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The day after my review of Gemelli’s hit the stands, I got this missive from a reader:

After reading your excellent review, my friend and I arrived at 11:10 this morning (Fri), drooling over the thought of the shrimp scampi ...There was an 8 top that had walked in immediately ahead of us, so we settled into our booth, anticipating that the lone server was about to have a busy couple of hours. Right away we asked about the scampi: "Oh you're going to love this ... that is our lunch special today, and you two will be the first ever to order it!"

We enjoyed a glass of wine and a house salad ... more lunch diners showed up, and about 20 minutes passed before the poor overworked woman reappeared. "We don't have any shrimp today! Someone forgot to order it. You'll have to start over again." She dropped two menus off and disappeared.

Just thought you'd like to know. I know I'll never have the scampi that I was craving because we simply won't go back. As the wise man said, you only have one chance to make a good impression. I wish the staff and owners at Gemelli's all the best ...”

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Talk about a raw deal! According to the Colorado Attorney General's Office, the former owners of Osaka Sushi have been charged with human trafficking -- because they allegedly made two South Korean immigrants work there for no pay, threatening them with deportation if they complained.

Here's the press release from the AG:

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Hamburger Mary's (700 East 17th Avenue) has won the race to open the first new patio of the season. Its spacious back deck, with both a bar area (including heaters!) and seating for diners, made its debut on Tuesday, May 6. That beat Encore (2250 East Colfax Avenue), by three days: The pleasant side patio there opened Friday, May 9.

Still to come: Benny's second patio, now under construction on Grant Street, and a host of other outdoor eating spots that inevitably sprout every spring. Now if the temperature would just top 50 degrees, maybe they'd get some use. -- Patricia Calhoun

SAME Café at 2023 East Colfax Avenue is closed through May 9 for spring-cleaning – and the installation of some new kitchen equipment. When SAME reopens on May 10, co-owner (with wife Libby) Brad Birky will be devoting all his time to the restaurant, which allows diners to pay what they want for their meals

From the start, as Jason Sheehan reported shortly after SAME (So All May Eat) opened in October 2006, the restaurant seemed like a goofy concept, but after more than eighteen months in business, it's going well enough that Brad reports he can finally quit his computer-consulting gig that was paying the bills.

More of the SAME, please. -- Patricia Calhoun

Earlier this week, Jason Sheehan rhapsodized about his dinner at Le Bernardin.

His musings did not escape attention on the East Coast, where New York magazine's food blog weighed in with this.

All in all, quite a tasty read. But for the record: The paper is Westword. And Sheehan's piece wasn't quite 19,000 words -- although lord knows, he would happily have gone that distance for Eric Ripert. -- Patricia Calhoun

I was surprised this week to get an email from DISCUS, the national trade group for distilled spirits producers and marketers, about a pro-Sunday sales press conference to be held at Argonaut Wine and Liquor -- of all places.

Two years ago, when I was reporting on a campaign to allow Sunday sales, I couldn’t find a single Colorado liquor store that wanted the freedom to sell booze on Sunday. In fact, Applejack President Jim Shpall told me then that any campaign to change the blue laws in this state was really a plot by DISCUS to get alcohol into grocery stores and chains. Once liquor stores were open on Sunday, the chain grocers would yell that they’re losing Sunday 3.2 beer sales and should be therefore allowed to sell liquor.

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