For decades, Denver diners have assumed that an ethnic eatery must be a dive in order to be authentic. But three months ago, Busara opened its doors, raising Thai food to a whole new level. Things are looking up. The people behind Busara–the name’s literal translation is “blue topaz,” but…
Fit to be Thai’d: In the late Seventies, the area that would later become known as LoDo was a vast culinary wasteland. There was the Wazee Supper Club, at 1660 15th Street, and Mori Japanese Restaurant, at 2019 Market Street, and not much in between other than beer-and-a-shot joints and,…
Pasta point of no return: In downtown alone, we have a quartet of family-style Italian restaurants: Maggiano’s, reviewed above, chain link Il Fornaio (1631 Wazee Street), locally owned Santino’s (1939 Blake Street) and Bella Ristorante (1920 Market Street), which is part of a local group of restaurants. That’s 40,000 square…
“This is my last restaurant,” says 61-year-old Roland “Papa” Canino. “Why does anyone open a restaurant anymore? I don’t know how they do it. Too much competition with each other, and for employees. No, this is my last restaurant.” Roland opened Canino’s Trattoria, allegedly his last restaurant, on South Downing…
If you knew sushi: Although sushi seemed like an Eighties fad that had come and gone, leaving only a few stalwart sushi bars behind, suddenly it’s enjoying a big resurgence across the country. There are sushi societies in some cities (try saying that ten times fast), where members meet every…
When you open a restaurant, you’re swimming upstream from the start. The investment is steep, the hours are long, and finding good help is a never-ending challenge. Throw in some competition, and it’s no wonder that so many promising eateries are soon sleeping with the fishes. But suddenly, Denver is…
It sounds like some kind of ethnic joke: How many Chinese restaurants do you have to visit in order to find a keeper? By my count, the answer is seven. That’s how many allegedly authentic Chinese eateries I’ve eaten at in the last two months (see Mouthing Off). And I…
Chinese checker: I visited seven Chinese restaurants before I could find one to recommend, and even that one, Fu Lin (see review above), wouldn’t make it onto a list of the city’s best Chinese restaurants. But then, that list is short: I can’t think of ten Chinese joints in this…
Have we got a meal for you! If you’re looking for the best deal on a 1999 entree, fully loaded with sides and sporting a guarantee that you won’t leave hungry, we have the restaurant you’re looking for! Choice steaks! Deep-fried chicken! And here’s a real honey: a 28-ounce porterhouse…
On the Hudson: The building at 6115 South Santa Fe Drive that once housed the North Woods Inn (see review above) has always been part of the Hudson estate, which was owned by the late Evelyn King and Colonel Hudson. Decades ago, the Colonel raised horses while his wife ran…
One of the last places you’d expect to find a former news director for Lewis and Floorwax is running a Cajun restaurant, but here’s Marilyn LeBlanc at the helm of Cafe Evangeline, named after the Longfellow poem about a betrothed couple separated after they were forced out of Acadia in…
Chickening out: Fans–and there seem to be many of them–of the former Foucher’s Cajun Creole, which kept things cooking on 17th Avenue for twelve years, will be delighted to hear that the restaurant may reappear. “I’m trying to get my dad to move back out here and start it up,”…
More Moroccan: Mataam Fez, at 4609 East Colfax Avenue, was the first Moroccan eatery to turn Denverites on to the joys of sitting on the floor and eating intensely spiced food with their fingers. The restaurant has survived over two decades, not only spawning Fezes in Boulder, Colorado Springs and…
Several months after my second daughter was born, I thought it would be a great idea to host a dinner party, since I was feeling kind of stir-crazy and lonely and hadn’t seen many of my friends for months. As my husband dislikes big groups–we seem to have some unresolved…
What’s your beef?: Denver has its high-end steakhouses, most notably Morton’s of Chicago (1710 Wynkoop Street), The Palm (1201 16th Street), Ruth’s Chris (1445 Market Street), Del Frisco’s (8100 East Orchard Road, Greenwood Village) and Brooks (6538 South Yosemite Circle, Englewood). And it has your low-end steakhouses, such as Trail…
The National Western Stock Show had its usual effect on me. I bought a pair of cowboy boots for myself and a cowboy hat for my daughter. I spent a few days dreaming of rippling-muscled steer rasslers–where have all the cowboys gone?–and deftly sidestepped questions from my kids about when…
Spice world: Unless you’re still making Alice B. Toklas’s brownies, saffron is the most expensive ingredient you can get in this country. (A certain fish eyeball that’s supposed to increase brain waves has fetched a few thousand in Japan, and beluga caviar that’s just been scraped out of the fish’s…
The next time you feel like complaining about how much you hate your job, consider this: In La Mancha, Spain, hundreds of people spend their eight hours a day hunched over, painstakingly plucking stigmas from Crocus sativus flowers one teeny, precious thread at a time. It takes about two weeks…
No matter how good a meal is, it’s hard to enjoy it when you’re eating in your overcoat. During a recent dinner at India Palace, the modest dining room was so chilly that my frozen fingers could barely hold on to a fork. Although it was sixteen degrees out that…
Say cheese: Because of Indian cooking’s vegetarian focus–not to mention India’s reverence for cows–dairy products are a big part of the Indian diet, with yogurt, homemade cheese and the clarified butter ghee supplying a major portion of protein. The cheese chenna, made from boiled, curdled milk, and the pressed version,…
When the Mongolian hordes–you know, those guys led by Genghis and Kublai and Chaka and all those other Khans–took a break from a hard day’s fight, they liked to relax over a steaming helmetful of on-the-roadkill stew. This haphazard cuisine would not seem the stuff that restaurant dynasties are made…
Fit to be stir-fried: Although your kitchen isn’t equipped with the sort of young, entertaining grillers who keep things cooking at BD’s Mongolian Barbeque (reviewed above), it has other stir-fry advantages. You can easily duplicate the ingredients offered at BD’s, since they’re your basic cut vegetables, sliced meats and chopped…
