Reader: If Frasca is a "neighborhood" restaurant, the term is obsolete

What defines a neighborhood restaurant these days? That's what Gretchen Kurtz asked yesterday, after eating several meals at Central Bistro & Bar for this week's review (which will be posted here later today). Chef Lance Bardo, who opened Central in July, wanted to create a "gathering place" for the hot...

By Patricia Calhoun

December 12, 2012

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What defines a neighborhood restaurant these days? That's what Gretchen Kurtz asked yesterday, after eating several meals at Central Bistro & Bar for this week's review (which will be posted here later today). Chef Lance Bardo, who opened Central in July, wanted to create a "gathering place" for the hot LoHi neighborhood -- but the food is attracting people from around town.

Is the term "neighborhood" now obsolete when it comes to dining? See also: - What defines a neighborhood restaurant in Denver these days? - Frasca: Best High-End Neighborhood Restaurant 2009

Says NoBoBear:

Requisite Frasca reference for the day: they too are "neighborhood," says so on their homepage.

"Neighborhood" and "destination" are obsolete terms (ala. "record player" etc.). Very suburbia terms: "destination" being trip into the big city to visit the restaurant with a name starting with "Le" and everything served under Sterling silver.

In an era when people find fresh good food coming from the back of a truck, people getting less interested in having to put on a suit and tie to go to dinner, higher expectations by consumers, more knowledgeable of "other" cuisines, slow economy, restaurants are noticing these trends and the lines are blurring.

If Frasca is a "neighborhood" restaurant, does that term still have any real meaning?

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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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