Justin Cucci opening Vital Root on Tennyson Street

No processed sugars; no wheat flour; no fake meat; and no colon blow. Instead, says Justin Cucci, owner of Root Down, Root Down at DIA and Linger, expect “super-vegetarian-centric-slow-fast-food” at Vital Root, a new restaurant that he’s opening on Tennyson Street early next year with business partner — and yoga…

Guess where I’m eating gumbo and cornbread?

Years ago, at 7 p.m. on a sunny weekday evening, the patio at this diminutive restaurant would have been packed, but last night, it was just me and another table of three, which prompted the server to wonder out loud: “Where is everyone?” Good question, because the gumbo and the…

Toasting Federal Boulevard with a Pay Day Loan at the Federal

Unusual, earthy, minty: that’s how Chris Mohaupt, owner of the Federal Bar and Grill, described the bouquet of purple shiso I’d brought into his bar. He and bartender Jeremy Johnson rubbed the thick, fuzzy leaves between their fingers, sniffed, bit off bitter nibbles in their attempts to pinpoint the complex…

Reader: Denver just isn’t a really big pizza city

“Want to provoke a fight? Just start a discussion of where to find the best pizza in town.” That was the intro to yesterday’s list of the twelve best pizzas in Denver, and the fight got off to a fast start, with readers serving up many other favorites: Proto’s. Pizza…

Colorado Mills food court expands its dining options

Shoppers at the Colorado Mills Outlet Mall in Golden will soon have several new dining options to choose from: The food court is slated to open three new restaurants next month. See also: Jeff Osaka on ramen mania, his ramen pop-up and Osaka Ramen, his new restaurant…

Photos: A delicious preview of Linger’s new spring menu

“During the winter season, we hibernate inward,” says Daniel Asher, culinary director of Root Down and Linger. But spring? Spring, he counters, “represents turning outward, feeling the sunshine on our skin and setting the tone for seasonality that takes us through the rest of the year.” Spring, he adds, “gives…

Guess where I’m eating a chicken salad sandwich?

I didn’t partake in pot this weekend, but that’s not to say that I didn’t have the munchies. Still, instead of stuffing Twinkies and chips down my gullet, I satisfied my hunger pains with a hearty sandwich of chicken salad, melted cheddar, tomatoes and arugula. Not exactly the kind of…

Gulp! Author Mary Roach’s trip down the alimentary canal

Whether writing about cadavers, sex or the digestive system, Mary Roach probes the annals of history and science for the funniest anecdotes and most moving characters she can dig up. She assembles these tales into biological travelogues that tour readers through those parts of their bodies that everybody shares and…

Sweet and sour: A second helping of Cafe Society, April 14-18

This week in Cafe Society, Gretchen Kurtz says that Sugarmill may have hit a sweet spot in the Ballpark neighborhood. For Chef and Tell, Lori Midson talked with Matt Stein, chef of Bruxie, who is getting creative — with waffles. And as Mark Antonation’s long-running A Federal Case draws to…

BurgerFi, a “better burger” joint, will open on Broadway

When will the mooing stop? Anyone who lives in Denver, around Denver, even miles from Denver, knows that the last thing this city needs is another burger barn, but that’s not stopping cattle herders from other cities from stampeding our stamping grounds with the next latest and greatest burger mania…

Guess where I’m eating pretzel twists?

If you’ve ever been to this restaurant, then you’ll recognize these pretzel twists immediately — and you’ll understand, too, why two is never enough. I have no plans to partake in 4/20 this weekend, but if I did, this is where I’d go for my munchie fix, and it’s not…

First look: Mile High Italian Deli opens in Highland

The concept behind Mile High Italian Deli, a small, 800-square-foot storefront in Highland, is sandwiches, panini, salads, and, on Saturday, pizzas, the latter of which is an extension of Mile High Pizza Pie, a pizza joint that rose — and fell — downtown, after the landlord threatened to raise the…

Mlp48 is the winner of our Trillium Easter brunch contest

UPDATE: We have a winner of our Trillium Easter brunch contest, in which we asked Cafe Society readers to answer this question: How many mimosas did Trillium serve during last year’s Easter brunch? Congratulations to Mlp48, who came the closest with a guess of 142; the actual number is 167…