Lights out at Cebiche…for now

The lights have been out for a few days now at Cebiche, the Peruvian restaurant at 2257 West 32nd Avenue that got a good review from Jason Sheehan won our Best Fried Pumpkin award in the Best of Denver 2008. A recorded message on Cebiche’s line at 303-433-1305 says that the…

Wake-Up Call: New jobs for Andrew Romanoff

On November 5, the day after Democrats scored such a stunning upset in Colorado, I spotted affable, outgoing Colorado House of Representatives speaker Andrew Romanoff at the Saucy Noodle, of all places. He was on the phone with Bernie Buescher, the Grand Junction rep who’d looked to be next in…

Wellshire Inn is out….for now

I have some fond memories of the Wellshire Inn. Decades ago, the Tudor building on the city-owned Wellshire Golf Course hosted a wild party for a local gal who’d just become a Playboy Playmate of the month. And then there was my lunch with then-Congressman Tom Tancredo and talk-show host…

Wake-Up Call: Park and chide

In a day of bad news, yesterday had one bright spot: a neighbor notified us that our petition for residential parking permits had been approved. This is a pretty live-and-let live (or park) neighborhood, and we were reluctant to go the official root. But like so many other neighborhoods, this one…

Gaetano’s: all in the famiglia

I dropped by Gaetano’s last night for a Tasty Treat (a sausage and green chili strips baked in a pizza crust) and a taste of history. Wynkoop Holdings bought this classic joint back in 2005, taking over a restaurant that started as Ralph and Mamie Smaldone’s Tejon Street Cafe back…

Wake-Up Call: History in the taking

Yesterday afternoon, I posted a note from Marcus Pachner, informing members of the CBHD — the stakeholders’ group working with Shea Properties on its redevelopment of the former University of Colorado Health Sciences campus — that Denver City Council’s public hearing to consider landmark status for two buildings on the site has…

CU at Denver City Council — but not next Monday

Next Monday’s public hearing before Denver City Council to decide the fate of two historic Hornbein and White buildings on the old University of Colorado campus has been postponed. “Shea has been working closely with Councilwoman Robb and Councilwoman Johnson on the historic designation applications,” wrote Marcus Pachner, a consultant…

Wake-Up Call: Watch the fireworks…over the Senate nomination

Denver’s fireworks display won’t officially start until 9 p.m. December 31 (with a repeat performance at midnight), but there have already been plenty of explosive discussions over who, exactly, Governor Bill Ritter should nominate to fill Ken Salazar’s soon-to-be-empty Senate seat — and what coveted slot might then be empty…

Who should replace Salazar in the Senate? Go straight to the Hart.

The names have been spinning through cyberspace since the first rumor that Ken Salazar might be headed to Barack Obama’s cabinet, leaving a U.S. Senate seat open: John Hickenlooper, John Salazar, Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter, Andrew Romanoff, Tom Strickland. Even Federico Peña’s name floated up — until he pulled it…

Wake-Up Call: Sorry, wrong number

“You’re a hard lady to get a hold of,” the caller said. “I’ve been trying to find out why you let your Rocky Mountain News subscription expire.” I stared at the receiver. Um, it seems that the future of the News might be a little uncertain, I said. “Oh, it’s…

Wake-Up Call: Building — and budgeting — for the future

The holidays push most action off the public calendar this week. Tonight at 5:30 p.m., Denver City Council will start the process of stuffing someone’s stocking with coal: Over the next few weeks, councilmembers will decide whether to grant landmark status to two, ’60s-era Hornbein and White buildings on the old University…

Cheers! The winner of the 2008 Holiday Cocktail Competition

‘Tis a pleasure to drink in Colorado. On Saturday morning, I awoke with visions of sugerplums — and whipped cream, and gingerbread, and chocolate sprinkles — still dancing in my head. Just a few hours earlier, I’d sampled the last of sixteen entrees in the 2008 Holiday Cocktail Competition. I…

Wake-Up Call: Who’s on (the) first?

A few weeks ago, Diana DeGette, Colorado’s representative for the 1st Congressional District, had lunch with Ken Salazar, the Colorado senator who’d early on been rumored to be in the running for a position in the Barack Obama cabinet. “No, it’s not going to happen,” he told her. Yesterday, it…

Wake-Up Call: The trickle-down economics of an open Senate seat

On Monday, Governor Bill Ritter offered Colorado journalists an advance look at what we can expect from the next legislative session: belt-tightening. But there’s one sure, if risky, way to fill Colorado’s coffers: Sell the Senate seat that could soon be vacated when Senator Ken Salazar moves to a Secretary of…

Wake-Up Call: The week ahead, December 15-21

While the Obama cabinet carousel — Ritter! Salazar (Ken)! Salazar (John)! Michael Bennet! Salazar (Ken, again)! — continues to go ’round, with a name thrown out each week (although now, with Ken Salazar back in the ring for Interior, we’re on repeats) — Colorado’s top Dems will gather at the Governor’s…

Remembrance of things pasta: Gennaro’s has closed

      Since 1951, Gennaro’s Lounge has been a landmark on South Broadway. Joe Gennaro opened the place; his son, Leonard, ran it for decades. And when Jason Sheehan visited Gennaro’s last year, he found it a classic example of the kind of neighborhood Italian joint that you find across…

Wake-Up Call: Keeping Colorado’s economy on track

Denver’s 150th birthday is turning out to be a bust, with the financial crisis the major party pooper. Civic leaders have been brainstorming how to keep Colorado’s economy from falling any further. Yesterday, they gathered with Mayor John Hickenlooper and Governor Bill Ritter at the Denver City & County Building…

Wake-Up Call: Hold your horses!

One of the last vestiges of Fred Kummer’s reign as a Denver hotelier disappeared yesterday. The two mammoth horse sculptures that had reared their ugly heads in the lobby of the former Adam’s Mark Hotel for years were hauled out of the building (and not easily — they each weigh…