Snacking on A Taste for Life

The Avenue Grill has long been one of the favorite restaurants in the historic uptown neighborhood. A beautiful mirrored, wood back bar accents the white table clothed dining room. Which makes for a classy, yet casual atmosphere. The menu offers an interesting mix of Asian and Italian inspired American fare. The gourmet sandwiches and burgers are popular lunch items. Steaks, chops and fresh fish highlight the dinner menu. The dessert menu offers small tasting portions so patrons can enjoy a number of different options. So in a hizzity nutshell, screw the diet thing and go all out!

From the same minds who brought Denver the Tim Burton-esque Mario's Double Daughter's Solatto, Beatrice & Woodsley is inspired by the love story between the daughter of a French wine making family who relocated to California and the son of a lumberjack family. While this might seem a little farfetched, the fact that the room is lined with Aspen's and chainsaws hang from the walls (not to mention the above average wine menu), the concept is extremely well implemented. Somehow hidden on bustling South Broadway, Beatrice & Woodsley is a haven of tranquility and one of the most striking restaurants in Denver. If nature should call, make sure to test your hand washing fortitude at the one of a kind faucet and sink.

You’ve watched the clock tick down the hours, minutes, seconds, from your high school desk, to your college desk, to your desk at the office. The hands of time take up their collective positions at twelve and five and you take your position as a rush of air that ruffles tomorrow’s reports as you disappear through the door. The Corner Office feels ya, so much so that they’ve made a place perfect for you. Located in the Curtis Hotel, opposite the DCPA. The Corner Office carries on this flair by serving up global comfort food at decent prices and allows clock watchers to grab a real happy hour as the clock strikes five.

Rachel Ray stopped here. No joke. When the queen of food herself dined here, you know you’re in for a tasty treat. Deluxe is smaller inside which helps add to the charming environment. You dine first-class when you come here. Try the oyster shooters for starters than move onto the enchanting entrees—the pumpkin and goat cheese ravioli is a good option or the grilled swordfish. Either way this is a romantic atmosphere and a lovely place to dine! Rachel Ray is never wrong….well at least when it comes to food.

Want delivery? Screw Digiorno Pizza, order from Denver's very own—Denver Pizza Company. Located in Cherokee Row in the Golden Triangle, this pizza headquarters serves up some of the best 'za around. Want to know something even more amazing, ladies? Mark Huebner from The Bachelorette is the proud owner. So we can now put the mysterious "pizza entrepreneur" title to rest...we now know what they mean.

How many big office meetings have you attended where halfway through the thing your brain is careening toward Snooze Land, the first scheduled break is still 45 minutes off, and you think you could kick a puppy for a cup of coffee? Worry no more. When the next meeting rolls around give Espresso Affair a call. Denver’s finest catered espresso outfit will wheel in as many espresso carts as you need and keep the people at your meeting wired enough to survive the whole thing.

Declared the best bakery in Denver six years running, Gateaux specializes in wedding cakes (beautiful ones), but they are also a complete bakery, cooking up trays of brownies, cookies, muffins, sticky buns and muffins. Their cherry-coconut bars will make you give up sin. Having an office party, or friends over for dessert? Stop by Gateaux and order a tray of assorted treats. No time to stop by? Go to their Web site, order what you need, and they will deliver it to your door.

After a day in Cherry Creek, what better way to end a shopping spree than a scoop of ice cream? But not just any old ice cream. With ingredients imported from Italy, Gelato d’Italia Café is Denver’s original gelateria. Their servings may be small, but the intense flavor of real Italian ice-cream will knock you off your feet. And unlike other chain ice cream shops, gelato has half the fat and two times the fuit flavor.

There are various criteria to judge when your city is all “growed up.” It could be whether you have all the major sports teams (check), or it could be whence you have a multitude of significant local, non-chain restaurants. Root Down should be heralded as one of the best examples of what a truly fine local restaurant should be. It has a terrifically hip, stylish décor — studied yet casually fun. It touts that locally farmed and organic products are used whenever possible. It recycles everything. Oh, and the food is downright impressive.

Relatively new, this neighborhood Italian bistro comes complete with a tidy, relaxed atmosphere, comfortable seating, a full menu of Shaped-Like-A-Boot favorites (their chicken piccata is the real Da Vinci Code), a friendly, attentive staff with considerable knowledge of Italian cuisine, and a stellar wine list. They serve a weekend brunch, too, that, after you try it the first time, will have you salivating for more. Their prices are reasonable and their portions even a bit grandiose.

Eating breakfast at Snooze, you might feel like the band Weezer is about to burst through the door and start singing "Buddy Holly." It has the retro sort of feel of the Happy Days-set video, mixed with the modern interpretation of the band. We think this is a good thing, and, judging by the lines, apparently so does half of Denver. Aside from the vibe, the full bar - a rarity for a breakfast joint - probably has something to do with Snooze's popularity. Take a walk around Lodo at, oh anytime, and you'll see that Denver likes to drink. Wash down you kamikaze with their cakey pineapple upside down pancakes.

The long awaited XO noodle bar has now opened at the Jet Hotel, making it a destination for a delicious lunch or dinner, as well as a night out with VIP bottle service. XO features noodle-based bowls with very healthy, natural and organic ingredients.