What’s in store for the green movement? Ellie’s

Want to see what’s next in the green revolution? Head to Boulder, a hotbed for businesses specializing in natural and organic products (for more on that, see my Naturally Boulder blogs). That’s where the first Ellie’s Eco Home Store will debut tomorrow at 2545 Arapahoe Street — right by a…

So pho, so good at Pho 7

You can’t keep a good pho place down. A few days ago, I wrote about the temporary destruction of Pho 7 by two men, one silver BMW and too many action movies in “Talk about a cursed location!” When this spot at 10009 East Hampden Avenue in Aurora was home…

Cutting off the bartender at K’s China

“Would you like a lime with that?” Sounds like a missed a wild night at K’s China in Boulder last weekend. According to police reports, cops were called to the joint at 1325 Broadway because the owner of the joint was allegedly smashing glasses on the bar, and shattered glass…

Visit Denver…even if you already live here

An image from the Visit Denver website. John Hickenlooper was on his second breakfast when he arrived to address the 99th annual membership meeting of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau — so perhaps he was overcaffeinated when he urged the hundreds of business types assembled in the Seawell…

New owners for Theorie

When they bought the site of The Real World: Denver series at 1920 Market Street (formerly B-52 Billiards), Shane Alexander and Josh Hawkinson had big plans for the ultra-swank nightclub and restaurant they planned to name Theörie. But the reality of running a restaurant proved much rougher than life on…

Going green, saving green at The Kitchen

In a town of environmentally-conscious restaurants, The Kitchen could be greenest of them all. And now it’s saving you some green, too. The homey restaurant at 1039 Pearl Street has a daily “tasting hour” from 5:30-6:30 p.m., with $5 wines and $2.50 beers complimenting an array of small bites. There’s…

Golden: away with a manger…

“Leave Us alone — or be prepared to face the wrath of Bill O’Reilly.” Tonight, the Golden City Council will tackle an ordinance that would limit religious displays on city property during the holidays. Like a nativity, for example. Denver has avoided similar attempts by making its holiday nativity display…

Take 31

In March 1978, I wrote a Westword piece about a group organizing “Ten Days in May,” the city’s first film festival, with a headline that asked, “Will It Work?” As answer, we have tonight’s opening of the 31st Starz Denver Film Festival, taking place at the Starz FilmCenter in the…

Pho 7: Talk about a cursed location!

This past Saturday night, Pho 7 was the scene of something out of a Michael Bay film, when some jackass — in the middle of a scrap with some other jackass literally hanging out of the driver’s side window of his car — drove his BMW right through the front…

If Daniel Young is good enough for Barack, he’s good enough for you

Plenty of good food for good causes this week. The Bartender’s Martini Miracle Ball, which benefits the Children’s Hospital Research Institute, will be at the Church nightclub, 1160 Lincoln Street, from 7:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. on Friday, November 14. Tickets are $100, but buy you four cocktails, live music from Boogielicious…

Hot food, hot topics at 8 Rivers

The new 8 Rivers, at 1550 Blake Street, is becoming a hot spot for politics as well as Caribbean cooking. Even before it officially opened on October 1, six weeks behind its original target, it hosted hungry and thirsty politicos — including Nancy Pelosi, Walter Mondale, Harry Reid, Ken Salazar…

Happy birthday, Maggiano’s

Maggiano’s in the Denver Pavilions turns ten this week, and its is a real reason to celebrate. Unlike so many corporate-concept restaurants, this Maggiano’s — a link in a Chicago-based chain — pays attention to the community in which it is located, doing innumerable good works even while it serves…

TV or not TV? That’s no question for these chefs

Chef Hosea Rosenberg Bright knives, big city. The fifth season of Bravo’s Top Chef premieres tonight at 8 p.m. MST when seventeen chefs compete in Top Chef: New York. The lineup includes Melissa Harrison, sous chef at Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace in Boulder, and Hosea Rosenberg, exec chef…

The Fainting Goat Stands Tall

At 11 a.m. today, The Fainting Goat will be standing tall — and open, at 846 Broadway, in the former home of Moon Time, and Minturn, and Basil’s, and the Parlour before that. The Parlour is the first incarnation that Mark Holland remembers, and the memory was enough to get…

It’s about Thyme: sampling the new chef at the Harvest House

Executive chef Dedric McGhee (left) and executive sous Paul Stickler make a meal at the Millennium Harvest House a stirring experience. The Millennium Harvest House is finally ready for this millennium, with executive chef Dedric McGhee and executive sous Paul Stickler now overseeing menu and food preparation at the hotel…

The Empire of my imagination

The Empire Lounge and Restaurant is no dinosaur, even if its inspiration dates back to the ’70s. At the front, on a Saturday night with an overfull house and spillover crowds starting to pack the bar, I’d been given a dinosaur — a large, plastic tyrannosaurus rex—and had felt less…

In hog heaven at Big Papa’s BBQ

After my recent Second Helping on Big Papa’s BBQ, one of my favorite barbecue joints, I received this missive from Big Papa himself: I’m glad you like my BBQ (particularly the baby backs). I’ll tell my mom that you think her potato salad recipe is bland. You should get to…

What’s cooking at the Colorado Department of Agriculture?

The Colorado Department of Agriculture says it’s open to any chef willing to throw that giant white hat into the frying pan – as long as they’re cooking up recipes involving such Colorado grown products as onions, squash, apples or last month’s pumpkins. But apparently not everyone got the memo…

Bueno for Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires has cut itself another piece of Colorado’s dining pie. Four years ago, Francis Carrera gambled on Buenos Aires Pizzeria, an Argentinian pizza joint that he opened in a modest storefront at the then-unhip address of 1307 22nd Street, just off Larimer. And then he gambled again in June…

Davies Chuck Wagon Diner is now a triple threat

The Davies diner horse has overlooked West Colfax for fifty years. In the beginning, there was Davies Chuck Wagon Diner, a classic diner that’s stood sentinel at 9495 West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood for fifty years now, serving up the area’s Best Chicken Fried Steak as well as other greasy-spoon…

From dim sum to Mexican at the Mee Yee Lin space

Mee Yee Lin was once the town’s best dim sum restaurant. But that was before Super Star Asian moved into Alameda Square, and Mee Yee Lin left its down-at-the-heels home at 3090 West Alameda for a much bigger space out east, at 2295 South Chambers Road in Aurora. My meals…