A glimpse into the future at Lala’s Wine Bar + Pizzeria

It took me a minute to shake off the triple-vision I was experiencing, but once I did, I saw the wisdom in not screwing around too much with the bones. This space has been refined and re-refined a lot over the years. Doomed owners have dumped barrels full of money…

Fidel’s opens in former Metro Kitchen/Fat Daddy’s

Fat Daddy’s — the restaurant at 12 East 11th Avenue where Daniel Young, the almost-White House chef, was the cook — was done in by the blizzard of March 2003. It was replaced by Metro Kitchen + Bar, which was done in by — well, who knows what.But now the…

Sexy Pizza: Even the signage is hot

If — like more than one person here at Westword — you’re mildly obsessed with the slices of glory being shoveled from the oven of Sexy Pizza, some mildly good news: The small pizza joint, at 1018 East 11th (near the mini Whole Foods), has finally replaced its old Pizza…

A new home team for Second Home

Jason Sheehan wasn’t bowled over by Second Home, which opened last March in the old Mirepoix space in the JW Marriott in Cherry Creek. And now Peter Karpinski, chief operating officer of Sage Restaurant Group, has announced that Jason Rogers is the new executive chef at Second Home, with Anton…

Redfish brewery parties its way out of business

After a dozen years, Redfish Fish House & Brewery will serve its last order of jambalaya tomorrow night. To celebrate the end of a long run, the New Orleans-style brewhouse is hosting “the Deadfish” event on Wednesday night, complete with a silent auction of its voluminous art collection at 7…

I’m totally DUG-ing this idea

Denver Urban Gardens is a nonprofit that helps create urban gardens around Denver. To date, DUG has supported more than eighty community gardens and open-space parks throughout the metro area. Now, with a $70,000 grant from Denver’s Housing and Neighborhood Development Services department, it’s helping a free seed and transplant…

Denver’s best burgers go big time

The Cherry Cricket makes one of the town’s great hamburgers (here’s Jason Sheehan’s List of the town’s Best Burgers), which is why the Travel Channel will be stopping by Denver’s Best Burger Bar at 2641 East Second Avenue today, to film a segment of Man v. Food with host Adam…

Budapest Bistro undergoes a remodel

After twenty years, the Budapest Bistro at 1585 South Pearl Street has made some changes — in both decor and hours.  Budapest Bistro is owned by Anna Hellvig, who’s also the chef, getting only occasional help in the kitchen from her daughter. The restaurant’s manager is Anna’s son, Mark, who says…

Happy birthday, Laudisio

Laudisio Ristorante Italiano, at 1710 29th Street, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary tonight from 5-10 p.m., with special discounts and live music. And through the month, if you bring a canned good donation to the restaurant, you get a free mini dessert. It may be Laudisio’s birthday — but you…

Milking It: Honey Graham Oh!s

Honey Graham Oh!s Quaker Rating: three spoons out of four Cereal description: Supersized, light-tan ovals made mainly of corn, rice, wheat and oat flour, with assorted chunks, flakes and nuggets occupying the center gap. Looks sort of like a mutant bird’s nest — but in a good way…

Ha Noi Pho gunman gets 330 year sentence

On November 14, 2007, Phung Van Dang, toting a shotgun, entered Ha Noi Pho’s kitchen intent on robbery, but wound up shooting it out with detectives in plainclothes who were lunching in the restaurant at 1036 South Federal. Today Denver District Judge Martin Egelhoff sentenced Dang, a habitual offender, to…

Ca-toff-strophe for Enstrom’s

Simons said that there had been a major malfunction with their production process — the toffee had been too smooth, so smooth the chocolate coating couldn’t adhere– but that Enstrom’s had no choice but to move forward with faulty product. The problem was a massive blow during the holiday rush,…

On bribing a maitre’d

So how much, exactly, is that perfect table worth to you?  I’m curious because I Just heard from one of my good office sources about a scene last night at Proto’s (2401 15th Street) that completely blew my mind.The way he told it, Proto’s was packed on Thursday. Wall-to-wall and…

Go to Cook for a Cause and eat for a cause

The Generous Servings Cooking Classes and Café is marking its one-year anniversary by giving back to the community with Sunday’s Cook for a Cause.”Generous Servings is all about generosity, so to celebrate our first anniversary, we wanted to find a way to give something to the needy while including our…

Apprentices get to sling the skillets

Tomorrow night the Rocky Mountain Chefs of Colorado (RMCC) will hold their fourth annual endowment dinner at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. For $75 a person, you get  an eight-course meal executed by third-year students in the RMCC apprenticeship program. They’ll be assisted by the sponsoring chefs and instructors of the…

Fry me to the moon

Reading Jason Sheehan’s description of the Fainting Goat, the watering hole that’s taken over 846 Broadway, made us hungry for another taste of their chicken wings. But when we dropped in yesterday afternoon, we found ourselves in fried-item heaven: the Goat was testing out some new appetizer possibilities, all courtesy…

Candy Girls: Strawberry Charleston Chew

  There are the candies that grab our attention because their bright packaging promises a new take on an old favorite, or the advertised ingredients signal a flavor combination we haven’t experienced before.  Then there are the familiar candies that we routinely pass over because our eyes are trained to…

Colorado’s fast-expanding, fast-improving, fast-casual world

A few days ago, I was a food nomad. Mindlessly searching for sustenance, I wandered along Colorado Boulevard looking for something cheap yet nourishing — with nourishing almost immediately eliminating most fast-food joints. But not all. The spots that really piqued my ‘buds were places like Qdoba, Noodles and Company, Smashburger, Spicy Pickle…

Our Weekly Bread: Masterpiece Deli’s Cubano

The sandwich: Cubano What’s on it: Slow-roasted mojo brined pork, Black Forest ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mustard, garlic aioli on a toasted brioche Where to get it: Masterpiece Delicatessen (1575 Central Street, 303-561-3354) How much: $9:50 The concept of a Cuban sandwich, or Cubano, is a strange one: pork…

In the neighborhood: The Fainting Goat

  The space at 846 Broadway has long been the go-to bar for all our needs around the office.  It’s been the Parlour, the Minturn Saloon and Moon Time in the years that I’ve been here –everything from a kinda weird, quasi-classy bolt-hole with a serious kitchen to a mountain…

I can only hope you get some ‘Yes Pecan’

Through January, Ben and Jerry’s is offering a promotional flavor at participating ‘Scoop Shops’ around the country. Yes Pecan is billed as “an Inspirational blend! Amber waves of buttery ice cream with roasted non-partisan pecans.” Not only a good play on words, Yes Pecan is also a do-gooder. Most of the proceeds from the…