No. 11: The Polpetto Sandwich at Sarto’s Sarto’s is a little tucked away on its corner in the Jefferson Park neighborhood off Federal Boulevard, but the bright, elegant dining room and novel — at least for Denver — chef’s ciccetti bar have made it a draw since it opened last…
Chef Chris Thompson moved to Denver to open the Nickel in the newly refurbished Hotel Teatro in the summer of 2014. Expectations were high, considering that the previous tenant had been respected Denver restaurateur Kevin Taylor and his eponymous, dazzling eatery Restaurant Kevin Taylor. But after a complete ground-floor overhaul,…
No 12: Takoyaki at Sakana Sushi & RamenThe little golden spheres called takoyaki rest in a bowl against a single green leaf of lettuce, topped with stripes of sweet, dark sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. The server warns us that they’re piping hot inside and to wait a few minutes before…
At 4 a.m. on a Sunday, most people are deep in slumber — if they’re not just stumbling into bed after a night of bar-hopping. But in the warren beneath the seats at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Nikki Olst is prepping for another game day. Olst is the…
First they ran, then they brunched. Denver joggers gathered at Stapleton Central Park over the weekend to participate in five- and ten-kilometer races, followed by a mid-morning feast prepared by some of the city’s top brunch kitchens. Bacon Bloody Marys and medals were the rewards for finishing. Proceeds from the…
Cajun culinary legend Paul Prudhomme passed away last Thursday, just a couple of days short of today’s National Gumbo Day. But every day was gumbo day for Prudhomme, who popularized Cajun cooking beyond the borders of Louisiana with cookbooks, packaged seasonings and cooking shows in an era before the Food…
Pumpkin lovers gathered at the Arapahoe Park racetrack in Aurora over the weekend for a celebration of the fall squash in all its glory. And although there were pumpkin pies, carved pumpkins and a pumpkin patch for the kids, the main attraction was Punkin Chunkin Colorado, an annual event that…
Fried chicken is sizzling hot in the metro area right now, with places like the Post Brewing Co. about to expand with two GoodBird Kitchen concepts; Lou’s Food Bar shining the spotlight on Nashville-style hot chicken; and Max’s Wine Dive coming from Texas with a tasty plate of Southern-fried goodness. And…
Chef Ian Kleinman’s Inventing Room dessert shop is nearing its opening date, so he’s cranked up his new kitchen to dial in recipes before the big day. Liquid nitrogen, which comes out of the tank at -321 degrees Fahrenheit, is the most eye-catching attraction behind the counter at the shop…
Kazmos Lounge closed six years ago. Since then, there hasn’t been much activity in the corner spot at West 14th Avenue and Kalamath Street in the Lincoln Park neighborhood — but a public-hearing notice went up at the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses recently for a hotel and restaurant…
Sure, you can eat a pumpkin — but if you really want to have fun, try smashing one. And what better way to smash a pumpkin than to give it a good heave so that it hits the ground with a little velocity? At this weekend’s Punkin Chunkin Colorado at the…
There’s so much construction going on in Cherry Creek North that it’s easy to overlook vacancies that would be glaring in any other neighborhood. Columbine Street, in particular, has been an obstacle course of orange cones and scaffolding as two major projects — an office building and a hotel, both…
The lead-up to A Taste for Life is one of the busiest times of the year for Project Angel Heart executive chef Jon Emanuel. The event brings together more than twenty restaurants and other local food and beverage companies in a gala fundraiser for the organization, which is dedicated to…
No. 13: Pimento Cheese Spread at Dunbar Kitchen & Tap Room Pimento cheese spread is one of those grocery store guilty pleasures that you reached for as a kid and hid in the shopping cart until it was too late for your mom to notice because the clerk had already…
Tom’s Urban, the American diner on the corner of 15th and Larimer streets, is closed and the windows have been papered over. But a quick check of the restaurant’s Facebook page reveals the closure is only temporary. A post from September 24 reads “Tom’s Urban will be temporarily closed for…
Competitive barbecue pit man Jason Ganahl is juggling two major meat feats this month: Not only is he on his way to Bentonville, Arkansas for a national barbecue championship on October 10, but he’s in the final stages of opening GQue Championship Barbecue, the smokehouse and restaurant that he hopes…
It has been nine months since Seth Rubin baked his last biscuit — at least for paying customers — after shutting down his two Rise & Shine Biscuit Kitchen and Cafes, the breakfast eateries he operated inside Basil Doc’s Pizza branches in the West Highland and Hilltop neighborhoods. Basil Doc’s…
The Baker neighborhood is about to get a little sweeter. The building at 713 West 4th Avenue (between Galapago and Inca streets) that was most recently a laundromat now has a banner up announcing that Baker Java & Scoops will open soon. Although no details are available, we’ll hazard a…
Hawaiian shirts and hollowed-out pineapples stole the show from the gallery installations at MCA Denver on Sunday. The FO’ Swizzle cocktail competition, sponsored by Don Q Rum, took over the museum’s rooftop cafe, where six teams of Denver bartenders battled to see who could out-shake the competition. Proceeds were donated…
Mole may be Mexico’s most misunderstood export here in Colorado; syrupy sweet chocolate concoctions have done much to obscure the finer points of the complex sauces. I recently overheard a conversation about searching for good mole negro in Denver that ended without resolution, but there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for…
A posh new Black Eye Coffee opened this morning at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Sherman Street. This is the second Black Eye, but it’s quite a departure from the more DIY original on Navajo Street, next door to the Highland Tavern. Expect the same attention to detail in…
Il Porcellino Salumi isn’t quite ready to open in the Berkeley neighborhood; owners Bill Miner and Brian Albano are still waiting on final sign-off from the Denver Department of Environmental Health before they can begin production of their cured products. In the meantime, they’re hosting an open house as part of…
