Last week several Denver chefs traveled to Kansas to visit the Callicrate Ranch, a cattle ranch and slaughterhouse owned by fiercely opinionated, radically passionate Mike Callicrate, to witness the slaughter of a steer. Lori Midson went along, and offered up her account of the trip last Friday. It was eye-opening…
I’m officially a few pounds heavier today — and it’s not because of my Mother’s Day stomach crush at Paxia (which was excellent, by the way). No, today’s increase in poundage has everything to do with chocolate, namely the Colorado Chocolate Festival, which took place over the weekend at the…
Back in December, we broke the news that Spuntino, chef John Broening and pastry chef Yasmin Lozada-Hissom’s neighborhood restaurant in Highland — a restaurant that turns out everything from unassailable gelato to equally unparalleled porchetta — would temporarily shutter sometime this February to undergo a significant renovation. Timing, of course,…
Cafe Society posted five Guess Where We’re Eating contests last week, ranging from a carne asada plate from the new (and festive) Adelitas Cocina y Cantina, to some lovely spot prawns from Super Star Asian, to bánh mì from a brewpub…
The latest chapter in the First Avenue Hotel saga — the closing of both El Diablo and Sketch at the end of service on May 2, right before the city’s latest notice to vacate was issued for May 3 — got some punctuation on Friday, when the building’s windows were…
Earlier this week, on Monday, I spent the afternoon in Kansas — specifically St. Francis, Kansas, a small, sleepy town just a few miles east of the Kansas/Colorado border, population a mere 1,200. Cattle far, far outweigh humans in St. Francis — there are thousands and thousands of them –…
Looks like El Diablo is really gone for good. The restaurant and its sibling, Sketch, held a final bash on May 2, then closed after last call — right before the city’s most recent notice to vacate the First Avenue Hotel was set to take effect on May 3. Earlier…
Don’t let the name mislead you: The Chocolate Nemesis may soon be your new best friend. The “oldie but goody” dessert that won fans at The Kitchen in Boulder has now been imported to The Kitchen Denver, and is winning hearts (and stomachs) across town. The flourless chocolate cake, accompanied…
If you spend any time in the comments section of our blogs, you might have already noticed that some commenters show up with the titles “Editor” or “Community Manager” next to their usernames. Well, there’s now a new badge on the block, and it’s called the “Vocalizer.” Continue reading for…
No, this bánh mì isn’t from a Vietnamese restaurant. In fact, it comes from a restaurant where you’d likely never expect to see it on the menu. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a Guess Where post is entered into…
Any food-nerd knows that it’s almost impossible to keep up with every new culinary gadget or cool DIY kit — but it’s almost as tough to resist them. You contemplate giving up imported cheese or cartons of duck fat for a month just so you can buy some food-tastic item…
Federal Bar & Grill is now open in the former home of Micky Manor, right across a parking lot — the bar’s own parking lot! — from Jack-n-Grill. There’s not much grill yet to the bar, which occupies a circa 1904 fire station, but there are enough craft beers to…
For almost eighty years, the Micky Manor — and that’s Micky, without an “e” — was a landmark on Federal Boulevard, its trademark-respecting neon Mickey and Minnie signs a constant. But in the fall of 2011, the mouse finally left the house. The circa 1904 firehouse at 2544 Federal Boulevard…
It’s easy to eat seasonally when the fields are full of tomatoes and the trees are heavy with peaches, as I write in this week’s review of Potager. But abundance, whether in August or May, brings its own challenges. This counter-intuitive lesson is one I learned first-hand when I was…
The space that harbors this Mexican restaurant has seen its share of dining dens — it’s a revolving door of restaurants — but this one may have the chops to stick around longer than the rest, thanks to good food and an even better tequila selection. Can you guess where…
For years — YEARS! — I’ve prayed to the Mexican food gods that someone in my Wash Park ‘hood would open a taqueria, or at least a taco joint, saving me from hiking to Federal Boulevard when I want my al pastor fix. And, now, it looks like I’m finally…
Taylor Drew Russell’s Smokehouse 1422 Larimer Street 720-524-8050 russellssmokehouse.com This is part two of my interview with Taylor Drew, exec chef of Russell’s Smokehouse; part one of our chat ran yesterday. Favorite Denver/Boulder restaurant(s) other than your own: I don’t get out to eat nearly enough, but I recently ate…
When Blake Street Tavern moved a block down Blake Street three years ago, it took over a big space with a great view of the Ballpark neighborhood — and a really big basement. After several attempts to brand that underground area, it looks like Blake Street has finally come up…
When Andrew Zimmern, host of Bizarre Foods, listed the “Best Ethnic Food in the U.S.” for Food & Wine, he lauded Denver for its Den-Mex — gravy-like green chile in general, and the variations served at Chubby’s and El Taco de Mexico, especially when accompanied by anything else from El…
If you’re looking for housemade honey-chamomile bitters, ice chipped off a block or a community counter where you can sit and grab a bite, don’t go to Potager. The place doesn’t have a soda gun, much less a mixologist. And Teri Rippeto, who founded this Capitol Hill institution with her…
Andrew Zimmern, host of Bizarre Foods, just published his list of the “Best Ethnic Food in the U.S.” on the Food & Wine website, and Denver rates high for its “Den-Mex” — a term coined, as far as we can tell, by Gustavo Arellano, the Ask a Mexican columnist who…
Talk about hitting pay dirt! A bunch of us, including my intrepid teenager, recently spent a Sunday morning around the table at a restaurant that never ceases to amaze me with its bounty of fresh seafood and fish, including these spot prawns, a sea treasure. Can you guess where I’m…
