The chef sitting next to me at the bar where I ate this burger was on his day off from the line at Mizuna, and he admitted that he’d been here twice in the last week just to wrap his jaws around the pork burger stacked with wild mushrooms and…
Yesterday we posted Veggie Girl Amber Taufen’s list of the Five Best Vegetarian Restaurants in Denver, and the result has been a red-blooded, very meaty food fight over the benefits/drawbacks of several restaurants on the list — particularly City, O’ City and Native Foods. See also: Five best vegetarian restaurants…
With Denver Restaurant Week starting tomorrow, there’s plenty of activity on the culinary scene. Over 300 restaurants are participating in the tenth annual edition, and reservations are becoming scarce. But even if you can’t get into your favorite eatery, there are still other appetizing options around town. Keep reading for…
At exceptional restaurants around town I can close my eyes, point to anything on the menu, and eat well. Often, however, getting a good meal takes a lot more thought – what is the chef’s background? what is the kitchen known for? – not to mention a little luck, since…
I usually cook breakfast at home on the weekends, but the springlike weather demanded an outdoor stroll, which led us to one of our neighborhood cafes, whose kitchen is turning out a brilliant board of breakfast dishes, including bananas Foster French toast. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus:…
Andrew Selvaggio Live Basil Pizza, Tom’s Urban and Smashburger smashburger.com, livebasilpizza.com, tomsurban24.com This is part two of my interview with Andrew Selvaggio, chef of Smashburger, Live Basil and Tom’s Urban; part one of my chat with Selvaggio ran yesterday. Most memorable meal you’ve ever had: It was in 1983, at…
The last All-V’s has closed. Long before Subway, Quizno’s, Snarf’s or Heidi’s were doing it, All-V’s was dishing up hearty hoagies to the work-day crowd in its diner-like environment. At one point, there were several shops in metro Denver; the location on East Eighth Avenue was the last one left,…
Given the demands of life in a professional kitchen, I’m always curious as to why people choose this career. I’ve asked this question of hundreds of cooks, and more often than not, they trace their love of food to a grandmother or mother who gave them their first whisk to…
Earlier today, we announced that several local chefs and restaurants were nominated for a James Beard Foundation award — and that coveted roster includes Jeff Osaka, chef-owner of twelve, who recently just celebrated the Ballpark restaurant’s fifth anniversary. And now, Ryan Leinonen, chef-owner of Trillium, which is just a few…
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…
Teenagers are so damn picky, at least the second one of the two that I had to cart around last night on a where-to-have-dinner romp. Mexican? No. Thai? He’d never had it — and didn’t want to. Chinese? No, thanks. Cheesesteaks? Bingo, but only if the cheesesteak joint had chicken…
Earlier today, in a live stream from Orlando, Florida, the James Beard Foundation rolled out its culinary red carpet of semi-finalists in several categories, including Outstanding Bar Program, Outstanding Pastry Chef, Outstanding Restaurateur, Outstanding Wine Program, Rising Star Chef of the Year and Best Chef, Southwest — all of which…
Andrew Selvaggio Live Basil Pizza, Tom’s Urban and Smashburger smashburger.com, livebasilpizza.com, tomsurban24.com This is part one of my interview with Andrew Selvaggio, chef of Smashburger, Live Basil and Tom’s Urban; part two of my chat with Selvaggio will run tomorrow. “Food was a huge part of my life, of my…
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…
Vitamin Cottage opened its first store fifty years ago in Lakewood. Today the natural-foods enterprise has morphed into Natural Grocers, with locations in a dozen states — including a brand-new store that opened this week in Capitol Hill, at 1433 Washington Street. But while the store was definitely welcomed by…
“Nooooooooo!” That’s the communal groan of despair on the Facebook page of Glaze: the Baum Cake shop, a whimsical Congress Park bakery that specializes in stunning Japanese baumkuchen, glazed multilayered cakes with “tree rings” baked in a hand-crafted, cherry-red, 2,220-pound rotisserie oven, which owner Heather Alcott had christened “Red Dragon.”…
Yerba mate (pronounced mah-teh) seems to be a fast-growing trend around the country. As a healthier alternative to coffee, the South American herbal infusion has made it to grocery stores shelves and coffee shops across Denver; you can find it in loose leaf, teabag or brewed form everywhere from Buenos…
Back in late November, when Matt Selby, the opening exec chef and a partner in the Corner House (he’s now the exec chef of Central) departed ways with majority owners and partners Scott Kinsey and James Iacino, president of Seattle Fish, the Jefferson Park restaurant closed for a few days…
Chicken tikka masala is quite possibly the most ubiquitous Indian dish in America, and while every restaurant has its own version, I’m partial to this particular one, which is served in a copper vessel, punctuated with assertive spices and plentiful with tender bites of chicken. Can you guess where I’m…
Vitamin Cottage got its start in the mid-’50s, when Margaret and Philip Isely started a door-to-door business that emphasized natural foods. They opened their first storefront in Lakewood in 1963 and called it Vitamin Cottage because of both its healthy mission and the shop’s country-cottage appearance. Although subsequent stores didn’t…
All-V’s, a hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop that was loved for its old-school feel and its meaty subs, has closed after more than four decades on East Eighth Avenue. A sign in the window reads: “We put everything we had into All-V’s, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough.” Another sign, this one…
“Start sessioning!” That was the cry when Session Kitchen opened last fall, and although the menu — and the portion control based on “sessions” — has been tweaked, in her recent review of Session Kitchen Gretchen Kurtz says she could still do without having to even mention “sessioning” to her…
