Guest User 12/7/17 Guest User 12/7/17

Colorado Takes Spotlight in this Season's "Top Chef"

Colorado is preparing to take center stage as a top culinary destination in the upcoming Season 15 of Bravo’s “Top Chef" airing tonight. Throughout Season 15, the Emmy and James Beard award-winning series will feature Colorado settings, ingredients and food personalities, as cheftestants from across the nation battle it out in a variety of picturesque Colorado locations for the coveted title of “Top Chef.” Two of the cheftestants are from Colorado -- Denver-based Carrie Baird, executive chef of Bar Dough, and Colorado Springs’ Brother Luck, owner of Four by Brother Luck in Colorado Springs. The Season Premier airs tonight, Dec. 7 (check your local listings), on Bravo.

The first episode will kick off with a food festival on Larimer Square, we're guessing it's Slow Food Nations that we covered back in July. Denver show highlights will include Chef Alex Seidel’s Fruition Farms and Mercantile dining & provision and Sage Restaurant Group’s Chef Gregory Gourdet (“Top Chef” Season 12 Finalist) and his Departure Restaurant + Lounge. Denver stops will also include Rhein Haus, Elitch Gardens, Mile High Station, the Colorado State Capitol building and tailgating with the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium. The competitors also head to Estes Park for a Quickfire Challenge at The Stanley Hotel, Boulder, Telluride, and concludes with a two-part finale at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen with challenges at T Lazy 7 Ranch and the top of Aspen Mountain.

Get ready for even more people to flock to our beautifully diverse state after watching this "Top Chef" season, as many will be watching because it is the top food show on cable! Soon, everyone will know Colorado is home to 35,000 farms and ranches, 100 farmers markets, more than 300 licensed breweries, 130 wineries and more than 70 craft distilleries. Three-quarters of Colorado’s restaurants are independently owned, and the state is gaining a reputation as a sustainability-focused and unpretentious food destination where chefs have the freedom to explore, create and try new things.

For episode recaps, chef interviews and more info on "Top Chef" in Colorado as the season progresses, visit http://www.colorado.com/top-chef-comes-colorado. More information can also be found at Bravotv.com/top-chef & a preview at https://youtu.be/6VNiYsEMO1s

Guest User 10/17/17 Guest User 10/17/17

Westword Delivered a Fabulous Feast (on the cheap!)

Denver dining has evolved over the past twenty years — and so has Westword's celebration of the remarkable culinary scene we have here in Denver. Over the years the names and venues for this culinary food and booze frenzy have changed and this year’s newly named, Feast, was a success! Held Sunday 15th at the McNichols Building in Civic Park, the event offered guests a spectrum of dishes from over forty favorite restaurants selected by Westword food writers and readers. There were also plenty of boozy beverages from 90+ Cellar, Tito's Vodka, Silvercoin & Exotico Tequila, Stranahan's Whiskey, Stella Artois and many others.

This event did not leave its guests thirsty or sober, and definitely provided plenty of food! We were actually very impressed by how much food each restaurant provided, because with many of these events they tend to gradually close down as they run out of samples. This event stayed strong to the very end and even saw some of the restaurants and local brand booths giving away handfuls of samples to happy guests! We walked away with a bunch of cupcakes from Milk & Cake and jerky from Duke’s, along with a whole bagful of coupons and swag we’d acquired.

What made this event one of the best food & booze events we’ve been to all year was the fact that general admission tickets were only $25 and really did get you as much as you could eat and drink. You left super full and happy because you weren’t wasting your time standing in long lines or being told they’ve ran out! Guests could truly try everything in the three-hour, or four-hour if you had a VIP ticket, time frame and even enjoy their food while sitting at a table outside. Another factor was the event was spread among three levels of the McNichols building so people weren’t cramped and stayed moving and exploring. It was a much more enjoyable and relaxing experience than most of the food festivals we’ve been to in our tenure.

Our best bites range from BBQ, to salad, to tacos and sweets; here are the top eight greats: Pig Out Smokehouse pulled pork & coleslaw, Roaming Buffalo’s pork belly burnt ends & coleslaw, Good Trip’s super smooth coffee, Taste of Thailand’s Northern Thai Garden Salad, Brider’s rotisserie Lamb Leg with couscous, Frijoles Colorado’s plantain with roasted pork, beans and rice, Chuey Fu’s tacos, and La Fillette with a huge selection of French pastries.

We really hope Westword Feast can repeat this success again next year with its winning combination of great food/restaurants, adequate amounts and variety of food and booze, an enjoyable environment, and affordable (cheap even), ticket prices!

Written by Tiffany Candelaria Photos by Jared Cody

Guest User 10/13/17 Guest User 10/13/17

Denver Celebrates Breakfast Burrito Day!

National Ice Cream Day, Pizza Day, Pie Day, you name it, we'll be there to get a discount on the treats we love! Now you can add to the list, at least here in Denver, Breakfast Burrito Day. Mayor Michael Hancock recently declared the second Saturday of every October to celebrate the tortilla-wrapped breakfast favorite. Denver restaurants are getting in the spirit by offering cheap, even free breakfast burritos for the first ever Breakfast Burrito Day - tomorrow! Here's our list:

Illegal Pete’s is offering FREE breakfast burritos at most of its locations (except for Boulder Hill) from 9am-1pm. Mix and match with fillings, including chorizo, veggies, and vegetarian or pork green chili.

Santiago’s will offer $1.25 burritos at all 28 locations kicking it back to the original price when the first restaurant opened in 1990.

Kachina Southwestern Grill is getting in on all the fun, offering $1 burritos from 7-10am, straight from the indoor airstream located inside the restaurant.

Resolute Brewing Company is hosting Ol’ Skool Que onsite with breakfast burritos from 11am-3pm. Purchase a burrito and receive $1 off pours all day long!

Guest User 9/12/17 Guest User 9/12/17

Denver Food + Wine Festival 2017 Recap

Photo credit Nick Adorni at Grand Tasting

The six-day celebration of fine wine, food, and spirits known as Denver Food + Wine Festival features an array of events ranging from dinners, discussions and demos, and pajama brunch parties! DF+WF is co-sponsored by the Colorado Restaurant Association and Southern Wine and Spirits and is the only food and wine festival of which all proceeds directly benefit charities. This year’s charities are Colorado ProStart, operated by the Colorado Restaurant Foundation, The Denver Post Community Foundation, and Metropolitan State University of Denver.

DF+WF returned last weekend for it’s thirteenth consecutive year featuring over 40 top Colorado restaurants and more than 700 wines and spirits from the region’s most lauded wine professionals at the Grand Tasting. It is completely worth the $125 ticket price if only the event were a bit longer. It’s impossible to try and sample even half of the wines, let alone the spirits and fun cocktails scattered throughout.

And on top of trying all that, there’s the amazing food! We really enjoyed the large variety of food this year – from hearty BBQ, sliders & bratwurst to light tuna poke, shrimp and fruit, to sweet pastries. There was something for everyone, as it should be, and hundreds of perfect drink pairings. After getting a new food dish we ended up just asking for whatever wine would best compliment the dish at the wine booth closest to us. It was a great method and made the day absolutely delicious! We also loved that everyone received a Riedel wine glass to use and keep (they’re the best), but wish they gave out the food & wine carrier trays like in previous years. Overall, the Grand Tasting is a really fun event and offers the largest, most diverse selection of wine than any other festival or tasting in the Denver area.

Two nights before the Grand Tasting, instead of the night before like last year which was tough on the body, celebrity bartenders from the Colorado Bartenders Guild competed for Denver’s “best cocktail” at the ShakeDown. Along with cocktails, wine and Fuji water were available and a handful of restaurants were competing alongside the bartenders for “best bite”. Live music enhanced the event with a special acoustic set from Dragondeer, which we enjoyed.

The cocktails were sample-sized, but they were unlimited until they ran out, and we definitely drank the three-hours worth of samples! Attendees also received a "best cocktail" token to turn in to the bartender who’s drink you decided was your favorite and they would give you a full size pour! It was a tough call for us between about three of the cocktails and two of our favorites ended up receiving the award:

“Fake Rolex” by Andreas Pejov of Oak at Fourteenth in Boulder & “The Sophomore” by Shawn Williams of Bar Dough in Highlands.

After a very fun and boozy few days, the DF+WF culminated in their Rise + Dine brunch party at Stanley Market. This event was the least impressive for us as the brunch food was not substantial or varied enough. There were just a couple restaurants giving hardy samples, like mini burritos and empanadas, but again they were just samples and they ran out. The other places just had little pastry dishes or tiny morsels of a dish. And the “world’s largest Bloody Mary bar” definitely fell short of the expectations they advertised. Not only were there not that many toppings, most of them were carb and cheese based. The good points of the brunch party included patio games, a fun Boomerang-style photo booth, plenty of tables and chairs, and bottomless mimosas that we can happily report never ran out!

Cheers to another year at Denver Food + Wine Festival!

~ Tiffany Candelaria

Castro 7/3/17 Castro 7/3/17

Perfect Last Minute Fourth of July Fixes

Well folks, it's that time again. The time to eat insane amounts of hotdogs and beer and celebrate all things 'Murican. What could be more patriotic than blasting colorful explosives into the sky for half an hour to scare the crap out of your neighbor's annoying dog? Nothing, except perhaps this compendium of Denver's best events to celebrate this sacred drinking weekend. Whether you'll be stuffing your face at Ace Eat Serve or thrashing around with Bud Bronson & the Goodtimers, Denver has everything one city could offer.

TONIGHT, JULY 3RD

BUD BRONSON & THE GOOD TIMERS @ HI-DIVE WITH PANTHER MARTIN & VIC N' THE NARWHALS

-21+

-$10

-7pm doors & 9pm show

INDEPENDENCE DAY EVE @ CIVIC CENTER PARK

Event starting @ 8 PM.

Prepare for the holiday weekend with Independence Eve 2017, the eighth-annual free community celebration featuring a concert, light show and fireworks finale on Monday, July 3rd, in Downtown Denver’s Civic Center Park (Colfax & Broadway) beginning at 8:00 p.m. The concert will feature performances by Soul X and the 101st Army Band of the Colorado National Guard.

Lawn seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis; arriving early is greatly encouraged, as are blankets or low-rise concert/beach chairs. Attendees are welcome to bring their own picnics; a variety of food trucks will also be available on-site. The event will take place rain or shine.

Produced by the nonprofit Civic Center Conservancy, the 2017 Independence Eve Celebration is made possible by the generosity of community partners: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation; the City and County of Denver, and VISIT DENVER. Special thanks to our media partners CBS4 Denver, Comcast and The Denver Post Community.

FIREWORKS @ THE AVANTI PATIO (JULY 3RD & 4TH)

Event starts at 8 pm.

Join Avanti on the patio to watch fireworks over Coors Field! Get in early to snag a spot on the stadium seating for the best views in town. There will be fireworks both Monday and Tuesday night!Avanti is always family-friendly but the firework's crowd tends to be very lively and festive on the night of the Fourth.

TOMORROW. JULY 4TH

PUNCH BOWL SOCIAL- PATRIOTIC PUNCH & MORE

Looking for a spot to cool off this holiday weekend? Punch Bowl Social (65 Broadway http://www.punchbowlsocial.com/) created the perfect patriotic punch - Dawn's Early Light with New Amsterdam Gin, Crème de Violette, Teakoe Spiced Plum, lime juice and lavender syrup. Pair the punch with The Knockoff Burger and you’re set for an all-American meal. Don’t forget about the indoor gaming options including bowling, ping-pong, giant Scrabble, private karaoke rooms, bocce, foosball, darts and more. (Facebook @PunchBowlDenver, Twitter @PunchBowlDenver, IG @punchbowlsocial)

CHERRY CREEK ARTS FESTIVAL W/ OIVE & FINCH EATERY

Fourth of July in Cherry Creek can mean hot temperatures, hot crowds, and hot festival-goers for Denver’s favorite artsy weekend. Beat the heat (and the long food lines) at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival with extended Burger Nights at Olive & Finch (3390 E. 1st Avenue - www.oliveandfincheatery.com) Cherry Creek. Chef/Owner Mary Nguyen and team will be flipping and grilling all weekend evenings on the patio, meaning $10 gets you a burger or brat with a beer and a side from Friday until Sunday. Looking to get outdoors to watch fireworks? Impress your friends and family when you grab a picnic to-go from Olive & Finch: for $50, you choose your four favorite signature cold sandwiches, a delightful quart of fresh and savory pesto pasta salad, a green garden salad that serves four and four assorted bakery cookies, fresh from the talented pastry team. Please call ahead at 303.955.0455 to reserve your picnic and please your people. (Facebook @OliveAndFinch, Twitter @OliveAndFinch, IG @oliveandfincheatery).

DEL FRISCO'S GRILLE ROOFTOP PATIO

(100 St. Paul St. - www.delfriscosgrille.com/cherry-creek) in the centrally-located Cherry Creek neighborhood and you can catch fireworks from surrounding communities. As a special treat for the Cherry Creek Arts Festival weekend, from Friday June 30 through Tuesday July 4 you can get the special White Sangria cocktail for just $6: it’s a fruity summery sipper made with tart Pinot Grigio, house-made white peach puree, Peach Schnapps, and fresh berries and arrives table side with a fresh and fruity popsicle garnish – really! With seating at the expansive open-air bar, at community tables or on lounge-like couches and chairs, the rooftop patio at Del Frisco’s Grille with a White Sangria in hand is a must-do for easy fireworks watching. (Facebook @DFGrilleCherryCreek, Twitter @DFGrilleCC, IG @dfgrille).

Celebrate Amercia’s Birthday with Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse (8100 E. Orchard Road, www.delfriscos.com) where the Prime Pair will be offered Saturday, July 1 – Tuesday, July 4. For $59 indulge in a pre-fixed menu and choose from a perfectly prepared 8 oz filet, Manhattan-Cut New York Strip, or Seared Salmon Fillet paired with their signature Crab Cake, plus a salad and side. End the meal with Executive Chef Mario Hernandez’s Decadent Apple Pie. Cheers to America with a bottle of XXXCherry Wine ($58 a bottle). Reservations are strongly recommended, 303-796-0100. (FB @DelsDenver, Twitter @Del_Friscos, IG del.friscos)

MIMOSAS @ TUPELO HONEY SOUTHERN KITCHEN & BAR

Start the day right with a $3 Mimosa from the brunch pros at Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar (1650 Wewatta Street – www.tupelohoneycafe.com). Soak in the southern hospitality as brunch is extended a few days to both Monday, July 3 and Tuesday, July 4 in celebration of Independence Day. We suggest the “big as your head” Banana Pudding Layered Pancakes or our Sockeye Salmon Loaded Grit Cake, and serving our famous $3 mimosas. Bonus: Tupelo is opening early both days, at 9 a.m., for maximum brunching opportunity. (Facebook @TupeloHoneyDenver, Twitter @@tupelohoneycafe, IG @tupelohoneycafe).

PING PONG PATIO @ ACE EAT SERVE

If you’re spending the long 4th of July holiday weekend in the city, consider popping by Ace Eat Serve in Uptown (501 E. 17th Ave http://www.aceeatserve.com/) for the Asian inspired cuisine, refreshing cocktails, sake flights and ping pong playing options. As the temperatures keep rising, cool off on the expansive Ace patio with exterior misters and enjoy the Saturday Sunshine Soundsystem on Saturday, July 1st from 2pm – 6pm with Dj Bernie Luau’s Hawaiian Summer Jams and a Ratio Beerworks tap takeover with drink specials (no cover). Call (303) 800-7705 for reservations. (FB @AceEatServe, Twitter @AceEatServe, IG ace_eat_serve)

HIGHLAND 4TH OF JULY PARTY

Kick off the weekend right with the 10th Annual Highland 4th of July Party. Residents of the Highlands can begin celebrations on Saturday, July 3, with a water-balloon fight, along with pizza bites and tunes from High Desert Band, a local bluegrass band. On the holiday, guests can enjoy bike decorating contests plus a parade down 32nd Street led by an old-fashioned fire truck that ends its route at the 200-foot long ice cream sundae at Little Man Ice Cream {2620 16th Street, Denver; 303.455.3811}. The ice cream shop will have a “drum-line” of ice cream buckets in the parade, and there will be free food, live music, face painting, water balloon fights, and field day games. Click here for more info.

UNCORKED KITCHEN IN CENTENNIAL

There’s nothing more patriotic than gazing at purple mountain majesty from the patio at Uncorked Kitchen {8171 South Chester Street, Suite A, Centennial; 720.907.3838} The unparalleled Front Range vista is the perfect backdrop for watching fireworks display all across the city. For the fourth, the restaurant is offering a Tacos and Margs date night with patio reservations at 7pm, plus an extended menu of small plates and a chef’s special dish. Call ahead to make your reservations.