Arcana started out with an ambitious, confused mission that led to an identity crisis. But under chef/owner Kyle Mendenhall, the Boulder restaurant is focusing on the menu, and the result is promising.
After a multi-year interlude during which he launched more casual concepts, chef Jeff Osaka has returned to his fine-dining roots with 12@MADISON, an exquisite restaurant that corrects the flaws of the first twelve without compromising the artistry and fluidity that put this California native on the Colorado map.
Que Bueno Suerte! was designed to bring modern Mexican to Old South Pearl. But there’s just no escaping the feeling that you should be getting more for your money.
At Dio Mio, a small eatery that opened in RiNo last fall, Alex Figura and Spencer White are trying to correct pasta’s second-class status one handmade noodle at a time in a minimalist fast-casual spot.
Things are going swimmingly at Fish N Beer, the RiNo restaurant from Aniedra Nichols and Kevin Morrison that opened late in 2016.
Beer is big, and wine is ripe for a turnaround. Chris Fehlinger and Jon Lipshutz, longtime New Yorkers who came to Denver via Los Angeles and Santa Fe, opened Clyde last fall in the former Capitol Hill home of Le Central. They’ve worked hard to make their concept feel fresh, but the glass seems half full.
In the ten years since Libby and Brad Birky opened SAME Cafe, the country has gone in and out of a recession, political landscapes have shifted, and issues that weren’t on anyone’s radar — such as no-tipping policies and living wages — have become national flashpoints. The Birkys have changed, too, expanding their operation, adapting to the community’s needs, and posing even bigger questions about what SAME Cafe — short for So All May Eat — can do to support its guests. One thing, however, has never wavered: their commitment to the fight against hunger, and for this, their pay-what-you-can restaurant has become a national model.
Richard Sandoval has retooled the decade-old Zengo, but it’s not an improvement.
As a restaurant critic, I’m often considering minutiae. Was the steak overcooked? Was the server informed? How were the scallops plated? These details aren’t insignificant; taken together, they determine which restaurants are worthy of our most precious commodities — i.e., time and money. But I often wish I could judge…
Is Avelina where the pendulum begins to swing in the other direction? At some point in the future, maybe in three years, maybe in five, will we look back on the opening of this quiet downtown restaurant and trace the return of the soft-spoken, the sophisticated, the beautiful to the…
Josh Wolkon, founder of Secret Sauce restaurant group, hasn’t jumped on the obvious bandwagons. He hasn’t opened a taco joint or an intensive nose-to-tail program. He hasn’t ventured into an abandoned warehouse in RiNo or joined the crowd on Tennyson Street, and he doesn’t grow his own produce on a…
Paul and Aileen Reilly, the brother-sister team behind Beast + Bottle, couldn’t have picked a better spot for Coperta, their Italian restaurant that opened at the height of summer. It’s located on the edge of downtown across from Benedict Fountain Park, so after a leisurely meal, you can head out…
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Mister Tuna is an unfortunate name, suggestive of a cartoon mascot in a canned-tuna commercial. Saying it aloud makes you feel silly. But Mister Tuna — the institution, not the moniker — is nothing to laugh at. Instead, it’s the restaurant that…
More than 100,000 people moved to Colorado last year. Is that good news? Depends on whom you ask. Rapid growth is good for developers, who are turning forgotten pockets of town into hot real estate. It’s good for the economy, with dollars flowing into construction. It’s good for restaurateurs, who…
The only thing I want when I’m eating tacos is more tacos, and maybe another margarita. I’ve never once thought, “Wow, I wish I had a slice of pizza right now.” Yet there I was, doing what everyone around me at Mas Kaos was doing: chasing a few chile-soaked tacos…
Denver has lost a number of old-time red-sauce joints recently, including Patsy’s, which closed last month after nearly a century. Taken together with the rise in gluten-free dining, you might think it’s time to say arrivederci to Italian food. Instead, the scene is more competitive than it has been in…
When I put away my wigs (as if!) and pseudonyms at the end of 2015, I thought I was retiring as restaurant critic. I loved the job, but after nearly five years of reviewing, both at Westword and a previous publication, it was time for a break. My kids needed…
When I travel, I plan my days around meals, not sights. Doesn’t a lemon granita, with lemons plucked from a nearby grove and turned into a tart slushie, say as much about the gentle breezes of Sorrento —and the lifestyle of those lucky enough to call it home — as…
Several years ago, Jeremy Kittelson found himself at a crossroads. After his departure from Ambria, the Iowa native realized that the best way to move up was, paradoxically, to go down. “I came in [to Root Down] with no title or role, took way less money than other offers I…
Move over, spaghetti and meatballs. As a native of Sicily, Francesco Spatola knows there’s more to Italian cuisine than red sauce and pasta. “Sicilian cuisine,” he explains, “is the result of the cultural overlapping of Greek, Spanish, French and Arabic cultures over thousands of years.” At Spatola, the restaurant and…
When I asked veteran restaurateur Dylan Moore what drew him to the kitchen, he echoed a sentiment I’ve heard many times over the years. “I always thought chefs were studs,” he told me. “Part pirate, part rock star, part artist.” The fact that he grew up in the industry —…
When Ryan Witcher set out on the increasingly well-beaten path that leads from the coasts to Colorado, he did so for the same reasons that I’m here, and maybe why you’re here, too: work and quality of life. “The offer to partner with one of the best chefs in one…
