The sweet taste of success: Black tie and breast enlargement were optional at the eighth annual Taste of Vail earlier this month, when more than a thousand really beautiful people gathered for the Grand Tasting (read: great gorgefest). After sipping about twenty of the hundreds of wines available, my tastebuds…
After a mere ten minutes of standing by the door to Sushi Den, waiting to get a table and watching diners come and go, I realize the tragic truth: I am not one of the beautiful people. But just about everyone else who frequents Sushi Den is. The fourteen-year-old Japanese…
In France, love and food and passion and wine and sex and cheese are all mixed up, a steamy potage of appetites as intoxicating as it is exhausting. How fitting, then, that La Chaumiere, a charming French restaurant just outside Lyons–Colorado’s Lyons, that is–is the culmination of a decades-old romance…
French kissed: I’ve just returned from a two-week vacation in France, and, boy, am I pissed to be back. Spending most of the time in Provence–and primarily eating meals we cooked in the kitchen of the house we’d rented–gave us a native’s perspective on the day-to-day procuring of quality ingredients…
A waiter is never just a waiter. He also serves as a restaurant’s ambassador, guiding a diner through unfamiliar territory. A good waiter can make a bad meal better and a good meal great. But when a server is bad, it flavors the entire meal. Morocco was in dire need…
Got milk? While Broncos lobbyists continue to press the flesh at the Colorado Statehouse, John Elway is doing his bit to remind fans of the Super Bowl victory–through poster versions of Elway’s milk-mustache advertisements published in USA Today and Sports Illustrated after the win in San Diego. “The only thing…
Aspen extremes: James Caan glanced over the booth in Aspen’s Boogie’s Diner and gave me that look of his that says, “You want a piece of me?” No thanks, I decided. I’d rather have another piece of Boogie’s banana cream pie. Or anything at Boogie’s, for that matter. Although the…
Authenticity–now, there’s a concept. If more restaurateurs understood what they were trying to do–and why–there would be more good restaurants out there. Instead, all too many restaurateurs cook up some half-baked “concept,” then proceed to force-feed it to customers. Exhibits A through Z: the Olive Garden. This national chain recently…
Good taste: The Fourth Story has more going for it than just Sunday brunch (see review above). At 6:30 p.m. March 24, the eatery will host the Great Divide Brewing Company for a beer tasting accompanied by a four-course dinner (cost still to be determined). Two days later, at 3…
As you get older, your ability to consume enormous quantities of food at one sitting noticeably decreases. I can remember college all-you-can-eat spreads that saved me from starvation, because I’d pack enough food into my stomach to sustain me for at least two days and a couple of all-nighters. But…
If the test of a good ethnic restaurant is the number of customers from the cuisine’s alleged country of origin, then the Armadillo fails miserably. After eating twice at the lower-lower downtown location of this homegrown mini-chain–the Armadillo operates nine eateries in Colorado and one in Cheyenne–and a week’s worth…
Standing Pat: McCormick’s Fish House & Bar, at 1659 Wazee, has established several fine traditions (not counting its oysters) in the dozen years it’s been in business here. First there’s the $1 Irish coffee offered in the bar whenever it’s snowing. The second tradition is a daily event (more on…
The orders are coming in fast–so fast that Lupe Nunez has to do a little sideways skip as she keeps piling on the beans and rice. She passes each plate to her brother, Porfidio Marin, who adds the meat and then hands the finished dish to the waitress, who doesn’t…
Carole Jensen has two words of advice for neighborhoods trying to get disruptive bars to settle down: Be patient. “It’s a long, involved endeavor,” she says. “I think these things always get resolved eventually. But it’s a slow process, so unbelievably slow. It has been interesting, however. Not to mention…
To the Manor born: Sure, Uncle Sam’s (reviewed above) specializes in American food–but is there anything more red-white-and-blue than a really bad-for-you burger? A recent 1 a.m. run to My Brother’s Bar (2376 15th Street) to quell a post-booze craving for a cheeseburger–which Brother’s satisfied by once again handing me…
Uncle Sam’s wants you–and, believe it or not, your kids. For that alone, Denver families should stand up and cheer. At most area restaurants, children are about as welcome as anthrax–and twice as deadly to the diners around them. But not only does the four-month-old Uncle Sam’s truly welcome families,…
Noodlin’ around: People always think that the best part of my job is getting to stuff my face. They’re wrong–that’s the second-best part of my job. The best part is letting people know about out-of-the-way, unheard-of eateries that serve excellent food, like Tay Do (reviewed above). Of course, in the…
If you’ve survived the fall of Saigon and fled your native country, how frightening can it be to start a restaurant? Very, it turns out. “It has been scary,” says Van Vo, who opened Tay Do seven months ago. “I admit that I know very little about cooking, but I…
Cherry Creek isn’t exactly overflowing with cheap eats. Then again, a restaurant can’t charge five bucks for an entree when it’s paying top dollar for rent. That’s why David Francavilla passed up Cherry Creek when he opened a second location of his Chowda House Light House three years ago, opting…
Talk lobster: David Francavilla, owner of the three Chowda House Light House restaurants (see review above), thought he might attract some attention with the recent lobster giveaway at his newest location, at 158 Fillmore Place. But the fundraiser netted much more than $300 for Lakewood’s Hospice of Saint John and…
When Jason and Vanessa Helfrich leased a hard-luck spot on Seventh Avenue for their JV’s The Cork, they faced the enormous challenge of turning the odd space, with its stifling, wall-separated dining areas and problematic lighting, into a workable, appealing restaurant. But they managed to do what Transalpin, and later…
Wienie roast: The current controversy engulfing Governor Roy Romer hasn’t distracted him from all of his duties. The outcome of a friendly Super Bowl wager between Wisconsin governor and loyal cheesehead Tommy Thompson and Romer is even now being consumed at the Denver Rescue Mission: 32 pounds of cheese. And…
