Rica Pizza rolls out an enchilada pie — and other Mexican pizzas

After fifteen years working in management at Pizza Huts across the country, Ted Huss was done — done with the corporate bullshit, done with inferior ingredients and done with chains. “I was frustrated and really discouraged with the way the business was going. It was all about profit, when it…

Oh, happy day: The Kitchen [Upstairs] makes even the worst day better

The Place: The Kitchen’s [Upstairs], 1039 Pearl Street, Boulder, 303-544-0092 The Hours: Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m The Deals: Wine, cocktails, and beer, $3-5; small plates, $3-6; cheese and charcuterie boards, $13. The Digs: The Kitchen [Upstairs] provides a relaxing asylum from the touristy hustle and bustle…

Colt & Gray to tap a keg of Russian River Supplication today

We’ve been singing the accolades of the cocktail program at Colt & Gray, 1553 Platte Street, since the place opened, and for good reason: It’s one of the leaders in bar craft in Denver. But beyond the inventive mixology, the team works hard to offer the same level of quality…

Thursday nights at Fleming’s are ideal for oenophiles

Beginning tonight and continuing through the rest of the month, Fleming’s Steakhouse, the meat palace at 191 Inverness Drive West, is rolling out the red carpet for oenophiles — at least on Thursday nights, when grape gurus can sniff, swirl, sip (and spit?) from the steakery’s majestic wine-by-the-glass selection for…

Guess where I’m eating?

At this tiny Thai temple, stashed in a strip mall that’s nearly invisible from the street, the one-woman kitchen turns out generous plates and bowls of curries, noodles and stir-fries from the straight-ahead Americanized Thai menu. Go late in the afternoon, however, after the lunch crush has subsided, and you’ll…

The Sprout House serves veggie-friendly mobile food

With all the food trucks and carts revving up, it was only a matter of time before someone decided to cater exclusively to mobile vegetarians and vegans. That someone was Trevor Smith, who now parks the Sprout House downtown at the corner of 17th Avenue and Lincoln from 11 a.m…

Part two: Chef and Tell with Justin Brunson from Masterpiece Deli

Justin Brunson Masterpiece Delicatessen 1575 Central Street 303-561-3354 www.masterpiecedeli.com This is part two of Lori Midson’s Q&A with Justin Brunson, chef/owner of Masterpiece Delicatessen. To read part one of that interview, click here. Greatest accomplishment as a chef: Becoming a restaurateur. You work so many years in the trenches to…

The yellow peril: British woman has a fear of bananas

Fortunately, England is not in the Banana Belt, because Fran Dando, a 21-year-old resident of Hastings in East Sussex, has a rare phobia: a fear of bananas. When she was seven, her brother played a practical joke by placing the phallic fruit in her bed. She “felt this horrible, slimy…

Today: How do your zucchinis measure up?

It’s harvest season, and if you’ve been reaping the rewards of your garden — and you’re proud of how your squash looks — then you bring your home-grown zucchinis to the Parks & Gardens Office, 4309 West 44th Avenue, between 4 and 7 p.m. for the Northwest Denver Heaviest Zucchini…

LoHi SteakBar is a great neighborhood joint

Sean Kelly first made a name for himself in Denver when he helped open Blair Taylor’s Barolo Grill in 1991, and he manned the kitchen there until he could cook in his own place: the well-respected Aubergine Cafe, a Mediterranean small-plates restaurant he established on Seventh Avenue in 1995. After…

Drinking $7 Dark & Stormys at Lost Lake Lounge

The DJ looks lonely. Partly this is because it’s a balmy night and the front patio is packed; partly it’s because everyone else is bellied up to the bar or parked at one of the high-tops in the main room. Or maybe it’s because, according to the sign, “The maximum…

Brittany Hill to reopen in early 2011

JoeAnn and John Falco closed the sale on the Brittany Hill building at 9350 Grant Street, a massive structure with sweeping views of the Front Range, in spring 2009, prompting buzz that the space would rise again. Almost a year and a half later, though, the spot still sits dark…

Guess where I’m drinking?

If I’m willing to drive to Boulder for a cocktail, you know it’s for a good reason — like amazing, knowledgeable and accomplished bartenders making spectacularly inventive drinks. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I drinking/eating…

Cosmo’s Pizza to open Denver location on Friday

Cosmo’s Pizza, 1325 Broadway, has longed served college students on the Hill in Boulder, proffering massive slices of thin-crust pies perfect for a mid-day lunch or a late-night post-drinking binge, available both at the parlor and by delivery. Last year, the restaurant upped its presence on the Hill, too, by…

Troy Guard to open TAG RAW BAR early next year on Larimer Square

“We’re in the very beginning stages of developing the menu concept, but there’s no hood and there’s no grease trap, so everything that we serve will be raw,” says Leigh Sullivan-Guard. That’s the idea behind TAG | RAW BAR, a new restaurant from Leigh and her husband, Troy Guard, the…

Guess where I’m eating?

The menu is ambitious, vast and littered with flavor-bombed Mexican dishes, but it’s the soft corn tacos, thumped with meats perfumed with spices and char and topped with redolent salsas, that keep us coming back for more…and more…and more. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives…

Civic Center Eats extends through September

Civic Center Conservancy used Facebook to ask downtown lunchers if they wanted to see Civic Center Eats extended through September — and those lunchers rose to the occasion. Yesterday was the last of the Tuesday events officially on the calendar, and the park saw one of the best Civic Center…

Masterpiece Delicatessen chef Justin Brunson on opening a new restaurant and his fetish for foie gras and lamb testicles

Justin Brunson Masterpiece Delicatessen 1575 Central Street 303-561-3354 www.masterpiecedeli.com This is part one of Lori Midson’s Q&A with Masterpiece Delicatessen chef/owner Justin Brunson. You can read part two of this interview right back here tomorrow. It’s 2:30 p.m., late by lunchtime standards, but Masterpiece Delicatessen, the heavyweight sandwich shop in…

DINR cooks up a new brand as EatDenver

Colorado produce is continuing to pour into local farmers’ markets, but EatDenver is already reaping the benefits of the recent Harvest Week, when its 55 members offered special deals and meals to celebrate this state’s homegrown products. And EatDenver definitely qualifies as one of those — even though for the…