Civic Center Eats ends Tuesday — but trucks will keep rolling

The already-extended Civic Center Eats will hold its last Tuesday event of the year next week — but the fun isn’t over yet. “Starting in October, we will be shifting to a much smaller-scale version, but on a daily basis,” explains Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, director of the Civic Center Conservancy…

In the kitchen with Mezcal’s Roberto Diaz: Gorditas

Roberto Diaz, the chef featured in this week’s Chef and Tell interview, was born and raised in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico, where gorditas are king. “They were always served with our meal on Sunday while I was growing up, and I could never get enough of them,” says Diaz…

Top five uses for zucchini

Missoula, Montana, is a lovely town in the middle of nowhere with a population consisting primarily of cowpokes and carnivores. Yesterday, the two met in a standoff on the back porch of a house just outside of town, when a black bear paid a surprise visit to a local woman…

Top Chef Just Desserts: Nice guys don’t finish first

Dessert’s a funny thing in fancy restaurants these days. No more slices of cherry tart, chocolate cake or apple strudel unless they’re miniatures, deconstructed, flavored with something incongruous like curry, set on curlicues of sauce you have to sample with your finger because there’s not enough to get on a…

Guess where I’m eating….green chile?

Smother love: It’s easy being green in Denver in September, when the smell of roasting chiles overrides the odor of exhaust along Federal Boulevard, and the green chile at your favorite Mexican joint carries the heat of the new harvest. For the next several weeks, Cafe Society will feature some…

Guess where I’m eating?

There’s nothing quite like sea urchin roe, which isn’t roe at all, but the female gonads from the prickly, spiny sea creature that dwells on the ocean floor. It’s creamy, like custard, the hue of flames and its pronounced oceanic, slightly sweet flavor makes for an insanely gratifying indulgence, especially…

Crimson & Gold Tavern should be open this weekend

When brothers Kevin and Craig Caldwell took over the former Aroma Cafe (and Pita Jungle before that) at 2017 South University Boulevard near the end of 2009, they’d hoped to reopen the spot as the Crimson & Gold Tavern in the spring. But in February, they were denied a liquor…

Hosts behaving badly at Gaia Bistro

It was a delightful Saturday morning on the sprawling front porch at Gaia Bistro, 1551 South Pearl Street. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and I was very much enjoying a savory crepe, stuffed full of succulent duck confit, creamy, decadent mornay and fluffy scrambled eggs. A friend was…

Last Night: Westword’s Dish party at Exdo Event Center

Dish, Westword’s annual party celebrating the local dining scene, went down last night at the Exdo Event Center, attracting dozens of local restaurateurs, bartenders, business types, hungry eaters and thirsty drinkers. Photographer Teal Nipp brings back these photos: Food Porn from Westword’s Dish. Here are some of the highlights:…

Part two: Chef and Tell with Roberto Diaz from Mezcal

Roberto Diaz Mezcal 3230 East Colfax Avenue 303-322-5219 www.mezcalcolorado.com This is part two of Lori Midson’s Q&A with Roberto Diaz, executive chef of Mezcal. To read part one of that interview, click here. What you’d like to see more of in Denver from a culinary standpoint: Mexican food for Mexicans…

Top five ways to eat like a foodie

With the advent of the interwebs (big ups to Al Gore), just about anyone who eats — and yaps about it — can now be classified as a “Food Expert,” or “foodie.” Everywhere around us are douchey tools and butter-laden ladies who think that they are far superior to mere…

Queen of Sheba on Colfax offers a royal feast

Elissa and I studied the front of our menus for a moment, then looked up at the same time. “Uh, FEED each other?” she giggled. According to the history of Ethiopian food printed there, the proper way to enjoy a feast in that country is by linking arms and lovingly…

Tonight: The final dish on Dish

Cafe Society is off to Dish, Westword’s annual celebration of the Denver dining scene, which debuts tonight in its new location at the Exdo Events Center, 1399 35th Street. We hear there are a few general admission tickets left; they’re $40 at the door, with a portion of the proceeds…

Smashburger opens first location in downtown Denver

Dylan BurkhardtThe new Smashburger in the Tabor Center​ After a brief delay because of a thirteen-inch construction snafu, Smashburger finally has a downtown location, in the Tabor Center. This is the eleventh Smashburger in the metro area — but the homegrown chain, which got its start three years ago on…

Guess where I’m eating?

You don’t come to this joint for tacos — not because they’re not good, but because they’re superseded by the restaurant’s namesake — but the tacos, doused with salsa and judiciously sprinkled with Mexican queso, deserve their own star billing. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who…

Park Burger’s housemade veggie burger: No beef necessary

For a while, it seemed like a new gourmet burger joint was opening every few minutes in the metro area. Although they’re not as ubiquitous as Starbucks (yet), restaurants specializing in well-made burgers were clearly a big trend. The question — at least as far as this Veggie Girl is…

Kelly Liken returns for tonight’s Top Chef reunion episode

We’ll be seeing Vail’s Kelly Liken at the Top Chef Reunion tonight. Kelly was among the four finalists who went to Singapore, then was sent home in the penultimate episode — but not before cooking many dishes that won the judges’ praise. Interestingly, Kelly said several times on the air…