It’s the first King Soopers of its kind in Colorado, and it’s aimed at luring discriminating, savvy shoppers searching for fresh, organic produce, all-natural foods, upscale pastries, cheeses from around the globe, salumi, prime-grade beef, fresh seafood and fish and just about anything else you’d expect from a high-end grocer…

Ignacio Leon Los Carboncitos 3757 Pecos Street 303-458-0880 www.loscarboncitos.com Paxia 4001 Tejon Street 720-583-6860 www.paxiadenver.com Part one of my interview with Ignacio Leon, exec chef of Paxia and Los Carboncitos, ran yesterday; this is part two of our conversation. Favorite food city in America: The nation’s best chefs are in…

UPDATE: We’ve chosen a winner of our contest, wherein one couple gets a complimentary dinner for two on New Year’s Eve at Central Bistro & Bar. Congrats to K.D. Bryan, who tugged at our romantic heartstrings with this answer: “I’m proposing to my sweetie at midnight! A romantic meal beforehand…

As always, the celebrity chef lineup for the 2013 FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, which will take over Glitter Gulch June 14-16, is a gallery of big, bold culinary mugs: Mario Batali, José Andrés, Tom Colicchio, Marcus Samuelsson, Andrew Zimmern, Jacques and Claudine Pépin, Ming Tsai, Hugh Acheson, Andrew…

Ignacio Leon Los Carboncitos 3757 Pecos Street 303-458-0880 www.loscarboncitos.com Paxia 4001 Tejon Street 720-583-6860 www.paxiadenver.com This is part one of my interview with Ignacio Leon, exec chef of Paxia and Los Carboncitos; part two of our conversation will run tomorrow. Ignacio Leon has more restaurants under his belt than years…

Justin Brunson is happier than a pig in mud. The chef-owner of Masterpiece Deli recently launched Denver Bacon Company, he’s on the prowl for a second location to open another Masterpiece, and in February of next year, he’ll unveil Old Major, a seafood, swine and wine restaurant in Highland that…

I’m a huge — huge — fan of the pizzas at this restaurant, but after sinking my jaws into the plump Italian sandwich, smoothed with quality meats, fresh mozzarella cheese and lots of fresh vegetables, I’m inclined to say that from here on out, this is my object of desire…

There’s no such thing as too many Thai restaurants, and even while the ones we have don’t detour from the usual suspects — noodle dishes, stir-fries, curries and soups — Mali Thai Cuisine, which just recently opened in a strip mall near the Denver Tech Center in the former Nino’s…

By the end of this month, star chef Matt Selby and James Iacino, president of Seattle Fish Company, will open the Corner House, a new restaurant in Jefferson Park, and while Selby is currently working on menus — dishes like truffle salt-cured foie gras, mussels and “Denver Bronco” oysters with…

If you’re one of those people who has an aversion, for whatever crazy reason, to kale, then I suggest you rethink your position — and this leafy kale salad, slicked with a tart dressing and specked with Parmesan, is a good place to start. Can you guess where I’m eating?…

Cafe Society served up four Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a still-unidentified mezcal margarita from a divey Mexican joint, to a sphere of peppered burrata from Lala’s Wine Bar + Pizzeria, to a bottle of rare Avery Odio Equum that’s a sour beer drinker’s nirvana. See also: -…

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. When it comes…

It took a year to find the ideal space, but after an exhaustive search, Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson, the nationally-renowned owners of Boulder-based Frasca Food and Wine, Pizzeria Locale and Caffe, have inked a deal to open a second Pizzeria Locale in Denver. See also: – Best Pizza 2012…

Those of you who insisted that Frank Bonanno would turn the former Lancer Lounge into an “over-hyped concept” — which is what at least one person claimed when we broke the news that Bonanno would be taking over the evicted bar wedged between two of his restaurants — will likely…

When I asked the bartender if he had mezcal, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “You want mezcal!? he exclaimed. “Oh, man, a gringo girl who likes mezcal. Wow.” Not only did he pour me a potent margarita but he brought out the mezcal bottle, too, egging me…

On last night’s season five episode of Top Chef Seattle, Tyler Wiard (nickname T-bone), the culinary director of Elway’s — and the exec chef of Elway’s Cherry Creek — is sent packing, along with fellow chef Chris “CJ” Jacobsen, the two of whom were bludgeoned by judges Gail Simmons, Padma…

Jay Leandro Pub 17 on Welton Street 1750 Welton Street hyatt.com/gallery/pub17/index.html 303-295-1117 Part one of my interview with Jay Leandro, exec chef of Pub 17 on Welton Street, ran yesterday; this is part two of our conversation. Favorite Denver/Boulder restaurant(s) other than your own: Pho Fusion on Hampden. I used…

It’s incredibly difficult to do justice to the thousands of remarkable cookbooks published in 2012, but after spending days — weeks — roaming through the recipes and lush food porn of hundreds of them, I’ve picked out my favorites. These are the cookbooks that stock my selves at home, and…

You can get chicken tikka masala here, as well as vindaloo and biryani, but this is a restaurant — Indian, obviously — that offers so much more, including a delicious cashew chicken curry strewn with cilantro. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct…

Jay Leandro Pub 17 on Welton Street 1750 Welton Street hyatt.com/gallery/pub17/index.html 303-295-1117 This is part one of my interview with Jay Leandro, exec chef of Pub 17 on Welton Street; part two of our conversation with run tomorrow. According to Jay Leandro, it all started with a chicken. “I was…