Who tried to blow up the Fat Cat Sports Bar?

View Larger Map Some dirty dogs tried to blow up the Fat Cat Sports Bar (aka, Fat Cat Pub, Fat Cat Inn) Sunday morning between the hours of 1 and 6:15 a.m. According to a police report about the incident at 5060 North Federal, “unknown persons started a fire involving…

Ask the Critic: Vegetarian death march

Okay, so say you’ve got a friend. And this friend, for whatever reason (religious aversion, misguided sense of moral outrage, PETA brainwashing), has chosen not to eat meat. Still, you, as a proud carnivore, want to go out somewhere where both of you can have a decent feed. This week’s…

Fogo de Chao is fired up for a mid-July opening

This past weekend, when I sneaked through the open doors of Fogo de Chao, the new Brazilian churrascaria going into 1515 Wynkoop Street, to take photos of the space, a pair of hands came between my camera and the construction dust. “Absolutely no photos are allowed!” yapped the guy with…

Three Door Bistro set to debut in July

There’s more movement on the 2000 block of Larimer Street, where Three Door Bistro, an American/Italian restaurant, is skedded for a mid-July opening at 2049 Larimer. The space, run by Marion Hoffman, who briefly owned Fantastic Bistro and Catering at 2740 South Wadsworth Boulevard, is named for the three wooden…

Obama burger watch

At this point, it’s safe to say that I could commit myself to a full-time position of doing nothing but reporting on where the President (or VP) decides to eat his lunch every day. I mean, we’ve already had the Grey Poupon controversy (and the resulting, tongue-in-cheek marketing push by…

The Market Report, May 30

Summer is just around the corner, and it shows at the market. While the selection is still focused on vegetables of the lettuce variety, warmer-weather vegetables are beginning to peak through. But that wasn’t the highlight of my visit to the market Saturday. No, the highlight was a conversation inspired…

Former Root Down chef finds new piece of turf

As reported here last month, Ryan Leinonen, the starting chef at Root Down, 1600 West 33rd Avenue, was uprooted on April 24, when owner Justin Cucci snipped his stem. But chefs are survivors and Leinonen is no exception. He’s landed the sous position at Colt & Gray, the farm-to-plate gastropub…

New kings of the Castle

The venerable Castle Bar, at 6657 South Broadway, has new owners: Tapp (great name for a tavern owner!) and Kara Smith. After several years in the bar and restaurant business (Tapp most recently at an Old Chicago on South Wadsworth Boulevard and Kara at the Elephant Bar in Belmar), the…

KJ’s Coffee Bar going for its bar exam

KJ’s Coffee Bar opened last summer at 1710 East 25th Avenue, but it finally held its grand opening celebration on May 23. And KJ’s could soon have more reason to celebrate. This community gathering place for the Whittier neighborhood is going for a beer/wine liquor license, with a hearing slated…

The restaurant roll call for May

RESTAURANT OPENINGS IN MAY Belemonti’s Pizzeria, 644 Santa Fe Drive Otto’s Grill, 2200 Market Street Pho on 6th, 1312 East Sixth Avenue Olivea, 719 East 17th Avenue Buffalo Wild Wings, 15570 West 64th Avenue, Arvada Recovery Room, 819 Colorado Boulevard Pizza Republica, 5375 Landmark Place, Greenwood Village Gelato Spot, 607…

Milking It: Smart Start Toasted Oat

Smart Start Toasted Oat Kellogg’s Rating: Two-and-a-half spoons out of four Cereal description: Heavy, dark oat flakes that ripple and curl like shingles that should have been replaced a few decades earlier. They’re supplemented by rolled oats, wheat, rice and God knows what else bound together in light-hued wads that…

Frasca Food & Wine hosts the hottest pastry chef ever

Tonight, at 5:30 p.m., Frasca Food & Wine, at 1738 Pearl Street in Boulder, is hosting a winemaker dinner with Jean Georges porn star exec pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini, who also did time in several other celebrated New York kitchens, including Payard and Restaurant Daniel. Iuzzini, along with Frasca exec…

CRA Distinguished Service Award: Dick Weil

This month, the Colorado Restaurant Association inducted three people into its Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed on those who’ve had a huge impact on the local restaurant scene. The CRA also awarded the Richard P. Ayers Award for Distinguished Service to Dick Weil. Weil’s restaurant career began humbly, when…

Cafe Society: Week in review

What you might have missed on this week’s Cafe Society:Just in time for the warm weather, we found 10 of our favorite patios.Joe Biden stopped by and got himself some Jason-Sheehan-approved barbecue.The Squeaky Bean got its share of praise from hipster Highland folks.We enjoyed our beer from a schooner.Drinking and…

Judging Tony’s by its cover

So I’m walking around over at Tony’s, just trying to get a feel for the place and the lay of the land. And it’s nice, sure. There’s ten kinds of barbecue sauce, so many different kinds of mustard that the shelving unit looks like my fridge at home on a…

The List: Real McCoys

This week’s review of China Jade gave me another excuse to bounce around the cuisine and culture of a faraway land without having to worry about the attendant shots, jet-lag or passport issues. More important, it gave me yet more examples of the myriad ways in which pigs can be…

Get your free bagel at Einstein’s

If you stop in at any of the 29 Einstein Bros Bagel locations throughout the state today before 11 a.m, you’ll get a free bagel just for rolling in. The complimentary bagels are part of the homegrown chain’s month-long free bagel Friday promotion, which ends today. The bagels won’t cost…

Taqueria Mi Pueblo goes for a liquor license

The burrito wars are heating up on North Federal Boulevard, with a new Santiago’s and Jack-n-Grill duking it out in the 2500 block, and Taqueria Mi Pueblo offering $1.99 breakfast burritos, as well as other authentic Mexican fare, just two blocks away at 2300 Federal. And Mi Pueblo could soon…

Vesta Dipping Grill puts the happy back in happy hour

As ambassadors of good will, good drinks and good food, Vesta Dipping Grill, 1822 Blake Street, recently awarded free happy hours to thirty local businesses and non-profits, which, as you can imagine, made for some damn happy employees who’ll get a few more hours of happy time at Vesta’s bar…