This is part one of a two-part interview. Read part two here. “Hey, get up, I have something to show you,” instructs Sean Yontz as he strides into Sketch, one of the five venues he oversees with business partner Jesse Morreale. And their mini-empire will soon expand to a half-dozen,…
Sketch has a limited menu, but as Jason Sheehan noted in his review, what Jesse Morreale and Sean Yontz (the subject of this week’s Chef and Tell) are serving there is choice. Still, when the place opened in March, we couldn’t resist suggesting that — in addition to the exotic…
Eating John Broening’s food at Olivea made me think about his other kitchen — the one at Duo. Duo is…how do I even describe it without it coming out all wrong? For a guy like me — terminally overfed, always on the hunt, cruising Denver’s restaurant scene like a shark…
Once you’re done carving that awesome jack-o-lantern, what the hell do you do with the insides? The Kitchen Table Cooking School, at 5375 Landmark Place in Greenwood Village, has the answer: pumpkin custard tarts, pumpkin chocolate-chip brownies and pumpkin roulade cake. Learn how to make all of them tonight at…
“Jesus,” I said to no one in particular, dopey smile aimed down 17th Avenue, waddling a little as I cleared the doors of Olivea. “He is just so fucking good…” John Broening keeps a relatively low profile, even though he frequently writes for the Denver Post food section. He doesn’t…
Just as the sign advises, “Please stand by…” for the opening of the Bardo Coffee House, which is coming — slowly — to the Imperial Building at 238 South Broadway, across from the Barker Lounge. The space boasts newly installed cabinetry, a few refrigerator cases and a waiting espresso machine,…
All I’m going to say is that the chef-owner of this Chinese restaurant, whose name is none of your business (for now), likes to clutter your table with edible gifts long before you’ve had a chance to glance at the menu — an eight-page syllabus that doesn’t include any of…
Steve Vice, the exec chef at McCormick’s Fish House and Bar, 1659 Wazee Street, is leaving that house of aquatics at the end of this week to make the leap to meat. Specifically, Vice has been tapped as the opening chef of Shanahan’s Steakhouse, which, according to Vice, is scheduled…
Oops. For a restaurateur, Karl “Hungus” Allis slipped up on an embarrassing (and expensive) question during yesterday’s showing of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.Allis, the restaurant manager at Atomic Cowboy and Fat Sully’s, had started in the hot seat on Friday’s show, and made it up to the $12,500…
America is awesome. Not because of all the freedom. Not because we were the country that invented the atom bomb, democracy, Pong, lasers and the Colt revolver. Not even because we rule the world when it comes to the depth and weirdness of our 4 a.m. children’s television programming (yeah,…
Every month, the Colorado Department of Agriculture shares a recipe created by chef Jason Morse of Valley Country Club in Aurora. The October recipe, Three Onion Soup, focuses on one of the state’s major crops and comes just in time for these suddenly cold days. In 2008, Colorado produced 270…
For decades, Kapre Lounge, at 2729 Welton Street, served the town’s best fried chicken. After Wilfred O. Thomas closed his place six years ago, Stage 2 moved into the space, ostensibly serving up Kapre’s old recipe — but it just wasn’t the same. And now the joint’s closed for good,…
When this Ask the Critic thing started, it was with a very simple conceit: that I would use this space to answer some of the myriad questions about the Denver food scene that come across my desk every week. Wait, “myriad” means “four,” right? No? Damn… Anyway, over the past…
Despite the half-dozen “For Lease” signs posted in the storefront windows in Old Town Arvada, at least one restaurant is actually moving in. Udi’s Bread Cafe, which already has locations in Stapleton (7357 East 29th Avenue); Louisville (185 South 104th Street); Aurora (12700 East 19th Street); and north Denver (101…
Damn. Gourmet magazine, the Condé Nast publication that’s been pimping food porn for nearly seventy years, is done. The somber news, which was delivered in a memo from Condé CEO Chuck Townsend, didn’t come as much of a shock to industry insiders, many of whom have predicted the magazine’s demise…
It’s been a fantastic five years for Frasca Food & Wine, the Boulder restaurant at 1738 Pearl Street that chef Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson and master sommelier Bobby Stuckey opened in 2004. Even now, Frasca is still the restaurant-of-the-moment, the food shrine by which all others in Colorado are judged. And…
John Burr, owner of the Walnut Room at 3131 Walnut Street, spent two years searching for a location for his next venture. And now the Walnut Room Pizzeria is taking shape in the former home of Freaky’s, a space at 2 Broadway that suffered a fire last year. Originally, Burr…
The playground at Smith Elementary becomes quite crowded on Thursday afternoons. That’s when parents, teachers, students and community members gather to purchase fresh organic vegetables and fruits. The sales are designed to raise money to start a community garden — but they also educate students on the importance of locally…
What you might have missed this week on Cafe Society while getting your free jolt of instant java at Starbucks: A second outpost of Toast, the kick-ass pancake palace, took up residence in the former Village Inn space in Cherry Creek. Fresko, an upscale Mexican restaurant in the Tech Center…
If you read yesterday’s post about chef James Mazzio’s exit from Icehouse Tavern and the uh…unusual changes taking place there, you already have the background for this story. But for those of you who might’ve missed it (and are too lazy to click on the link above), here are the…
Talk about green energy! For a slide show of Fruition Farms, Alex Seidel’s ten-acre parcel of land in Larkspur, click here. Seidel is also the chef-owner of Fruition, at 1313 East Sixth Avenue, and the subject of this week’s Chef and Tell interview…
While I am not generally one for hyping the cause of vegetarian-this or vegan-that, there has always been something about the art (yes, art) of vegan and gluten-free baking that has tickled my geek bone. It’s the same instinct that makes me love the molecular gastronomy menu done by Ian…
