From the kitchen

The decision went like this: “Okay, head to class now, or… ” I glance over at the simmering basil syrup in the works, and the strawberries blending in the robo-coupe …”just stay here.” “Here” was the kitchen, and “class” was college. And finally, I decided to stay “here,” because it…

Modmarket is Boulder’s newest green restaurant

Modmarket opens tomorrow at 1600 28th Street in the struggling 29th Street retail district in Boulder. But since Boulderites have a thing for green, and Modmarket’s “menu is created from ingredients like you find along the perimeter of your local grocer … you know, fresh produce, the highest quality of…

Boulder’s SALT is now the earth of chef Bradford Heap

Our listage of new restaurants that opened in August is lengthy, and September is shaping up nicely, too, especially with the very new opening of SALT Bistro, which served its first lunch on Tuesday in the former Tom Tavern’s space, the iconic Boulder burger joint and bar that occupied the…

Chef and Tell: Tyler Wiard of Elway’s

“I got my ass kicked, but man, did I learn a lot,” recalls Tyler Wiard, talking about the early ’90s and his days as a line cook for Dave Query and John Platt at Q’s Restaurant in the Hotel Boulderado. He must have been up to the task, because Query…

Living in Burger Utopia: A preview of this week’s food section

I believe that a great cheeseburger can change your life. Depending on the circumstances, depending on the time, the place, the company or lack thereof, your age and, most important, depending on the cheeseburger itself, a truly great one can alter your fate, leave you feeling elated and in a…

Lucy at Landmark still plans to re-open

Lucy, the restaurant that occupies the second floor of Comedy Works South at the Landmark in Greenwood Village, has been on hiatus since July 2. At the time, Comedy Works marketing manager Susan Collyar told Westword that the restaurant was being “revamped” and would be open by the end of…

Meet Mr. Burger: Tom Ryan of Smashburger

Smashburger has long been a point of contention in Denver’s highly competitive cheeseburger scene.  There are those out there who love the place all out of proportion — swearing up and down that it is our answer to In-N-Out, that it is the long-awaited Chipotle for the American food enthusiast. …

Diego Zhang’s Burger Cafe gets smashed…by crowds

“I seriously closed the restaurant because I was scared,” joked Dianna Williams, co-owner of Diego Zhang’s Burger Cafe, the mini-burger joint at 12073 East Arapahoe that yesterday unveiled a second outpost in Centennial, in the Streets of SouthGlenn at Arapahoe and University Boulevard. “We had more than 200 people come…

Roll Call for August

RESTAURANTS OPENING IN AUGUST Doghouse Tavern, 3100 South Sheridan Boulevard Colt & Gray, 1553 Platte Street Cheba Hut, 1531 Champa Street Hutch & Spoon, 3090 Larimer Street Larimer Hot House, 2810 Larimer Street The Living Room, 1055 Broadway Blue Moo’d Lounge, 5950 South Platte Canyon Drive, Littleton Mellow Mushroom, the…

Green Chile Smackdown, Round 2: Elway’s vs. My Big Fat Greek Cafe

Even though green chile is not a traditional Mexican dish, it’s a traditional dish at Mexican restaurants north of the border. It changes as it travels, thickening and becoming more hearty as it travels up towards the Canadian border. The Colorado version is thick and gooey, stuffed with pork chunks…

Ask the Critic: What is Denver’s food scene missing?

So here’s a question for all you hardcore gastronauts out there: We all know that Denver is a good food town. There are seasons when it can almost feel like one of the great ones. We have fine dining and we have innovation, we have French, we have Italian, we…

Guess where I’m eating?

See that blasphemous sandwich above? It’s meant to be a French dip — a French dip stacked with sliced prime rib. But if you look closely, you’ll notice that there’s nothing sliced, shaved or otherwise sheared about it. Instead, some idiot in the kitchen who was obviously still on a…

India’s reopens in Tiffany Plaza

After twenty years of slinging naan against the tandoori oven at 3333 South Tamarac Drive, Krishan Kapoor, the owner of India’s, spent the majority of his summer schlepping that oven and pretty much everything else from the restaurant’s former digs to his new space at 7400 East Hampden Avenue, in…

Mellow Mushroom opens today

The first Mellow Mushroom opened back in 1974 in Georgia. More than a hundred locations and 35 years later, the “bohemian-chic” pizza chain has finally landed in metro Denver, where today a Mellow Mushroom will open at the Streets at Southglenn. Morris and Sharon Purcel, their son Shane and their…

Mysteries of Sheehan’s Desk: Day 14

Another day, another weird item from my desk. Although really, the only weird thing about it is that there was anything left in that bottle at all when I took the picture. I don’t like cleaning, you see (as should be painfully obvious to anyone who saw the picture of…

Milking It: Corn Flakes Touch of Honey/Toque de Miel

Corn Flakes Touch of Honey/Toque de Miel Kellogg’s Rating: Two spoons out of four Cereal description: Yes, they’re flakes made of corn. But unlike other flakes made of corn — or corn flakes, if you insist — they give off a glossy bronze glow, as if they’ve been spending most…

Tonight: It’s all about wine and chocolate

Tonight at 6:30 p.m., self-described chocoholic and local book author Julie Pech, who penned The Chocolate Therapist: A User’s Guide to the Extraordinary Health Benefits of Chocolate, is the featured guest at the International Chocolate & Wine Pairing seminar at Arapahoe Community College, 5900 South Santa Fe Drive in Littleton…

Free BBQ for Daves at Famous Dave’s

The headline pretty much says it all: In celebration of fifteen years of barbecue-slingin’, Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que is offering free ‘cue for anyone named Dave. If your first name is Dave, you get one entree free (maximum value $15). Middle name Dave? Then you’re only half as lucky, and get…

Cafe Society: Week in review

What you might have missed this week while chowing on some Nut Poppers…Green chile mania!  Jason ranked the top ten green chile joints in Denver, and even got some input on the best vegetarian versions.  We pitted El Taco de Mexico’s chile against Santiago’s and found a surprise victor.We took…

The pizza battle continues between Belmar and Virgilio’s

If you’ve been following the pizza war between Virgilio’s and Belmar, a turf battle over Belmar’s upcoming Festival Italiano and its refusal to allow Virgilio’s to participate, then you know there’s a heated debate in the comments section (seventy and counting, last time I looked). One of those comments is…