Culinary treasures are revealed through a family’s history

Food is never a mere object, never just the thing in itself. Food always carries a story. Whether Cheetos or pepper, chocolate cake or honey-sweetened tea, a food item can evoke an entire culture, historical era or individual human life. When I think of Czechoslovakia, the country of my parents’…

Plum good: Golden Europe’s schnitzel, spaetzle and strudel

Visiting Golden Europe is like going to your Middle European auntie’s house for dinner on a Friday when you’re craving schnitzel, spaetzle or strudel. The Czech family that’s owned the place for fifteen years bustles around the kitchen as you eat, with the soft-spoken father periodically visiting the tables to…

Guess where I’m drinking?

Taking stock of your drinking options in January? Don’t miss this spot, with expansive — if vague — hours. Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I drinking/eating posts is entered into a pool — and every Monday, we select one lucky winner…

100 Favorite Dishes: Sichuan braised beef noodle soup from Zoe Ma Ma

No. 81: Sichuan braised beef noodle soup from Zoe Ma Ma Zoe Ma Ma is a weird little place, slightly ratty and tatty, definitely earthy, often chaotic and occasionally quiet, with the only audible hums coming from the kitchen of Anna Zoe, the slight, grandmotherly matriarch who presides over the…

ModMarket now open in Denver

ModMarket, the healthy, fast-casual concept that debuted in late 2009 at 1700 28th Street in Boulder, has now invaded Denver — a month later than owners Rob McColgan and Anthony Pigliacamto had originally envisioned, but residents of the area around 1000 South Colorado Boulevard say the Denver ModMarket was worth…

Guess where I’m eating…in San Francisco?

Anyone who’s ever been to San Francisco — which is where I am right now — and slurped oysters should know exactly where the above photo was snapped. Can you guess where I’m eating…in San Francisco? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am…

Starbucks continues its march to world domination with the Trenta

It’s Monday morning, and you’re in a ten-car pileup in the local Starbucks drive-thru, patiently waiting for your organically sourced beans brought from the rainforest by locals being paid in earth movers and skyscrapers, and suddenly you realize that your Venti beverage just isn’t enough. Say hello to the the…

Ski for your supper at A-Basin Wednesday

Arapahoe Basin’s Black Mountain Lodge will host the inaugural Dynafit Nacht Spektakel, German Feast & Randonee on Wednesday, January 19. And what’s a randonee? Leigh Hierholzer, director of marketing for Arapahoe Basin, chuckles at the question, then says, “We take it for granted that everyone knows what it is, since…

Reader: A glass act at Colt & Gray

While a few readers poured criticism over Laura Shunk for her recent review of Freshcraft, Mantonat took the discussion a useful step further, pouring out some mouth-watering suggestions for anyone going to Colt & Gray, one of three more restaurants featuring beer and food pairings:…

Top five foods the cast of Jersey Shore should be eating

I had never seen an episode of Jersey Shore until last week, and now that I’ve watched both the season-three opener and the second episode, I have come to a few conclusions. (Read Jersey Shore episode recaps in Show and Tell.) First, I am grateful that my debauched and misspent…

Will gourmet food trucks grind to a stop in 2011?

If 2010 was the year that gourmet food trucks zoomed into Denver, 2011 will be the year that many get stuck in their tracks. Sean and Denon Moore, who own Cake Crumbs Bakery, put their two Denver Cupcake Trucks in park last month, frustrated by all the roadblocks the city…

I’m young and American, but I’m not dumb

Welcome to In the Weeds. Kyle will be right with you — most likely to complain about something. Usually he is pleasant, but this is his place to blow off some steam. Don’t take it personally; he just needs to vent because he’s been doing this for about thirteen years…

100 Favorite Dishes: Chicken potpie from Devil’s Food

No. 82: Chicken potpie from Devil’s Food I have the good fortune to live in Washington Park, a neighborhood strewn with willowy trees, neighbors that sell fresh eggs from their country farm and gorgeous old houses that have closets the size of pin cushions, but pretty cool interior woodwork. The…

The Chicago Louie’s paddy wagon is pounding the pavement

Michel Wahaltere’s head is hanging out the window of his paddy wagon parked in an abandoned lot on East Colfax, between York and Josephine, when he suddenly looks up, thrusts open the doors, grabs my hand and drags me around back. “See this?” he asks, panting and pointing to the…

Guess where I’m eating?

I’d come in to try the gumbo, which I’d been told — wrongly, as it turned out — was the be-all and end-all of gumbos, so I pushed it aside, and instead got my hands and mouth messy with Cajun shrimp — heads intact. Can you guess where I’m eating?…

The first look inside Fleur Bistro

A week after Fleur Bistro opened its doors, owner Bart Jones is starting to get back to normal. “Last week, I could barely talk,” he recalls. “I think I slept an hour the night before the opening.” Jones and head chef Nate Boothe are serving casual American cuisine at Fleur,…

Anythink Cafe opens at Wright Farms

At 11 a.m. today, members of the Metro North Chamber of Commerce will cut the ribbon on Anythink Cafe, 5877 East 120th Avenue in Brighton, on the Anythink Wright Farms campus — the flagship part of the Rangeview Library District’s innovative Anythink libraries program. Thornton’s Bagel Bakery and Cupcake Shoppe…