Q: Does anyone in town do a good cioppino? A: The California origins of this Italian-inspired fish stew are murkier than the San Francisco Bay. The late Craig Claiborne of the New York Times suggested the name came from an Italian colloquialism that means “chopped fine”; another explanation involves an…
All you folks who took alcohol into La Fabula (see review, this issue) at the owners’ urging over the past four months have something in common: You broke the law. Although we aren’t subjected to state-controlled liquor stores here, Colorado’s liquor laws can still be very annoying. For serious wine…
What’s in a name? The Latin colloquialism for “talk of the town” was a good fit for La Fabula; long before the restaurant actually opened, the neighborhood was talking about what kind of eatery would be brave — or foolhardy — enough to take on a location with a long,…
Q:I’m just starting out cooking, and I want to make some Asian food, especially Thai. But I can’t find a lot of the ingredients in the grocery stores, not even Wild Oats. What do you think is the best place to get Asian ingredients? A: We’re lucky to have a…
One of my favorite Middle Eastern restaurants — past winner of a Best of Denver award — is nine-year-old Damascus, at 2276 South Colorado Boulevard. Unlike Sahara Restaurant (see review this issue), which has a Lebanese focus, Damascus emphasizes Syrian cooking, which translates into more cabbage, more pickled items, some…
Even though we’re tasting from the same plate, the lamb shawarma I eat and the lamb shawarma my friend Gerry eats are two different dishes. When Gerry takes a bite of the grilled, marinated lamb, she’s eating a traditional dish created by her Lebanese ancestors, an entree that her grandmother…
Q: There was a recent column that mentioned pizza bread. Where can it be purchased and, more important, do they sell it retail? We moved here 28 years ago from New Jersey, and in the Berkeley Heights area we could buy pizza bread and make Italian hot dogs, which are…
While The Biscuit is doing the Parisian thing, a block away at 837 East 17th Avenue, New York on 17th is, quite obviously, doing the New York thang. And maybe a little too well, since during the lunch rush, employees do a fair imitation of twenty New Yorkers on the…
No city is more revered for its culinary prowess than Paris, and certainly, its restaurants boast gastronomic delights without equal. Still, after several visits and many, many meals there — sometimes I ate two dinners in a day just to get to all of the places “they” said I had…
Q: I want to take my boyfriend someplace fancy for a romantic dinner, but he hates places that make him feel like he doesn’t know which fork to use. Do you know a place that feels intimate but won’t scare him (or bankrupt me)? A: Mattie’s House of Mirrors (1942…
You’d think it was the Second Coming.First, people began calling to ask if I’d heard rumors that LaMar’s Donuts was moving its headquarters to Denver and that we’d be getting our very own LaMar’s Donuts store! Then the ads started. Then the dailies began publishing stories about how bagels are…
I’ve eaten at Le Central many times over the past six years, and I’ve always encountered some kind of problem. Often they’ve been production-oriented glitches, ranging from tardy courses to overcooked seafood (“Waiting for Gateau,” October 17, 1996); sometimes servers have failed to refill water glasses or replace silverwear. Out…
The first step in dealing with an addiction to Thai food is admitting that you have a problem. The second is accepting that there are no more steps — because who can contemplate a cure that bans curry?Chile peppers can be physically addicting, according to recent medical evidence. The reasons…
Q: I’m getting married in June, and because my fiancé’s parents live out of state, they want us to choose the place for the rehearsal dinner. I was wondering if you could suggest some not-so-pricey restaurants that can accommodate about thirty people? A: Keeping the not-so-pricey part in mind, one…
These days, the most common excuse for lousy restaurant service is the labor shortage — and diners tend to buy it, since many of them work in industries that are also feeling an employee pinch. Even I’ve tended to nod sympathetically as restaurateurs bitched and moaned about how they just…
When Hemingway’s Key West Grille first opened in 1996 — actually, it sort of reopened, since a Hemingway’s (minus the words “Key West Grille”) occupied the same building on Old South Gaylord from 1977 to 1985 — the author must have been rolling over in his grave. I know a…
Ohana. That’s a Hawaiian term that translates as “the family and aloha spirit,” says Alex Fabrigas, the general manager of Roy’s Cherry Creek. But when Fabrigas left a Hawaii Roy’s to bring us this new restaurant in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, he didn’t just bring ohana with him –…
Q:I would like to locate a restaurant where the chef would be willing to accommodate someone with a low-sodium dietary restriction. I have found very few that offer more than a bone-dry chicken breast or fish fillet with steamed vegetables, and I’m looking for a little more excitement in flavor…
Saigon Terrace (reviewed this issue) isn’t Denver’s only worthy Vietnamese restaurant, of course. New Saigon (650 South Federal Boulevard) continues to turn out literally hundreds of excellent dishes (including several variations on frog legs); even when the kitchen’s hopping, the waitstaff keeps its cheerful cool. Other notable Vietnamese eateries include…
A friend just back from Vietnam has been recounting the mouthwatering food she enjoyed there: dishes that involved dozens of fresh, just-plucked-from-the-ground- or-ocean ingredients; abundant feasts that brought platter after platter of multilayered concoctions; snacks much more inventive and healthier than a bag of potato chips. All things, of course,…
Q: My parents, who are Polish, have never been anywhere outside of Poland and New York, which is where they live now. They’re coming to visit next month, and I want to take them somewhere unique to Denver. What would you recommend? A: When in roaming distance of buffalo, do…
To market, to market: Downtown denizens have long complained about the lack of grocery stores in the area, but now that they have one, they aren’t exactly cheering. In fact, I’d heard so many negative comments about the Lemon Sisters Market, which opened last month at 1530 Blake Street (the…
