Former Fourth Story exec chef Dan Brown wins Pinche Tacos' renaming contest

Dan Brown is about to be up to his neck in tacos. Brown, a former Denver chef, submitted the winning name for Pinche Tacos' 16th Street Mall street food cart (necessitated by the rejection of the R-rated name by the downtown business district). The new name? Tacos Borrachos.

Pinche Tacos' owner and chef Kevin Morrison says he tossed the name ("borracho" means "drunk" in Spanish) around to friends and others, who all seemed to like it. The name also meshes with the business's playful, irreverent spirit. "We've had a few drunken nights working in the kitchen, and it just seems to fit," he says.

Brown attributes his success to being an early bird. "It was fortuitous that I posted the name when I did," he says. "I probably put in 22 entries in the first couple of hours." The contest was conducted on Pinche Tacos' Facebook page, with fans suggesting, and then commenting, on names.

Brown, who once headed the kitchen at the Fourth Story (RIP) and also worked executive chef stints at the Table Mountain Inn and Palettes and as executive sous at Rialto, hasn't decided which prize he'll choose yet -- free lunches at Pinche Tacos for a year or a $500 catering package.

Now out of the restaurant biz, he's slated to get a degree come December and likes the idea of a catered Pinche Tacos event. Then again, he muses, he wouldn't mind patronizing Tacos Borrachos time and again for lunch once it sets up camp on the mall next month.

Brown likes the option of patronizing local street vendors like Pinche Tacos. "I think it's a great alternative to fast food," he says.