After getting the boot from the Village Cork three weeks ago, chef Samir Mohammad is back in the kitchen — a real kitchen with a hood! And a stove! And brick ovens! And, he says, a “supportive environment that encourages me to be active in the community,” a point of…

I grew up on the far west side of town, a culinary black hole — at least in the ’70s and ’80s — that forced me and my family to drive what I believed were impossibly long distances to dinner. We went out to eat — a lot — and…

The secret to not making a mess isn’t a bib, but gloves, as the astute diners sitting next me obviously had learned from previous experience. Now I know better. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where posts…

When Central, the new restaurant in Highland, whose kitchen is commanded by Lance Barto, a former exec chef of Strings, opens mid-month, a Food & Wine magazine-heralded confection queen will be spearheading the pastry program: Cicely Austin, who was named one of the top fifty pastry chefs in America earlier…

Part one of my interview with Adam Watts, chef de cuisine at Jax Boulder, ran on Wednesday; this is part two. Adam Watts Jax Fish House Boulder 928 Pearl Street, Boulder 303-444-1811 www.jaxboulder.com If you only had 24 hours in Denver/Boulder, where would you eat? I’d start out with brunch…

Adam Watts Jax Fish House Boulder 928 Pearl Street, Boulder 303-444-1811 www.jaxboulder.com This is part one of my interview with Adam Watts, chef de cuisine at Jax Boulder. Part two of our chat will run on Thursday. Cycling makes you hungry, says Adam Watts. The former professional pedaler, who spent…

I’m a sucker for salted ballpark pretzels — they’re one of my guilty pleasures — and while the insipid cheese sauce didn’t even make it to first base, the pretzels hit a home run. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to…

I’m not happy, and if she were still here, outgoing Westword restaurant critic Laura Shunk wouldn’t be happy either. And if you, like us, bowed in gratitude to the xiao long bao (named Best of Denver in 2012) at Tao Tao Noodle Bar, an excellent Chinese joint in Aurora that…

When Shazz Cafe opened in Highland in late 2008, people couldn’t stop giggling at the name, but no one was laughing at the food, a hyper-local shrine to sustainable greenmarket ingredients that chef/owner Benny Kaplan transformed into innovative culinary emblems that proved that he could meddle with purity while preserving…

There are people who can’t bear to think of a world without chicken wings. I’ve never been, nor will I ever be, a chicken wing worshiper, but on the rare occasion that I get a jonesing for sauce-slathered cluck, you’ll find me here at this joint, where the wings fly…

Cafe Society dished up five Guess Where contests last week, ranging from an Italian sandwich from Waffle Brothers to housebaked puffed pita bread from Phoenician Kabob to a glass of rosé that did its part to fight last week’s insufferable heatwave…

Earlier today, we posted a contest giving one Cafe Society reader (and a tagalong) the chance to eat and drink for free at tomorrow night’s Justice League of Street Food Factory party at the Denver Design Center. Specifically, we wanted to know how many glasses of Avery beer were poured…

“Why not?” deadpans Eric Skokan when I ask him about opening Bramble & Hare, the new restaurant he’ll unveil to the public on Monday, directly adjacent to Black Cat, the gospel of seasonality that Skokan introduced to Boulder in 2006 just off the Pearl Street Mall…

This is a joint that doesn’t waffle around when it comes to its smorgasbord of sandwiches — sandwiches with common names like “Joe” and “Jones” in their titles. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where posts is…

“The Justice League of Street Food is back for its third year of urban feasting, and the group is more determined than ever to maintain the edge they’ve always had,” Andra Zeppelin, who handles the public relations for the Justice League of Street Food, told me back in May when…

His long, lanky body clad in a T-shirt, knee-length shorts and Converse tennis shoes, Josh Wolkon slips into a booth at Steuben’s, orders a Pimms cocktail and stretches his arms. The last few months have been a whirlwind for the owner of Steuben’s, which he unleashed in Uptown in 2007…

Most Middle Eastern restaurants sling pita pulled from plastic bags, but this Mid-East feast house bakes its own, resulting in puffed spheres that plume with billows of smoke at the poke of a fork. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to…

Thomas Salamunovich Larkspur 478 Vail Valley Drive, Vail 970-754-8050 www.larkspurvail.com Larkburger www.larkburger.com Part one of my interview with Thomas Salamunovich, exec chef of Larkspur and Larkburger, ran yesterday; this is part two of our chat. Rules of conduct in your kitchen: Respect each other, have a sense of humor, and…

Considering the heat, the mere thought of eating anything hot makes me want to dive into a sea of blue, but since that’s not an option, I’ll take a bowl of cool three-bean, lemon-kissed hummus instead, paired with housemade Parmesan crisps and raw vegetables. Can you guess where I’m eating?…

Pete Marczyk (who’s interviewed in in this chef and tell) 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…

Thomas Salamunovich Larkspur 478 Vail Valley Drive, Vail 970-754-8050 www.larkspurvail.com Larkburger www.larkburger.com This is part one of my interview with Thomas Salamunovich, exec chef of Larkspur and Larkburger, Part two of our chat will be posted here tomorrow. “Food wasn’t a big deal in my life, but music? Music was…