Eatery News: October 2011

Openings/Closings

Pearl Street Steak Room opened early this month in a small space behind Tahona Tequila Bar. /Bombay Bistro owners opened a second restaurant in Vancouver, BC, and plan to rebrand Bombay Bistro to match the new restaurant’s lounge vibe. /The latest in the self-serve yogurt trend, Boom Yoghurt Bar opened at 3303 30th St. in Boulder, offering fresh and frozen yogurt as well as cottage cheese and many toppings. /The Butterball plant in Longmont will close by the end of the year. /Snooze opened its fifth Colorado restaurant on Pearl St. in late September.

News

Google acquired Zagat, causing some foodies to worry that the venerable restaurant ratings service will begin to look more like Yelp than Michelin. /Mike O’Shay’s Restaurant and Ale House in Longmont marks its 30th anniversary this month. /Culinary Connectors began offering walking dining tours of downtown Boulder. /Foodie Registry (foodieregistry.com), a wedding registry for restaurant gift certificates, launched in Denver. Boulder-based Conscious Coffee took the national Roaster of the Year award. /The Kitchen launched The Kitchen Community this month; each Monday, proceeds from kids meals sold at The Kitchen [Next Door] will be donated to school garden projects in the BVSD. /Bryan Dayton, owner of Oak at Fourteenth, took first place in the national GQ Bombay Sapphire cocktail competition and will be featured on the cover of GQ. /Denver ranked No. 13 on Travel + Leisure’s America’s Best Cities for Foodies list. /And The Sink was featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Colunching, a Paris-based startup, launched its food-based networking program in Boulder this month: colunching.com.

Best of the Month

Buffalo dumplings and a Kona coffee cocktail at Tastes on the Terrace at the Flagstaff House. /A fabulous duck taco with goat cheese and apple butter at Tahona in Boulder. /The raw wrap with rainbow chard and cashew ricotta at Leaf in Boulder.

Events

Flagstaff House Restaurant officially celebrates its 40th year with an Anniversary Gala Oct. 16, with a menu by many of the area’s favorite chefs. Reservations required. Proceeds will benefit the Davis Phinney Foundation. flagstaffhouse.com. /Amaro will host its inaugural wine dinner Oct. 25 with wines from Alpha Zeta winery. /Oct. 28 and 29, HUSH Concepts will host Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg and mixologist James Lee for a two-night-only “pop-up” restaurant. Reservations at hushdenver.com. Rumor has it, the two are working on a permanent restaurant concept together. /First Bite Boulder set this year’s dates for Nov. 11-19. /Café Aion will host three Sunday night dinners this fall; with only 15 seats by reservation only, the evenings will be an opportunity to chat and engage with wine director Kenny Rowe and chef Dakota Soifer.