While some people think of lunch as a simple refueling process, Fuel Cafe in Denver takes the midday meal seriously. The proof is in owner/cook Bob Blair’s hearty sandwiches and salads, each with a distinct and vivid flavor. Blair tells his cooks to go easy on the salt and pepper and to use vinegar, pickles, hot peppers, hummus, chile jam, aioli and mustard instead.

Calling itself a “culinary depot,” Fuel Cafe occupies the former Yellow Cab headquarters, an airy industrial space spruced up with a mirrored wall facing an underlit resin bar overhung with chalkboard menus. Aging Denver hipsters will experience déjà vu over some of the colorful artwork — it’s from Taxi developer Mickey Zeppelin’s old City Spirit Cafe in LoDo.

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It’s always darkest (and lately, coldest) just before the sweet, sweet light.

There are lots of reasons to celebrate the winter solstice — in my girlfriend’s case, because it signals the end of shorter days and the incremental introduction of more sunlight. (You know, that whole seasonal affective disorder thing…) But whether it’s a spiritual reason or simply an excuse to stop, have a drink and invoke the flaming talons of symbolic rebirth, cultures around the world have been gathering and celebrating it for centuries.

Centuries!

On Saturday, Dec. 20, Denver’s Mercury Café will hold its own celebration of “the rhythms of the earth and the power of the longest night” at their Solstice Celebration and Yule Ritual. Sara Rain will lead the ritual and then attendees — of all faiths — are invited to stay and boogie to the Celtic rock-fusion of Tuatha.

The fun starts at 8 p.m. and costs $13 at the door. Stop by the Mercury (2199 California St.), visit their website or call 303-294-9258 to get more info about an excellent way to stave off those winter blues — and look forward to the spring.

When it comes to the lesser-appreciated stringed instruments, the banjo seems to be getting all the love these days. (In fact, Denver Post pop music critic Ricardo Baca has his own tribute to banjo-loving locals in this Sunday’s A&E section). But whither the ukulele? More than just a tiny Hawaiian guitar — although it’s that, too — the instrument has always had a footing in trad-folk and old timey music.

The uke, however, has lately been gaining steam in other genres. Arvada’s D Note will help you look at it in a whole new light when they host the Night of 1,000 Ukes show on Friday, Dec. 12. Get there early for set from the Glenn Taylor Orchestra (5:30 p.m.) and stick around for the madness, which includes Doo Crowder of Pee Pee, Ukulele Loki and his Gadabout Orchestra, Zebra Junction, the Junkettes and the Inactivists.

Tickets are $8. Visit the D Note’s website for more info!

Photo and text by Kristen Browning-Blas, The Denver Post.

As long as the people in your party like Japanese, Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese food, East Moon Asian Bistro is a something-for-everyone restaurant.

With each new location (there are four now), East Moon Asian Bistro grows a little more ambitious. Siblings Jeff and Cindy Zhou and their partners opened the glitzy Westminster and Fort Collins restaurants in recent months, with similar menus that serve our favorite maki rolls with crunchy tempura inside, Vietnamese rice noodle bowls and Thai peanut curry.

The original East Moon, on Prospect Road and Lemay Avenue in Fort Collins, is small and busy, serving locals a little bit of everything from the Pacific Rim. The new location, on Harmony Road, added hibachi tables and a large bar where New York- trained sushi chefs create the restaurant’s signature rolls, sashimi and nigiri.

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Suburban Home is one fire! Er, wait… not that suburban home.

“We had such a good time at our first First Friday party,” Suburban Homes founder Virgil Dickerson said in an e-mail earlier this week, “we have decided to throw another one. On Friday, Dec. 5, we will throw our second Suburban Home Puts the F back into ART party.”

Four artists will have their art up for display and sale at the party, sponsored by the excellent and long-running Denver punk rock label: Kepi Ghoulie (of the Groovie Ghoulies), Ralph Eberhard (of Suburban Home)
Lindsay Jordan and Darcie Leach (who will be displaying the portrait of Don Bersell that she was commissioned to paint.)

Kepi Ghoulie will be performing an acoustic set (Dickerson says there’s a small chance that Jon Snodgrass will be coming down to play) and you can enjoy complimentary high-class bevs like PBR, Boxed Wine, Mad Dog and Boones Farm. ‘Course, if you wanna bring something you’re welcome to…

Check it out tonight from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Suburban Home headquarters, 555 Santa Fe Dr. in Denver.