“I’m a cook, not a chef, and I really have absolutely no idea what I’m doing,” Tommy Lee tells Lori Midson in this week’s Chef and Tell interview. But he does it well enough that Uncle, his noodle bar in LoHi, just won our Best New Restaurant award in the…
A river of red sauce used to run through northwest Denver, where many first-generation Italian Americans settled and opened their own restaurants — which were later taken over by second- and third-generation Italian Americans. But those red-sauce joints have been disappearing; Pagliacci’s, Longo’s Subway Tavern and Carbone’s Italian Sausage Deli…
The University of Denver has been meeting with members of the DU community to discuss the “mascot development” process. Doug Hirsh has been following the process with particular interest: He was the first human Denver Boone, chosen to portray the caricature that Walt Disney donated to DU to serve as…
Yesterday Lori Midson celebrated the lobster macaroni and cheese at Mizuna as one of our 100 Favorite Dishes. This is not standard, comfort-food mac and cheese; it uses poached sweet lobster meat in place of Oscar Meyer ham and silky mascarpone instead Velveeta. And it doesn’t have your standard, comfort-food…
Dos Casas, the fundraising dinner at Lola tomorrow night, is completely sold out. “Brent’s Place, and all the great things they do to help cancer patients, is extremely near and dear to everyone at Lola, and to all the chefs who participate in this event,” says Jamey Fader, the culinary…
While the University of Denver explores the role that John Evans, its founder, had to the Sand Creek Massacre, some people have moved beyond study to action. Aaron Sears, for example, has written a script for a movie he plans to direct: The Soul of Silas. The film is far…
The Oreo turned 100 last year, which means that the cookie has had its lovers and haters for a century. Count Jenn Wohletz among the latter; she included Oreos on her list of five terrible foods. Although many readers love the cookie, one says it’s even worse than it used…
It’s early Monday morning, so you can count on two things: People are already lining up to eat breakfast at the original Snooze in the Ballpark neighborhood, and outside the restaurant, the homeless are already lining up to wait until the shelters open their doors again tonight. It’s a scene…
Readers are still digesting our hefty Best of Denver issue, which included more than a hundred editorial picks in the Food & Drink section alone. One of the most hotly contested categories is Best Burger; this year, our choice was Highland Tap & Burger. And at least one reader heartily…
Cliff Young and his son, Zachary, are planning to open a bar right around the corner from CY Steak, the restaurant that Cliff opened next to the Diamond Cabaret in October 2009, next September. The name of the spot: O Bar. “It’s something my dad always liked,” says Zachary, explaining…
Back in the early ’80s, Cliff Young’s eponymous spot at 700 East 17th Avenue (today the home of Hamburger Mary’s) was about the swankiest spot in town, during an era when swank was definitely in. But price point isn’t the only thing that’s changed in Denver over the past three…
In the late ’80s, after a Broncos Super Bowl loss, a CBS report said Denver had never been number one in anything besides air pollution. But that wasn’t true: At the time, Denver had Smiley’s, the world’s largest laundromat. And this modern marvel’s existence had been shared a few years…
There may still be some snow on the ground, but predictions of a warmer weekend have people thinking about patios. And there are plenty of patios to think about around town. Yesterday we offered our suggestions for the five best — and readers have many, many more (as well as…
Given Arapahoe County’s record, Fox reporter Jana Winter should be glad she’s only facing contempt-of-court charges, not the death penalty. As media outlets were chasing every possible tip in the days following the Aurora shootings last July, Winter came up with a real scoop: James Holmes had sent a notebook…
Over the past year, we’ve lost three more of the Italian restaurants that used to blanket northwest Denver like red sauce. Pagliacci’s shuttered last August, after 66 years in business; Longo’s Subway Tavern closed in September, after 52 years; and Carbone’s, the iconic Italian sandwich shop and market, has been…
Even as Coors Field was filling up last Friday, fans were learning Ballpark neighborhood mainstay Snooze would no longer support the city’s May 2012 ban on camping because it hasn’t helped the homeless community. Snooze had initially supported that proposal — a stance that inspired Occupy Denver to boycott the…
Even as Coors Field was filling up last Friday, fans were learning Ballpark neighborhood mainstay Snooze would no longer support the city’s May 2012 ban on camping because it hadn’t helped the homeless community. Snooze had initially supported that proposal — a stance that inspired Occupy Denver to boycott the…
Business is soaring in the Baker neighborhood — but even so, the Crimson Canary just didn’t fly on Broadway. Saturday was the last night of service at this restaurant that specialized in “Boss Italian,” a sophomore venture from the folks at Interstate Kitchen & Bar. The spot had previously swallowed…
As the weather heats up, so do concerns that the camping ban Denver City Council approved a year ago has not worked as envisioned. Last week, Denver Homeless Out Loud released the results of its survey of 500 homeless people on the impact of the ban, which took effect on…
While it sometimes seems that hip new restaurants require that employees have cool tattoos and piercings, other spots have strict policies against piercing, tattoos and other body ornamentation. Jenn Wohletz went after such prudey-pants policies last week, in her list of five reasons restaurant employees should be allowed to have…
This past week on Cafe Society, Gretchen Kurtz reviewed Tom’s Urban 24, the upscale diner that Tom Ryan opened last fall in Larimer Square. Read her review of Tom’s Urban 24 here. Sixteen blocks further up Larimer Street, Jonathan Power is the chef/co-owner of The Populist, which opened just a…
Our first clue that something was up at Strings came when we heard that many long-time employees had left the restaurant that the late Noel Cunningham had founded in 1986. Our second clue was when the annual Mother’s Day brunch hosted by Strings, a benefit for Volunteers of America, started…
