Postponed: Pleasures of the pig at Cook Street

Some people just can’t get enough pork. If you’re one of those people, head to Cook Street School of Fine Cooking, 1937 Market Street, for “Pleasures of the Pig.” The dinner, originally scheduled for October 9, has been moved to October 23, and will feature cider-glazed pork shoulder, potatoes lyonnaise…

Another restaurant world obit: Ben Ali of Ben’s Chili Bowl

Ben Ali, co-founder and namesake of Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, D.C., died Wednesday night at the age 82. Thursday morning, his joint — the one that he has run for 51 years with his wife, Virginia, and their extended family, the one that has fed everyone from politicians, actors…

Steve Abo, chief pie hole of Abo’s Pizza, comes full Circle

Steve Abo — you know, the guy behind eighteen Abo’s Pizza stores throughout Colorado — is using some of the dough he’s pocketed from tossing millions of pies to open a new restaurant that won’t have anything at all to do with pizza. Abo plans to open Circle, a “Continental…

Remembering Frank Finn of the Gold Hill Inn

The inn at Gold Hill, ten miles up from Boulder, has been around about as long as Colorado has been a state. Poet Eugene Field stayed there, and described his visits in “Casey’s Table d’Hote,” the first poem in his 1889 book A Little Book of Western Verse. Oh, them…

Top ten places to eat on 17th Avenue

When Olivea opened in May at 719 East 17th Avenue, it immediately earned a spot among the top ten restaurants on 17th Avenue, which has become a real restaurant row. Below, nine more places to brake for food along 17th…

Guess where I’m eating?

It’s Friday morning. Where are your pancakes? If you can pinpoint the exact location of the pancake in the above pic — which on further examination, looks like a distorted Halloween mask, what with those freaky butter eyes (not intentional, by the way) and rivers of syrup that somehow managed…

One more from Dylan Moore — this time, it’s burgers

Dylan Moore already runs a couple of this city’s most engaging restaurants: Deluxe at 30 South Broadway, one of the (very) few examples of intelligently designed, historical California cuisine done right in Denver, and right next door at 32 South Broadway, Delite, which offers a kind of Deluxe-lite menu (a…

RIP: Mike McCrea of Big Mike’s BBQ

Just got news from the Rocky Mountain BBQ Association that Mike McCrea of Big Mike’s BBQ, at 8751 Pearl Street in Thornton, died on Tuesday night. McCrea had been injured in a flash-over from a propane tank in late September and spent that Friday night in an ER in Grand…

Guess where I’m eating?

It’s not easy baking at 8,000 feet, but this pastry chef seems to have hit the jackpot. Want to be rolling in dough? Then guess where I’m eating…

A sign of the times at Aviano Coffee

Coffee’s on at Aviano Coffee — and so is the heat. Owner Doug Naiman, who opened his spot in the beleaguered Beauvallon back in 2006, never anticipated the building being obscured by scaffolding and swathed in plastic. “When this scaffolding goes up over my business, what’s it going to look…

Illegal Pete’s is now legal on East Evans Avenue

Illegal Pete’s, home of the fat fish burrito, has just opened its sixth location at 1744 East Evans Avenue, a textbook’s toss from the University of Denver campus. Like its other outposts, the fast-casual coastal Mexican, whose beer-battered fish filets (and counter staff that mixes up your burrito ingredients) have…

Could Kaos hit South Pearl Street just in time for Halloween?

A new venture by Jon Edwards and Patrick Mangold-White, a take-out pizza joint called Kaos, was expected to open in May at 1439 South Pearl Street, but their little slice of pizza pie was derailed by issues with the one piece of equipment they really needed: a pizza oven. Up…

Tavern Congress Park will replace Neighborhood Flix

Tavern Congress Park, a new bar and restaurant planned for the former Neighborhood Flix Cinema & Cafe inside the Lowenstein complex (2510 East Colfax), will be the next in a series of outlets run by Denver’s Tavern Hospitality Group — which also owns the Soiled Dove, the Cowboy Lounge and…

Part two: Chef and Tell with Sean Yontz of Mezcal, Sketch and Tambien

This is part two of Lori Midson’s interview with Sean Yontz, executive chef of Mezcal, Tambien and Sketch. You can read part one here. Culinary inspirations: Ferran Adrià, the chef at El Bulli, because of the way he’s completely changed people’s perception of Spanish food; Thomas Keller, because of his…

Braking for beer at the Vine Street Pub

Over the last few years, East 17th Avenue has seen some remarkable restaurant successes. The street has become one of Denver’s food hubs — a restaurant row on par with East Sixth Avenue and Larimer Street. Concepts that failed everywhere else in the city (dessert bars, upscale Vietnamese) or are…

Guess where I’m eating?

You know that autumn’s in the air when restaurants start cooking hearty casseroles, soups and stews tumbling with root vegetables — carrots, turnips and parsnips — which is exactly why the shepherds pie, pictured in the above snap, immediately caught my attention. I totally dig root vegetables.Hearty, restorative and piping…

Our Weekly Bread: Fat Jack’s SuperSubs

The sandwich: The Fax What’s on it: Turkey, bacon, choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayo and mustard Where to get it: Fat Jack’s SuperSubs (1245 East Colfax Avenue, 303-830-7827 How much: $6.99 I’m a big fan of quality. But dammit, I like quantity, too. So the name Fat…

Jack-n-Grill now has a Jill

“We had a super soft opening on Monday and it went well,” says Jack Martinez, referencing the second, much larger location of Jack-n-Grill that took up residence at 2630 West Belleview Avenue in the space that had previously housed the Santa Fe Tequila Company. But while the kitchen is up…