Sugar High: Cake and shake at D Bar Desserts

Even though Keegan Gerhard and his wife, Lisa Bailey, opened D Bar Desserts, 1475 East 17th Avenue, just under two years ago, it took about two minutes for the sugar house to emerge as one of the city’s premiere dessert spots. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday,…

Guess where I’m eating before I turn Jewish?

Like a good Jew-in-training, I’ve adopted a ritual of taking down a massive bowl of vermicelli noodles covered in pork before heading to my Intro to Judaism class. The eternal question, the one no rabbi can answer, is this: Who’s serving up the noodles?…

How does Michelle Obama’s garden grow? Find out on Iron Chef America

First, Michelle Obama caught the attention of carrot stalkers when she corralled a group of Washington, D.C., schoolkids to help her garden grow on the White House’s South Lawn; she also pimped her garden on Sesame Street. Then Spike Mendelsohn, burger wizard, former Top Chef Chicago contestant and the exec…

Limon grows a jazz lounge

Yesterday I talked with Alex Gurevich about his plans for making pizzas at the former Mojitos/Mel’s/Montecito/Piscos/Dudley’s space at 1120 East Sixth Avenue, right smack in the middle of Sixth Avenue’s restaurant row. It sounded like good news. Despite some bad moves over the years, I think Gurevich is a good…

Tonight: Get your game on at the SportsBook grand opening

The SportsBook, a new nightclub, sports bar and restaurant whose menu is overseen by chef/restaurateur Michel Wahaltere (9th Door, MiniBAR, 5 Degrees), is holding its grand opening tonight with complimentary drinks and food from 7 to 9 p.m. In between grubbing on Wahaltere’s small plates and comfort foods, sports buffs…

Guess where I was eating?

If the panhandlers trying to shake me down last night as I left this restaurant on the edge of downtown had been smart, they would have grabbed my leftovers rather than asked for change. But maybe they know I would have fought to the death for the last bits of…

Up Close: Cheeky Monk

See more of Mark Manger’s photos from Cheeky Monk, the subject of this week’s restaurant review, at westword.com/slideshow…

All masks off: Another critic shows his pretty face

Robb Walsh, restaurant critic for our sister paper, the Houston Press, book author and genial man-about-town, has followed what has now become a well-trod path among the rapidly decreasing ranks of full-time restaurant critics: He has blown his own cover and chosen to face the world as a non-anonymous critic…

Update: Staffing Up at Mojitos

Okay, so yesterday I used my not insignificant Staffing Up mojo to give some suggestions as to what ought to be done with the former Mojitos , which closed last week at 1120 East Sixth Avenue. And then this morning, guess what happened? I get a phone call from Alex…

Today’s daily dose of food porn, courtesy of C Y Steak

Just in case you haven’t heard, there’s a new steak house in town — and it comes with a side of strip … tease. Cliff Young, one of Denver’s best-known restaurateurs, recently returned from a 12-year extended holiday in France at the Chateau Cote d’Or to open C Y Steak,…

Guess where I’m eating?

One potato, two potato, three potato … That’s it for clues. You, too, can be a potato head if you can guess where I’m eating…

Part two: Chef and Tell with Mary Nguyen of Parallel 17

This is part two of Lori Midson’s interview with Mary Nguyen, exec chef of Parallel 17. You can read part one of Midson’s interview with Nguyen here. Most embarrassing moment in the kitchen: Before I started cooking, I worked in finance. When I was just starting out in this industry,…

The Royal Hilltop gives its customers reason to stay loyal

Years ago, I stumbled on the Royal Hilltop, a faux-British pub in the middle of a suburban strip mall that, despite its geographical and cultural challenges, was a fine neighborhood bar for those truly in love with greasy fish fries, hand-pulled Fullers, pints of black and creamy Murphy’s stout, and…

What’s Cooking: Pete Marczyk tells an oxtail

Braised Oxtails and Sugo with Homemade Pappardelle Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them, and…

More Tales from the Nob Hill: Hob-nobbing with Doctor Ray

Last week I spent some time at the Nob Hill Inn, a great dive at 420 East Colfax Avenue, chatting with the regulars — some of whom have irregular hobbies. Doctor Ray takes care of the homeless in the neighborhood. Outreach, he told me. Getting them into shelters for the…

Staffing Up: Goin’ south at Mojitos

Buchi Cafe Cubano is a great Cuban restaurant. Step inside Cuba Cuba on a good night, and you need an oxygen tank (or a powerful constitution) because the air in the bar is like breathing muddled mint and rum. But while Denver has some Cuban restaurants, what this city does…

XO Noodle Bar is no more

XO Noodle Bar, the hip (but hardly happening) noodle bar that opened in June at 1612 Wazee Street in the Jet Hotel, shuttered on Saturday. “We totally believe in the concept,” insists exec chef Jose Guerreco. But, he adds, “it was a huge struggle to get people in that back…

Chef and Tell with Mary Nguyen of Parallel 17

“Food is the one thing that I grew up knowing would bring family and friends together, soothe wounds and mend hearts as well as improve any party or celebration,” says Mary Nguyen, chef-owner of the Vietnamese-French bistro Parallel 17. “I entered this profession because it’s the way I express my…

Tonight: March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction

Tonight, the Colorado Chapter of the March of Dimes will host its annual Signature Chefs Auction at 6 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Denver, 650 15th Street. Tickets to the event are $150 per person and include small plates from many of Denver’s top chefs, as well as live music…