Despite the threat of “Thai hot” on the menu, the kitchen is predictably cautious, but the caddy of Thai condiments, all of which are chile-intensive, can turn “Thai hot” into a lip-blistering experience. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a…
Winner update: Last week, we asked Cafe Society commenters to guess how many caramel dipping dots the chefs at 1515 Restaurant drop on their deconstructed apple pie, one of the desserts that the restaurant will be featuring on the August 4 Test Kitchen dinner menu. The actual number of dots…
Chefs aren’t always patient with servers — or their kitchen staff — but Lance Barto may be the most patient chef I’ve ever seen, even under pressure. Over the weekend, just an hour before a friends-and-family dinner that included several local big-name chefs, sommeliers and restaurateurs, Barto, executive chef of…
For eighteen years, Rafael Najera has been clamoring to open a taqueria in Washington Park, and he finally got his wish. On Saturday, Najera, the longtime executive chef of Washington Park Grille and Max Gill and Grill, unveiled Agave Taco Bar in the former space that held the Local, which…
Let’s hope that Gordon Ramsay doesn’t walk off the job this week while he’s in Denver filming footage for Kitchen Nightmares, the Fox reality show that most recently made headlines after Ramsay, the acerbic mouthpiece who hosts the show, concluded that Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, who own Amy’s Bakehouse in…
The number of kaleidoscopic beach cocktails at this Mexican joint some 25 miles northeast of Denver spans pages, and while some of those cocktails looked tempting, I was fixated on something far more interesting: a hollowed out, salt-rimmed jalapeño embracing a shot of mezcal. Olé! Can you guess where I’m…
Fruition chef-owner Alex Seidel is still mulling over the name of his new restaurant and European-style market, which will open in Union Station next summer, but he’s made at least one concrete decision that will undoubtedly ensure that the wine program rivals any in Denver: Seidel has enlisted Stephanie Caraway,…
Cafe Society served up five Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a bottle of Greek lager from Steakhouse 10, to a platter of sizzling steak fajitas from La Sandia, to a fantastic green chile pupusa from a tiny restaurant in Golden that’s big on flavor…
On Wednesday night, Jennifer Jasinski, the executive chef and co-owner of Rioja, makes her debut on Top Chef Masters, where she’ll go head-to-head against twelve other chefs, including Douglas Keane, David Burke and Bryan Voltaggio, for a chance to win the Top Chef Masters title and $100,000, the earnings of…
When Shin Sa Ding, a splashy Korean restaurant opened just over a year ago in Aurora, general manager Patrick Choi was singing the song of success. “We’ve had one Korean guy who’s come in every day for two weeks in a row, sometimes twice a day. They keep telling me…
Greek beer — at least this one — doesn’t taste much different from American beer, but since it was the one and only brew on the list that sounded remotely interesting, I took a leap of faith, only to yearn for a bar that poured Lips of Faith. Can you…
Hot nights on the patio require cold pints, and at this taphouse, which just began brewing, there’s plenty of outdoor space to soak up the suds, the scene and the sun. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a Guess Where…
Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with a spacious kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. “Pete and I just…
Jason Lebeau Pastry chef Coohills 1400 Wewatta Street 303-623-5700 coohills.com This is part two of my chat with Jason Lebeau, pastry chef at Coohills; part one of my interview with Lebeau ran yesterday. If you could make one request of Denver diners, what would it be? Be willing to think…
After nearly ten years behind the line at Table 6, executive chef Scott Parker is leaving to open a yet-to-be-named restaurant in Platt Park from the crew behind Breckenridge-Wynkoop, who took over the former Izakaya Den space, which recently relocated across the street. Parker, whose last day at Table 6…
Suffice it to say that I eat out more than the general population, unless, of course, the general population can catalogue more than 450 restaurant meals in a year — which is about the number of breakfasts, lunches and dinners that I stomached in 2012. Pathetic, isn’t it? But all…
Sizzling meat on a scalding skillet has always fascinated me, which is partially why I’m a fan of fajitas. I love, too, that the flesh always arrives with a harvest of sidekicks like salsa and guacamole, which top my list of favorite foodstuffs. And these fajitas, partnered with black beans…
Jason Lebeau Pastry chef Coohills 1400 Wewatta Street 303-623-5700 coohills.com This is part one of my chat with Jason Lebeau, pastry chef at Coohills; part two of my interview with Lebeau will run tomorrow. I came from the era of one-pot wonders,” says Jason Lebeau, who grew up in Maryland…
Suffice it to say that I eat out more than the general population, unless, of course, the general population can catalogue more than 450 restaurant meals in a year — which is about the number of breakfasts, lunches and dinners that I stomached in 2012. Pathetic, isn’t it? But all…
I’m not much of a day drinker (one and done), but I am a proponent of non-alcoholic drinks that go beyond iced tea and soda, and here, at this uptempo restaurant, the bar program pays just as much attention to its mocktails — this muddled cucumber lemonade, for example –…
Bobby Grover’s goal is to change the way the world thinks about coffee — and in late August, he, along with his two partners, Zak Anderson and Jay Junkin, will do their best to make sure they succeed when they open Thump Coffee in Capitol Hill. “We’re trying to educate…
Update: Last week, we asked Cafe Society readers to create a doughnut — and name that doughnut — for a chance to win a dozen doughnuts from Ian Kleinman, the founder of the Inventing Room. Kleinman is hosting a doughnut pop-up this week at Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs, and one…
