Rich Grant, the communications director for Visit Denver, the convention and visitors bureau that started Denver Restaurant Week, insists that the Mile High City’s two-week marathon of meals, which kicks into high gear on February 26, is the largest in the country — and, according to the LA Times, it’s…
If you’re planning on really making a night of your Denver Restaurant Week reservation, either because it’s a romantic evening away from the kids, or because you’re taking what you’re saving on dinner and plunking it down on copious amounts of alcohol, it might be a good idea to look…
Rage, befuddlement, shock and a man who one poster described as a “total and complete loon.” If you’ve read the fifty comments following my post earlier this week in which I interviewed Ton Phairatphibon, the owner of Skew, which closed abruptly last Sunday night in the wake of what Phairatphibon…
I tend not to like contrived and cutesy challenges, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the chefs putting together cookies for Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster and his friends Elmo and Telly when they visited the set of Wednesday night’s Top Chef, seeing everyone’s expression lighten suddenly as the Quickfire was explained,…
Tart, pretentious, with a touch of bitterness. Comments have been pouring in regarding Laura Shunk’s post about wine scores — hooked to the Infinite Monkey Theorem’s recent 88 from Wine Spectator. Comments about wine scores, about Colorado wines in general, about Infinite Monkey in particular, about Laura Shunk — including…
Thirty years ago this month, Peggy Anderson and Diane Williams opened Annie’s Cafe in a storefront attached to a drug store at Eighth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. “About ten people came that first day,” Anderson remembers. But those ten customers turned into a crowd of regulars and today, the women…
Last night, after dinner at a Highland restaurant, we spotted the above sign at 32nd Avenue and Tejon, and while we’re still trying to get to the root of what, exactly, it’s going to be, the sign — Pig & Block Charcuterie — already has us squealing with glee and…
This week, I reviewed the original Bubba Chinos location at 160 Federal Boulevard, where Leonard Cordova serves up a version of the green chile that his grandmother, Stella Cordova, made legendary at Chubby’s. He’s used that sauce to turn his own restaurant concept into an expanding mini-empire, with eight current…
This past week has been more about summer salads than winter chilis, thanks to our balmy breezes, but after a server highly, highly recommended the chili from the menu where I snapped the above pic, I figured, what the hell? It was good — not great, but good. But those…
Last November, the James Beard Foundation summoned the public to nominate its favorite chefs, restaurants and industry professionals for the 2011 awards. And after all the self-pimping and ballot-stuffing, the poll is closed. This morning, the foundation announced its 2011 list of semi-finalist nominees. And Colorado made a strong showing…
Jim Cohen The Empire Lounge & Restaurant 816 Main Street, Louisville 303-665-2521 www.theempirerestaurant.com Pizzeria da Lupo 2525 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder 303-396-6366 www.pizzeriadalupo.com This is part two of my interview with Jim Cohen, chef/owner of The Empire Restaurant and Lounge and Pizzeria da Lupo. Part one of that interview ran yesterday…
JR Johnson brought Mr. Greenjeans, a vegetable market in Edgewater, to life after a couple of beers in the Providence Tavern. “I noticed people want to stay around the neighborhood,” he says. “And I looked across the street and thought it would be a great place for a vegetable stand.”…
Opinions are revving up in advance of today’s food-truck meeting at the Downtown Denver Partnership, where stakeholders — among them mobile food vendors, restaurant owners, downtown businesses, city agencies and neighborhood groups — will have a preliminary discussion of the role of food trucks in Denver, and whether regulations that…
No. 68: Risotto frutti di mare from Firenze a Tavola Upstairs, in the convivial, bright-lit dining room of Parisi, the tables are littered with irresistible airy pizzas and housemade pastas, frilly salads and hearty sandwiches, and there’s not an empty seat in the house. Downstairs, in Firenze a Tavola, the…
Welcome to In the Weeds. Kyle will be right with you — most likely to complain about something. Usually he is pleasant, but this is his place to blow off some steam. Don’t take it personally; he just needs to vent because he’s been doing this for about thirteen years…
Organixx, the modified fast-casual restaurant at 1520 Blake Street, does 75 percent of its business during lunch hours. Which is somewhat surprising, considering the tasty breakfast and dinner offerings, with several vegetarian options and a handful of vegan delicacies. In other words, if you’re looking for a vegetarian or vegan…
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. “It’s winter, so…
Trotted the kid out last night for Chinese food, which, for him, is sesame chicken — “the best in Denver” according to the menu, a declaration that may be the largest overstatement so far this year. And since I can’t stand the stuff, I ordered from the dim sum menu,…
After reading comments about hats, even ballcaps, being prohibited at the Tavern Downtown — which seemed ironic for a joint that had just been named Sports Bar of the Year by the national Nightclub & Bar — I contacted Frank Schultz, the founder of the Tavern Hospitality Group that owns…
This week’s spring-like weather has us excited for the days of summer when we can linger on a patio and catch the beams of the sun with a drink in hand. Like a margarita. At the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant. In anticipation of summer, the downtown outpost of that local…
As far as Brian Phetteplace can determine, the last time the city revised the rules for mobile food vendors — at least the rules as they applied to downtown — was back in 1996, long before anyone anticipated the current race of food trucks. And now, as the manager of…
Jim Cohen The Empire Lounge & Restaurant 816 Main Street, Louisville 303-665-2521 www.theempirerestaurant.com Pizzeria da Lupo 2525 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder 303-396-6366 www.pizzeriadalupo.com This is part one of my interview with Jim Cohen, chef/owner of The Empire Restaurant and Lounge and Pizzeria da Lupo. Part two of that interview will run…
