After my last meal at Chili Verde, a new and very traditional Mexican restaurant that was about to get its liquor license, I stopped by Chubby’s, a forty-year-old Mexican joint that never has (and never will) serve a drop. They’re in the same northwest Denver neighborhood, yet fill very different…
This just in from the boys at Frasca: “Despite receiving over 14 inches of snow (and counting…) on Frasca’s patio today, we’ll still be open this evening for regular dinner service. We hope to see you soon.” Two feet of snow. More on the way. But what do chefs do?…
I got a call from chef Andrea Frizzi yesterday, thanking me for including his little 17th Avenue restaurant in my list of Denver’s best Italian spots, and then letting me know that he’ll soon add lunch service at Il Posto. Oh, and not just any lunch. I checked out the…
Now that my kid’s favorite Old School Burgers location has fallen victim to the economy, we’ve been hunting for a new burger palace. More to the point, we’ve been scouting a burger joint where my kid will actually eat a burger without gagging. He’s weird like that.Anyway, as those of…
Is there anything more disappointing than a dish of old, cold chicharrones? That’s what Jason Sheehan got on his recent visit to Chubby’s. Then again, is there anything more sinfully porkorific than a dish of absolutely fresh, hot chicharrones? That’s what we got when we stopped by another Mexican restaurant,…
“It’s interesting how my hands are in everything now,” muses Chad Clevenger, the chef-owner of Mel’s Bar and Grill, the Greenwood Village restaurant that Mel and Janie Master opened two years ago and then sold to Clevenger, a Florida native, last year. “Before this restaurant, I could have cared less…
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. This is the…
The first dish I tried at Chile Verde was the fish ceviche. It arrived in a plain white bowl set on a saucer, with an honor guard of Saltine crackers in their little plastic envelopes – the traditional Mexican accompaniment. And one bite told me nearly everything I needed to…
As I reported earlier today, Jax-Boulder chef Hosea Rosenberg is the official grand marshal at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s 2009 homecoming on Friday, October 30. And one of the perks (if you can call it that) of living in the residence halls, at least on Friday, is that…
Looks like plans are moving fast for the new Den Deli and Sushi Market, which is going into 1501 South Pearl Street — conveniently located between Sushi Den ( 1487 South Pearl) and Izakaya Den (1518 South Pearl). Brothers Toshi and Yazu Kizaki are hosting a job fair for their…
After two owners, two locations — first at 1555 Champa Street, then at 1543 Champa, in the circa 1889 Odd Fellows Hall (right) — and one Best of Denver award, Emily’s Gourmet-to-Go is finally a no-go. Chef/owner Victor Miller, whose soups had snagged the Best Soup award in the Best…
Okay, so Jax-Boulder superchef Hosea Rosenberg wins Top Chef: New York and, along with the top title, gets $100,000 to blow on opening a new restaurant. Except he hasn’t opened a new restaurant. In fact, as I reported in this space last month, Rosenberg is taking a sabbatical from Jax,…
Life is about to get a whole lot sweeter for sugar fiends. That’s because Bravo, the network that airs Top Chef and Top Chef Masters (which got the green light for a second season), has just added the icing on the cake: a new show titled Top Chef: Just Desserts,…
I know, it’s usually Lori who puts up the snaps of hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints. But every once in a while, I find one that’s just too good to let go without some small observation. In this case, it’s about the chips and salsa. The free chips and not-quite-salsas that appear…
Yan de Yang, the owner of Chopsticks & sushi at 1630 Welton Street, is now behind bars — not the burners.He’s being held without bail on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Lloyd Running Bear II, who was slain at the restaurant last Thursday. According…
Celebrate a one-year-old’s birthday with drinking and debauchery! The Tavern Wash Park turns one today, and is offering $1 Shock Top Belgian white beers and a complimentary buffet — which will include the Tavern’s always-popular Kobe beef sliders — plus chances to win a gift card good at any Tavern…
Last week, we posted a list of Denver’s ten best Italian restaurants — in our (meaning my) not so humble opinion. This was followed almost immediately by a ruckus in the comments section over who, exactly, got to decide what “best” meant (again, me) and what qualified, say, Cafe Jordano…
Those of you watching the Cafewestword twitter feed over the weekend already know that I survived my night “cooking” at Mezcal without any serious difficulties. Nothing got burned down, no one got punched and, by the time we were done, we’d managed to serve several turns of the dining room…
Attention, Aurora residents: Your wait for the “better burger” is almost over! Smashburger will open its ninth metro location tomorrow at 2630 South Parker Road. Taking its name from the cooking method, a Smashburger is either a one-third or half-pound ball of 100 percent Angus Beef smashed on a flat…
This restaurant is the first place I take out-of-town guests who think Denver is fly-over culinary country. And while their shock over our incredibly good dinner was sweet, the bar’s new selection of fall cocktails was perhaps too sweet. The one above was made with Leopold Bros. Cranberry Liquor and…
After more than a decade behind the decks, DJ Miss Audry is retiring. But music’s loss is food’s gain, since she’s going to be devoting her time to helping out at Melita’s Greek Cafe & Market, the spot that took over for the Economy Greek Deli at 1035 Lincoln Street…
The dish that you see at the top of the page was sabotaged by the “chef,” and returned to the kitchen with a plea that he redo the damn thing and make it look, well, if not stunning, then at least quasi-presentable — which it wasn’t when it first landed…
