Another Roman holiday

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…

Our Weekly Bread: Dinner Roll at Smiling Moose

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…

Second Chance at Second Home

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…

Lamb lovers, unite!

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…

Grand Junction’s food scene: pickups and empty places

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…

Vesta wins in Colorado Wine Industry awards

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…

When not in Rome: Eat at Locanda del Borgo

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…

Could a Coloradan be Beerdrinker of the Year?

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…

The Empress rules!

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…

I dashed to Denny’s; I left hungry

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…

Dash to Denny’s, now

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…

The Ace-Hi Tavern, Golden’s lovable s*#thole, gets a facelift

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…

Are you the best teen chef?

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,…

Milking It: Hannah Montana Multi-Grain Secret Identity Cereal

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…

The List: Six fast-casual concepts that work

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…

Squealin’ Pig silenced

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…

My new obsession: Glayva Scotch Liqueur

“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…

The goal is simple at Full Belly

Radek Cerny, the celebrated chef of L’Atelier (located at 1739 Pearl Street in Boulder), plans to open his second Boulder restaurant within the month, recession be damned.Full Belly, which is going into 2779 Iris Avenue, will be a bistro-style place, Cerny says, and cheaper than L’Atelier, with dinner entrees averaging…

Today Only! $.43 Entrees at Spicy Pickle

You know your Sunday will be filled with copious amounts of chips, dip, beer and maybe even a snack food stadium (if you’re so lucky), so why not start training for the big event now?  A great place to start would be The Spicy Pickle at 1298 South Broadway.  In…

Candy Girls: Reese’s Select Clusters

What’s not to love about a Reese’s peanut butter cup product?  Even when the effort is lazy,  the end result is still delicious.  Something about the saltiness of the peanut butter melting with the sweetness of the milk chocolate…home run every time.  Even though we know it’s hard to improve…

The SPAM champ among us

(Read Jason Sheehan’s SPAM confession here.) All hail the SPAM king, ruler of all that is pink and meaty and rectangular. This year, the king is from Colorado Springs. Ron Pearman — 48-year-old Lockheed Martin engineer, father of four (soon to be five) and Colorado State Fair cook-off champ –…

SPAM on wry

Once again, SPAM — everyone’s favorite potted meat product — is in the news. And this time, there’s a Colorado hook: Ron Pearman of Colorado Springs won the grand prize in the Great American SPAM Championship. (Read Melanie Asmar’s interview with the champ here.)  The contest, held at state and…