Tom Ryan, Smashburger’s founder and chief concept officer, yesterday hosted the official unveiling of the new, redesigned Smashburger location at 6305 East Hampden Avenue, walking guests through an eight-course menu of Smashburger items as well as a tour of the store. It was a blast, and I discovered that Smashburger’s…
Mark Antonation has been eating his way up Federal Boulevard in the weekly series, A Federal Case. Yesterday, he landed at Cafe Chihuahua, where he ordered a pregnant burrito. See also: – Cafe Chihuahua is pregnant with possibilities – Andy’s Kitchen Asian Express is worth a risky left on Federal…
After watching Top Chef this season, I have a new theory on why chefs don’t like brunch. Maybe it’s not, as many restaurateurs suggest, because the meal is a disruption to the kitchen’s regular routine. Instead, could it be that they’re secretly afraid of cranking out omelets as brown and…
The long-awaited Corner House officially opened today. Partner, general manager and executive chef Matt Selby — who recently left a fifteen-year chef stint with the Vesta Dipping Grill group — and his crew are now cooking up his personal take on a seasonally-driven menu in a hip new space in…
In A Federal Case, I’ll be eating my way up Federal Boulevard – south to north – within Denver city limits. I’ll be skipping the national chains and per-scoop Chinese joints, but otherwise I’ll report from every vinyl booth, walk-up window and bar stool where food is served. Here’s the…
David Payne Jelly Cafe 600 East 13th Avenue, 303-831-6301 1700 East Evans Avenue, 720-596-4108 www.eatmorejelly.com This is part one of my interview with David Payne, executive chef of Jelly Cafe; part two of our chat will run tomorrow. My mom,” sighs David Payne, “wasn’t a good cook. At all.” Peppers…
Several restaurateurs apparently made new year’s resolutions to give their places a facelift. After more than a decade holding down a prime corner in Larimer Square, Tamayo has closed for a major renovation of both the space and the menu. The original Jelly is only two years old, but it’s…
By 9 a.m. this morning, Westword pot critic William Breathes had received at least three e-mails asking how he felt about his “real identity” being outed in the New York Times today by Frank Bruni, the former Times restaurant critic turned columnist. In a piece titled “Colorado’s Marijuana Muddle,” Bruni…
It’s a roster that includes some of the biggest and boldest names in Denver’s culinary landscape: Matt Selby, Sean Yontz, Ian Kleinman, Kevin Morrison and Jorel Pierce. Those are the five chefs that Leigh Sullivan, president of Leigh Sullivan Enterprises, has chosen to round out this year’s FIVE, a jackpot…
Late last week, we broke the news that Living the Sweet Life, a bakery in LoHi, had shuttered, but the space already has new occupants, namely a cartel of sausage slingers — they who own the Über Sausage, a diminutive frankfurter house on East Colfax that opened in 2011 across…
Denver has plenty for the discerning plant-based diner, especially pizza. This town has so many good vegan pies that it’s getting increasingly tough to pick a favorite. One thing we know for sure: The vegan and vegetarian pizzas at Sexy Pizza are swoon-worthy, especially on that delectable, decadent, perfectly baked…
Just shy of a month ago, Paul Attardi, the familiar front-of-the-house face of Fruition, Alex Seidel’s (still) spellbinding restaurant on Sixth Avenue, parted ways with his sidekick after a ten-year business partnership. And now, what may very well be the best front-of-the-house job in a Denver restaurant is up for…
At a potluck dinner party at my home a few years ago, I made the mistake of handing Pete Marczyk a can of Scotch Buy black pepper that had expired in 1988 — which meant the pepper was old as the friends’ marriage we were celebrating, and a lot less…
The discussion over Gretchen Kurtz’s review of Restaurant Fourteen Seventy-Two has demonstrated how passionately people care about Platt Park (however it’s spelled), why you shouldn’t eat Mexican food in Charleston, what constitutes low-country cuisine and other lessons of geography, including itsbootytime’s suggestion that “if I had to guess this critic…
The Space Creators, a Denver-based real estate development and brokerage firm, has announced a new partnership with The Desk, a co-working cafe that opened last year in the space that once held Buffalo Exchange, at 230 East 13th Avenue. “It’s great news,” says Desk owner Kristian Barowsky, who co-owns the…
When Tamayo, chef Richard Sandoval’s modern Mexican restaurant, opened in Larimer Square in 2001, it was easily one of the most innovative design schemes — and food concepts — on what has now become one of the city’s liveliest blocks for a dose of culinary artistry. But while the majority…
There’s nothing quite like a basket of fried pig’s ears to start a conversation, although at this bar, which was recently given a major makeover, conversation is at the heart of the convivial vibe. The ears share menu space with Salisbury steak and perogies, too, making it every bit as…
Cafe Society served up five Guess Where contests last week, ranging from a plate of burrata, asparagus and sopressata, which hails from the Oven, to a platter of tacos and salsas from Tacos Marlene, a new brick-and-mortar on Alameda that’s an extension of the namesake owner’s food cart on Federal,…
As chilly as it’s been outside, no one wants to subsist on salad and trail mix. This Southwestern-inspired stew has plenty of substance for keeping the body warm: potatoes, black beans, corn and carrots cooked in a savory, smoky chipotle-adobo broth that’s got the perfect amount of heat to warm…
There’s been a lot of action on South Pearl Street this season, with Restaurant Fourteen Seventy-Two joining the lineup, bringing low-country cuisine to the Mile High City. But when Gretchen Kurtz reviewed the restaurant last week, she found both highs and lows. But one reader thought her review was a…
“Celebrating now!” read the text from Paul Reilly, who just inked a deal to take over Olivéa, Stephanie Bonin and Keith Arnold’s beloved New American restaurant, which the couple, along with exec chef John Broening and pastry chef Yasmin Lozada-Hissom (the betrothed twosome now own Spuntino), opened three-and-a-half years ago…
Update, 7:05 p.m., January 11: Attorneys for Morreale Hotels LLC filed a motion today in Denver District Court, asking a judge for a temporary restraining order against the City of Denver that would allow El Diablo and Sketch to reopen. And after a hearing that started at 2 p.m. today…
