RESTAURANT DIGEST: Breck on Blake closes; Guy Fieri at Aloy Thai in Boulder
It’s been a triumphant year for the Cherry Cricket. First, it reopened in April after a fire shut it down last November, and now it’s getting a sister location in the Breck on Blake space.
Sunday was the final day of service for Breck on Blake, which is being taken over by the new Cricket.
“We don’t want to do a cookie cutter or a knockoff version. We want to exemplify the good qualities of the Cricket in a different space,” one of the Cricket’s owners, Lee Driscoll, told us earlier this year of the new spot.
The good qualities include bringing in a fish tank similar to the one at the original Cricket, except bigger. A representative from Cherry Cricket suggested it may even be the state’s largest fish tank, but considering it’s hard to get hands on a database of Colorado fish tanks and that, you know, Denver has an aquarium, we’ll take that claim with a grain of salt.
Other bonuses of the Ballpark Cricket are that it will do takeout orders and host private parties. It’s expected to open in the spring.
Cherry Cricket Ballpark: 2220 Blake St., Denver; cherrycricket.com; opening in 2018 I’m not sure that Aloy Thai fits into the category of diner, drive-in or dive, but what does Guy Fieri care? He features the Boulder restaurant — which, for the record, is quite lovely and not at all diveish — on his “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” show airing Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. on the Food Network.
“The filming was interesting. It was really fastpaced,” Aloy manager Chantal Johnson said. “Everyone was really friendly and made it feel natural. He (Fieri) was a cool guy. It was really exciting for him to be in here. He tried the food, he was really ecstatic, he was a lot of fun on-set and he interacted really well with the people we brought in.”
For the mid-September filming, Aloy closed to the public but brought in regulars, friends and family to taste the dishes they made for Fieri. (Lemongrass Chicken and Khao Soi — a northern Thai-style noodle soup with red curry broth — in case it’s your life’s mission to eat as Fieri does.)
If watching all that delicious Thai food makes you hungry, head to the restaurant for a viewing party on the 17th from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and will get you a beer, appetizer, entrée and the chance to see your favorite Thai restaurant You may have noticed that the old Sinclair station that’s sat vacant for a couple of decades on Broadway and Florida is more than a dilapidated gas station these days. Snarf ’s, the Boulder-based sandwich chain known for awesome, toasty sandwiches, has set up shop. If you know Snarf’s, you’ve probably already visited. If you haven’t tried a Snarf-wich, what are you waiting for? When a cocktail menu is divided up into Beta and Approved sections, you know you’re going to get some creative drinks. Greenlight Lab, which opened in a RiNo alley on Nov. 7, isn’t interested in mixing up safe concoctions, but would be quite pleased to make you a Manhattan served in encapsulated, cracked-tableside ice or a cocktail in a beer can. 1336 27th St., Denver, 720-788-5320; greenlightlab.net; Tues.-Sat. 5 p.m.-12 a.m. Goosetown Tavern has a new roommate: Kitchen Table BBQ & Comfort Food has moved on up from its old digs in City Park and into the Colfax Tavern. Kitchen Table specializes in Kansas Citystyle ’cue, and, if that wasn’t enough, also makes a fine bowl of mac and cheese. So fine that “Southern Living” magazine picked it as the best in the state. (Not sure how a magazine in the south would be an expert on Colorado mac and cheese, but we trust it’s a fine bowl.) 3242 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, 720-456-6967; kitchentablecafe.com; Tues.-Sun. 4-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 4 p.m.-12 a.m.
This month, give thanks for the new RiNo Beer Garden, opening at 38th and Walnut Streets. The Historian’s Ale Housebacked venture will have 60 Colorado- and Germany-centric beers on tap, a 4,000-square-foot patio (complete with fire pits and lots of giant TVs) and German nachos on the menu. It’s open, so go find out what, exactly, German nachos are. 3800 Walnut St., Denver, 303-295-3800; rinobeergarden.com