’re changing the way this city looks. Last night Mayor Michael Hancock announced the winners of the annual Mayor’s Design Awards — twelve projects cited for excellence in architecture, design and place-creating. “Every great city has exciting, pioneering places like these that…

Free sausage biscuits at Carl’s Jr. this morning!

Remember Hardee’s — the fast-food stop with the oft-touted “Made from Scratch Biscuits?” It’s okay if you don’t, since Hardee’s restaurants have yet to penetrate Colorado or the states to the west of us, so we only have Hardee’s sloppy sibling, Carl’s Jr., to pimp out Hardee’s biscuits. And lucky…

Reader: The Denver cops have gay bars in their sights

Last Friday night, the Denver Police Department did an undercover operation, sending underage police cadets to liquor establishments across Denver where they tried to buy booze. And succeeded in the case of four bars (and numerous liquor stores), all of which were cited for selling to a minor. The bars…

Rockbar will close this weekend after a goodbye bash

Jesse Morreale has decided he can’t fight city hall on two fronts. And so after last call on Saturday, October 27, he’ll close Rockbar, the hipster hangout he opened in the All-Inn, the motel at 3015 East Colfax Avenue that he bought almost seven years ago. Earlier this month, Tom…

Crazy Asian Cafe will reopen as Spicy Ginger Asian Bistro

Crazy Asian Cafe, 290 South Downing Street, has been closed for weeks for what the restaurant’s voicemail message calls “a remodel.” But in reality, the space has been bought by the owners of Sweet Ginger in Cherry Creek, and will reopen as Spicy Ginger Asian Bistro. See also: -Sweet Ginger…