John Hickenlooper could be very late to dinner

Mayor John Hickenlooper is stranded in Washington, D.C., where he went to make a fast speech — and now is stuck in that snowbound city. Which means he probably won’t make the Colorado Restaurant Association “Candidates & Cocktails” event that starts at 5 p.m. today at Elway’s in Cherry Creek,…

HBurgerCo opening pushed back

HBurgerCo, the new gourmet burger and contemporary cocktail joint going into 1555 Blake Street (fair warning: the entrance is on the 16th Street Mall) didn’t open yesterday, as originally planned. A series of parties and friends-and-families dinners over the last week highlighted a few glitches in the new space, which…

Zoning code overhaul gets a scheduling overhaul

It’s not easy to find a cure for the common code, as Kenny Be showed in “”Everybody Must Get Zoned,” his cartoon feature that lives on the web and inside numerous lockers in city facilities. Denver’s zoning code is more than fifty years old — so a five-month delay in…

Medical marijuana dispensaries could pay Denver $2.5 million for pot

“We know we’re on the right track if nobody’s happy,” says state representative Tom Massey of his medical marijuana proposal, and he’s right about one thing: No one’s happy. Supporters of medical marijuana will be sharing their unhappiness at a Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight…

Little India chain getting bigger

The 4,547 square foot space in Belmar vacated by the doomed Mark & Isabella and, before that, Chama, has been snapped up — by the fourth location of Little India, which should open this spring. “Belmar is very excited about this new addition,” spokeswoman Lisa Wieting says of the new…

Toyoto Prius concerns accelerate

Despite numerous complaints from customers about accidental acceleration, the Prius was not included in Toyota’s recent recall of eight models. But this week concerns about the Prius have accelerated, and Steve Wozniak — yes, the co-founder of Apple — has been in the driver’s seat, steering the conversation to problems…

Paul Weissman serves up a remembrance of things pasta

Paul Weissman has the best resume of anyone at the State Capitol: He’s a manager at the Blue Parrot Restaurant, the Italian joint in Louisville where he also bartends. And this isn’t just any Italian joint: The Blue Parrot has been open since 1919, and is owned by the Colacci…

Daniel Junge, Academy Award nominee, goes to pot

Daniel Junge is an accomplished filmmaker who just netted an Academy Award nomination for his short documentary The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner — and he manages to make his movies from a home base of Denver. Junge, who traveled to the Amazonian jungle to film They Killed Sister…

Swallows opens wide at 3090 Downing

No sooner had we published our January roll call of restaurant openings and closings than we got word of a new watering hole that opened last night at 3090 Downing Street. That’s the former home of Blackberries Grill, the Kiva and the legendary Tosh’s Hacienda (whose southeast Denver offshoot recently…

Patient-physician relationship goes to pot

“I don’t think any of us who were here a year ago thought we would be here debating a new industry in our state, but the truth is, it’s here,” said state senator Chris Romer, after his much-pared down medical marijuana bill was passed by the full Colorado Senate yesterday…

Medical marijuana dispensaries will soon need papers

The medical marijuana industry in Denver has already been compared to the wild, wild West — but those land offices where miners and homesteaders competed to file claims may look mild compared to the Wellington E. Webb building next week, when the city starts accepting medical marijuana dispensary licenses on…

Jason Bosch: A MasterMind takes his show on the road

Jason Bosch is a MasterMind, one of those artistic adventurers not just exploring the political/cultural landscape of this town, but changing it. For his efforts, he was honored with a 2009 MasterMind award. And soon the founder of ArgusFest will be taking his show on the road, working with the…

Body scanning at DIA: There’s no protection against bad taste!

“You’re my favorite,” the TSA worker told me earlier this morning as I presented my carefully sorted bins — computer in its own container, liquids tucked into the appropriate size bag (no big, but my almost empty, toothpaste tube, was confiscated last trip), shoes and coat — and watched them…

Chipotle’s Steve Ells on Oprah today

From the moment it opened at 1644 East Evans Avenue, close by the University of Denver, Chipotle Mexican Grill a hip storefront joint that served giant burritos, was a giant hit. Three years later, the homegrown chain had three Denver locations — and a notion of going national, as Westword…

Wake-Up Call: Toyota keeps Prius pedal to the metal

Toyota has recalled 2.3 million vehicles and halted production on eight of its models, including the Camry and Corolla. But Toyota’s “stop sale” order does not involve the Prius. And that could be a problem, since numerous owners of that model have complained about mysterious — and sometimes deadly– acceleration,…

Update on Sheehan replacement

“You should have filled Jason’s spot before letting him go to Seattle,” one disgruntled reader wrote in the comments section after “Pot Luck,” William Breathes’s piece on 8 Rivers. “This review was not worth reading. What a disappointment.” First things first: Like Juliet Wittman’s article on The Kitchen, the 8…

Wake-Up Call: Baby Jesus says goodbye

Last night, for the first time in eight weeks, the garish holiday lighting of the Denver City and County Building was not my night-light. That’s because the city had finally flicked the switch, turning off the display at City Hall and packing up everything on the steps: Rudolph and his…

Wake-Up Call: Naptime in a land called Colorado

Governor Bill Ritter will celebrate Colorado Tourism Day this afternoon at the State Capitol, and there’s real reason to celebrate: The embarrassingly awful, Joan Rivers-ish “Let’s Talk Colorado” campaign has disappeared almost entirely, with just a few “Let’s Talk Colorado with the Locals Who Love It” videos buried on the…