At the downtown Sheraton, where he worked as a bellhop, they called Jesse Capen “the gentle giant.” And he had a big dream — to find the Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstition Mountains. But after Capen disappeared in the area east of Phoenix three years ago, he became part…
Six months after the city first slapped the First Avenue Hotel with notices to vacate because the structure was unsound, and five months after a Board of Appeals hearing determined that owner Jesse Morreale could reopen the two restaurants in the building — Sketch and El Diablo — while he…
Did you resolve to become more expressive in 2013? To indulge all of your artistic fantasies — even if your wildest dream is to sing “Feelings” before a crowd? Inspired by our list of “Denver’s ten best karaoke bars,” one reader visited our number-one pick, the Rear Inn Lounge. And…
Yes, that’s the entrance to El Diablo, the Mexican restaurant in the First Avenue Hotel, which has been slapped with a notice to vacate…again. The note went up early this morning, and although it says that the building is structurally unsound and must be vacated immediately, owner Jesse Morreale promises…
Yes, that’s the entrance to El Diablo, the restaurant in the big corner space of the old First Avenue Hotel building — which was tagged, again, this morning with “Danger” signs and a notice to vacate…immediately. Two city officials, accompanied by a Denver police officer, posted the notices shortly after…
No question, an e-mail forwarded from Cinemark to victims of the July 20 shooting at Aurora Century 16 — and family members of those who died there — inviting them to a special reopening ceremony was the wrong way to deliver the message…but is it reason for a boycott?…
Lance Barto left Central Bistro & Bar, the six-month-old restaurant he helped create, “on good terms,” says Isiah Salazar, Central’s owner, who decided to let Barto go on New Year’s Eve — right before Barto cooked for a full house. But even if Barto’s departure was amicable, diners aren’t feeling…
Two days after Christmas, victims of the Aurora Century 16 theater shootings and family members of those killed there on July 20 got an e-mail invitation to a special reopening ceremony at the facility later this month. Many didn’t appreciate the invite, labeling it a blatant marketing ploy. In fact,…
Nine years ago, Westword introduced the MasterMind awards. Recognizing that the local arts scene needed a little fertilizer to really get going, and growing, we created a program that every year honors five cultural visionaries — artists and organizations alike, in the very broad areas of multimedia, performing arts, literary…
You could hardly turn on television New Year’s Day without seeing another report on Club 64, the state’s first legal pot-smoking club — as touted by attorney Rob Corry. “Freedom was in the house last night,” Corry told CNN, sounding about as hip as a rapping grandmother, according to William…
Custom cocktails, beer cocktails, cocktails made with local ingredients, cocktails made with gluten-free local ingredients: Is there no end to the trends in mixology? Just give me my drink already, says one reader. See also: – Trends without end, round one: Simplicity, local greens and pot (maybe) – Trends without…
Quentin Tarantino’s eight feature, Django Unchained, is earning raves around the country. “The boisterous, outlandish, fiercely intelligent Django Unchained is at once an act of provocation and reparation — not just for slavery, but for Hollywood’s decades of saintly Negroes and sass-talking sidekicks,” writes Scott Foundas in his review. But…
The abandoned house in her New Orleans neighborhood was a wreck. But artist Candy Chang decided to give it new life, by turning it into a giant chalkboard and stenciling the words “Before I die I want to…” onto the side, then encouraging people to write their own end to…
Something’s fishy at the corner of 17th and Wazee streets, where both Jax Fish House and McCormick’s Fish House & Bar have renovation projects under way. Jax, which just celebrated its sixteenth anniversary on this particular corner in LoDo, closed after the end of service New Year’s Eve for a…
For our New Year’s guide that was inserted in the issue of December 13, we asked thirteen of the town’s cultural tastemakers several questions — and the answers were entertaining, informative and, in many cases, enlightening. Although we posted their individual Q&As on Show and Tell last month, we’re doing…
When the dust finally settled on December 31, a complicated $10 million land swap involving the Colorado State Land Board, Boulder and Boulder County, Jefferson County and the Department of the Interior — which now owns Rocky Flats, the former nuclear weapons plant — had gone through. And that paves…
Despite the cold on New Year’s Eve, downtown parties were hot. And the sight of revelers running from one event to another gave one reader the best laugh of the new year… See also: – Slide Show: People of Decadence on New Year’s Eve – Reader: We pros stay at…
What are you doing New Year’s Eve? When we quizzed a baker’s dozen of the town’s cultural tastemakers for our Lucky ’13, we asked them what they were planning to do tonight. As revealed in this Latest Word post, some are performing, some are snuggling with their beloved, and some…
On November 6, Coloradans overwhelmingly approved Amendment 64, prompting Governor John Hickenlooper to note that the feds still consider pot illegal, so the state’s residents shouldn’t “break out the Cheetos or Goldfish” yet. But that same day, an Aspen resident took aim at Goldfish, filing a suit that could make…
Pot was definitely a hot topic in Colorado in 2012 — even before voters decided to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, and that includes growing your own (six plants per person, please). And if pot is hot across the state, it’s led to particularly heated conversations on this blog…
Later this morning we’ll post our Restaurant Roll Call for December on Cafe Society — a compendium of all the openings and closings on the Denver dining scene over the last thirty days. One of the more notable closings was Tossa, a fast-casual Italian concept created by the folks by…
Britt Chester admits that he knew it was against the law to skateboard on the 16th Street Mall, so he wasn’t surprised when officers told him to stop. What did surprise him was what came after that — including charges of interference, a ridiculous mug shot, an overnight stay in…
