Guess where I’m eating?

Is there anything more disappointing than a dish of old, cold chicharrones? That’s what Jason Sheehan got on his recent visit to Chubby’s. Then again, is there anything more sinfully porkorific than a dish of absolutely fresh, hot chicharrones? That’s what we got when we stopped by another Mexican restaurant,…

Chef and Tell with Chad Clevenger of Mel’s Bar and Grill

“It’s interesting how my hands are in everything now,” muses Chad Clevenger, the chef-owner of Mel’s Bar and Grill, the Greenwood Village restaurant that Mel and Janie Master opened two years ago and then sold to Clevenger, a Florida native, last year. “Before this restaurant, I could have cared less…

What’s cooking: Pete Marczyk rolls with risotto

Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them, and cook up a feast. This is the…

Eating the green at Chili Verde

The first dish I tried at Chile Verde was the fish ceviche. It arrived in a plain white bowl set on a saucer, with an honor guard of Saltine crackers in their little plastic envelopes – the traditional Mexican accompaniment. And one bite told me nearly everything I needed to…

Dorm cooking with Hosea Rosenberg

As I reported earlier today, Jax-Boulder chef Hosea Rosenberg is the official grand marshal at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s 2009 homecoming on Friday, October 30. And one of the perks (if you can call it that) of living in the residence halls, at least on Friday, is that…

Den Deli is staffing up

Looks like plans are moving fast for the new Den Deli and Sushi Market, which is going into 1501 South Pearl Street — conveniently located between Sushi Den ( 1487 South Pearl) and Izakaya Den (1518 South Pearl). Brothers Toshi and Yazu Kizaki are hosting a job fair for their…

Emily’s Gourmet-to-Go is gone

After two owners, two locations — first at 1555 Champa Street, then at 1543 Champa, in the circa 1889 Odd Fellows Hall (right) — and one Best of Denver award, Emily’s Gourmet-to-Go is finally a no-go. Chef/owner Victor Miller, whose soups had snagged the Best Soup award in the Best…

Today’s hit of Hosea Rosenberg hilarity

Okay, so Jax-Boulder superchef Hosea Rosenberg wins Top Chef: New York and, along with the top title, gets $100,000 to blow on opening a new restaurant. Except he hasn’t opened a new restaurant. In fact, as I reported in this space last month, Rosenberg is taking a sabbatical from Jax,…

Guess where I’m eating: Chips, salsa and unicorns

I know, it’s usually Lori who puts up the snaps of hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints. But every once in a while, I find one that’s just too good to let go without some small observation. In this case, it’s about the chips and salsa. The free chips and not-quite-salsas that appear…

Tonight: Happy birthday to Tavern Wash Park!

Celebrate a one-year-old’s birthday with drinking and debauchery! The Tavern Wash Park turns one today, and is offering $1 Shock Top Belgian white beers and a complimentary buffet — which will include the Tavern’s always-popular Kobe beef sliders — plus chances to win a gift card good at any Tavern…

My dinner at Mezcal: the aftermath

Those of you watching the Cafewestword twitter feed over the weekend already know that I survived my night “cooking” at Mezcal without any serious difficulties. Nothing got burned down, no one got punched and, by the time we were done, we’d managed to serve several turns of the dining room…

Aurora burger lovers get a serving from Smashburger

Attention, Aurora residents: Your wait for the “better burger” is almost over! Smashburger will open its ninth metro location tomorrow at 2630 South Parker Road. Taking its name from the cooking method, a Smashburger is either a one-third or half-pound ball of 100 percent Angus Beef smashed on a flat…

Guess where I’m drinking?

This restaurant is the first place I take out-of-town guests who think Denver is fly-over culinary country. And while their shock over our incredibly good dinner was sweet, the bar’s new selection of fall cocktails was perhaps too sweet. The one above was made with Leopold Bros. Cranberry Liquor and…

Miss Audry now behind a stove, not the decks

After more than a decade behind the decks, DJ Miss Audry is retiring. But music’s loss is food’s gain, since she’s going to be devoting her time to helping out at Melita’s Greek Cafe & Market, the spot that took over for the Economy Greek Deli at 1035 Lincoln Street…

Guess where I’m eating?

The dish that you see at the top of the page was sabotaged by the “chef,” and returned to the kitchen with a plea that he redo the damn thing and make it look, well, if not stunning, then at least quasi-presentable — which it wasn’t when it first landed…

Update: Everything all right at Delite and Deluxe

Last Monday, everyone driving down Broadway knew that something bad was going on. Traffic was backed up for blocks, cars were going nowhere fast. And when they did finally make it to the block that holds both Deluxe and Delite, the reason for the jam became clear–both of those places…

From the Pour House Pub in LoDo to the Archive Room in Arvada

Neil Arnold, Jeff Arnold and Storm Ireland, the owners behind the Pour House Pub at 1435 Market Street, will bring some LoDo fervor to Arvada in early November when they open the Archive Room at 5601 Olde Wadsworth Boulevard. That’s the space that held, briefly, the Arvada Grill. “We’re doing…