When this Ask the Critic thing started, it was with a very simple conceit: that I would use this space to answer some of the myriad questions about the Denver food scene that come across my desk every week. Wait, “myriad” means “four,” right? No? Damn… Anyway, over the past…
Despite the half-dozen “For Lease” signs posted in the storefront windows in Old Town Arvada, at least one restaurant is actually moving in. Udi’s Bread Cafe, which already has locations in Stapleton (7357 East 29th Avenue); Louisville (185 South 104th Street); Aurora (12700 East 19th Street); and north Denver (101…
Damn. Gourmet magazine, the Condé Nast publication that’s been pimping food porn for nearly seventy years, is done. The somber news, which was delivered in a memo from Condé CEO Chuck Townsend, didn’t come as much of a shock to industry insiders, many of whom have predicted the magazine’s demise…
It’s been a fantastic five years for Frasca Food & Wine, the Boulder restaurant at 1738 Pearl Street that chef Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson and master sommelier Bobby Stuckey opened in 2004. Even now, Frasca is still the restaurant-of-the-moment, the food shrine by which all others in Colorado are judged. And…
John Burr, owner of the Walnut Room at 3131 Walnut Street, spent two years searching for a location for his next venture. And now the Walnut Room Pizzeria is taking shape in the former home of Freaky’s, a space at 2 Broadway that suffered a fire last year. Originally, Burr…
The playground at Smith Elementary becomes quite crowded on Thursday afternoons. That’s when parents, teachers, students and community members gather to purchase fresh organic vegetables and fruits. The sales are designed to raise money to start a community garden — but they also educate students on the importance of locally…
What you might have missed this week on Cafe Society while getting your free jolt of instant java at Starbucks: A second outpost of Toast, the kick-ass pancake palace, took up residence in the former Village Inn space in Cherry Creek. Fresko, an upscale Mexican restaurant in the Tech Center…
If you read yesterday’s post about chef James Mazzio’s exit from Icehouse Tavern and the uh…unusual changes taking place there, you already have the background for this story. But for those of you who might’ve missed it (and are too lazy to click on the link above), here are the…
Talk about green energy! For a slide show of Fruition Farms, Alex Seidel’s ten-acre parcel of land in Larkspur, click here. Seidel is also the chef-owner of Fruition, at 1313 East Sixth Avenue, and the subject of this week’s Chef and Tell interview…
While I am not generally one for hyping the cause of vegetarian-this or vegan-that, there has always been something about the art (yes, art) of vegan and gluten-free baking that has tickled my geek bone. It’s the same instinct that makes me love the molecular gastronomy menu done by Ian…
At last week’s Mile High Chef Competition between Argyll Gastropub cooker Sergio Romero and Jing exec chef Jay Spickelmier (who emerged victorious), the hit dish of the night was Spickelmier’s Tuscan lamb and white bean soup, the recipe of which he was happy to share with us. It’s the perfect…
As you already know from spending every second of your spare time immersed in the Cafe Society blog, Alex Seidel, exec chef-owner of Fruition (1313 East Sixth Avenue), recently bought a ten-acre farm in Larkspur, where he’s producing vegetables and fruits, raising goats and chickens and, soon, sheep. He’s also…
Watch Karl Allis, restaurant manager at Atomic Cowboy and Fat Sully’s and an occasional on-air personality at KKFN (his dream is to have a show called “The Hungus Amongus”), takes a shot at winning a million bucks on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, which airs at 9:30 a.m. today…
No restaurant has ever come up with house-made potato chips that taste even close to as good as those I get out of a bag. Potato chips are one of the very few things in this world that have benefited from the industrialization of our food chain, that are better…
Starbucks, the giant java company with a storefront on a street corner near you, is joining the instant coffee market with a free taste test in every store beginning at 10 a.m. today and continuing through Monday, October 5. The national chain officially introduced VIA Ready Brew, its trio of…
We’re big fans of licorice, from deep black salted discs to bright red strawberry ropes. That’s just by way of saying that while we appreciate the real stuff, we’re not snobs when it comes to fruit-flavored tubes that have never even heard of licorice root. But even with an affinity…
Just got word from Denver chef/restaurateur Michel Wahaltere that he’s been bought out of MiniBAR (222 Columbine Street), the five-month-old miniature lounge (and unofficial viewing headquarters for ABC’s Cougar Night) in Cherry Creek. According to Wahaltere, MiniBAR owner Bill Ward is “taking full control of that vision and concept.” That…
Toast owners Bill Blake and Jason Parfenoff promised that the second outlet of their excellent breakfast and lunch joint (the original Toast is at 2700 West Bowles Avenue in Littleton), would open today in Cherry Creek at 222 Columbine Street — and guess what? It actually happened.At this very moment,…
Some of you are getting pretty cocky about this “Guess where I’m eating” game. And so I present to you this simple photo. Just looks like a bowl of pho, right? Same bowl of pho you could get at a hundred different shops around town. But in the picture, there’s…
This is part two of Lori Midson’s interview with Alex Seidel, the executive chef-owner of Fruition You can read the first part of Midson’s interview with Seidel here. Proudest moment as a chef: Taking our entire staff of 21 people from Fruition to Portland, Oregon, for a food and wine…
The motives were so noble: Fresko is Mexican casual cuisine, promised the menu, a unique place, an experience, and a taste only known in Mexico. Fresko is honored to be in Colorado. Fresko is genuine, culture, quality, passion, freshness, ambiance, with a staff that loves to share. Experience metropolitan Mexican…
For a year, the owners of 6901 East Colfax Avenue looked for a tenant to fill what had once been the Drift Inn, then Joe’s West of Memphis BBQ, then the Spinnin’ Chicken. Now, finally, a deal’s in the works: The people behind Spicy Thai at 2235 Oneida Street have…
