This time around, Panzano is the real deal. When I first reviewed the snazzy spot on the ground floor of the then-new Hotel Monaco (“Bread Alert,” July 1, 1999), the lacquered focaccia in the window was a good indication of just how authentic and interesting the Italian fare inside would…
We felt like we’d stumbled into the pages of Charlotte’s Web. In one pen, a donkey slowly and thoughtfully chewed his hay. In another, a pig scratched his butt against the fence, stopping only to take a whiz. Goats fell all over each other trying to get at the food…
Some of the best days of my childhood started with pancakes. If I stumbled out of bed to the clang and clatter of Mom mixing batter in the kitchen, I knew she had a rare day off. I knew she’d be spending time at home, with me. And I knew…
Forget Cipro. Right now, a shortage of mashed potatoes has far more potential to do Denver in. Not that we should start petitioning the government to remove the patent on Yukon golds just yet. But at the rate that we’re consuming comfort foods, Betty Crocker needs to watch her back…
I discovered Cuban food on the streets of Miami a dozen or so years ago when I lived in Naples, two hours’ drive across Alligator Alley. The first time I wandered through Little Havana, I felt as though I’d been transported to another country: English as a second language, sidewalk…
Restaurants that don’t change with the times — and tastes — can find themselves washed up. After seven years, Coos Bay Bistro is long overdue for a course correction. Brett Davy opened the restaurant in 1994, taking over a small space that had been home to a neighborhood Italian joint…
Our order read like the trailer for a porn video. Some foreplay, please, and 69 would be great. We definitely wanted a multiple orgasm (who wouldn’t?), and the rock ‘n’ roll and magic mushrooms, too. And could we finish that off with a climax? If your average porn flick doesn’t…
Sucking the meat out of a shrimp’s head may be as close to exotic adventure as we’re going to get in the near future. So there’s no time like the present to visit Singapore Grill — and be transported to Malaysia. Malaysian cuisine is a variation on the foods of…
At the end of a yoga session, participants often stand with their hands placed together as if in prayer, bow to the instructor and say, “Namasté” — Sanskrit for “I bow to the divine in you.” The word, which is also a traditional Nepalese greeting, carries both respect and gratitude,…
It’s not easy to find a restaurant with character in the chain-linked suburbs, much less a spot as charming as Sage Southwestern Grill. Sage occupies a cottage that was formerly the home of Geppetto’s, an Italian eatery that was also quite charming. But when Rich and Cheryl Brown took over…
The lobster was just sitting there, taunting me. I’d ordered it some time ago, before we’d munched through a few appetizers, and now my friend was halfway through his entree. From my seat in the dining room, I could see my lobster waiting on the edge of the server’s station,…
Admittedly, Luigi’s Bent Noodle will never win awards for its ceci con la tempia di maiale del girono dei Morti — in fact, it doesn’t even serve the dish. But then, folks in Littleton and Aurora, where the two Luigi’s are located, aren’t really the type to go for pig’s…
Upscale Mexican food? Denver diners think they’ve been there, done that. “I shouldn’t have to pay $20 for rice and beans,” we whine, even as we shell out the same amount for upscale noodles and tomatoes. “We already have plenty of Mexican restaurants here,” we claim, then rush to try…
Next to the word “charming” in the dictionary, there should be a picture of Pesce Fresco. Everything about this bistro-style wine bar — from the small but well-chosen menu of contemporary dishes to the warm, comfy dining room to the large and well-chosen wine list — appeals to the senses…
The Fourth Story opened to raves in March 1995 — but its kitchen must have come equipped with a revolving door. Original chef Terri Rippeto left after just three months to open Potager; her replacement, Steve Jaeckel, couldn’t cut the mustard. Jess Roybal took this eatery that sits atop the…
Denny Kang thinks that size matters. “I don’t know why people in this area are so stingy with their fish,” says Kang, the owner of Fujiyama Grill & Sushi. “The pieces are much smaller here than you would get at a sushi bar in Japan, and they cost much more…
What color is green chile supposed to be? In the average Mexican restaurant in Denver, the answer would seem to be reddish or orange, maybe even an orange-greenish hue tending toward gray. Some bowls of green chile contain enough jalapeños to speckle them a vivid emerald, no matter the base…
The sandwich board standing beside Brighton Boulevard, in one of the more, um, interesting parts of town, carried an irresistible message: The hand-lettered words “Billy Bob’s Big Ass Burgers” and an arrow pointing to the right. We turned, of course, swerving the minivan behind a Conoco station and pulling into…
Japanese rice-bowl joints are supposed to be fast, cheap and nutritious. If they were just fast and cheap, they’d be McDonald’s. If they were just fast and nutritious, they’d be Juice Stops. And if they were just cheap and nutritious, they’d be U-Pick berry farms. You get the picture: Remove…
When the woman in the little black dress spit a mouthful of Champagne at her date, everyone in Citrus Champagne and Vodka Lounge tensed up. Was she now going to slap him across the face? Throw her glass across the room? Shoot him and drop the gun on her way…
A cowboy walked into the bar and ordered a Bud. “Sorry, we don’t have Bud,” the bartender said. “Well, what do you have?” the cowboy asked, adjusting his hat and hitching one Wrangler-clad leg up on the stool. The bartender threw out a few microbrew names, none of which seemed…
While waiting for our food to arrive at Tom’s Diner, we gaze out the window and watch two drug deals, one hooker pickup and a drunk depositing the contents of his stomach on the sidewalk. And our food arrives fast. “Oooh, sorry about that,” the server says as she spots…
