Reader: A new restaurant in an old mortuary leaves me cold

Linger, the latest restaurant to join the increasingly crowded lineup in Lohi, opened yesterday, in one of the buildings that once housed Olinger mortuary. Just down the street, another former mortuary facility now houses Vita and Lola. The location prompted this memory from NW Denver: How can people eat in...

By Patricia Calhoun

June 8, 2011

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Linger, the latest restaurant to join the increasingly crowded lineup in Lohi, opened yesterday, in one of the buildings that once housed Olinger mortuary. Just down the street, another former mortuary facility now houses Vita and Lola. The location prompted this memory from NW Denver:

How can people eat in a mortuary? Are there just too few natives left in NW Denver? Born and raised, and I can never get past that this was Olingers. Same goes for Lola and Vita.

Wonder how NW Denver will like it when the Olinger sign, a northwest Denver landmark that still stands on top of the building that houses Linger, suddenly has a malfunction in the lighting on the first letter, conveniently letting all of Denver know that this is now the home of Linger?

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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