Within LoDo’s Wynkoop Brewing Co. beat the dark hearts of many tasty beers.

Anyone who drinks for pleasure knows that certain beverages are appropriate for certain moods and occasions. Red wine is wonderful in cooler weather, ice-cold white wines are refreshing in heat. A mint julep in a silver cup is the best accompaniment to the Kentucky Derby. A martini looks great on a date.

Beer is fine pretty much anytime, but sometimes the fizziness and easy drinkability just don’t feel right. Sure, a cold one is fantastic on a blazing-hot summer day, but not so satisfying when the weather turns gloomy and chilly and you just walked home in the snow.

On those kinds of days, it’s time to turn to heavier, more nourishing stuff. That’s where the dark beers come in: Porters, stouts, Scottish ales and the like. They’re big in flavor and hearty in the belly, perfect for strength in wintry weather.

(more…)

Behold, the slider: a fine little package of flavor amidst a sea of gargantuan restaurant portions.

Sliders — those mini-burgers that offer a tasty alternative to American restaurants’ T.-rex-sized portions — have enjoyed sizzling popularity in the past couple of years.

Diego Zhang’s Burger Café, with two Centennial restaurants, focuses on what they bill as “hand crafted, globally inspired” sliders. Bravo. The sliders are cheap, ranging from $2.50-$4.50. They boast great flavors, thanks to an imaginative melding of ingredients. Patty options are beef, bison, chicken, pork, salmon or shrimp.

(more…)

One of Lodo’s newer additions: The Rack & Rye gastropub. Sleek, but cozy too.

The gastropub trend is finally hitting Denver, and it’s hitting hard. First there was Jonesy’s EatBar (400 E. 20th Ave.) in 2008. Next came Argyll (2700 E. Third Ave.) in 2009, and now there’s the Rack & Rye (1320 15th St.) in LoDo.

The gastropub is, essentially, a down-home bar with gourmet chow. They’re places where you drink like you would at your local watering hole but also fill your belly with interesting, finely prepared food — not frozen jalapeño poppers and chicken fingers. It’s “Cheers” meets charcuterie.

Goodness knows why it took Denver so long to catch on to the idea. The gastropub trend took hold in London early in the 2000s or, depending on who you talk to, in the past century. New York jumped onboard soon after, and the fad spread westward.

(more…)

Cliff Young has a bottle — or 200 — waiting for you at his risqué steakhouse.

If women weren’t peeling cocktail dresses down to their G-strings on a runway, CY Steak might be just another pricey Denver steakhouse. Then again, it also has proprietor and consummate host Cliff Young, who keeps his dapper clothes on, sometimes channeling Christopher Walken doing “The Continental” as if for “Masterpiece Theatre.”

That’s somehow fitting, because this space abutting the Diamond Cabaret Gentleman’s Club has been remodeled rather dramatically, and by far it’s the best incarnation yet — perching on the edges of recherche like the pinkie peeking from the edges of an open-toed stiletto, it’s all reds and blacks, with deep-set banquettes, twisted white napkins reaching from wine glasses like shapely women’s legs. The music is porn Muzak, the dancing ladies are chatty and charming, and there’s a walk-in humidor for the puff daddies (and mamas).

(more…)