What began as a friendship between winemaker and chef has morphed into a business partnership between Infinite Monkey Theorem winemaker Ben Parsons and Masterpiece Deli executive chef Justin Brunson. The two met not long after Parsons moved from Palisade to Denver last spring to open his urban winery in the…
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. Barb and Pete…
Just in time for National Hot Dog Month, we bring you a taste test of three different brands of hot dog/sausage. (We had to add the sausages because we could only find one company in the Denver area that sells an actual vegetarian hot dog — and it’s just as…
Yorba. Rocco. Steubaru. Those were just three of the many name suggestions the Steuben’s Food Truck crew got after they announced they were holding a contest to name the vehicle doling out gravy fries and fried pork “Steuby” snacks all over town. Convinced the truck is a girl, the gang…
A sagging economy isn’t keeping Smiling Moose Deli from winning itself some franchisee love. The local and organic ingredient-driven, Boulder-based sandwich chain, with a dozen locations throughout the state, is expanding not only throughout Colorado but pretty much in every direction save due west. According to company president Kevin Sloane,…
Craig Dixon Cafe Options 1650 Curtis Street 303-573-0733 www.cafeoptions.com Craig Dixon, chef of Cafe Options, is struggling. I’ve just asked him what it’s like to work in a kitchen staffed predominantly by females — the restaurant is a project of Work Options for Women, a local nonprofit that provides women…
A month ago, when Samba Room went dark and a sign appeared in the window of the restaurant at 1460 Larimer Street announcing that the space was under “construction,” Joe Vostrejs, COO of Larimer Associates, started getting calls. Restaurateurs were interested in leasing this corner spot in hot-hot Larimer Square,…
Yesterday was only its second showing at Civic Center Eats, but for the second week in a row, Walt’s Mobile Bistro scored the biggest sales at the weekly who’s who of street food , says owner and truck namesake Chris Walter. Haven’t heard about Walt’s? You’re not the only one…
It was a sad day for Denver coffee connoisseurs when Doug and Saadia Naiman, owners of Aviano Coffee, finally gave up on their bitter struggle with the beleaguered Beauvallon condo complex and closed the doors on their posh coffee shop in April. But now caffeine junkies can raise their espresso…
Over the weekend, I settled into my usual routine of eating — only on Sunday, this entailed stuffing (and stupefying) my belly with dishes from more than twenty restaurants hawking their grub at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, where I was a culinary judge alongside SAME Cafe’s Brad and Libby…
Pizzeria Basta is not the kind of place you stumble upon. You’d never find it if you weren’t looking, unless you happened to be perusing property in one of Boulder’s still half-empty upscale eco-housing complexes. The small restaurant is tucked into an invisible courtyard, flanked by colorful industrial jigsaw puzzle…
KaTcH Fish House opened just a month ago, but its owners are already moving forward on plans to open additional Colorado locations — and more. In fact, the restaurant’s director of operations, Ian Rubinstein, says he and owners Chris and Emily Deutschman — who also own Magnolia Restaurant and Sushi…
While everyone else in Denver was lighting up the sky with explosive fireworks over the weekend, I managed to sneak in a quiet dinner with a friend at a neighborhood hang whose near-empty dining room was in no way indicative of my hanger steak, squeaky green beans and twice-baked potato,…
He might hang out at cocaine- and sex-fueled parties on South Park, but in real life, you’re more likely to report that local Fox News anchor Ron Zappolo is savoring saltimbocca and sipping red wine at his favorite Denver restaurant, Venice Ristorante and Wine Bar. You could ask Zappolo time…
One of the hardest reservations to get in Boulder County these days isn’t even in a restaurant. It’s on a farm. Meadowlark Farm Dinners is a roving troupe of chefs and servers that pack their cookware into a bus and make meals of seasonal ingredients at the farms from whence…
Cafe Society served up five Guess Where I’m Eating/Drinking contests last week, featuring everything from rotisserie lamb at SALT to a vegetable dish at a still-unidentified Indian restaurant to this dessert at the new Sienna Wine Bar. For correctly guessing that spot, Derek W wins a DINR deck. Derek, send…
Those are stacked enchiladas, and you’ll either immediately recognize where they came from, or you’ll be completely stumped. Here’s a clue: Up until just a few weeks ago, you had no choice but to inhale them from the confines of a comfortably grungy, dimly lit bar that doubles as a…
Just in time for the weekend, here’s a meat-filled recipe for the grill. Ingredients:- 3 all-beef franks- 1/2 pound of bacon- ground beef…
Maybe I’m just a cynic, but yesterday, while getting lost in the suburban sprawl of Northfield Stapleton, I passed by the sign in the above pic announcing the impending arrival of Guy Harvey’s Perfect Spot Bar & Grille — and I heaved. Maybe it was the ridiculously perfect hair, the…
About a month ago, if you’ll recall, I raked my former idol, Mario Batali, over the coals for jumping on the bandwagon of the cute veggie campaign, Meatless Monday. And in the aftermath, as was only fair, I was chastised for my pigheadedness (no pun intended). But as my comments…
“In short, The Local is by locals, for locals,” says Jeff Estey, who opened his Wash Park daylight diner yesterday at 2217 East Mississippi in the space formerly occupied by Dino’s, which closed earlier this year due to non-payment of taxes. Estey, who also owns Washington Park Grill and Max…
Ready, set, sizzle! You know that summer’s in full swing when the sun beats down on the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, which kicks of its three-day crowd-burst tonight at 7 p.m. on Clayton Street, between Second and Third Avenues. The annual event draws throngs of grubniks and arty-farty types to…
