Denver has just bagged one of the sexiest chefs on the culinary planet. Lon Symensma, a former New York kitchen magician with a helluva lot of kitchen street cred and pedigree, is leaving the Big Apple, where he was the former chef of Buddakan, to open ChoLon Bistro in LoDo…
I was out with a client who needed food and a cocktail at 3 p.m. I figured I couldn’t possibly find a restaurant with decent food that would have any life at all. But when we walked into this restaurant, five fun people were at the bar and the owner…
I don’t know how to act my age. I have this bad habit of going to bed early, doing homework in the morning and not drinking nearly as much as a twenty-one-year old writer/cook should drink. Hell, I even occasionally go to class. My friend knows how to act his…
If you want to expand your culinary knowledge, there are tons of classes this week, covering everything from backyard chicken-keeping to advanced pastry skills. Here’s a taste of what’s ahead: Monday, March 22 A pastry class for serious home bakers starts today at Culinary School of the Rockies, 637 South…
The James Beard Foundation just announced the finalists for its restaurant and chef awards, and while Colorado had a slew of semi-finalists when that list was announced last month, relatively few made the cut. No Outstanding Restaurateur, no Outstanding Chef. The names that did survive: Frasca Food + Wine for…
News of the writing finalists in the James Beard Foundation Awards is slowly leaking out of New York City, with the official list coming at noon today. But we already know that Jared Jacang Maher is a contender in the newspaper feature writing category for his February 2009 cover story…
After a weekend of great basketball and not-so-great snacks, I’m planning some sweet eating action for this coming weekend’s Sweet Sixteen. Here’s some of the top local fare from three of the remaining top-ranked teams, and one from a post-game replacement. We’re not in Kansas any more…
Johnson’s Corner, the classic truck stop just past the Berthoud exit on I-25, went through a major renovation a few years back that completely changed the joint, removing much of its ’50s charm — although we still considered it worthy of Guy Fieri’s attentions on a recent Diners, Drive-Ins and…
Cafe Society served up seven Guess Where I’m Eating/Drinking contests last week, featuring everything from a very veggie burger to a disappointing Sazarak to a charcuterie platter complete with caperberries. For correctly that dish from Second Home, Raven is now the lucky winner of a DINR deck. Raven, send your…
Are you really a serious home baker? Do you slice cookies off a pre-made frozen loaf or create them tenderly from scratch? Do you use store-bought pie crust or roll your own? Exactly how passionate are you about the baked goods that come from your kitchen? If the answer is…
More than twenty of Denver’s star chefs will converge on the Colorado Convention Center this Sunday, March 21, for Chefs Up Front, a culinary bash to benefit Operation Frontline Colorado, a local nonprofit that fights hunger and malnutrition through food education. “This is such a fantastic event, because all of…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up, in no particular order, a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…
Made correctly, a Sazerac is one of my favorite cocktails. Made incorrectly, it tastes like an absinthe bomb. Can you guess where I drank this shitty Sazerac that I review next week?…
With the advent of such groundbreaking documentaries as Food, Inc., more than ever, we’re learning about the cultural and environmental consequences of our diets — particularly the consumption of meat. Food, Inc. was decades behind the times, though: Since 1985, people from around the planet have been trying to educate…
Okay, so maybe the weather’s not cooperating at this very second, but remember earlier in the week when we had that glorious glimpse of spring? That right there was reason enough to get our minds in gear for cool drinks to sip in warm weather. We always welcome a delicious…
Dino’s Soda Bar, the Washington Park ice cream parlor, breakfast stop and burger barn at 2217 East Mississippi Avenue that was the ‘hood hang-out for toned and tanned mommies and their stroller-strapped children, has defaulted on its lease, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by the landlord, who’s demanding “compliance or possession.”…
I realize that it’s still morning, but as I watch the snowflakes dance outside my window, all I can think about is a big plate of pasta and a bottle of vino. Perhaps not the exact heap of noodles in the above pic, which were less than ordinary, but another,…
Denver is suddenly getting very rustic. Earlier this month, the Lost Lake Lounge took over the former home of the Bulldog Bar at 3602 East Colfax Avenue. Now the Cabin on Broadway has opened at 2479 South Broadway. That’s the woodsy-looking building previously occupied by Olde Tyme Drafts & Dawgs…
Steve Horner, go back to your corner. This week, Westword received a packet that contained copies of a dozen letters sent to Horner, the anti-ladies’ night crusader, from Steven Chavez, director of the Colorado Division of Civil Rights, all dated March 11 and all starting this way: “This letter is…
Looking for something culinary to do this (potentially snowy) afternoon? Look no further than Old South Pearl Street, because every Friday, the Culinary Connectors host a walking restaurant tour of the district. They call it the Friday Afternoon Club…
Last Friday, I won the 5th Annual Celebrity Chili Cook-Off, hosted by the Denver Press Club, and benefitting the Women’s Bean Project. It was a sweet and spicy victory for a guy who’s been making red chili for a dozen years with little recognition. You can read about my adventure,…
5:00 p.m. Arrive home, shuck off Working Professional disguise and gear up with the official uniform of St. Pat’s: green t-shirt, jeans, and comfy shoes for jigging. 5:15 p.m. Hustle to the bar to meet crew, shoving a sandwich engineered for maximum booze-sponging capabilities into mouth. Curse green clad revelers…
