Ooh la la! This bistro is a beauty

For photos from inside Brasserie Felix, go to westword.com/slideshow. You know what they call French food in Paris?” the chef asked, repeating his shtick. “What, chef?” I responded, my fingers sore and shredded from peeling hard-boiled eggs under tap water, my brain numbed from hours of prep. I’d heard the…

Leaving France for America

I’ve talked about a lot of the town’s French restaurants this week, but one has been left out in the cold: Aix. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the most important is that Aix is no longer really a French restaurant. It was once. Seared foie gras,…

The food trends–or lack thereof– in 2009

“Value.” “The economy.” “No new concepts.” “Staying open.” I talked to four of the top chefs in the state (and possibly the western United States) and asked each of them about the top Colorado food trends of 2009. I wanted to share their bold predictions, like “the new hottest dish will be anything with…

Holiday happiness is a Red Trolley gingerbread house kit

Someone forgot to tell Red Trolley Cake, Coffee and Cone that ice cream shops are supposed to focus on summer fare. This establishment at 2639 West 32nd Avenue is not only doing a brisk coffee, breakfast and lunch business alongside its sweeter offerings, but it’s filling these wintry days with…

Colorado wine sure is fine

The Colorado Wine Industry Development Board has just announced its fourth restaurant recognition program, to single out restaurants that promote Colorado wine. Last year’s winners were Juicy Lucy’s (the original, not the second spot in Cherry Creek), the Mercury Cafe and Restaurant Six89 in Carbondale. For this year’s program, awards will be given…

Johnny Rockets franchisee lands in bankruptcy court

Nation’s Restaurant News, the bible of the restaurant industry, has reported that David Giesen, who owns Steak Escape and Johnny Rockets franchises in Colorado, on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to court filings, his Giesen Restaurant Enterprises LLC and Rocket Restaurant Ventures LLC have debts of between…

Tocabe brings Native American food to the Denver dining scene

Tocabe: An American Indian Eatery opens tomorrow at 3536 West 44th Avenue, and even in a city stuffed with restaurants, it has the potential to set itself apart. The creation of Ben Jacobs, a member of the Osage tribe whose home is in northeast Oklahoma, Tocabe (the word is Osage for “‘blue”, Jacob’s mom’s favorite color) will be…

Mezcal fifth anniversary party, day one

Mezcal kicked off its fifth anniversary celebration last night, a five-day affair full of five-buck deals through December 20: five-hour happy hours, five tacos for $5, five tamales for $5, tequila shots and coin-style margaritas for five bucks. (BTW, we’d pay five times that for a plate of the barbecued lamb ribs,…

212 in the 303

212 Salad and Sandwich Company 1710 Sherman Street 303-861-7212 42nd Street Corned beef, turkey, coleslaw, lettuce and thousand island dressing on rye $6.49 I don’t know if it’s a rule that every New York-style deli that opens outside of the five boroughs has to name all of its sandwiches after…

Doing Lunch at Brasserie Felix

“You know what they call French food in Paris?” the chef asked, repeating his shtick. “What, chef?” I responded, my fingers sore and shredded from peeling hard-boiled eggs under tap water, my brain numbed from hours of prep. I’d heard the question before, as well as the answer, but that…

Update: Answers from Santa Fe Tequila Company

I knew the news was going to be bad as soon as I got William Kennedy, one of the two partners at Santa Fe Tequila Company (along with Joe Falco), on the blower this afternoon. It was in his voice, in the defeated slump of his shoulders that I could actually hear over…

From cars to ‘cue, Merle’s opens in Littleton

Downtown Littleton has a new neighborhood joint: Merle’s, which occupies the old Merle’s Alignment Center at 2609 West Main Street, which started life as a gast station in the 1930s. The building was unoccupied for a number years; and a group of partners all chipped in and bought the place, turning it into…

No bones about it, Bones looks like it will open soon

Bones looks like it will win the battle to be the first of the town’s new noodle houses to open. Frank Bonanno’s place at 301 East Seventh Avenue already has its name — the restaurateur’s childhood nickname — etched on the windows, and the renovation of the space inside (the old…

Smashburger is a smash in Wichita

Today, Wichita. Tomorrow, the world. Smashburger — with its secret process that creates what Jason Sheehan called “meat candy” — has been a smash since the Colorado-based concept opened its first restaurant at 1120 South Colorado Boulevard two years ago.Since then, the owners have opened six more spots along the Front…

Is second Santa Fe Tequila Company drying up?

Last month, the Santa Fe Tequila Company at 901 West Tenth Avenue (shown above)abruptly closed its doors — shortly after opening a second outlet in Littleton. Although Jason Sheehan wasn’t a big fan of the original spot, which was close to empty when he visited it this summer, he’s no…

Happy fifth birthday to Mezcal, which will soon get a sibling

A few days ago, we noticed the sign on Jesse Morreale’s new hotel/retail/restaurant project at First and Broadway, which noted that a restaurant named Sketch would be going in. Sketch, of course, was the name of Morreale’s short-lived concept at 250 Steele, in the space now occupied by Tambien. But…

Still Wingin’ It…but smaller

Wingin’ It, a local wing joint boasting 26 different wing sauces made from scratch, recently closed two of its four locations: 6860 South Lincoln Court in Greenwood Village and 7541 South University Boulevard in Centennial. But you can still get Wingin’ It’s deep-fried Twinkies, candy bars and Oreos–winner of 2003…

E-Z Mop back on the market

It looked like the year’s coolest project: turning the old EZ Mop building at 1223-1227 East 17th Avenue into a bar, with a renovated interior but the original EZ Mop sign out front. The advertising possibilities were endless: “Come sop up some alcohol at EZ Mop”; “A few drinks here, and…

Hung Kee no more?

Hung Kee, the Chinese restaurant that served unbelievably cheap Cantonese cuisine, has vacated its longtime spot at 1015 South Federal Boulevard. That space is now occupied by an Asian drycleaner’s, and when I tried to find out if Hung Kee had moved somewhere, I didn’t understand the answer. So if anyone reading…

Geek in the Galley: Another spoonful of Urbanspoon on iPhone

  Okay, so I already wrote about the urbanspoon iPhone app, but just after I filed that blog, I went out back for a smoke (brrrr) with Sean, the IT guy who first introduced me to the gadget in question, and he showed me a couple other sweet (and marginally creepy/nerdy) things…

Milking It: Lucky Charms with the New Hourglass Marshmallow Charm

Lucky Charms with the New Hourglass Marshmallow Charm General Mills Rating: Three and a half spoons out of four Cereal description: Oat cereal pieces in a variety of shapes. Most of them call to mind pagan wall drawings: X’s, stemmed triangles that suggest puffy trees and three-leaf clovers (guess mascot…