Round two with chef Patrick Hartnett: “C’mon people, call ahead”

Patrick Hartnett Kachina Southwestern Grill 10600 Westminster Boulevard, Westminster kachinagrill.com 303-410-5813 Part one of my interview with Patrick Hartnett, exec chef of Kachina Southwestern Grill, ran yesterday; this is part two. Favorite restaurant in America: Kaya, in Pittsburgh. It’s a restaurant I opened about twenty years ago, and it’s still…

Bonefish Grill is “polished casual,” and a pretty safe bet

I had never eaten at aBonefish Grill, and I as I lurked the menu online on the way to the restaurant, I was unimpressed with what I saw: grilled meats and seafood that seemed pretty typical of any American seafood/steakhouse. These days our food-centric culture tends to steer diners toward…

Squeaky Bean could write the book on innovative handling

Thomas Keller’s latest cookbook, Bouchon Bakery, is coming out in a few days. This is old news to food lovers around the country, who pre-ordered months ago to ensure not a second’s delay in tackling the purported nine pages of croissant instructions from the perfectionist chef of French Laundry fame…

Cruise Room gets a facelift — but the history remains

Developer Dana Crawford remembers the first time she saw the Cruise Room. It was in the ’50s, and the Oxford Hotel, a once-elegant Victorian establishment that welcomed visitors getting off the train at Denver’s Union Station, had become a “flophouse,” she recalls. “The people who lived there were retired railroad…

Rockbar’s request for special event cabaret permits denied

And the hits just keep coming for Rockbar, the hipster hangout that Jesse Morreale opened six years ago when he bought the All-Inn at 3105 East Colfax Avenue. Last week, the city denied Rockbar’s request to renew its hotel and restaurant liquor license, but extended its temporary license until November…

Guess where I’m eating a lamb dip?

A lamb sandwich, or a salad sans lamb? It came down to making a choice between the two, and in the end, the lamb won. It always does. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where posts is…

Guess where I’m eating a pizza pie as big as the sky?

With the exception of the one slice they reluctantly gifted to me, two teenage boys polished off this pizza in no time flat…and then asked for more. Heathens. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where posts is…

Hoot and Howl takes wing in Northfield Stapleton

Hoot and Howl is now open in the former Twisted Olive space in Northfield Stapleton. The restaurant has made live music a major part of its menu, with open-mic nights and karaoke on a weekly basis, and it put on quite a show of local acts at its grand opening…

Photos: Mici Handcrafted Italian now open in Stapleton

The Miceli family opened their third Mici Handcrafted Italian restaurant yesterday, this one in Stapleton, in the former home of An’s Lemongrass — and right across from a Montessori school…which initially presented a problem. “We’re a family-owned Italian restaurant,” says Kim Miceli-Vela, one of the family members behind Mici Handcrafted…

El Senor Sol mixes up Mexican meals for vegetarians and vegans

With five metro locations, El Senor Sol is a homegrown chain — but the outpost on West Colfax Avenue in Golden doesn’t feel like a chain spot. Just up the road from the ubiquitous national chains at Denver West, El Senor Sol feels like the family-run establishment it is, with…

Reader: Great American Beard Festival does not include women!

The Great American Beer Festival filled this town with lots of great beer — and many great beards in the male-heavy crowd. We documented some of them this past weekend in our “Fifteen best beards of the Great American Beer Festival” post. Which inspired a classic response. See also: -…

Guess where I’m eating ghetto Mexican?

Ghetto Mexican — cheap ghetto Mexican. That’s all you need to know, and it’s what I craved after a long, cloudy night at the GABF, the blurry hours of which I’m still trying to piece together. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct…

First look: Humble Pie opens today in Baker

Few people can resist the scent of a fresh-baked pie emerging from the oven, and fewer still have the willpower to snub a slice of fresh pie when it’s shoved under their nose. And if you live in the Baker neighborhood, you’re really screwed, because as of 6 a.m. this…