In this week’s Bar Back, Jon Solomon reports on his visit to Lavish, the club that now occupies the former home of Le Rouge. That was the combo club/fine dining spot at 1448 Market Street (at 15th Street) that boasted a menu created by Eric Roeder, formerly of Micole and…
I’ve had an on-again/off-again love/hate relationship with Kevin Taylor over the years I’ve spent on this job. But one thing that’s been unswerving has been my respect for his eponymous flagship, Restaurant Kevin Taylor at the Hotel Teatro (1106 14th Street). I’ve had a couple of the best single plates in…
I just got a note from the Brown Palace regarding the Palace Arms’ participation in Denver Restaurant Week — which calls for meals priced at $52.80 for two, a nice trick at this high-priced spot. But the announcement went on: Palace Arms restaurant has created ways for guests to pinch…
See more photos of Locanda del Borgo here. Here’s something that annoys me: people who, when talking about a restaurant, use some version of the phrase “transports you straight to blank” or “is like a little piece of blank right here in Denver.” I have resorted to this verbal tic…
Think Highland is changing? You’ve got another think comin’. The owners of what had been Swimclub 32 are sure that their new concept for the space, El Camino, is exactly what the neighborhood wants — and needs. El Camino’s kick-back sports-bar feel seems a million miles and many dollars away…
I was driving through Denver’s old Italian neighborhood Friday, looking for a restaurant that might pair well with my review of Locando del Borgo. Unfortunately, being all weirded out on caffeine and Scotch cordial (check out Cafe Society for my diatribe on drinking glayva for breakfast), I first landed at…
The Sandwich: Dinner Roll What’s on it: Turkey and roast beef, melted white American cheese, grilled onions and creamy horseradish on a giant Kaiser roll with a side of au jus for dipping. Where to get it: The Smiling Moose Deli (727 Colorado Boulevard, 333-3354) How much: $6.69 A smiling…
New exec chef Jason Rogers has just put up his new menu at Second Home (150 Clayton Lane), in an attempt to recover from the bland and affectless fried-cheese-and-crab-paste board that’d been assembled by Home’s opening chef, Che Frey, and oh-so-tenderly deconstructed by yours truly in my review of Second…
If you are a fan of lamb, this would be the contest for you. Every Friday through February, the Denver-based American Lamb Board will select a winner for its “Recipes for Romance” contest. Winners receive a variety of items, including a professional knife set and cookware. E-mail fanoflamb@baltzco.com with your…
Denver is what I consider a relatively accomplished culinary town, as is Boulder, where I live. And sometimes perspective is necessary to really appreciate your surroundings. This is a roundabout way of saying I went to Grand Junction for the weekend. The drive is always beautiful, ascending into snowy peaks…
The Colorado Wine Industry announced the winners of its 2008 Restaurant Recognition Awards Monday night. The competition, which I wrote about a few months ago in “Colorado wine sure is fine,” handed out honors in two categories: Best Colorado Wine List and Best Use of Colorado Food and Wine. The best…
Until fairly recently, Denver’s culinary universe had a gaping black hole at the center that consistently swallowed the vain attempts of well-meaning chefs and barfed out scads of pretenders offering “Colorado-accented” Italian cuisine that rarely rose above the level of a tomato-and-mozzarella tamale with an Italian flag stuck in it…
Colorado, which hosts the annual Beerdrinker of the Year contest at the Wynkoop Brewing Company, could finally boast a home-state winner. Cody Christman, a Denver software engineer, is one of three finalists in the thirteenth installment of this prestigious contest. He is also the first Wynkoop regular to make it…
Super Star Asian may rate as the Best Dim Sum in Denver, but according to Chinese Restaurant News magazine, the Empress Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant — a more upscale, white-tablecloth joint located nearby at 2825 West Alameda Avenue — ranks as the sixth-best Chinese restaurant in America, far ahead of…
5:30 a.m.: My alarm starts ringing, but I have been up for a while already. It’s like Christmas for Jews. My brother Travis and Jed, my other roommate, emerge from their rooms and we hop in my car, then pick up my best friend, Micah. We’re on our way to…
As part of a Super Bowl promo, your neighborhood Denny’s is offering a free Grand Slam until 2 p.m. today (dine-in only). Run grab your breakfast, then come back to Cafe Society to read Tyler Nemkov’s review of his meal…
For 130 years, the town of Golden has been drinking at 1216 Washington Avenue. For the past 60, they’ve been calling it the Ace-Hi Tavern. For bartendress Wanda, regulars Ed and Mikey, and a cast of characters large enough to spoof a Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band poster eight…
If you think you’re the country’s best teen chef, it’s time to enter the Art Institute’s Best Teen Chef Competition. The contest is open to high schoolers graduating in 2009 with a GPA of 2.0 or better; applicants must sign an entry and release form by this Friday, February 6,…
Hannah Montana Multi-Grain Secret Identity Cereal Kellogg’s Rating: Two-and-a-half spoons out of four Cereal description: Corn-and-oat discs that resemble semi-flattened Crunchberries — a resemblance underscored by the light red and dark purple color scheme. Does that mean the real secret identity of Miley Stewart (the character Miley Cyrus plays in…
After my disastrous meals at Beaucoup Burrito, I thought it might be helpful to list for its owners, employees and customers six local fast-casual concepts that actually work. They are, in no particular order: Chipotle: Founder Steve Ells gets credit for inventing the entire fast-casual concept at his now-ubiquitous burrito…
Another Irish bar bites the dust. The Squealing Pig has shut its doors at 2700 East Third Avenue, and its phone number is disconnected. While the Pig wasn’t a classic Irish bar, as described by Jason Sheehan in How to Create a Great Irish Bar, and didn’t even come as…
“Here. Try this.” I handed over the small, green Jagermeister bottle and grinned. Because he’s a good sport (and, like me, completely susceptible to even the weakest sort of peer pressure), my comrade-in-arms Jonathan Shikes screwed off the top without question and made a move to drink the mystery fluid…
