“Welcome back to Denver,” proclaimed Denver mayor Michael Hancock, who held his knife steady as he sliced into a bloody filet at yesterday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, the beefy, New Orleans-based shrine to cow that reopened last night in a swanky, 10,000-square-foot space in downtown Denver, nearly…
The Wildflower Cafe can easily be described as “intimate” — the tiny dining room holds just a half-dozen tables; there’s also a minuscule bar area and a couple of tables outside for those willing to brave the elements this time of year. So even if you show up early for…
In his Super Bowl bet with Seattle’s mayor, Denver mayor Michael Hancock wagered a sampling of some of this city’s green chile — including the version served up at Jack-n-Grill. That’s the restaurant that Mark Antonation finally reached in his travels up Federal Boulevard last week, and he praised the…
Chalk this one up to hometown pride: Diners at Racines, a thirty-year-old institution in Denver, were greeted on Sunday by chalk art celebrating another institution: the Denver Broncos. The first time the team went to the Super Bowl, the restaurant was just a few weeks old. See also: Regulars raise…
Early last spring, Delores Tronco and her boyfriend, Tony Maciag, both of whom are Denver restaurant industry veterans, signed on the dotted line, inking a lease that would make them the owners of their own restaurant — a restaurant, says Tronco, whose name is also synonymous with the Justice League…
The menu at this Vietnamese restaurant is so voluminous that it’s difficult to know what to order. And because of vast mass of choices, it’s all too easy to feel submerged. Still, the kitchen excels at just about everything, including its seafood dishes. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special…
Cafe Society served up four Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a plate of burrata dotted with figs and pistachios from Curtis Club to a sea urchin pancake from State Bird Provisions, a remarkably good restaurant in San Francisco, to a glass of red porter from a local brewery…
Many plant-based eaters weren’t raised that way, and even have fond memories of homemade casseroles — including the cheesy, sausage-laden baked pasta dishes you’d sample at potlucks. This recipe, adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen, uses cashews and roasted red pepper for a thick, creamy sauce; we added crumbled sausage-spiced…
This past weekend we served a second helping of Sean Kenyon’s list of the ten rudest things servers and bartenders do — a list based on his almost thirty-year career in service. “What really gets to me is when people in my industry treat guests like they’re doing the guests…
This week in Cafe Society, Gretchen Kurtz visited and reviewed Scratch Burrito and Happy Tap, which combines Chipotle-style service with global ingredients. Lori Midson talked to Martin Campos, executive chef at Comida Cantina, about his history as a chef and how he works in the kitchen in this week’s Chef…
The Winter Fancy Food Show, held every year at the Moscone Center, a labyrinth of 212,000 square feet that showcases new finds in the food world, took place earlier this week in San Francisco, and I spent god knows how many hours shuffling through the halls stuffed with 1,300 exhibitors…
It’s out with Ole and in with Quijote’s, a new look and flavor (Mexican rather than Argentinian) for the storefront at 1043 Broadway that once held Luciano’s. And this is Colorado-Mex, which means green chile, of course, as well as breakfast burritos…and a juice bar. Follow @CafeWestword…
In this week’s Chef and Tell interview, Martin Campos, exec chef of Comida at the Source, admits that while he was a picky eater as a kid, a seafood feast in Oregon — his first food epiphany — paved the way for a future in cooking. The chef is still…
The beers at this local brewery and taproom are fantastic, and so are the custom-shaped glasses in which they’re poured. Should you desire a pair, they’re available for purchase at the brewery for $20. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to…
Frank Bonanno is driven. As if the chef/entrepreneur isn’t busy enough running his ten restaurants (soon to be joined by an eleventh, Salt & Grinder), he’s now the star of Chef Driven, a new show that debuts at 6 p.m. Sunday on Colorado Public Television. And he’s teaming up with…
Denver is about to see a run of new restaurants with similar-sounding names. Work & Class opens next week. Guard and Grace is coming in February. Opening a month or so later is Salt & Grinder — which will also go by its initials, S&G. That prompted a slight name…
UPDATE: We have a winner of our HUSH Table: Great Roads to Great Chefs contest, in which we asked Cafe Society readers to tell us, in fifty words or less: What culinary contraption do you wish you could invent, and why? From the five submissions entered, we chose this answer…
It’s the end of an era! A sign on Furr’s Family Dining in Wheat Ridge says the restaurant is closed (and not a moment too soon, judging from our visit to the place last year). The notice indicates that the closure is temporary — but Colorado has been wiped off…
Denver’s gone nuts. Doughnuts. First lines formed outside of Dunkin’ Donuts. Then lines formed outside of Voodoo Doughnut, which cooks up far more elaborate doughnuts. And now Acorn, which Gretchen Kurtz just reviewed, has upped the ante with a new menu item: the “Cyrus” Foie Gras Donut. See also: Oak…
If you catch a glimpse of the lines written by the bar inside Scratch Burrito and Happy Tap, which I review this week, you might think Clay Markwell found more than a new career when he left advertising. But in this case, “May God bless and keep you always” points…
Last week, Patty Calhoun admitted to waiting a whopping ninety minutes for brunch at Highland Tavern, which is just fifteen minutes shy of how long I waited in line for what amounted to twenty different dishes (!!!!!!!) at a San Francisco restaurant that, in my opinion, is quite possibly the…
Martin Campos Comida Cantina 3350 Brighton Boulevard 303-296-2747 eatcomida.com This is part two of my interview with Martin Campos, exec chef of Comida at the Source; part one of our interview ran yesterday. Your three favorite Denver restaurants other than your own: Bourbon Grill, because, well, it’s bourbon chicken. It’s…
