Unlike Cabin Creek Smokehouse BBQ (see review, page 53), Yazoo Barbecue Company is not the kind of place you have to scout out. This white-cement bunker — occasionally wreathed in smoke, partially walled in by a chain-link fence — is right in the heart of downtown at 2150 Broadway, just…
I’ll have the bread pudding — hold the bread. A male friend of mine recently told me that, knowing what he knows about men, he’d eat only two Ritz crackers a day if he were a woman. During lunch at Bambino’s with a girlfriend, we took his misogynistic advice to…
We were ready for some simple fun after a month of international rivalries during which we’d suffered through: more than 1.2 trillion scoreless minutes; 6,752 totally wrong goalie guesses on penalty kicks; 800,967 unnecessary instances of a goalie leaving his feet for an easy save or an obvious wide shot;…
There was a time when this barbecue joint was one of the best in the city, back when it was known as Chapter One BBQ and Grill (“Two for the Road,” October 6, 2005). But sometime earlier this year, original owners Bonnie and Jerome Sims moved on, a big “Two”…
I’ve said a lot of nasty things about chain restaurants. I’ve advocated a boycott of Applebee’s (because of my horror of Riblets), asked both God and Santa Claus to rain fire down on Olive Garden franchises, given away KFC fried chicken to homeless people, savaged McDonald’s on any number of…
I have fairly low expectations of the business of running restaurants — understanding all too well the lowest-common-denominator math involved in the profitable operation of a multi-unit empire. I’ve read Fast Food Nation and the Omnivore’s Dilemma. I’ve managed the kitchens of chain outlets and worked in industrial production (those…
I’m well aware of the seven deadly sins, and while exploring Slim Seven, I saw them all. Pride: The lack of signage for the new bar seems to indicate a certain amount of self-importance, which I love. In fact, finding Slim Seven is part of its charm, since the entrance…
I’m more than a little surprised that we made it to the movies the other night. Typically, when we plan an Institute Movie Night, we are no more likely to actually reach the theater than the space shuttle is to launch on time. One reason for this is our strong…
Pasquini’s is the place you went with your band just before you made it big, where you and your girlfriend ate every Friday night when you were still poor and in love. It’s the place you remember from college — the one where everyone went to celebrate the end of…
Jon Schlegel is standing outside the door of his restaurant, Snooze, wondering where the people are. I’m sitting at the counter inside, sipping my coffee and filling in all the little boxes of the Saturday crossword puzzle with dirty words. And I’m wondering the same thing. It’s two in the…
Even as I was checking a few last details for my review of Snooze , owner Jon Schlegel was making changes to his menu. “It’s an evolving process,” he said when I got him on the phone last week. “You know, I’ve seen these breakfast places with like forty, fifty…
In the summer, sitting on a patio drinking a martini is the adult equivalent of going to the pool as a kid. The first sip always gives me the same delicious feeling I had as a child when the lifeguard screamed, “Adult swim is over! Kids can re-enter the pool!”…
Those of you at the Thin Man (2015 East 17th Avenue) two Fridays ago had no idea you were witnessing a momentous emergency session of the Institute of Drinking Studies. The scene harked back to Cold War Europe, where plans and plots were made in back hallways — which is…
Before they got smart and brought Zaidy’s back downtown — the original deli had opened on 14th Street almost two decades ago before hightailing it to Cherry Creek in 1992 — the owners filled this space in Writer Square with Max Burgerworks, an upscale, overpriced burger joint that was out…
It had taken me almost four years to get here, to this small, comfortable storefront surrounded by taquerías and art galleries, in just the right area for catching hungry adventurers looking for an interesting dinner on a Saturday night. Arada Restaurant has scratchy tablecloths and no silverware; serves strong, sweet,…
There are many things a chef needs to know that aren’t taught in cooking school. How to survive the heat, how to write a menu that’ll sell, how to speak Spanish. Spanish is a big one: When a newly minted chef goes out into the world, he’ll find that a…
The Rooftop Lounge at Tamayo is one of the most pleasant places in town to grab a cocktail — both for the view and for the margaritas. When I took my first sip of the peculiar yet tasty China Poblana ($10), made with Jose Cuervo Tradicional, fresh tangerine juice and…
I am happy to announce that a new bar, The Tavern Lowry (7401 East First Avenue), has broken the record for the largest-ever Institute of Drinking Studies bar tab — and this despite the conspicuous absence of a few members. The Tavern had been open only a few days when…
When I reviewed Frisco’s in April 2005, I was impressed by a couple of things. For starters, the crew’s resumés included some big-time names (Batali, Bastianich, Le Bernardin and Capital Grille) that seemed totally out of place on the still-virginal landscape of Belmar. And then there was the concept: a…
Why in the hell would you eat that?” I get asked that a lot. Most often by my wife. “No, I mean seriously, Jay. Whole fish and sea bugs and chicken ass — why?” Because they’re good, I tell her (or anyone else who corners me with The Question). But…
There are many reasons that I’m so cuckoo for the Cocoa Puffs of ethnic and peasant cuisines, and one is my theory that cuisine constitutes the genetics of civilization. Imagine a slice of pizza. A really good slice of pizza — perfect New York-style thin crust, fresh mozzarella, maybe a…
Behind the velvet ropes: When I lived in New York, I loved making up stories that would get me past the bouncer at a crowded bar. In a city full of professional doormen, I quickly learned that “My friend is inside and has my keys” only worked if they were…
