Restaurants

Behold the highlights from this week’s Cafe Society blog:…

Last week, Sean Kenyon, one of Denver’s most championed bartenders and mixologists, vacated his post as bar manager of Steuben’s, where he’d been slinging drinks and crafting cocktails since 2007…

I’m not much of a champagne drinker, but at the posh digs where the above photo was taken, I couldn’t resist this summery champagne cocktail made with Averna, an Italian liqueur. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where…

If you’ve been living in a box of Bisquick, then you probably already know that this Sunday is National Pancake Day. If, on the other hand, you just live for breakfast, then National Pancake Day gives you one more reason to flip your jack. Herewith, six of our favorite joints…

The already-extended Civic Center Eats will hold its last Tuesday event of the year next week — but the fun isn’t over yet. “Starting in October, we will be shifting to a much smaller-scale version, but on a daily basis,” explains Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, director of the Civic Center Conservancy…

Roberto Diaz, the chef featured in this week’s Chef and Tell interview, was born and raised in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico, where gorditas are king. “They were always served with our meal on Sunday while I was growing up, and I could never get enough of them,” says Diaz…

Missoula, Montana, is a lovely town in the middle of nowhere with a population consisting primarily of cowpokes and carnivores. Yesterday, the two met in a standoff on the back porch of a house just outside of town, when a black bear paid a surprise visit to a local woman…

Dessert’s a funny thing in fancy restaurants these days. No more slices of cherry tart, chocolate cake or apple strudel unless they’re miniatures, deconstructed, flavored with something incongruous like curry, set on curlicues of sauce you have to sample with your finger because there’s not enough to get on a…

Smother love: It’s easy being green in Denver in September, when the smell of roasting chiles overrides the odor of exhaust along Federal Boulevard, and the green chile at your favorite Mexican joint carries the heat of the new harvest. For the next several weeks, Cafe Society will feature some…

There’s nothing quite like sea urchin roe, which isn’t roe at all, but the female gonads from the prickly, spiny sea creature that dwells on the ocean floor. It’s creamy, like custard, the hue of flames and its pronounced oceanic, slightly sweet flavor makes for an insanely gratifying indulgence, especially…

When brothers Kevin and Craig Caldwell took over the former Aroma Cafe (and Pita Jungle before that) at 2017 South University Boulevard near the end of 2009, they’d hoped to reopen the spot as the Crimson & Gold Tavern in the spring. But in February, they were denied a liquor…

It was a delightful Saturday morning on the sprawling front porch at Gaia Bistro, 1551 South Pearl Street. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and I was very much enjoying a savory crepe, stuffed full of succulent duck confit, creamy, decadent mornay and fluffy scrambled eggs. A friend was…

Dish, Westword’s annual party celebrating the local dining scene, went down last night at the Exdo Event Center, attracting dozens of local restaurateurs, bartenders, business types, hungry eaters and thirsty drinkers. Photographer Teal Nipp brings back these photos: Food Porn from Westword’s Dish. Here are some of the highlights:…

Roberto Diaz Mezcal 3230 East Colfax Avenue 303-322-5219 www.mezcalcolorado.com This is part two of Lori Midson’s Q&A with Roberto Diaz, executive chef of Mezcal. To read part one of that interview, click here. What you’d like to see more of in Denver from a culinary standpoint: Mexican food for Mexicans…

With the advent of the interwebs (big ups to Al Gore), just about anyone who eats — and yaps about it — can now be classified as a “Food Expert,” or “foodie.” Everywhere around us are douchey tools and butter-laden ladies who think that they are far superior to mere…

Elissa and I studied the front of our menus for a moment, then looked up at the same time. “Uh, FEED each other?” she giggled. According to the history of Ethiopian food printed there, the proper way to enjoy a feast in that country is by linking arms and lovingly…

Ninety-five percent of the time, I’d rather chew tin foil than a vegetarian entree. During a brief spell, I tried to convince myself otherwise; I eschewed meat for a full four months during my freshman year at a liberal arts school in Southern California — the kind of place where…

Cafe Society is off to Dish, Westword’s annual celebration of the Denver dining scene, which debuts tonight in its new location at the Exdo Events Center, 1399 35th Street. We hear there are a few general admission tickets left; they’re $40 at the door, with a portion of the proceeds…

When Jessie Burke refused to honor an expired Groupon coupon for a longtime customer, a woman named Lucinda, who wanted a bite to eat in Burke’s Portland, Oregon, cafe, Lucinda threatened to never return — until, that is, Burke sat down with her and explained the trials and tribulations of…

Dylan BurkhardtThe new Smashburger in the Tabor Center​ After a brief delay because of a thirteen-inch construction snafu, Smashburger finally has a downtown location, in the Tabor Center. This is the eleventh Smashburger in the metro area — but the homegrown chain, which got its start three years ago on…

You don’t come to this joint for tacos — not because they’re not good, but because they’re superseded by the restaurant’s namesake — but the tacos, doused with salsa and judiciously sprinkled with Mexican queso, deserve their own star billing. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who…

For a while, it seemed like a new gourmet burger joint was opening every few minutes in the metro area. Although they’re not as ubiquitous as Starbucks (yet), restaurants specializing in well-made burgers were clearly a big trend. The question — at least as far as this Veggie Girl is…