Guess where I’m eating?

The Mexican hamburgers at this joint are legendary — as are the chiles relleno, and the green chile that smothers everything in sight. In a town crazy for Mexican food, that’s no tiny achievement. Guess where I’m eating?…

TV or not TV? Sheehan helps cook up a tequila dinner at Mezcal

Last week, I told you about my impending attempt at doing TV and speculated about the potential disasters inherent in anyone allowing me to set foot in their kitchen again after years spent behind a desk. What’s more, I mentioned that anyone who was interested was welcome to come down…

Cafe Society: Week in review

What you might have missed this week on Cafe Society while you were carefully crafting your kick-ass crush letter telling us all about your favorite Denver dive-bar: Lobby American Grille general manager Cory Sylvester got more than be bargained for on Tuesday night when a couple of thugs roaming the…

Don’t worry. Be Happy

What’s in a name? Apparently, not that much. Because while Big Red F honcho Dave Query has dropped the “Noodle House” portion of his Happy Noodle House restaurant’s name, the menu hasn’t changed a bit. Okay, maybe it’s changed a bit since I was there last. But then, it’d already…

Cook’s Shelf: Eating Animals

Reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma fucked me up good. It changed the way I looked at food forever and seriously altered the way I actually ate. Considering that eating is my vocation, this was no small thing. I have never looked at an ear of corn the same way…

On Havana Street: an international mission

International Restaurant Week will be celebrated in my ‘hood starting tomorrow, the party banging up and down the most interesting mainline it contains: Havana Street. This is the week when everyone is encouraged to get out and get weird, to try something they’ve never tried before, to (occasionally) overpay at…

Help David Sax save the dying deli

For the past several years, deli-obsessed Canadian journalist David Sax has been penning a blog that’s dedicated to preserving the Jewish deli, a “hallowed temple of salted and cured meats” that, Sax kvetches, is “endangered and in need of our support.” To that end, Sax has now written a book…

Fuel fall with Rioja’s new autumn menu

Jennifer Jasinski, chef-owner of Rioja, 1431 Larimer Street, is renowned for both her use of local ingredients and seasonal menu changes. And her most recent iteration, a lovely autumn board of fall vegetables, rustic meats, sweetness and spice, earthiness and comfort, is no exception…

Denver’s Top Ten Diners

I know from diners; they are my natural habitat. And Colorado has some classics. Johnson’s Corner was one of the first places I visited when I first went west of the Mississippi, and it remains a favorite even post-renovation. My recent meals at Silver Creek Diner got me thinking about…

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine…and music at Tony’s

The new Tony’s Market at 950 Broadway may be the only place in town where you can drink a beer or glass of wine while you do your shopping — legally. That’s because the market opened with a liquor license that covers not just the bistro inside the market, but…

Dive in to our dive-bar essay contest

Last week we asked for your favorite dive (among the nominees: El Chapultepec, Lancer Lounge, Squire, PS Lounge, BarBar, Berkeley, Charlie Brown’s Lion’s Lair). Now it’s time to prove your devotion: Write a love letter/tribute to your favorite dive bar, professing sincere fidelity to its wood paneling and nicotine-stained ceiling…

On the ranch with Elise Wiggins of Panzano

Last weekend, Elise Wiggins, executive chef at Panzano (909 17th Street), held a cooking class at Bear Mountain Ranch, home on the range to the Black Angus steer that ranch owners Debbie and John Medved are raising for Wiggins, who is using the beef at Panzano. The cooking class, which…

Part two: Chef and Tell with Frank Bonanno

This is part two of Lori Midson’s interview with Frank Bonanno, executive chef-owner of Osteria Marco, Mizuna, Luca d’Italia and Bones. You can read the first part of Midson’s interview with Bonanno here. Culinary inspirations: My mother and my sister. When I was six, seven, maybe eight, my mother and…

The new chef at Jonesy’s EatBar loves the word “gastropub”

 “I love the gastropub concept, I love the word ‘gastropub’ and I love Leigh Jones,” declares Brendon Doyle, the former exec chef of Campo de Fiori who’s now in command of the kitchen at Jonesy’s EatBar, the gastropub at 400 East 20th Avenue, as Jason Sheehan reports here. Doyle didn’t…

Jing is beautiful on the surface, but don’t look too deep

Jing has one of the sexiest rooms in Greenwood Village — which is roughly equivalent to having the hottest car on the Hyundai lot. But it also has one of the city’s up-and-coming young chefs: Jay Spickelmier, an American kid in a Chinese restaurant (like the Korean family running the…

Our Weekly Bread: Larimer Hot House

The sandwich: ‘Atsa Turkey Meatball What’s on it: Sage and cranberry turkey meatballs, melted provolone and marinara sauce on a roll. Where to get it: Larimer Hot House (2810 Larimer Street, 303-292-3008) How much: $7 for the sandwich; $10 for a meal deal A couple of years ago, I started…

New blood at Jonesy’s EatBar

Just got off the blower with Leigh Jones from Jonesy’s EatBar (a self-proclaimed gastropub that I loved despite the label when I reviewed it back in May), and she let me know that things are again changing over at her half-eponymous restaurant. Chef Matt Brown, who came on late last…

Chedd’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese has gone dark

The sign on the door announces that Chedd’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese, 1906 Pearl Street, is “closed for remodeling until further notice,” but a call to the joint’s local headquarters resulted in a more concrete announcement — namely a disconnected phone line. And a peek through Chedd’s dirty windows shows a…