The sign on the window ballyhoos the joint’s Mexican food and seafood, but it shouldn’t be pimping either — certainly not its camarones a la diabla…unless you’re pining for shrimp that tastes like freezer burn masked (unsuccessfully) by an insipid sauce. #Just say no…
Laura Shunk, who chose Fruition for a farewell dinner with her parents and a last review in this week’s Westword, isn’t the only one who considers that restaurant a go-to spot. Foodies from Chicago who’ve eaten around the world focused on Fruition as their number-one dining destination in Denver, and…
This, declares Pete VanItallie, gazing around his new pub, is “exactly what I had envisioned when I dreamed of opening a neighborhood place.” He points to a photograph on the wall, a gift from his uncle and godfather, that’s a framed shot of the old Finley homestead in Ireland. “He…
Hugo Matheson The Kitchen Boulder & [Upstairs]; The Kitchen Denver 1039 Pearl Street, Boulder; 303-544-5973 1530 16th Street, Denver; 303-623-3127 www.thekitchencommunity.com This is part one of my interview with Hugo Matheson, exec chef of The Kitchen Boulder and The Kitchen Denver. Part two of our chat will run in this…
Taco Bell is rolling out a more upscale menu on July 5, and after eating a test dinner hosted by America’s Next Great Restaurant chef Lorena Garcia, Jenn Wohletz suggested that the “Cantina Bell menu may make Chipotle a little nervous.” Only if Garcia stays in the kitchen, doubters respond…
My last week in Denver was not really my last, since I have friends and family here who will draw me back to the Mile High City. But after three years of living off the local restaurant scene — first waiting tables and then writing about food — eating in…
The last thing I needed to do after four whirlwind days of eating and drinking myself silly at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, was to drink and eat myself silly within hours of arriving back in Denver. My body needed a detox, but instead, I abused it with…
“So, I’m officially fired,” read the text from Samir Mohammad, the now former executive chef of the Village Cork, who took the job — and a risk — when he first stepped behind the butane burners in January of 2010. “I knew this was a job that would either make…
Tomorrow is the first day of summer, also known as burger season — and then, just around the corner, comes the green chile harvest. Celebrate both at Five Star Burgers, the New Mexico transplant that recently made its way to Broadway…
Taco Bell is going upscale? When I heard this, I thought it was a joke — and the Demolition Man lines were coming hard and fast. Still, it’s true: Taco Bell has officially announced that it’s taking on fast-casual Mexican food chains like our own Chipotle with the July 5…
Cafe Society serves up a mixed menu: posts on restaurant openings, posts on restaurant closings, posts on bad customer behavior, posts on bad server behavior…and yesterday, Jenn Wohletz’s list “five things I’ve found in men’s refrigerators that made me not want to date them.” The comments have been pouring out…
The world is divided between beet lovers and haters — and I definitely fall in the former category. I love the earthy, elemental taste of the root vegetable. And this beet cocktail, made with gin, Aperol, Canton Ginger Liqueur, lemon, mint and beets (of course), not only perfectly balances all…
We’ve all had the unique pleasure of visiting a date’s domicile and opening the refrigerator door for the first time. This can be a very telling moment. I’ve been treated to sights in men’s iceboxes that no human being should ever witness, and as if I didn’t have enough good…
We’ve got all sorts of takeaways from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which just celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in Glitter Gulch over the weekend, and we’ll be posting stories throughout the week about the new Chefs Club in the St. Regis, along with surprising observations and confessions from…
“We’re not chefs; we’re cooks,” insists Derek Dietz, the 23-year-old Philadelphia native who will open Bocadillo, a Spanish-influenced sandwich shop, tomorrow with partner Andrew Minhinnisk. “When we’re fifty, we can call ourselves chefs — that’s what we’re striving to become — but this restaurant is our playground, our secondary schooling,…
No one’s saying you have to go meatless just because it’s Monday — but as incentive to join the growing movement, every week we’re offering an animal-free recipe. This recipe is quick and easy to prepare the way we’ve laid it out — complete with a few shortcuts. But even…
Cafe Society posted five Guess Where? contests last week, two of which — a “smurf fart” and mochi ice cream — are still up for grabs. The bibimbap, however, was correctly linked to House Korean BBQ, while the Vieux Carré was concocted (correctly) at The Kitchen. The same can’t be…
As a service-industry professional/lifer, Sean Kenyon Lori Midson’s list of the “ten rudest things customers do to make servers wish you’d never come to their restaurants,” all of which he’s seen all too many times during his 27-year career in service. But even worse, he suggests, is when people in…
Kirk’s Soul Kitchen, a new soul-food eatery in Aurora, is opening its doors tomorrow at 11 a.m, offering the first 100 customers free dessert and a 10 percent discount…
The Vieux Carré was invented in 1938 by Walter Bergeron at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans. It’s one of my favorite classic cocktails, a mix of rye, cognac, sweet vermouth, Benedictine and Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters. When made well, it’s a fantastic drink — when made poorly, it’s undrinkable…
Qdoba Mexican Grill, which got its start in Colorado in 1995, has a present for its hometown fans: an unlimited $6 entrée coupon. The coupon reads: “Buy any entree for only $6 — use as many times as you’d like between now and July 8th.”…
If New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on sugary drinks is enacted, it will give the health department the authority to slap fines on restaurants, movie theaters, food carts and sandwich shops that try to sell sodas larger than 16 ounces. Bad idea? Maybe on the surface –…
