With the recent spate of restaurant closings around Denver, including Patsy's, Mark Antonation just paid a visit to Carl's Pizza, which has been slinging red sauce in northwest Denver since 1953. But so many other old-school spots have left the table. Says David:  

There are so many restaurants that have disappeared over the years — Le Profile, The Quorum, Cliff Young's, the Normandy, Tante Louise, the Golden Ox, the Library, Leo's Place, Lafitte, Stromberg's, the Promenade, all of the North Denver red-sauce Italian spots, the Magic Pan, Andre's, The Sweet Soiree, Footers, Mel's, McFann's and now Z Cuisine. The list is endless.

Sadly, I haven't found very many of the new breed to be all that special. There are a handful, but most of them are just hipster/trendy/empire builders trying to see how many restaurants they can open. Sad lack of passionate chefs trying to really do something innovative and world class on a small, focused level.

What restaurants do you miss? What's your favorite new spot?

• Word of Mouth