Back home in San Salvador, Hector and Maritza Gil ran a pupuseria with their families. After they decided to leave El Salvador and its horrendous economy and move to Denver last fall, they also decided to continue doing what they know best. And do best, judging from the wonderful food…
Don’t pupu it: Not all Salvadoran restaurants serve pupusas. The turnovers are time-consuming to make and they take up a lot of grill space. But while Rincón Tropical (8615 East Colfax Avenue) is not a pupuseria, this austere yet cheerful space has been serving up excellent Central American fare for…
Don’t save the Rainforest: After five days of calling and begging the Rainforest Cafe in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center to fax me its menu–each time I phoned, I had to listen to a nauseatingly sugary answering-machine voice that sounded like a tour guide from hell–the eatertainment giant finally did…
Cafe Odyssey is supposed to be that most miraculous of late-twentieth-century inventions, an “eatertainment” establishment where people can eat and be entertained. And just how hard up for entertainment are diners who make the odyssey to this spot in the Denver Pavilions? Well, in the Machu Picchu dining room, there’s…
Wot’s happening: Arada Restaurant (see review above) isn’t the only Ethiopian eatery in this town that’s generous with the berbere. There’s also the Ethiopian Restaurant (2816 East Colfax Avenue), which has good food–it takes special pains with the sides–but sloooow service; Saladwich (3510 South Broadway), which does sandwiches during the…
The French have their quatre-epices, the Germans make elaborate mustard blends and sausage seasonings, the British put together pickling and pudding spice mixtures. In India, the crucial mix is masala; in China, five-spice powder; in Thailand, red curry paste; in Japan, shichimi togarashi. In this country, any true Southern pit…
Because of California’s recent influence, Southwestern food sometimes comes off as something from nouvelle hell. But the truth is that the cooking style of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas has evolved over centuries: It’s an authentically American cuisine cultivated by Native Americans, Spaniards and Mexicans butting up against each other…
Mouth by Southwest: Other than the new Saguaro Grill and Cantina and the old Las Brisas (see review), there are only a handful of Southwestern/Tex-Mex eateries in the area that I’m aware of, and most of them aren’t even in Denver: The Fort (19192 Route 8 in Morrison), Mesa Grill…
While World War II was raging overseas, another battle was just beginning on the homefront: the fight for the hearts, minds and stomachs of American diners. Gourmet magazine was launched in 1941, the same year that M&Ms made their debut, and what the New Yorker called “the world’s most distinguished…
Taste of success: Once again, the Taste of Vail, which took over the ritzy resort April 9-11, was a well-organized, food-and-wine-filled, fun-packed event. This year–the Taste’s ninth–the whole place was abuzz not with the latest innovations in plastic surgery, but with the prior week’s announcement that local chef James Mazzio,…
In 1873, a group of Germans built a tavern in the heart of Golden’s “Goosetown” community, a neighborhood thick with immigrants who worked at what was then the Golden Brewery–later to become Coors Brewing Company–and spent their wages each night throwing back cold ones. The Goosetown Tavern, as it was…
Down at the Station: Denver is chock-full of odd little neighborhood spots, but sometimes you have to be doing something unusual–like bowling for the first time in nearly a decade–to find them. We stumbled into the Garrison Street Station, at 9199 West Alameda Avenue in Lakewood, for example, after donning…
The economy in Denver has never been better, and more people are eating out than ever before. But 200 bucks is still 200 bucks. For that amount, I can get four tickets to go hear an aging rock band belt out tunes that transport me back to my younger, more…
Toying with us: The name is French slang for “little toy”–it also means “play, play”–and it’s obvious that Jou Jou is where Kevin Taylor (the man) is having some fun. Heaven knows it isn’t at Kevin Taylor (the restaurant), the other place Taylor has opened in the Hotel Teatro at…
Radek run: The news that a Las Vegas hotel is interested in luring Papillon to Nevada from its home at 250 Josephine Street spread quickly last week, but owner Radek Cerny says the move’s not quite as likely as it seemed in Norm Clarke’s Denver Rocky Mountain News column. “Yeah,…
Dining at Radex is like dating someone much smarter and better-looking than you are: Deep down, you know he’s out of your league, but you want to keep things going because you sure look good by proximity. Everyone wants to be seen at Radex, and everything looks good. But that’s…
The evidence of where you are (and what you are) presents itself at 8:35 a.m. on a balmy Monday when, in the company of strangers, you order the Roz Eye Opener–served 7 to 10 a.m. only. Annie the bartender, who’s been doing this for years, brings it on–a foamy glass…
For decades, Denver diners have assumed that an ethnic eatery must be a dive in order to be authentic. But three months ago, Busara opened its doors, raising Thai food to a whole new level. Things are looking up. The people behind Busara–the name’s literal translation is “blue topaz,” but…
Fit to be Thai’d: In the late Seventies, the area that would later become known as LoDo was a vast culinary wasteland. There was the Wazee Supper Club, at 1660 15th Street, and Mori Japanese Restaurant, at 2019 Market Street, and not much in between other than beer-and-a-shot joints and,…
Pasta point of no return: In downtown alone, we have a quartet of family-style Italian restaurants: Maggiano’s, reviewed above, chain link Il Fornaio (1631 Wazee Street), locally owned Santino’s (1939 Blake Street) and Bella Ristorante (1920 Market Street), which is part of a local group of restaurants. That’s 40,000 square…
“This is my last restaurant,” says 61-year-old Roland “Papa” Canino. “Why does anyone open a restaurant anymore? I don’t know how they do it. Too much competition with each other, and for employees. No, this is my last restaurant.” Roland opened Canino’s Trattoria, allegedly his last restaurant, on South Downing…
If you knew sushi: Although sushi seemed like an Eighties fad that had come and gone, leaving only a few stalwart sushi bars behind, suddenly it’s enjoying a big resurgence across the country. There are sushi societies in some cities (try saying that ten times fast), where members meet every…
