Leave it to those trend sniffers at the New York Times to jump on a fad that had already begun to get stale a year ago and now declare it the next big thing. Leave it to the NYT to somehow insult every city that isn’t New York or L.A…
Black Friday is upon us. Whether you’re nuts and arrived at stores pre-dawn to snag the deals, or you’re a stay-away-from-the-malls-at-all-costs type, everyone can benefit from a little caffeine boost after a day of carb-loading. If you’re near downtown, where better to fuel up than at Novo Coffee? The Denver-based…
My server leaned toward me intently, as if she was either going to make out with me or tell me her darkest secret. “It’s the best thing on the menu, hands down,” she said. I hadn’t eaten in days. At least, that’s what it felt like. I needed a huge…
It’s late. You’ve had a few. Or ten. And even though there’s nothing on the tube, you crack another beer and keep on channel surfing. A week later, the mailman arrives bearing mysterious packages and the next thing you know, you’re sweatin’ to the oldies in your Snuggie and cutting…
This is part two of my interview with James Rugile, executive chef of Venue. To read part one of this interview, click here. Culinary inspirations: Thomas Keller of the French Laundry for his pursuit of perfection and emphasis on technique, and Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns for…
The night before Thanksgiving is always a busy night for bars. After all, when your biggest mental challenge the next day will be choosing between pumpkin or apple pie, a hangover doesn’t seem like a big deal. So my friend decided shotgunning beers and dancing till closing sounded like a…
Originally, Hollywood Theaters was boasting that SkyBox Lounge, the restaurant that’s part of the new Southglenn Stadium 14 in Centennial, would be a “gastropub.” But now that the place has opened, that label has been dumped in favor of “a creative twist on American cuisine.” Although it’s unlikely that any…
It worried me that Argyll, the new restaurant from Robert Thompson, called itself a “gastropub,” a word I hate with a rare and white-hot passion that only a true word geek can muster for the hating of a bunch of letters. It worried me that the very first word on…
There are two things they do real well in New Orleans: drink and eat. New York might be a great town for chefs; San Francisco might be a Garden of Eden for foodies. But New Orleans is a town made for eaters — men and women for whom dinner isn’t…
I’ve lost track of all the cocktails I’ve drunk this week, but the one in the above pic stood out from among the usual suspects. This is very much a holiday slammer, complete with a housemade cinnamon-apple chip garnish. Question is, where’d I slam it? Special bonus: Every Friday, anyone…
Mellow Mushroom outlets are popping up like, well, mushrooms. Another outlet of the Georgia-based pizza chain is slated to open next June in the Tabor Center, joining a line-up that already includes the Cheesecake Factory, Green Fine Salad, Corner Bakery and Ling & Louie’s. There are over a hundred Mellow…
You want to talk about bad food photography? This is bad food photography — mostly because there’s just no good way to make a lump of meat and cheese like this look tasty until someone invents Smell-O-Vision or scratch-and-sniff websites. Still, buried in the middle of this photographic nightmare are…
Before I ever ate at Argyll, I was worried about the place. I worried about the space that Argyll occupies (the ex-Squealing Pig location in Cherry Creek) and the guy running the show (Robert Thompson, ex of Brasserie Rouge). I worried that it was calling itself a gastropub, a word…
As sad and time-wasting as frivolous lawsuits can be, they’re a part of American life. Sometimes they can be downright funny (except for the people involved). Remember the dumbass Washington D.C. judge who sued his dry cleaners for $54 million over a pair of lost pants? Fortunately he lost that…
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. Last month, Pete…
What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than to start thinking about Christmas shopping? It is an American tradition after all. What would we do if we didn’t have an entire aisle of the grocery stores crammed year-round with campy crap.But all scroogery aside, Jamba Juice has announced an at-home version…
After I chatted yesterday with Josh Wolkon of Steuben’s and Vesta, he kindly forwarded me an article from the travel section of the Los Angeles Times about the sudden, fierce boom in food trucks that has gripped the foodie Shangri La of Portland. That city now has about 400 trucks,…
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 90: Eggs Benedict from Devil’s Food Bakery…
Head down 32nd Avenue in Highland, and you’re likely to find 25-year-old James Rugile in the kitchen at Venue, turning out some of the most incredibly delicious food in Denver (if you haven’t tried Rugile’s shrimp and grits, go now). The studious young chef, who grew up in Basalt and…
Last month, chef/owner Andrea Frizzi told Jason Sheehan that he’d soon be serving lunch at Il Posto, his excellent Italian restaurant at 2011 East 17th Avenue. And now he’s made good on that promise: Il Posto opened for lunch this week. It could be just the place to get an…
It worried me that Argyll is located in a subterranean address in Cherry Creek — which seems to almost always doom any restaurant to a slow, lingering death. It worried me that this particular subterranean address used to be the home of the Squealing Pig: a terrible excuse for an…
The website doesn’t give away any clues, but the very visible public notice sign is plunged deep into the dirt in front of the former Grazio Italian Grill & Bar space at 9271 Park Meadows Drive. According to the wooden post, that restaurant, which lasted about as long as a…
