Celebrate Pierre Wolfe Day -- for PHAMALY's sake

Pierre Wolfe's always feeding someone -- or something.

June 1 may -- or may not -- be Pierre Wolfe Day in Denver, but the party tomorrow is definitely on: Wolfe will host a benefit luncheon for PHAMALY, the incredible theater troupe whose members all face health challenges.

Although Mayor John Hickenlooper did declare June 1, 2006, Pierre Wolfe Day in Denver, to honor the longtime, legendary restaurateur (he owned four Denver restaurants) and raconteur (for an account of Westword's most embarrassing appearance on his radio show, click here), that proclamation does not automatically regenerate itself each year -- and mayoral spokesman Eric Brown had no idea if today was actually Pierre Wolfe Day. "I haven't heard of anything," he said.

But then, anyone who's been in the dining business in Denver very long knows that any day might as well be Pierre Wolfe Day.

And so the celebration will definitely go on, starting at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2, at Assignments, the restaurant of the Culinary Institute at the Art Institute of Colorado, which is located at 675 South Broadway.

Seats at the luncheon are $40 (a few are still available, according to boardmember Jan Brennan) and will help PHAMALY fund its summer show, Beauty and the Beast, whose tickets definitely go on sale today. A PHAMALY actor will perform at the lunch, Culinary Institute students will be strutting their stuff -- and we're willing to bet that Wolfe can be cajoled to tell a story or two. Or three.