Chopsticks China Bistro opening slated for Wednesday

We’ve been waiting patiently for Chopsticks China Bistro to unveil its new space at 5117 South Yosemite Street — and it now looks as though there’s a definitive opening date on the calendar. Owner-chef David Lee and his crew are aiming to open up the new spot on Wednesday, September…

Hey, cupcake! A letter to Keegan Gerhard

Dear Keegan Gerhard, Thanks so much for hosting the Westword Mile High Chef Competition . You were a true professional, and everyone in the audience thought you did a great job of keeping the crowd informed — especially when I wasn’t talking over you. But then, I’m hardly the professional…

Milking It: Total Cinnamon Crunch

Total Cinnamon Crunch General Mills Rating: Two spoons out of four Cereal description: Ridged squares that look as if they’ve been toasted and sprinkled with cinnamon — although that last ingredient appears on the roster after a slew of other items. Some of the things in line in front of…

Jason Sheehan’s State of the Plate

For the past week, I’ve been collecting answers to an impromptu poll dealing with the current state of Denver’s restaurant scene. It tracked the way that people are feeling right now about their city’s food and restaurants, and played a little with their expectations for the future. It discussed what…

Cafe Society: Week in review

What you might have missed this week on Cafe Society while shoving chicken wings down your throat…Carnivorous anti-vegetarian Jason Sheehan trots out the city’s top cow temples in his Denver’s Ten Best Steakhouses roundup.At Dish, the Westword Menu Affair, Argyll Gastropub executive chef Sergio Romero and Jay Spickelmier, the exec…

For the sweet freaks: Living the Sweet Life Grand Opening

For those of you who can’t get through a weekend without a full-bore sugar IV, may I humbly present Living the Sweet Life, a new cake, pie and cupcake shop celebrating its grand opening this weekend at 1535 Central Street, right next to Masterpiece Deli. What’s that you say? Denver…

The Pink Boots Society: Women with a passion for beer

Teri Fahrendorf doesn’t just create beer, she created a movement: the Pink Boots Society, a non-profit organization for women who make a living off of beer. “Server, bartender, brewer, lab worker and so much more,” she says of her group’s membership. “If you make a profit, you can be one…

Tacos Rapidos is going full speed ahead with a second outpost

Tacos Rapidos, the taco shack that doles out California-style Mexican crack grub 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to drunken warriors not quite drunk enough to cave to Taco Hell from a drive-thru window at 2800 East Evans Avenue, is opening a second outpost at 2345 West Alameda…

Wing King challenge at the West End Tavern: Just…eww.

Look, I love wings as much as the next guy. Matter of fact, I probably love wings as much as the next three guys. I lived for some time in the chicken wing capital of America, after all–a city where doctors have to warn people that chicken wings should not…

Guess where I’m eating?

The restaurant where the above pic was snapped is still one of my favorite spots in Denver, which is saying a lot, considering that it’s been feeding the faithful for nearly 20 years — 19 years longer than it takes most joints to fall off the radar and into the…

Westword DISH Menu Affair: Jason Sheehan’s view

Lori already wrote the official wrap of the Whatever-the Annual Westword Menu Affair earlier this morning, but I had a few thoughts of my own that I wanted to share. First, kudos to the two competitors — Jay Spickelmier and Sergio Romero. It ain’t easy being up there under those…

Part Two: Chef and Tell with Elise Wiggins of Panzano

This is part two of Lori Midson’s interview with Elise Wiggins, the executive chef of Panzano. You can read the first part of Midson’s interview with Wiggins here. Best food city in America: Yikes. That’s hard, but I love Atlanta because of the farm mecca that surrounds it — and…

Power to the People: Part III

Because I am never one to let a good idea die, here I am, back again with another installment of the best of our 1st Annual Cafe Society Poll about Food and Chefs and Stuff. What do you mean you’ve never heard of the 1st Annual CSPAFCS? What, do you…

Sean Kelly finds a home at the LoHi SteakBar

I’d been on and off planes for six hours, not always heading west. The first, a little commuter, had let us off on the tarmac. I’d spent time in a smoking lounge trying to negotiate a cigarette-and-lighter transaction with a Russian man who looked, in profile, exactly like John Hamm…

Cliff Young stakes a claim on CY Steak

When Cliff Young’s opened back in 1984, it was the hottest restaurant in town — a beautiful space on East 17th Avenue that was full of beautiful people eating beautiful food. (That space later became Dante Bichette’s and then Hamburger Mary’s, which Drew Bixby writes about on page 38.) After…

Chef Elise Wiggins wants you to feel good about food

I want people’s eyes to roll into the back of their heads when they eat my food,” says Elise Wiggins, the über-talented executive chef of Panzano, a Northern Italian restaurant in the Hotel Monaco. Food, like sex, should always be sensual, she explains. The lovely Louisiana native would put her…

Nate Windham dishes dirt on the “dirty” martini

Nate Windham, cocktail and spirits specialist, created the bar program at Paragon Culinary School in Colorado Springs in 2003. He’s currently the head bartender at The Office@Blondies and a proud member of the Colorado Bartenders Guild. Earlier this month, he left his office at the Office to join his CoBG colleagues…

The Irish Hound is an old dog that doesn’t need new tricks

“So, I don’t know what the protocol is here. Am I supposed to pretend like I don’t recognize you?” I looked up from my beer at the waitress standing beside my table at the Irish Hound. “No,” I said. “You don’t have to pretend. It doesn’t much matter anymore these…

Our Weekly Bread: Three Sisters Cafe & Catering

The sandwich: Three Sisters Club What’s on it: Roasted turkey, shaved ham, smoked bacon, red onions, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo on a Bavarian roll. Where to get it: Three Sisters Café & Catering (1717 Stout Street, 303-991-8772) How much: $5.95 I’m not a big fan of standing in line…

Meet Mile High Chef Contestant Jay Spickelmier

Jay Spickelmier, executive chef at Jing, will face off against Sergio Romero, executive chef at Argyll Gastropub, in the Mile High Chef Competition at Dish-the Westword Menu Affair at the Fillmore tonight. Before the cooking competition gets too heated, we asked both chefs to dish out some thoughts on Denver’s…