Fried chicken is sizzling hot around Denver these days — whether you’re enjoying the Japanese version, kara age, at one of the spots Mark Antonation touts, such as Sakana — or at the Post Brewing Company in Lafayette, whose brined fried chicken is so crackling good it won our Best Fried Chicken award…
Soon after my salad and dried-out meatballs arrived at Brik on York, I began to wonder: Had Elvis left the building? The thought persisted, buzzing about my head, on that night and others. I tried to shoo it away, looking for signs of greatness in the Neapolitan-style pizzas I’d heard…
Chef Chris Thompson moved to Denver to open the Nickel in the newly refurbished Hotel Teatro in the summer of 2014. Expectations were high, considering that the previous tenant had been respected Denver restaurateur Kevin Taylor and his eponymous, dazzling eatery Restaurant Kevin Taylor. But after a complete ground-floor overhaul,…
No 12: Takoyaki at Sakana Sushi & RamenThe little golden spheres called takoyaki rest in a bowl against a single green leaf of lettuce, topped with stripes of sweet, dark sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. The server warns us that they’re piping hot inside and to wait a few minutes before…
Bitters, tonics, syrups, teas, cocktails — and now, a rustic lodge. These are the awesome artisan things Shae Whitney and Brady Becker of DRAM Apothecary are overseeing in Silver Plume, about 47 miles west of Denver. The couple is currently raising funds to help finance the renovation of the historic…
A small Colorado brewery is taking a big step forward: Later this month, Big Choice Brewing in Broomfield will unveil a new beer packaged in 19.2-ounce cans with a resealable plastic lid – not the twist-off kind, but one that slides back into place so that the beer can be…
At 4 a.m. on a Sunday, most people are deep in slumber — if they’re not just stumbling into bed after a night of bar-hopping. But in the warren beneath the seats at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Nikki Olst is prepping for another game day. Olst is the…
Cajun culinary legend Paul Prudhomme passed away last Thursday, just a couple of days short of today’s National Gumbo Day. But every day was gumbo day for Prudhomme, who popularized Cajun cooking beyond the borders of Louisiana with cookbooks, packaged seasonings and cooking shows in an era before the Food…
Pumpkin lovers gathered at the Arapahoe Park racetrack in Aurora over the weekend for a celebration of the fall squash in all its glory. And although there were pumpkin pies, carved pumpkins and a pumpkin patch for the kids, the main attraction was Punkin Chunkin Colorado, an annual event that…
After being banished from many conscious kitchens a decade ago, fois gras is making a comeback on menus around town, thanks to more “thoughtful practices” of companies that produce it. At Milk & Honey Bar-Kitchen, for example, which Gretchen Kurtz just reviewed, it’s tucked inside powdered cashew brittle for fois gras bonbons. Says…
Fried chicken is sizzling hot in the metro area right now, with places like the Post Brewing Co. about to expand with two GoodBird Kitchen concepts; Lou’s Food Bar shining the spotlight on Nashville-style hot chicken; and Max’s Wine Dive coming from Texas with a tasty plate of Southern-fried goodness. And…
The pace of restaurant openings slowed down this week, allowing us to relax and enjoy the finer things that the dining scene has unveiled this summer. Gretchen Kurtz ventured to the land of Milk & Honey, where veteran chef/restaurateur Michael Shiell is bucking the current casual trend with tony ambiance…
Chef Ian Kleinman’s Inventing Room dessert shop is nearing its opening date, so he’s cranked up his new kitchen to dial in recipes before the big day. Liquid nitrogen, which comes out of the tank at -321 degrees Fahrenheit, is the most eye-catching attraction behind the counter at the shop…
Kazmos Lounge closed six years ago. Since then, there hasn’t been much activity in the corner spot at West 14th Avenue and Kalamath Street in the Lincoln Park neighborhood — but a public-hearing notice went up at the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses recently for a hotel and restaurant…
Westword restaurant critic Gretchen Kurtz always waits several months before she reviews a new restaurant, so that the place can work out the glitches, make necessary staff switches — or change the concept altogether. Milk & Honey Bar-Kitchen, for example, opened in June with chef Lance Barto, but he’d left…
Come October 13, self-taught chef Justin Warner will have released his first cookbook, The Laws of Cooking: And How To Break Them, an achievement coming after Warner rose to fame by winning on the TV show Food Network Star in 2012. But what most people don’t realize as they watch this…
Not long ago, foie gras was out. Not out like carbs were out in the ‘90s or gluten is out right now, but way out. So far out that chefs stopped putting it on menus for fear of being bad guys by association. How times have changed — in large part…
There’s so much construction going on in Cherry Creek North that it’s easy to overlook vacancies that would be glaring in any other neighborhood. Columbine Street, in particular, has been an obstacle course of orange cones and scaffolding as two major projects — an office building and a hotel, both…
The lead-up to A Taste for Life is one of the busiest times of the year for Project Angel Heart executive chef Jon Emanuel. The event brings together more than twenty restaurants and other local food and beverage companies in a gala fundraiser for the organization, which is dedicated to…
Today’s the deadline for companies to submit an application to open a brewery and bar in the new Westin airport hotel, as well as a few other food and drink outlets at DIA. “It’s a chance to be unique and do something that someone else hasn’t done,” says DIA senior vice…
Do you remember the Lotus Room? So does Robert Autobee, co-author of The Lost Restaurants of Denver, who will be talking about the book with his wife, Kristen, on Monday, October 12, at the History Colorado Center. Since the couple published their history of Denver dining early this year, they’ve…
No. 13: Pimento Cheese Spread at Dunbar Kitchen & Tap Room Pimento cheese spread is one of those grocery store guilty pleasures that you reached for as a kid and hid in the shopping cart until it was too late for your mom to notice because the clerk had already…
