Marcella’s meatball; Emmerson in Boulder
A controversial restaurant is opening in Boulder.
How controversial, you ask? In famously glutenfree Boulder, the restaurant is named after grain.
Emmerson, named after wild emmer (an ancient mother grain), will be an unapologetically grainbased restaurant. And I like it already.
The menu will focus on breads, pastries, pizzas, pastas and porridges. Even the drinks will highlight grain-based spirits. Yes, Emmerson will most definitely be going against the grain trend.
Emmerson’s team is pretty impressive. The chef/ partners are Michael Gibney, formerly executive sous chef at NYC’s Tavern on the Green, and Jeb Breakell, a pastry chef who’s worked at Daniel, Eleven Madison Park and Per Se.
Rounding out the five owners are Tre Gerbitz (front-of-house guy from Boulder’s The Med and Brasserie Ten Ten), Ben Foote (former bar manager at Blackbelly) and Ben Kaplan (an investor/partner of The Source).
“With Emmerson, we’re turning the traditional, single-owner restaurant model on its head,” Kaplan said of having five co-owners. “This team of owners all have a stake in the business. Each brings his own, specific and complementary talent to the table and shares an obsession to create a culture of hospitality and service.”
Emmerson will bring grains back to Boulder beginning in July. Emmerson: 1600 Pearl St., Boulder
●●● Denver-based Good Food 100 released its first list spotlighting restaurants that support good local food economies. Colorado restaurants receiving top honors (six rings, indicating that they have the greatest percentage of good food purchases among all participating restaurants) are Basta, Beast & Bottle, Colterra Food & Wine, Fooducopia, Frasca Food & Wine, Fresh Thymes Eatery, Fruition, Julia’s Kitchen, Mercantile Dining & Provisions, Next Door, River & Woods, Sazza and the Boulder Valley School District. For more information, visit goodfood 100restaurants. org.
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A drink with a view is the unofficial mantra of the ViewHouse bars and restaurants, and its third outpost in Littleton is no exception. ViewHouse Littleton opened on June 15 with the same expansive rooftop and patio spaces that made the Centennial and Ballpark locations so popular.
The menu features most of the same dishes as the other two spots, with an additional exclusive weekend breakfast menu with morning treats like a
southwestern carnitas benedict and cornflake crumble French toast.
Plus, with three bars (two downstairs and one rooftop), you may not even have to battle your neighbors for a beer.
ViewHouse Littleton: 2680 W. Main St., Littleton; viewhouse.com; Mon.-Wed. 11-12 a.m., Thurs.-Fri. 11-2 a..m., Sat. 7-2 a.m., Sun. 7-12 a.m.
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More wine and more food are two things that Denverites generally get behind. So I think Bigsby’s
Folly, a craft winery and restaurant that opened on June 16, will do just fine in RiNo.
“As wine lovers ourselves, we want to bring the highest quality varietals from the best regions around the world to Denver and to help elevate Colorado’s growing wine scene,” said Marla Yetka, co-founder of Bigsby’s and its “chief experience officer.” (I wonder if that’s a college major?)
Bigsby’s will serve house-made wines and wine-friendly shared plates such as meat and cheese plates, flatbreads and salads. The full-production winery will take over a 7,000-square-foot warehouse on Wazee Street that just so happens to have a nice outdoor patio and a courtyard perfect for lawn games. Because we Coloradans really adore our lawn games.
DIYers will love Bigsby’s Winemaker for a Day session, where you’ll blend your own bottle of red wine and take it home with you, complete with cool custom label.
Bigsby’s Folly: 3563 Wazee St., Denver, 720-4853158; bigsbysfolly.com; Mon.-Thurs. 4-10 p.m., Fri. 2-11 p.m., Sat. 12-11 p.m., Sun. 12-8 p.m. ●●●
So. Many. New. Restaurants. Here’s another one: Marcella’s Ristorante, Pizzeria and Wine Bar will open on Central Street in LoHi.
The Italian restaurant is from Ohio-based restaurateur Cameron Mitchell, who also runs Ocean Prime (and loads of other restaurants around the country).
Signature dishes at Marcella’s include a braised veal meatball, lasagna a la Bolognese and chicken marsala.
“We have friends in Denver and through personal travel we have grown to love the city,” Mitchell said.
Marcella’s opens in midAugust.
Marcella’s Ristorante, Pizzeria and Wine Bar: 1801 Central St., Denver; marcellasrestaurant.com
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After 34 years in business, Racines finally added a happy hour. (I guess they thought that in this day and age, people need more reasons to be happy.) The Monday-Friday 3-6 p.m. deals include $3 Coors Light pints, $5 sangria and $5 Racines mules. Food deals are good, too, like the $3 green chile cheese fries and $5 double trouble wings. 650 Sherman St., Denver, 303-595-0418; racinesrestaurant.com
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Former CBS sportscaster and host of Mile High Sports Radio Mark McIntosh has been named Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2017 Man of the Year for his fundraising efforts with Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar. McIntosh and Bad Daddy’s raised $75,000 for LLS and blood cancer research.