Too much noise in a restaurant isn’t good, unless you don’t like your date and are glad for the excuse not to talk. But what about the opposite: too much quiet? That’s what I considered one night at Solitaire, which opened this spring in the lovingly renovated former Highland’s Garden…

The best barbecue comes at the hands of pit masters, right? Not necessarily. Long before Coy Webb opened Roaming Buffalo Bar-B-Que with his wife, Rachael, he cut his chops as a chef, graduating from the Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale and working in professional kitchens for nearly two decades. Why would…

This isn’t a barbecue town. But while we may not have a nationally recognized style, Denver diners have strong opinions about the ’cue they do find here. Carolina transplants grumble about ketchupy sauces. Uprooted Texans mutter about any kind of sauce, ketchupy or otherwise, poured over their brisket. Barbecue lovers…

When chef-owner Lon Symensma traveled throughout Southeast Asia prior to opening Cho77, which I review this week, he was gathering more than inspiration for the street foods that would distinguish this restaurant from its sister restaurant, ChoLon. He was also gathering items to give the restaurant its authentic feel. “We…

If you’ve ever read a series in real time, eager for the next book to be written, you’ll understand how I’ve felt the past few years, waiting for the sequel to ChoLon. It’s not that chef-owner Lon Symensma hasn’t been involved in other projects since he launched his flagship nearly…

Families comprise a big part of the clientele at Four Friends Kitchen, a breakfast-and-lunch spot that opened in Stapleton this spring. That’s why the eatery hands out retro Etch A Sketches, crayons and activity books by the armful, and why banquettes are lined with jokes such as “Why was the…

Cities from Los Angeles to Chicago are hiking the minimum wage. Here in Denver, Edwin Zoe of Zoe Ma Ma, which I review this week, has taken matters into his own hands with what he calls a “sustainability initiative fee.” The 15 percent fee, which is automatically added to the…

It was hot, one of the first truly hot days of summer, and the sun had an intensity that caught me off guard. Saner types might have taken a seat on the plaza, where throngs of people had kicked off their shoes — and, in the case of a few…

Nothing says summer like sangria. Cucina Colore, the Cherry Creek mainstay that I review this week, serves both red and white versions. I’m partial to the white, with cantaloupe, mango, pineapple and papaya that all pack a fruity punch from the brandy, orange curacao and peach schnapps in which they’re…

Cucina Colore has had an enviable run. As other restaurants in Cherry Creek North have come and gone, this beloved Italian eatery, with its big windows and landscaped patios, has kept cooking for more than twenty years. Founded by chef-owner Venanzio Momo, who once owned a coterie of Colore-branded outfits,…

As Denver has shaken off its roots as a steak-loving cowtown, top chefs have branched out, serving new-American, farm-to-table, nose-to-tail fare that feels more urgent and creative. But steakhouses themselves aren’t passe; the interpretation of them is. And it’s precisely that interpretation that the Summit Steakhouse, which I review this…

If you’re young enough to associate phone calls with FaceTime and restaurants with mixologists and communal tables, you might find the Summit Steakhouse a bit of a living-history museum. Founded in Aurora in 1977, the sprawling 9,000-square-foot eatery recalls the days when fine restaurants showed off their fineness with white…

In January, when the rest of the city was sporting orange in preparation for the big game against the Colts, I was counting down to another, far less publicized event: the opening of the Chowder Room, a casual seafood restaurant on a busy stretch of South Broadway. If you’ve lived…

I’m not the first to fall under the spell of tonkotsu ramen, with its mysteriously alluring pork broth that hides a world of flavor in every white, cloudy spoonful. Jeff Osaka, chef-owner of the month-old Osaka Ramen, the latest entrant in Denver’s ramen war, has spent years thinking about the…

I’ve been planning food vacations for decades, a strategy that has led to many memorable meals, from a hearty onion tart in Strasbourg, France, to a cinnamon-dusted, pigeon-filled b’stilla in Marrakech. A year and a half ago, I added another globe-trotting dish to the list: tonkotsu ramen at a hole-in-the-wall…

Over the past few weeks we’ve been exploring the profound impact that chefs such as Jennifer Jasinski and Max MacKissock have had on cooks who’ve worked for them, people like Dana Rodriguez (Work & Class) and Joshua Bitz (Meadowlark Kitchen), who went on to open their own successful restaurants. Years ago, Alex Seidel –…

When I asked a friend to meet me at North County, a taco-and-tequila joint that opened in Lowry’s Hangar 2 development this winter, I was a little embarrassed. “Can you do 5:30?” I asked, knowing how impossibly early that would seem to a guy who usually powers off hours later…

On Mother’s Day, we gave a collective shout-out to the moms in our lives. But mothers aren’t the only ones who help us reach our potential. Last week I wrote about the impact that well-known chef Max MacKissock had on Joshua Bitz, who worked with MacKissock for seven years and…

Maybe things would have been different in Portofino. There, a table at Lo Stella Ristorante would have been al fresco, steps from the harbor, with the sound of water lapping gently at boats. Servers would have spoken Italian, a language I learned so long ago that it’s only music to me…

Chefs have a reputation for being hotheads: slamming pans, cursing and the like. But when I called Joshua Bitz to learn more about the background of Meadowlark Kitchen, which I review this week, he couldn’t have been nicer. One subject of his praise? None other than Max MacKissock, whom he…