cherry creek north blog

Adios Chez Jose

Yes, the House of Jose has closed, adding to the economic and cultural downturn in CCN.  But, a sign in the papered-over windows says "Brandon's Pub" !  Anyone have any intel on this?

Randy Barnhart, Top Lawyer, Moves Office to CCN

Randy Barnhart, a nationally-known trial lawyer, has gone solo and now offices at 50 S. Steele Street.  Randy's practice is now focused on insurance bad faith and product liability involving defective 15-passenger vans, autos, and tires. 

Plush is flushed out

The ubiquitous "For Lease" sign in CCN is NOW hanging in the window at Plush (next door to the Argyll). Please, no more "loungy" martini bars in that space.  Let the Mini-Bar on 2nd handle that scene. What about some good take-out Thai there?

Two Wines at Ondos

Two wines, both from the now famous Priorat region of Spain, being served at Ondos:

Grape Varieties:	100% Garnatxa Blanca
Ageing:	4 months in new French Allier Oak casks
Vinification:	Fermentation 30 days at 15ºC. Battonage during ageing.
Vine Age:	65 years
Ageing Potential:	3 years

and

A bottle of the white can be had for $62, the red or tinto for 69...

Soleil

Dave & Rebeka at 2817 E. 3rd Ave, Denver, CO 80206, (303) 316-9100, write:

Hello Friends of Soleil,

For many of you Soleil is a summertime place where you sit on the patio sipping sangrias and snacking on tapas in the warm night air. Summer is fantastic at Soleil. However, we also want to remind you that Soleil is a cozy and inviting spot for cold winter nights, especially during the holiday season. Here are several ways to include Soleil in your holidays:

PRIVATE PARTIES
We would love to create a holiday party that is right for you. Our mezzanine dining room is perfect for parties of 25 or fewer guests. For larger parties the entire restaurant can be rented.

GIFT CERTIFICATES
Soleil gift certificates are available in $20, $50, and $100 amounts. Give the gift of great food and wine!

CATERING TRAYS
The holidays are busy. Let us do some of the work for you!. We prepare beautiful party trays which are perfect for entertaining at home or at the office. Please place orders at least 24 hours in advance.

NEW YEAR’S EVE
Ring in 2010 with us. Our special New Year’s Eve menu is a prix fixe 6-course of tapas and small plates. Make reservations for a romantic evening for two or a social night out with friends ($50 per person). Keep the evening going at our sister restaurant, The Q for live music and a festive party atmosphere. www.theqbarbeque.com.

Happy Holidays!

Bekah & David
& the Soleil Staff


Visit our website

Good News: Ondo's Now Serving

This from the real chef/owner at Ondo's:

i'm happy to announce that ondo's spanish tapas bar is open for business. after clearing many hurdles, we opened our doors on monday, the 23rd of november. overall we have received some very postive comments about our food, wines and service. some of offerings include, jamon iberico, tortilla espanol, salads, pescadito frito (fried fish with ali oli), beef cheeks with red wine sauce, squid in its ink sauce, albondigas, and various homemade desserts. we open at 4.30 everyday, minus monday and accept reservations for parties of six or more. we hope you come try our spanish tapas. curt steinbecker, owner and chef -

Malaise in CCN Restaurant Scene

The guy can't help note a general malaise pervading the CCN restaurant scene, even with Ondos and Earl's about to open.  North is not much fun anymore.  The staff present forced smiles, and it is easy to tell many are not happy.  My intel tells me that a few months ago corporate headquarters sent in an enforcer who fired a few of the veteran, and best, in my opinion, staff, especially behind the bar.  The new guys behind the bar often don't even bother to check if the wine glass is clean, and the "workers" in the corporate kitchen sometimes cheat, like dicing unripe avocado so small in hopes the patron will not notice.  I noticed.

Indeed, glasses or the avocado often can be the bell weather for the quality of a kitchen, as recently, the otherwise reliable Cherry Creek Grill served up a sashimi tuna salad with avocado so far gone my senses revolted, and my appetite evaporated. Second Home in the Marriott presented the other day a knife so crusty that I wondered how the staff who wrap the hardware could be so indifferent.  Perhaps the pay sucks.

A few months ago, the barkeep at Kona Grill in the mall poured water in a glass so filthy that it suggested  "he" must have been an improperly programmed automaton. I recall the bartenders who were fired from North - they would always raise the wine and water glasses to the light to check them, a professional courtesy which apparently is not valued by corporate culture seeking maximum profits.

Back in October, my brother and I dropped into Elway's, ostensibly a sports bar (?), looking for a beer and enough screens to enjoy both the Broncos and the Rockies games even if we had to rubberneck between the two.  We asked the waitress if the establishment would tune both games, but she snapped: "I don't know.", without so much as assuring us that she would find out.  We tried politeness to change her "mood," but she remained stolid (and unwelcoming), perhaps another "worker" who preferred to be elsewhere.  We soon decided to be elsewhere and have not returned.

CCN is not much fun any more....

More closures

CCN continues to deteriorate....

Juicy Lucy - dried up and gone with the wind

International Villa - leaving a big empty space on Detroit (space where Chinook Tavern used to be still for lease)

Bar Luxe - long gone

Belly - belly up

Recession grips CCN ...

Peaberry's on 2nd and St. Paul gonzo ... now just Starbuck's and Pete's Coffee.

Great Harvest Bread (Sandwich) Company on 3rd gonzo ...

Smith & Hawken on Detroit going ... everything on sale now.

Cigar shop on 2nd and Detroit---smoked out.

Brio - Tuscan Grille

The new Brio - Tuscan Grille (complete redo of the space where the old Macaroni Grill used to be) is set for its first service on September 2nd.  Check it out.

Ondo's - Welcome Real Chefs

Curt writes the CCN Guy and relates that he and wife Deicy are the chefs and owners of Ondo's, the new Spanish Tapas bar soon coming to 250 Steele St., around  November 1 if the gods are willing. And the origin of the name?

Says Curt: "Spain was our home for over 5 years. We met while attending a 2 year culinary program at "La Escuela de Cocina-Luis Irizar" in San Sebastian, Basque Country. After finishing our schooling, we were fortunate enough to get our work papers in order to continue gaining experience at various restaurants, bars, and hotels in San Sebastian and Barcelona. Our goal is to open up an authentic Spanish tapas bar, minus the legs of jamon [hams] hanging from the ceiling."

Finally, real chefs back in CCN, which has gone mostly corporate (North, Houston's, Earl's (coming soon to the space vacated by the defunct Ocean), since Mel's closed, followed by Chinook Tavern (which can't seem to re-open down there in Greenwood Village???).

Of course, the Guy reserves judgment when and until he can see, smell and taste a tapa or two, and then there's the wine list.  All Spanish, or will the New World also be featured?

Curt, keep us posted.

Ross Branch Library Closing

The Ross-Cherry Creek North branch library is closing on September 10 - okay, okay, only temporarily closing.  Renovations are the culprit, a sign says, but the sign also states that re-opening is for some time in March of 2010!  Seven months for some new carpet?  That's not renovation, that's somebody who doesn't know what's up or down.

CCN Food&Wine Fest

The Inaugural, or relaunched(?), Cherry Creek North Food & Wine is soon upon us - August 21 - 23.  The stage is Fillmore Plaza.  Can't tell what's free and what will set you back big time.  The website seems to indicate that you can enjoy some free chef demonstrations and wine tastings, but the Grand Tasting on Saturday night is a pricey 50 beans.  Interpret the details here.

Ondos - Update

My intel says that the founders/owners are Curt Steinbecker and wife, having spent the last four years in Spain.  Curt, chime in.  Anyone know Curt?  So tapas coming soon - can't wait (although getting a liquor license is always a long and stressful affair).  Note: the only other Spanish tapa in CCN is a rather eclectic version of the Spanish tortilla over at Soleil. 

Houston's - Now a Piano Bar

The new eatery on the corner of Josephine and 3rd ripped out the community table in the southeast corner at the end of the bar to allow for a piano, drums and bass fiddle, etc.  My intel also says that the small outdoor area will soon be expanded to allow for dining al fresco.  Now if they just got rid of the televisions...

New - Ondos, a Spanish Tapas Bar

The sign, hanging on the spot where French 250 used to be--right next to Tambien, says opening this fall.  Anybody know more?

Arts Festival - July 5, 2009

CCNGuy Pick: Best Drawing - Taman Vanscoy (website).

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CCNGuy Pick: Best Emerging Artist - Asa Shows (website):

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CCNGuy Pick: Best Fabric - Kelly Marshall (website):

"Kelly Marshall founded Custom Woven Interiors, Ltd. in 1992. Marshall received her Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Design at the University of Minnesota, specializing in textiles. She continued studying weaving and design for one year in Sweden at Forsa Folkhogskola and in Belgium at the Belgian Lace School. Marshall specializes in custom design, the exploration of color, pattern and texture. Her studio is open to the public and a vital link to the community and fiber arts. Interns are a valuable addition to our studio and to the continuation of the development of the fiber arts.

Marshall is a member of the Fiber Artists Collective. A national organization of professional fiber artists working collectively to present and market their work, educate the public and inspire appreciation of contemporary fiber art. www.fiberartists.org"

Arts Festival - July 4, 2009 p.3

CCNGuy Pick: Best Photography - Daryl Thetford (website):

Arts Festival - July 4, 2009 p.2

CCNGuy Pick: Best Metal/Sculpture (first timer at the CCN Arts Fest) - G.M. Webb (website).

Arts Festival - July 4, 2009

8:45 am - Drying out.

10:30 - Cool, perfect festival clime. 

CCNGuy Pick: Can't miss - Enk Smith, Crow Hill Guitars.

July 4, 2009

 "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security."

Great stuff...here too.

Arts Festival 2009 - Deluge

Deluge. Lots of art, no ark.