Mark Manger

This week's review took me to Phat Thai, the restaurant that chef Mark Fischer opened in Cherry Creek North, extending his empire east after opening the original Phat Thai in Carbondale, where he also has the excellent Six89. I wasn't expecting Phat Thai to be authentic -- the website and menu both dispel any notion that Fischer might be trying to accomplish that, anyway -- but I did expect it to be delicious.

I wasn't bowled over by everything I had, but here, to go with the review, are a few photos of the hits.

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Beirut Grill is opening a second location at 1600 Champa Street, in what was once the home of Champa Street liquors.

Although information is sketchy, we know that the menu will be the same as at the original location, 203 West Hampden Avenue: traditional Middle Eastern fare.

Look for this Beirut Grill to open June 1.

Mountain Sun

Longmont's Oskar Blues Brewery has signed a letter of intent to open a new restaurant in Boulder's historic train depot, it was reported this week, an interesting decision considering how many other brewpubs and brewery-centric restaurants are open or opening in town. The Boulder Beer Company and Twisted Pine already serve food at their breweries, as do Mountain Sun and Southern Sun, which just announced that it will open a new taphouse. And then there is Avery, which is planning a massive new facility that will include a restaurant, and Upslope Brewing, which would like to open an eatery of some sort. There's also the Walnut Brewery & Restaurant; Shine restaurant, which is launching a brewery; and Centro Latin Kitchen, whose chef just opened his own small brewery, Bru. And did I mention West Flanders Brewing, which hopes to open in the old B.J.'s space later this year? Is there room enough for all of them? Stay tuned.

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The Four Seasons

Last summer, the Four Seasons unveiled Level 3, a poolside bar open to the public once a week on Thursday nights, luring patrons to the deck with the promise of waterside drinks, small bites and a swanky "Miami vibe," according to the hotel's general manager, Thierry Kennel.

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Lori Midson

Beau Green
Denver Zoo
2300 Steele Street
www.denverzoo.org

This is part one of my interview with Beau Green, exec chef of the Denver Zoo. You can read part of our interview in this space tomorrow.

It was a juvenile-court judge who forced Beau Green into a kitchen. The 37-year-old chef of the Denver Zoo, who oversees a staff of 75, was a self-described troublemaker growing up in Texas. "I was a punk skateboard kid and did some things that got me into a lot of trouble when I was young, and I had a juvenile judge tell me that I had way too much time on my hands, so I had to go to high school and get a full-time job, which I did, in a restaurant -- and it was probably that judge who saved my life," says Green, who's been cooking ever since.

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Lori Midson

"So, to what do I owe the privilege?"

That's what rolled off my tongue earlier today when I picked up the phone and heard the booming voice of star chef and restaurateur Charlie Palmer on the other end, calling from New York with an update on what's transpiring at District Meats, the restaurant he opened in November of last year at 1631 Wazee Street.

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Gustavo Arellano isn't just the man behind Ask a Mexican!, his weekly column in Westword. He's also the author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, and in that book he lavishes praise on the Mexican food of Denver:

"I have finally learned to love Den-Mex," he writes. "Your epic Mexican hamburgers, your combo plates slathered -- scratch that, smothered -- in furious chile. Your street-corner, foil-wrapped burritos steaming with chunks of pork, the late-night runs to Chubby's. (Chubby's! The greatest Mexican restaurant in the United States!...) When I first came and tasted Den-Mex, I dismissed ustedes as a heresy as dangerous to Mexican culture as the only Mexican thing I knew about Denver at the time: Tom Tancredo.

"That's now changed: I'll devote the rest of my life to spreading your gospel, with the fervor of the converted."

And two weeks from now, Arellano will be in Denver to hold a service for all those who worship Mexican food...and great writing.

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Three and a half years ago, I arrived back in the Mile High City with nothing but a crazy (to my parents, at least) plan to give up my cushy finance job and work, somehow, in the wine and restaurant industry. The ride's been better than anything I could have ever anticipated, hoped for or dreamed up, especially since I've been lucky enough to spend the last two years telling stories about that industry while watching the restaurant scene in this town continue to soar to greater heights. It's an exhilarating time for eating out in Denver, and I have no doubt that it will only keep getting better from here.

My admiration for (or, um, obsession over) my home town's restaurants will never cease, but I won't be here to see the next phase directly. At the beginning of June, I'm moving back to New York City, which means I'll be giving up my post as Westword's food critic. (And before then, I'll be eating somewhere in the vicinity of five meals a day, trying to relish every morsel of what's great about dining here.)

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Matt Collier, executive chef of T|ACO.

You'd think a chef with the pedigree of Matt Collier would balk at the thought of slinging tacos, but Collier, who was a sous chef at The Kitchen in Boulder for nearly four years, and whose culinary lineage also includes stints at Blackbird, the Drawing Room, Boka (a Michelin-starred restaurant), Publican and Avec, all in Chicago, ended his tenure in the Windy City at Big Star, a taqueria that's generated nationwide accolades.

And now Collier has been tapped as the executive chef of T|ACO, a honky-tonk taqueria that will open at 1175 Walnut Street in Boulder early next week, followed by a second T|ACO in the former 8 Rivers space in downtown Denver, which is slated to open by the end of June.

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Domino's Pizza is not known for having the best pizza crust in the big-box pizza chain sphere of influence. Hell -- it isn't known for having the best pizza, either. So I was actually surprised when Domino's became the first major pizza-delivery chain to offer gluten-free crust (doing what smaller shops and local pie shacks have already been doing for years). I figured Pizza Hut would lead off, Domino's would follow suit, Little Caesar's would ignore the trend for another decade or so and keep focusing on its $5 ready-made pies, and Blackjack Pizza would continue to ignore every trend and simply remain the Arby's of pizzerias.

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