It’s green chile season. In her advice for new Cafe critic Gretchen Kurtz, former restaurant reviewer Laura Shunk said that it was important to have a favorite green chile…and then served up her own: Chubby’s. And while one commenter dissed the mean green, far more readers are fans of Colorado’s…
Russell Scott, aka Blinky the Clown, was laid to rest yesterday, with a memory-filled ceremony. “He always said he couldn’t wait to see who was going to be at his funeral,” Shannon Schrum told Michael Roberts. “And one of the requests he had is that everybody wear a red clown…
As the Democratic National Convention gets under way in Charlotte today, it’s impossible not to recall Denver’s time in the spotlight as the host of the 2008 DNC — and contemplate its role as a key swing state in this campaign. Dick Wadhams was the chair of the Colorado Republican…
Last week, Josiah Hesse and Amber Taufen faced off in a point/counterpoint on tipping, and readers have continued the debate…
The Book of Mormon has left town, but as Josiah Hesse shows in his pop history of religious satire, the world’s religions have long served as inspiration — whether the mockery involves Mormons or Scientology…
We asked several of Westword’s previous restaurant reviewers to offer advice for Gretchen Kurtz, our new Cafe critic, whose first review will be published next week. Laura Shunk, who left the job for a move to New York in June, came up with ten tips, including this one: 9. If…
Bree Davies does not think she’s the best bass player in the world. But nor did she think she deserved this sidewalk comment from someone who had just heard her play at last Friday’s Too Much Funstival: “You know, I can play bass way, way better than you can.” Really,…
The Book of Mormon was the brainchild of two Coloradans, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who first burst on the national scene with South Park. But other locals also got lucky with the musical. Longtime Denver lobbyist Leo Boyle actually invested in it. “It’s one of the few things I’ve…
In celebrity-shy Colorado, a president’s son definitely qualifies. While the first President George Bush was in the White House, George Walker’s little brother Neil lived in Denver, where he got embroiled in an S&L scandal known as Silverado. But Neil’s fame — and infamy — here is nothing compared to…
How quickly we forget! Laura Shunk took a beating when she debuted as our restaurant reviewer two years ago, and some of those comments featured prominently in the advice that Shunk offered the next Westword critic, Gretchen Kurtz, in a piece posted yesterday. A piece that’s winning raves…
The sad news came down this week: Blinky is gone. Russell Scott, aka Blinky the Clown, spent more than three decades on Denver TV, where he hosted Blinky’s Fun Club, a Channel 2 kiddie program, for 33 years — until the plug was pulled in 1998. Blinky died Monday at…
There were many great moments for Denver during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, which four years ago filled this city with hope and lots of spare change. But for many of us, none was as deeply satisfying as finally plopping our collective asses into the plastic seats of what was…
Denver’s football stadium doesn’t just have a new name and signage. Sometime soon after next week’s regular season home opener, it will also have its own Tavern: The Tavern Hospitality Group is in the process of creating Tavern Mile High at Sports Authority Field. “We met with the Broncos earlier…
Exactly four years after Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in Denver, he returned to Colorado, telling a crowd of students and other fans at Colorado State University that this state’s vote is key in his re-election — and that whoever wins Colorado will win the presidency…
Sean Kenyon knows how to get attention — whether he’s pouring a perfectly composed cocktail at Williams & Graham or the Squeaky Bean, serving up his opinions on this blog, or sending out a fast tweet, as he did recently when he told bartenders to quit wearing tank tops behind…
Edward Cullen and his sparkly friends have made vampires very popular today. But for a modern take on vampires with real bite, Cory Casciato suggests you check out Jeanne Stein’s Anna Strong vampire series. If you want to read about vampires at all, that is…
Some people watch for turning leaves or dropping temperatures as a sign that fall is coming. We watch for the first tent to appear outside of the Sports Castle in anticipation of Sniagrab, the giant Labor Day sale that Sports Authority continued when it took over this flagship of the…
We’ll publish our first review by our new Cafe critic, Gretchen Kurtz, next week, and in the meantime, you’ll have plenty of chew on when our point/counterpoint on tipping appears here tomorrow. But as commenters and critics alike know all too well, there’s never any shortage of material on Cafe…
The sun is just beginning to glint off the silver sides of Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium, where exactly four years ago today (back when it was known as Invesco Field at Mile High), Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. And both…
The Book of Mormon is so good that we posted Juliet Wittman’s review of the August 19 opening night performance at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House the next day, rather than save it a few days for the print edition. Although tickets sold out within hours of going on sale…
A year ago, it seemed like the Colorado Symphony Orchestra might be silenced altogether. The CSO — which had emerged from the ashes of the Denver Symphony Orchestra two decades ago — faced a $1.2 million cash shortfall at the end of June 2011 despite record sales that season, and…
Planning the menu for a new restaurant is only one of the challenges. you have to design the proper setting for that food, a setting that will draw people in — and keep them there, as Chris Utterback reported in his piece on Semple Brown Design’s work with restaurants. “Part…
