Despite a disappointing cocktail list that shoves little more than vodka down the throats of imbibers, the recently revamped menu at this suburban watering hole and restaurant is far better than than it’s been in the past, and the kitchen doesn’t balk when you want your meat on the crimson…

It’s Saturday afternoon, and the kitchen magicians at BRU Handbuilt Ales and Eats are on the patio, running through their checklist; an hour later, Ian Clark’s new alehouse in Boulder is pulsating — with music, energy and a swell of bodies, all of whom have been invited to be the…

When Rob and Karin Lawler opened the doors to the Truffle Table last week, deliberately without fanfare, they knew that cheese admirers from across Denver — and especially those in the Highland ‘hood — would sniff them out no matter what, and so they did, giving the crew a gentle…

“I love Deluxe in spite of myself. Despite reason, despite my better judgment, despite being committed body and soul to the war against California Cuisine — that limping, wrongheaded, disastrous blight on the soul of American cookery — and throwing myself into the breach every time a California-style restaurant pops…

Cafe Society served up four Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a plate of meatballs and “homemade” spaghetti that isn’t, from Mama Louise, to a beautifully charred and blistered sausage pizza from Bonanno Brothers Pizzeria, to a perfect beer poured in a new taproom…

You know the story by now: Bandits hijacked Pretzel, Euclid Hall’s pig, last Sunday, brazenly running off with the swine during the Big Eat (the entire saga is chronicled on the following pages). According to those at Euclid Hall, Pretzel has a wee problem with her excessive alcohol consumption and…

In the latest saga of Pretzel, Euclid Hall’s pig mascot that was snatched from Sunday’s Big Eat at Sustainability Park (you can read all about it on the next page), comes this from the pig herself. My Beloved Family! You gotta help me! My hijackers are taking good care of…

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…

Tickets to the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen — the mountain resort’s four-day culinary extravaganza that brings together world-renowned chefs and winemakers and the starstruck foodists who flock to town every June to catch a glimpse of their famous faces — sold out in record speed this year, but…

I love the Ethiopian stews here, and whether your tastes bend toward vegetarian, or intensely aromatic meat dishes, this is a place to find an excellent Ethiopian feast…even if you’ll likely eat it in a dining room bereft of light. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who…

On the left, you’ve got the now sequestered Pretzel the Pig, Euclid Hall’s mascot, which was unceremoniously yanked from its perch during the Big Eat on Sunday, the details of which are all chronicled on the second page. On the right, you have the newly formed Euclid Hall posse –…

I could spend all afternoon and night camped out at this lively watering hole, if for no other reason than the brews are some of the best in Denver — and the affable bartenders know how to pour them with precision, even with their eyes closed. Can you guess where…

Jimmy Bernat Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill 1530 Blake Street 303-298-5000 lodojimmys.com This is part two of my interview with Jimmy Bernat, exec chef of Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill; part one of our chat ran yesterday. Which chef has most inspired you? My dad pretty much got me into…

A throng of thieves — or maybe it was just one holdup artist — got away with swine snatchery on Sunday, the day of EatDenver’s Big Eat bash, where forty restaurants, several wineries and breweries and more than a thousand revelers congregated at Sustainability Park…and that leaves the mud pit…

I’ve apparently been duped…for decades! During dinner last night at a red-sauce Italian joint, I ordered “homemade” spaghetti and meatballs, only to learn from our server that the noodles aren’t homemade at all. It’s a carryover, he told me, from the old days, when spaghetti — the fat strands made…

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 the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. Pete and Barb…

Jimmy Bernat Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill 1530 Blake Street 303-298-5000 lodojimmys.com This is part one of my interview with Jimmy Bernat, exec chef of Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. Jimmy Bernat began working — and cooking — in a professional kitchen…

New York City — one of the most captivating cocktail capitals of the country — gets no love from Esquire magazine in its recently published list of the top seventeen bars in America. But, guess what? Two Denver bars — Ship Tavern and Williams & Graham — grace the roster,…

Yes, that pizza is charred — not because the pizza yanker screwed up, or the oven was at the wrong temperature, but because I like a little char and blister with my chew. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a…

FEAST! Vail descended upon the alpine mountain village over the Memorial Day weekend, and for a first-year event, this was definitely a winning feast fit for foodists, cocktail connoisseurs, oenophiles and beer drinkers. From a small-plate extravaganza that showcased the talents of several local chefs, including Frank Bonanno, Elise Wiggins,…

Forty Denver restaurants, including Biker Jim’s, Euclid Hall, Jonesy’s Eat Bar, Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar, Linger, Panzano and Pinche Tacos, along with beers from Breckenridge Brewery, Great Divide, Mountain Sun Brewery and Wynkoop Brewery, wines from Bookcliff Cellars, Bonacquisti Winery, Cottonwood Cellars, Mesa Park and Two Rivers and…