The First COVID Dining Room Lockdown
In early March, the seriousness of the looming pandemic became more obvious as COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths began to mount. Some restaurants began closing to protect their employees and customers even before it was mandated, but on March 17, Governor Jared Polis ordered every bar and restaurant in Colorado to suspend in-house dining, with only takeout and delivery sales allowed. That model continued until May 26, when businesses were allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity.
Tavernetta has been packaging a rainbow of cocktail choices for takeout customer for most of 2020.
Tavernetta
Liquor To Go In a pandemic-inspired move that may stick around long after we ve dropped our masks, in March Governor Polis issued an executive order allowing takeout and delivery of alcoholic beverages
An Owner and a Server Speak on How You Can Help Save Local Restaurants
Josh Wolkon and Alexis Stovich share what they wish Denver diners knew about staying safe and in business during the pandemic.Alexis Stovich and Josh Wolkon •
December 23, 2020
Editor’s note: Josh Wolkon, founder and owner of Secret Sauce Food & Beverage, has been a restaurant operator in Denver for more than 20 years; his restaurants include Steuben’s, Ace Eat Serve, and, until its closing this past summer, Vesta. Wolkon recently decided to reopen Steuben’s Arvada for take-out and delivery in order to keep 20 employees working whom he would have had to furlough otherwise. Here is where he and longtime server Alexis Stovich, a Secret Sauce employee since 2012, stand right now and what they want Denver diners to know, based on their experiences in the restaurant business this year.
Coloradans have always enjoyed après al fresco and snacking on sunny patios, but 2020 brought myriad new ways to dine outdoors for intrepid and safety-conscious restaurant-goers. From polycarbonate greenhouses and plastic igloos to engineer-built private dining pods and mountain-town gondolas, here are some of the very best and most comfortable ways to eat and drink outside right now.
Metro Denver
Patio and igloo dining at Ace Eat Serve. Photo courtesy of Ace Eat Serve
Picture it: Sipping on a ceramic cup of hot junmai sake or an icy pint of Left Hand’s Milk Stout Nitro by a fire pit or inside a translucent igloo as an eye-smiling masked server sets down a sizzling wok filled with crispy lobster, prawns, and sweet potato noodles tossed in a miso-butter-chile sauce. You’re at Ace, of course, where there’s free live music on Saturday afternoons, prizes for Denverites outfitted in their finest retro ski attire, and chef Thach Tran’s tender soup dumplings and curries, which w
Dec 16, 2020, 6:00 am 248 Shares
Santo’s Posole Rojo, from the new “A Bite of Boulder” cookbook. (Provided by “A Bite of Boulder)
Not long after the coronavirus pandemic forced restaurants to close for on-site dining this spring, Jessica Benjamin was scrolling Instagram when she came across a video of Jennifer Jasinski, Denver chef and restaurant owner, showing how to make ricotta gnocchi.
Inspired, Benjamin followed Jasinski’s video recipe and tried making the gnocchi in her Boulder kitchen. They were so good that she made them again. Then she went online and bought a gift card from Rioja, one of Jasinski’s restaurants.
Dining rooms and bars are where we gather to share good food and drink and good times with friends, family and neighbors. And while 2020 made gathering together difficult, restaurants are still here for us, whether we re able to eat their food inside, on a patio or in our own homes. Since eateries are doing everything they can to keep open and keep serving the dining community, we decided to move ahead with our annual Eat Here list of the 100 restaurants we can t live without – and hope we never have to.
Our list recognizes that greatness continues when and where we least expect it, and also serves as a thank you to the people cooking, serving, washing dishes, answering phones, delivering your food, enforcing the rules and making Denver a better city every day. Now get out and eat!