Restaurants

As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…

Non-traditional weddings are the new black. The bride wears whatever she wants, the wedding party jams to Kanye as they bebop down the aisle and beaches, backyards, and city parks have replaced chapels and churches. But a couple in Japan recently took the cake (or the sashimi, more appropriately) for…

To continue to spread holiday cheer, we present the most memorable quips, words of wisdom, epiphanies, jabs, wisecracks and digs of the year culled from the last five months of Chef and Tell interviews. Chef and Tell with Goose Sorensen, exec chef of Solera What’s never in your kitchen: Chefs…

Not long ago, I wrote an ode to the joys of the baklava at Ali Baba Grill in Golden. Soon after, we had another piece — a Sugar High report — concerning the baklava at Jerusalem. And then I got this note from Jeff, the baklava maker at Phoenician Kabob…

We’re taking a mini vacation from the Cafe Society blog today and tomorrow — so all may eat, drink and sleep — but your regularly scheduled bloggery will be right back here on Monday. Enjoy the break…

This is part two of my interview with Goose Sorensen, executive chef of Solera. To read part one of this interview, click here. Culinary inspirations: Many of the chefs in Denver — Jamey Fader, Tyler Wiard, Matty Selby, Sean Yontz, Brian Laird, Alex Seidel and Scotty Parker — inspire me…

Come on, Jay. Let’s just eat.” Laura and I had been arguing the whole way, skidding through icy streets under a gray sky bruised with clouds — a low-intensity border skirmish in the running insurgency of our marriage. We were running late in the sluggish traffic; I’d already called the…

When I make a sandwich, it is an admittedly pathetic (though oddly comforting) thing: two slices of white bread laid with two slices of individually wrapped American cheese, thrown in the nuker and microwaved for ten seconds. That’s it. I call it my white-trash grilled cheese. When Noah Stephens or…

There’s nothing like a properly muddled Old Fashioned and enough Christmas decorations to light-bright Clark Griswold’s house ten times over to get me in the holiday spirit. Can you guess in what winter wonderland I was drinking? Special bonus: Every Friday, anyone who gave the first correct answer to any…

This week, William Breathes reviews the Ganja Gourmet at 1810 South Broadway, the city’s first — and likely last — restaurant specializing in dishes containing medical marijuana: “The Ganja Gourmet,” he writes, “is not so much a restaurant as a dispensary where you can hang out, smoke pot and eat…

First off, thanks to everyone for their suggestions on where I should eat my last review dinner in Denver. The comments have been excellent, the suggestions helpful, and the current leader seems to be Casa Bonita — which I assume is rising fast because so many of you just want…

She is the culinary genius behind Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Along with friend and chef Jeremiah Tower, she pioneered California Cuisine and has had a heavy influence in promoting sustainable, locally grown food sources for restaurants. Her Chez Panisse Foundation introduced the Edible Schoolyard, a program that provides funding and…

Italians know how to do a lot of things right. They make sexy cars, damn good wine and great cheeses. Most important, they know how to celebrate Christmas Eve. On the night referred to as “the vigil” or La Vigilia, Italian-American families gorge themselves on seven-course seafood feasts. It’s typically…

In 1992, Goose Sorensen, then 23, was living in Casper, a fine Wyoming town with bars and brawls and women, but there was something missing, something that Sorensen was longing to have but didn’t. That something was — wait for it — Bennigan’s. “I totally wanted to cook at Bennigan’s,…

Every day that passes reminds me of another thing I’m going to miss about this town when I finally take my leave in just a few short weeks. Today, while running through a list of every restaurant I’d reviewed in 2009, I found my March 18 love letter to Bones–Frank…

Santa brought a brand-new bar back to spruce up this classic dive. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Every Friday, anyone who gave the first correct answer to any of the week’s Where am I drinking/eating posts will be entered in a pool — and we’ll pull out…

Colt & Gray has been open just four months, but owner and exec Nelson Perkins had been working on the restaurant for years — in his head, mostly, or on paper. He brought on Brad Rowell, a buddy from C-school, to stand as chef de cuisine and then the two…

There are very few restaurants in (and around) Denver that do oval pizzas and serve them on wooden peels. This is one of those places. If you’ve been here, you’ll get this in a snap. If not, then you’ll have a new joint that’s definitely worth checking out in the…

Jerusalem knows Middle Eastern food. The family establishment at 1890 East Evans Avenue has been in business for over thirty years and the owners pride themselves on their bargain prices and freshly-made food. This goes for their dessert case, too, which is overflowing with buttery phyllo creations, honeyed cakes and…

Early last week, India House, the curry den at 1514 Blake Street, was seized for non-payment of taxes. But owner Ghugi Singh was able to cough up the $12,739.91 demanded by the state, which he paid in full to the Colorado Department of Revenue. “The business was released back to…

At this time of year, experts keep sending out seasonal survival guides. Local dietitian Suzanne Martin, for example, recently released her list of seven secrets for eating healthy during the holidays. Here they are — and my responses:…

As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…