Ah, the season for giving. If only it were that simple. Finding the perfect gift is like meeting your next great love — it should just happen. But when certain consumer-driven holidays (sorry, Jesus) force you to brave the crazies at the mall, it helps to have an idea of…
Michael Long, executive chef of Opus (2575 Main Street, Littleton), and the subject of this week’s Chef and Tell interview, knows a thing or two about Caesar salads: He won the 2007 American Institute of Food And Wine’s Caesar salad award in 2007. In this riff on the classic, Long…
On Tuesday, I asked readers to suggest where a friend should eat her first bite of meat — ideally pulled pork — in many years. After many mouth-watering suggestions, we made our choice — and went out to eat meat. Here’s her report:…
Skewered meat: that most dangerous of foodstuffs. But at this restaurant, it’s absolutely worth the risk of losing an eye or getting into a tableside sword fight with your dining companion in order to get your mitts on the chicken kabobs, the schwarma, the hummus. Can you guess where I’m…
This is what I spent my afternoon doing. What about you? No, I didn’t bake that monster. I’m smart enough not to attempt anything of the sort. Rather, I found someone for whom breads, pastries and chocolates have been le raison d’etre for a quarter-century: Chef Michael Dupont. Dupont might’ve…
Oh, glorious flu season, that wonderful time of year when just glancing at a stranger on the bus can shock your body into shiver mode. Add the mix of holiday parties and alcohol-themed socializing to the mix — the kind where you accidentally sip from the same wine glass as…
OOn these cold days, there’s nothing more warming than a big plate of pasta smothered with red sauce. But first, of course, you have to eat your greens — even if they’re swimming in gorgonzola dressing. Guess where I’m eating?Special bonus: Every Friday, anyone who gave the first correct answer…
Some people can’t get enough of the mac-and-cheese fries at Jonesy’s EatBar and some people can’t get enough of the beer list, which is packed full of Colorado microbrews. But if you can’t get enough of the lovely ladies who work at Jonesy’s and the Horseshoe Lounge next door (both…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com. Number 85: Pupusas from Pupusas Sabor Hispano…
“Laura!” “What?’ “Laura!” “What!” “We need to get rich. Like, immediately.” “Sounds good to me.” “No, seriously. Right now. We need money.” “Any particular reason, Jay?” Yes. One very particular reason. Because I just got the new ThinkGeek catalog in the mail and I want pretty much everything in it…
This is part two of my interview with Micheal Long, executive chef of Opus. To read part one of this interview, click here. Culinary inspirations: Norman Van Aken. I’m a south Florida guy, so when I came out of CIA in 1990 and moved back to Florida, Norman was definitely…
When it opened in the middle of the hot summer of 2008, Red Trolley was an ice cream and gelato shop, and only an ice cream and gelato shop. Still, it was located in a lovely, historic space (the website claims Red Trolley stands on the site of an old…
Red Trolley is a one-trick pony (an ice cream shop) trying to find other ways to make money (selling hot dogs, among other things) when the season isn’t right for ice cream — becoming all things to all people in a very deliberate and calculated way. Denver Ted’s is a…
The restaurant world is full of one-trick ponies. It is, in a way, designed for them — built up like a machine made for repetitive specialization. Grill men are grill men. Chefs who do Italian are (generally) not capable of being pulled out of their element and told to make…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com. Number 86: Enchiladas from Taco House…
Poor Reese Witherspoon. She was spotted recently dining solo at the trendy London eatery La Petite Maison. She’s obviously dealing with the stress of dating other movie stars and being rich and not knowing what to do about it. Still, when a person has no other choice than to dine…
Julie Powell, the author of Julie & Julia, canceled her big stage talk, but she’s still coming to town: She’s scheduled a last-minute event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, December 10, at the LoDo Tattered Cover for her latest book. Here’s what Tattered has to say: Powell “thought cooking her way…
Right. So, you’ve no doubt heard that sex addict golf great Tiger Weeds can’t keep his dick in his pants. And aside from a few posts on his website, one of which whines, “I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means,” he has…
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 month, Pete…
Apparently the “freegan” movement has been around for several years, but a recent article in the Boston Globe highlights the key points of these trash-scouring advocates. This is actually a good idea, if you ask me. Having come from a kitchen background where nothing went to waste, it’s easy to…
“I’m always trying to get away with as much creativity as possible, to push the boundaries and reel in my impulses,” explains Michael Long. “I don’t want to lose my audience, but for me, personally, food has to both taste good and entertain you in some way, whether it’s because…
Summer came again. Heat and ice cream weather. I showed up at the place for the salted caramel ice cream with its thick layer of chocolate; for honey graham that was so good I wanted to be able to pick it up at the grocery store or have it delivered…
