Tip down!” And the people cheer. Servers, cooks, busboys, regulars — those in the know — send up a loud, brief shout. Sometimes it’s “Thank you!” Sometimes it’s just “Yeah!” — but they always do it. Every time someone pokes a few crumpled dollars into the little treasure box by…
To recap the action thus far: Duy Pham — the chef who spent several years working the burners at Tante Louise (4900 East Colfax Avenue), then shocked the hell out of everyone with his amazing plates at Opal (100 East Ninth Avenue), then shocked us again this past spring with…
Beekeepers get a lot of things from the bees they raise: beeswax, honey, money. But Tom Theobald gets all that and more. “Life,” he says. “I get to participate in a unique natural system that really gives me a window into the workings of the whole natural world. And in…
My favorite fall activity is taking my dog on “leaf walks” in the mountains, spending cool afternoons collecting red and gold specimens for no reason other than that they’re pretty. Down in the flatlands, McCormick’s Fish House & Bar has come up with another way to celebrate Colorado’s gorgeous fall…
A woman can convince herself she’s in love in a matter of minutes. But only a guy who’s drunk can convince himself he’s in love in a matter of minutes — and pay for the privilege. This is exactly what happened on a recent night at Shotgun Willie’s (490 South…
For a restaurant, looks aren’t everything. Pretty is nice, no doubt. Pretty will get you places, but on its own, pretty ain’t enough. The business is tough and getting tougher. A lot of sharp young chefs and blooded, veteran operators out there are hungry for what little cash is flowing…
y the time you read this, Duy Pham will have left Flow, the downstairs restaurant at the four-month-old Luna Hotel (1612 Wazee Street). The twenty-something chef cooked one of the top five meals of my life when he was at Opal (100 East Ninth Avenue), then left to take over…
Labor Day has passed, but since we live in the land of 300-plus days of sunshine, let’s pretend we’re on vacation a little bit longer, shall we? One of the best places in town to play hooky is the secluded back patio at Tosh’s Hacienda, a 55-year-old family-run restaurant in…
After a few beers, guys are capable of solving all the world’s problems, performing feats of superhuman strength and experiencing Zen-like enlightenment. Alcohol’s mind-freeing ability allows us to express feelings anywhere along the spectrum, from shouting “Play ‘Freebird!'” to “I love you, man!,” and to channel this energy for the…
In fourteen syllables, the sign out front — a small thing, almost understated, the color of wet slate — manages to capture the kind of arrogance, the brash hubris, that would be celebrated in Los Angeles or Vegas with spotlights and names spelled out in hundred-foot-tall bonfires of neon. That’s…
A year ago, when foodies around town were all talking about Radek Cerny and the sudden closing of Papillon Cafe (its former home at 250 Josephine Street is now occupied by Indigo) and Radex (now Opal, at 100 East Ninth Avenue), I took a ride out to Niwot to review…
For a taste of la vie boheme, stroll over to Brasserie Rouge. This new restaurant pours signature European aperitifs and liqueurs, including Pernod, Benedictine and grappa, but nothing says francais like champagne — and half of Brasserie Rouge’s fourteen specialty drinks overflow with the bubbly. As mixed by master cocktail…
We stepped outside, Laura and I, our arms loaded down with takeout boxes, protected by an invisible force field of fennel, anise, clove and curry smells that pushed back the gray ugliness of another suburban parking lot in another suburban strip mall. Before us were too many SUVs, greasy puddles…
Some kids ask for a trip to Disneyland to see the magic rat. Some kids ask for tickets to a baseball game. But when eleven-year-old Galen Batson got his shot, he asked for a road trip to Cape Cod so that he and his two siblings could play music at…
From fond memories of Detroit’s Greek Town to my all-time favorite appetizer — flaming saganaki — I have plenty of reasons to wish there was Greek blood flowing through my veins. But since there isn’t, I have to content myself with healthy injections of ouzo, the potent licorice-flavored liqueur made…
The crucial question of the morning: Does anybody remember how I cut my hand? I, unfortunately, have no idea — because last night, we entered the Vortex. That’s a term coined by some friends to describe how things tend to spin out of control when we go out: You get…
What is patriotism but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?” wondered Lin Yutang. Lin, I’m guessing, was not thinking about fettuccine alfredo when he wrote that, but I am. I’m thinking about gloppy alfredo sauce out of a jar from the grocery store, the dim ghost…
That Lin Yutang quote on the menu at Bambino’s reminded me of other famous words on food by folks considerably brighter than myself. In particular, it reminded me of this long lovely from M.F.K. Fisher in The Gastronomical Me: “People ask me: why do you write about food, and eating…
Smoking is good for Jim Barsness’s health. For thirty years, his family has run House of Smoke, a Fort Lupton company that specializes in smoked meats and game. Originally a father-and-sons outfit with a converted refrigerator as its only smoker, House of Smoke now boasts four state-of-the-art smokers and 28…
The winner of everything from “Best New Chef” to “Best Wine List” in both local and national contests this past year, Adega Restaurant + Wine Bar is definitely Denver’s dining darling. But while barrels of accolades have been poured on Adega for the thousands of bottles of wine it offers…
There’s a method — rigorously tested and refined by my friend Andy, an old kitchen buddy — for determining the quality of a Mexican restaurant before you even sit down. It’s quick, scientific and nearly foolproof, and it simply calls for tallying the bullfighting paraphernalia on the walls. A single…
Hard-luck stories are like gold in this business. We — reporters, not cooks (for a change) — live on this stuff. I mean, who wants to read a story about some guy who went to a bank, got a loan, opened a restaurant and lived comfortably ever after? Bo-ring. No,…
