Tony Hessel West Flanders Brewing Co. 1125 Pearl Street, Boulder 303-447-2739 wfbrews.com This is part two of my interview with Tony Hessel, exec chef of West Flanders Brewing Co; part one of our conversation ran yesterday. Which living chef do you most admire? Alice Waters. She was my inspiration for…
Concept Restaurants took on an iconic space when it transformed the former home of Strings — the iconic restaurant founded by the late Noel Cunningham almost three decades ago — into Humboldt, which I review this week. “This was a legendary space that had a legendary restaurant,” explains Sean Huggard,…
Colorado’s first Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar opened Monday in Cherry Creek, in the former home of Tony P’s. The chain was founded by Frank Scibelli, who opened the company’s first Bad Daddy’s in North Carolina in 2007; this location is a partnership between Scibelli and Boyd Hoback, the president and…
While people scramble for reservations for a romantic dinner on February 14, two events today will be a feast for the senses. “An Appetite for Seduction,” a Valentine’s Day-inspired class at the Denver Botanic Gardens, will be hosted by Lee Clayton Roper, co-author of the award-winning cookbook A Well-Seasoned Kitchen…
In Hollywood, moviemakers drop half as much dough to build interest in films as they do to make them, leading to marketing budgets with lots of zeroes. Can you imagine if local restaurateurs did the same, putting branded toys in Happy Meals, wrapping ads around buses and running action-packed commercials…
Suffice it to say that I eat out more than the general population, unless, of course, the general population can catalogue more than 450 restaurant meals in a year — which is about the number of breakfasts, lunches and dinners that I stomached over the past year. Pathetic, isn’t it?…
A series premiering on Hulu this month has the home-grown Chipotle chain cooking up more than just burritos. Working with Hulu and Piro studios, Chipotle is launching a four-episode web series titled Farmed & Dangerous, which will debut on Monday, February 17. The show is a satirical comedy that explores…
Have you seen a lot of natural-wood tap handles recently? So has Adam Draeger, the brewmaster at Arvada’s Yak & Yeti Brewpub, which is why he decided to replace his handmade wooden Ys (rep the double Y’s in the Yak and Yeti) with one-piece molded urethane-based handles finished with a…
Yesterday, I had a lunch meeting with a Denver chef who, like me, wanted to feast on dumplings. Alas, Lao Wang — our first choice — was closed, so we ended up here instead, eating steaming bowls of pho and sturdy Vietnamese egg rolls liberally stuffed with pork, mushrooms, carrots…
Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with a spacious kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s best ingredients home with them and cook up a feast, and when they’re not…
Ten years ago, after Avery Brewing founder Adam Avery and Russian River co-owner Vinny Cilurzo discovered that they were each making a beer called Salvation, the two decided to shake hands and brew a collaboration beer rather than fight in court. The result of that Colorado-to-California handshake was Collaboration Not…
Tony Hessel West Flanders Brewing Co. 1125 Pearl Street, Boulder 303-447-2739 wfbrews.com This is part one of my interview with Tony Hessel, exec chef of West Flanders Brewing Co; part two of our conversation will run tomorrow. Born in Manhattan and raised in Connecticut, Tony Hessel always thought he wanted…
In A Federal Case, I’ll be eating my way up Federal Boulevard — south to north — within Denver city limits. I’ll be skipping the national chains and per-scoop Chinese joints, but otherwise I’ll report from every vinyl booth, walk-up window and bar stool where food is served. Here’s the…
Think Denver is hungry for more barbecue joints? Krewe Crescent City BBQ opened on Sunday in the former home of Cantina (and many other restaurants before that), right on the corner of 11th and Lincoln. The owners of Stoney’s, which is right next door, are the crew behind Krewe, and…
It all started with coffee beans. Brad Baltz started roasting those in his home for fun and flavor; since then, his love for coffee has grown exponentially — as has his love for helping those in need. Baltz and his wife, Jen, decided to marry their passions for coffee and…
Last year, at the inaugural DSTILL, an event that celebrates American craft spirits and cocktails, revelers — and there were hundreds of them — quickly compared it to the Great American Beer Festival, high praise for a first year event. And now DSTILL, a joint partnership involving the Colorado Distillers…
Driving along Colorado Boulevard and craving a burger? Although Little H Burger turned off the grill late last year (following the departures of its bigger siblings, the H Burgers in downtown Denver and Boulder), Boulevard Burger and Tap has taken over the space at 727 Colorado Boulevard. Our photographer Marissa…
The owners of Racines have just chosen the winners of the restaurant’s thirtieth anniversary contest — and while the grand prize is a trip for two to Paris, home of the original Bouillon Racine restaurant, France hasn’t exactly been rolling out the welcome mat. But the second-place prize — the…
Colorado has been the wellspring for many liquid assets, including energy drinks Go Fast! and Bing, which quickly went national. But 5280, a new energy drink now available in along the Front Range, was created with the Mile High City in mind — and has no plans to spill outside…
As the folks behind the now-defunct Ondo’s and Café Berlin learned the hard way, there are hazards to real estate. Basement and second-floor locations pose obvious challenges for restaurateurs, but even ground-floor spaces in high-traffic areas aren’t risk-free. “We knew people might be upset with what we did, because we…
Green Fine Salad Co., a Denver-based company, plans to open its third local location in April at 707 Seventeenth Street — but this outpost will have another name: Saladarity, a new prototype that, unlike Green Fine Salad, is trademarked. “Green Fine Salad is a name we couldn’t protect, so we…
“We’re always evolving, always finding ways to bring something new and different to the consumer,” says Smashburger founder Tom Ryan, whose follow-up to that smash success, Live Basil Pizza, will open today in Glendale, making it the third Live Basil outpost to open in Denver — and the fourth in…
