Year in review: Denver’s biggest food stories in 2011

Denver foodbeasts who eat up the city’s culinary scene had plenty to chew on in 2011: Big-name chefs who abruptly closed their restaurants; other chefs who walked out; a restaurant that burst into flames — and rose from the ashes; a very public divorce; and sadly, unfathomably, a beloved restaurateur…

Kuulture is frozen out of the new year

At the one-time home of Kuulture, 1512 Larimer Street, the lights are off, the doors are shuttered, everything is packed into cardboard boxes, and the telephone number is no longer in service. When it opened in 2008, Kuulture was one of the first LA-style frozen yogurt shops to hit town,…

Open Cellar Night at Greenbriar Inn

If drinking more wine was your resolution for 2012, then head to the Greenbriar Inn, 8735 North Foothills in Boulder, for Open Cellar Night, when all bottles from the wine cellar are 20 percent off. There’s also a multi-course menu with wine flights, as well as bottle specials and tours…

Restaurant Roll Call for 2011

Close to 300 new restaurants opened in the metro area last year — and with that much action, perhaps it’s not surprising that two of them are named Cebiche, and two of them are named Chinook. But the local dining scene also lost a surprising number of mainstays: the 29-year-old…

California Cafe closes in Park Meadows

Last year saw nearly 300 restaurant openings on the books — but 2012 is already kicking off with several closures, including the long-lived Pearl Street Grill, next-door neighbor India’s Pearl and nearby Ototo. And now, from the southern suburbs, comes word of another shuttered restaurant…

Guess where I’m eating?

My first meal of 2012 was here, at this Chinese restaurant, where a bunch of us gather every year to dish about the Denver culinary scene. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I drinking/eating posts is…

Breakfast at Dinner Viewing Party

Since it’s celebrating chef Ian Clark’s appearance on the Cooking Channel’s Unique Eats, you can bet that the “Breakfast at Dinner Viewing Party” at Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace, 950 Pearl Street in Boulder, will offer more than cereal and scrambled eggs. Clark’s Latino/Mexican brunch dishes, for example.The party…

Cafe|Bar fills a comforting niche, with some surprises

On my first visit to Cafe|Bar, I spent an inordinate amount of time making plans for art projects. I’m not much of a DIY-er, but just about every decor item in the place gave me an idea for my own home. “How do you think they made those ornaments?” I…

Top ten Cafe Society posts of 2011

Including this post, the total number of posts on Cafe Society in 2011 was 3,241. That’s a lot of bloggering for a local restaurant scene blog. And who has time to go through all of them? Certainly not you. Which is why we’ve tallied up the top ten posts –…

New Year’s Eve survival guide — for bartenders

This year will be my 25th New Year’s Eve behind the bar. My last post of 2010 was an amateur’s guide to navigating New Year’s Eve successfully, and those tips are still relevant for anyone planning a night on the town. But this year, I have a half-dozen tips for…