The tax man cometh for Denver restaurants!

Your total comes to $7,386. For evidence that times are tough, one need look no further than the eighteen-page section inserted in last Friday’s Denver Post recording the thousands of properties on which the city has filed liens for failure to pay back property taxes. It’s not just foreclosed homes,…

Cake Crumbs opens in Park Hill

If you didn’t think Park Hill could get any sweeter, the neighborhood welcomes its fourth bakery, Cake Crumbs, which just opened at 2216 Kearney earlier this month. Owners and Park Hill-ites, Denon and Sean Moore decided to bring their passion for baking and community pride by bringing their bakery from…

Get ready for the Tavern Wash Park

The previous occupant of 1066 South Gaylord, Chi Bistro, was one of Jason Sheehan’s most hated restaurants, as is evident from this review. But everyone — parking-paranoid Wash Park residents included — should be pleased by the place that will be opening in that spot on Monday, October 27. It’s…

Otto’s American Grill now open in Parker

Parker just got a new neighborhood hang-out, with the September 22 opening of Otto’s American Grill at 18366 East Lincoln, in the old Pasta Bella location. Otto’s was opened by John Davis, a restaurateur who had a variety of spots in Phoenix before setting down roots in the Denver area…

Last day at Valente’s Italian Restaurant

Valente’s Italian Restaurant, which had been up and running for 44 years, closed today following a combination Columbus Day/retirement party for owner Ray Valente. And that festive, long goodbye wasn’t the only thing that distinguished the Valente’s closing from another recent high-profile closing: that of Jim Sullivan’s Nine75 (the restaurant…

The best of the West at the Great American Beer Festival

Drink up! I went to the Great American Beer Festival last Thursday, October 9, and concluded that craft beers made West of the Mississippi River are, with a couple of notable exceptions, better than those created on the Eastern side. Many of you offered suggestions as to where I could…

Milking It: Smorz cereal

Smorz Kellogg’s Rating: Three spoons out of four. Cereal description: Corn-flour squares with rounded corners and a color scheme that runs the gamut from tan to light brown; that’s quite a range. They’re supplemented by cylindrical white marshmallows featuring streaks that are supposed to make diners think of chocolate. As…

White Chocolate Grill opens today in Park Meadows

Damn the economy — full speed ahead! The Vistas at Park Meadows Mall gains another restaurant today when White Chocolate Grill opens at 4 p.m. Although the name seems to promise a fried-ice-cream-like experience, White Chocolate’s menu actually includes a full range of American dishes, from fresh seafood flown in…

Cooking tips from Mr. James Carville

First you get yourself a real big pork tenderloin… Want to read some unfortunate phrasing? Check out this teaser from the website of the Aurora Economic Development Council, which is hosting an event tonight called A-List 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Denver: A-List 2008 is the most highly anticipated event…

East vs. West at the Great American Beer Festival

Jealous? Let’s face it. For all of its prestige, for all of its variety, for all of its cachet, it’s hard work to have fun at the Great American Beer Festival. There are lines to get in, lines at many of the beer stands, and masses of people every way…

Bagali’s Italian Kitchen opens in Broomfield

Fans would apparently give the shirt off their backs to visit Bagali’s in Vail. The chain gang will be getting some competition in Broomfield. After a private event tonight, Bagali’s Italian Kitchen will open to the public tomorrow at 570 Zang Street. “We just saw this spot, it’s among a…

Candy Girls: Hershey’s Halloween Candy

Hershey’s Candy Corn Kisses While we generally like candy corn and Hershey’s Kisses separately, we really weren’t too sure what they would taste like combined. Because when you think about it, candy corn is really just flavored like…. sugar? Maybe slightly caramely sugar? Not a flavor that would hold up…

What’s shaking? The Finlandia Vodka Cup!

Calling all bar chefs! Finlandia is looking for Denver’s best bartenders to compete in the eleventh annual Finlandia Vodka Cup regionals at Martinia Ranch on October 20. This is a fabulous opportunity to show your creativity, as the contest emphasizes crafting delicious, original cocktails, not just bartending skills. I judged…

Save Jason Sheehan’s booth at Nine75

Nine75 is slated to reopen on Friday, October 10, under its new owner, the Jet Entertainment Group. There are lots of questions involved in this deal — for example, will suppliers who’d cut off former owner Jim Sullivan return to Nine75? Will those outstanding bills be paid? How many of…

Santa Fe Tequila Company takes a shot at Littleton

The original Santa Fe Tequila Company on Santa Fe Drive. Santa Fe Tequila Company has gotten mixed reviews (including mine) since it opened on Santa Fe Drive (technically at 901 West Tenth Avenue) last November, but that hasn’t prevented the concept from expanding to Littleton. A second Santa Fe Tequila…

Veggie Girl: Thai Basil

Sometimes I really crave a good plate of sesame tofu. Crunchy, golden tofu that’s burning hot on the outside and so soft inside that it melts in your mouth. Crisp, steamed veggies; brown rice; sticky, sweet delicious sauce. Yum! The craving hit a couple of days ago when I was…

Whole Foods “Secret Ingredient” is satisfying food porn

Hungry for some non-offensive food porn? Check out the Whole Foods Market Secret Ingredient videos blog . The varying hosts take ingredients — a different one is highlighted each week — from Whole Foods and then create healthy, simple meals, including Spicy-Coconut Braised Black Cod, Lakeside Turkey Burgers and Grilled…

Ice Cream Alchemy makes sorbet out of a sow’s ear

It didn’t take long to learn who’d done that amazing cupcake gelato served at Relish up in Breckenridge (see page X). In fact, had I turned just a few neurons to the matter, I probably would’ve been able to guess. Because it was Pete Arendsen from Ice Cream Alchemy in…

A meal at Relish is something to relish

Lemon-braised artichoke with roasted garlic herb butter. Venison carpaccio with Humboldt Fog blue cheese, organic olive oil and black pepper. Steak Diane with truffled garlic mashed potatoes, and a New York strip with white cheddar sweet-potato fries. There was also a quote/unquote Niçoise — a loose chef’s interpretation with Colorado…

Umenishiki Gorgeous Plum Sake at Sushi Sasa

Many people tell me they dislike sake. When I mention sake to neophytes, they complain that it’s just hot turpentine served in small, white vases — or, worse, that concoction of bad sake and Chambord called Purple Haze. But saying you don’t like sake based on this dreck is like…

Is Gelman’s a good bar? There’s no debate.

Watching Chine inspect wine glasses — the way he delicately scoops each stem from the counter, elevating it high above his head and rotating it below the track lights at the recently reopened Gelman’s Restaurant & Bar (2911 West 38th Avenue) — is like watching poetry emerge from the page…

Cafe Bisque joins the brunch bunch

Before there was Limón or the Arvada Grill, chef Alex Gurevich had Cafe Bisque. I first wrote about the restaurant not long after it opened, and excoriated the harebrained international floundering of the menu. I was much more effusive about the restaurant in 2005, and even welcomed Cafe Bisque back…