Applebee’s: all quiet on the luncheon front

Last week I did something I’d never done before: I had lunch at Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar. It wasn’t that I’d never been to an Applebee’s before. I had, dozens of times, the visits usually consisting of me getting off work at a neighboring chain restaurant; ordering the biggest,…

Photos: Cheapskates Action Sports Bar opens in Aurora

Action sports enthusiasts and culinary entrepreneurs Ryan Galbraith and Chris Stinson just kicked their business model into high gear. Eighteen months after opening Cheapskates Action Sports Bar in Arvada, Galbraith and Stinson now have a second Cheapskates location in Aurora. Curious to see what an action sports bar looks like,…

Pie, the food trend of 2011, is still hot at these Denver spots

Pies used to be seen as the either the coup de grace on Thanksgiving or snarky protesters’ tool of choice. (Remember when Ann Coulter, Ralph Nader and Jeff Skilling, former president of Enron, were all pied?) Then in 2011 the lattice-topped treat hit the big time, and Nation’s Restaurant News…

Guess where I’m drinking a mezcal margarita?

When I asked the bartender if he had mezcal, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “You want mezcal!? he exclaimed. “Oh, man, a gringo girl who likes mezcal. Wow.” Not only did he pour me a potent margarita but he brought out the mezcal bottle, too, egging me…

Elway’s Tyler Wiard gets booted from Top Chef Seattle…or does he?

On last night’s season five episode of Top Chef Seattle, Tyler Wiard (nickname T-bone), the culinary director of Elway’s — and the exec chef of Elway’s Cherry Creek — is sent packing, along with fellow chef Chris “CJ” Jacobsen, the two of whom were bludgeoned by judges Gail Simmons, Padma…

Round two with Jay Leandro, chef at Pub 17 on Welton Street

Jay Leandro Pub 17 on Welton Street 1750 Welton Street hyatt.com/gallery/pub17/index.html 303-295-1117 Part one of my interview with Jay Leandro, exec chef of Pub 17 on Welton Street, ran yesterday; this is part two of our conversation. Favorite Denver/Boulder restaurant(s) other than your own: Pho Fusion on Hampden. I used…

Midson’s favorite cookbooks of 2012: part three

It’s incredibly difficult to do justice to the thousands of remarkable cookbooks published in 2012, but after spending days — weeks — roaming through the recipes and lush food porn of hundreds of them, I’ve picked out my favorites. These are the cookbooks that stock my selves at home, and…