Last week, I digested a year’s worth of eating. To recap, here are my six best meals of 2008, in no particular order, and one in memorium addition: 1) Le Bernardin, Manhattan. Eight or nine or ten courses, with the menu personally chosen and assembled by Eric Ripert and wines…
Back in 1996, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers moved its national headquarters to Greenwood Village. And while other chains are scaling back (or disappearing altogether), those based in Denver seem to be doing fairly well. There’s Chipotle, of course, which is moving into London this year. And on Monday, Red Robin…
When we last checked up on Heaven Star, which the owners of Super Star Asian (the best dim sum joint in the city) are opening at 7600 West 120th Avenue in Broomfield, the opening date was slated for January 10. But last week the manager said that was looking soft,…
In a day of bad news, yesterday had one bright spot: a neighbor notified us that our petition for residential parking permits had been approved. This is a pretty live-and-let live (or park) neighborhood, and we were reluctant to go the official root. But like so many other neighborhoods, this one…
The first few weeks of the new year are generally a quiet time in the restaurant industry. Under normal economic conditions, this is a time for the bean-counters and accountants to put their heads together over the books and figure if the twin mercies of Christmas parties and New Year’s…
When I checked in with Jeff Osaka, chef/owner of twelverestaurant, last month, he told me that although he’d just opened his restaurant at 2233 Larimer in early November, he was already reducing the prices on his changing-monthly menu. (His concept of a dozen menus a year — each featuring seasonal…
Now that Michael Bennet has been named to take over for Ken Salazar in the U.S. Senate (no cowboy hat required), Colorado pols can get back to the business of running the state (at least until it’s time to start running for whatever seat may be in play in 2010). Today,…
After five years, the Spice Boys of the Rockies are closing up their “humble little spice boutique” at 301 West Eleventh Avenue and moving to an all-online shop at www.spiceboysrock.com. “As the first specialty spice and tea store in Denver, we were definitely challenged to create a product line especially…
Denver architect Peter Dominick suffered a fatal heart attack on New Year’s Day while he was cross-country skiing near Aspen, where he frequently vacationed. A prominent figure in the local architectural community, he was from an equally prominent family: his late father was a Colorado senator, also named Peter Dominick,…
I haven’t been so wrong about a political pick since I predicted that then-Lieutenant Governor Joe Rogers would lead a crowded pack in the Republican primary for the congressional seat ultimately claimed by Democrat Ed Perlmutter. Governor Bill Ritter just announced that he’ll hold a news conference at 2 p.m…
At gatherings on New Year’s Day, the talk was all about when Governor Bill Ritter will announce a new senator — and, of course, just who his pick will be to replace Ken Salazar, Barack Obama’s choice to head the Department of the Interior. Technically, there’s no hurry; Salazar’s confirmation…
The Jet Entertainment Group may be the busiest boys in chow business. They picked up Nine75 (975 Lincoln Street) right after Jim Sullivan closed it this fall, and reopened it in a matter of days. They’re finishing up a project at the Jet Hotel, at 1612 Wazee Street, to make…
Want a taste of the town’s best restaurants? We’re whetting your appetite by publishing our Best of Denver 2009 Readers’ Poll earlier than ever — in this week’s paper and right here online. What’s the best new restaurant in town? In the Best of Denver 2008, Izakaya Den took that honor…
Steuben’s, the bar/restaurant at 523 East 17th Avenue that opened at 11 a.m. yesterday, will stay open until 3 p.m. today — when its staff will take a well-deserved rest after 28 hours of continuous service. We stopped by shortly after 5 p.m. New Year’s Eve, for a celebration-cushioning green chile cheeseburger, the best…
The 1859 Rush to the Rockies started out slow — and cold. On a frigid day in January 1859, prospector George Jackson was camped on a sand bar in Clear Creek when he noticed that the frozen ground laid bare by his fire was glittering. Jackson had been at the…
Cafe Society is off to Steuben’s — which will be open for 24 hours to mark the new year. Feeling fine in 2009!…
Last month, Mark Tarbell told Jason Sheehan that he hoped to open Mark & Isabella, his new restaurant at 425 South Tellar in Belmar, by the end of this year. But we just got word that it won’t officially debut until 2009. Still, given the success of The Oven, this new…
I dropped by Gaetano’s last night for a Tasty Treat (a sausage and green chili strips baked in a pizza crust) and a taste of history. Wynkoop Holdings bought this classic joint back in 2005, taking over a restaurant that started as Ralph and Mamie Smaldone’s Tejon Street Cafe back…
Yesterday afternoon, I posted a note from Marcus Pachner, informing members of the CBHD — the stakeholders’ group working with Shea Properties on its redevelopment of the former University of Colorado Health Sciences campus — that Denver City Council’s public hearing to consider landmark status for two buildings on the site has…
Next Monday’s public hearing before Denver City Council to decide the fate of two historic Hornbein and White buildings on the old University of Colorado campus has been postponed. “Shea has been working closely with Councilwoman Robb and Councilwoman Johnson on the historic designation applications,” wrote Marcus Pachner, a consultant…
It’s that time of year again: time to look back over the last three-sixty-five. It’s been a good year, a long year, a strange year. From lunching in Manhattan to getting weird during the DNC to a magical meal at Beatrice & Woodsley (above) to the financial collapse, there’s been…
Last week, Jason Sheehan returned to Table 6 — a restaurant that he found even closer to perfect than the last time he reviewed it, back in November 2004, when Esquire’s Jay Mariani had just named it one of the 21 best new restaurants in the country. The ownership has changed…
