Maybelline Centurian Waffles

Cafe Star's head chef Rebecca Weitzman left last year, which probably has something to do with it.

If you want to know what's good to eat, read the reviews. They're archived. Best of (insert name of city) lists are a homework assignment. It's all about finding places to fit required categories and inventing categories to highlight impressive plates. The latter are more reliable indicators of greatness than the former, but that's just the nature of the beast. From everything I've read, you're not looking for an americanized version of a chinese restaurant anyway, so try not to be too cynical. An honest list would include four dozen awards for Frasca, but that's not really what people want to read. Do Kevin Taylor, Mizuna, Z Cuisine, Palace Arms. And for the love of Pete try to enjoy yourself. I'm not a critic, but I know one pretty well. The very best evenings spent at a restaurant are the ones during which you forget you're reviewing it. You wouldn't enter the bedroom of a beautiful woman saying, "This better be good." Having someone cook for you is a pleasure. Just enjoy.

Cafe Star....(http://denver.citysearch.com/profile/41791618/denver_co/cafe_star.html) ....would probably fit the bill. It's about halfway between York and Colorado on Colfax. Not cheap, but can be done fairly cheaply. Very nice space, warm, friendly, chic but not pretentious, something for everyone food-wise. Mezcal is right around there, too, if you're looking for Mexican. But Cafe Star is better.

Hey, I never said anything against Colorado's chili. Chili they do just fine. It's the chile that needs some work. Look, I'm not saying Potager isn't a good restaurant. But you have to take into consideration the fact that there are different chefs in town these days. They're pedigreed chefs opening up neighborhood restaurants with food to rival the best in the country. The stodgy standbys of yesteryear are being nudged out. Tante Louise being a prime example. Now you've got these great younger chefs having fun with the food and really blowing people away. Michael Long at Opus, John Daly at Cuba Libre, Wayne Conwell (trained by Morimoto) at Sushi Sasa, Chris Douglas (trained by Laurent Gras at Fifth Floor in San Fran) at Tula. These guys know that $300 tasting menus aren't going to fly out here. They're just doing it, with lower pricepoints and in a more casual setting. And you know what? It might not taste better in jeans, but there is an advantage to more casual dining. Because you don't have to take out a second mortgage to eat it, you can come back. Often. The chefs know that and they keep it fresh. And it is because the diners here can afford to eat out often that they know good from bad. The food is good. They don't need to wrap it up in bows. And we don't need to wrap ourselves up like mannequins at Barney's to appreciate the experience of eating it. Quality of life, man. That's what it's all about out here. And that includes the joy of eating.

With all due respect, Busboy, I have lived all over this country (NY, Philly, LA, San Fran) and Denver has some of the finest food around. The only thing I can't get here that I crave is basic strip-mall Italian like I grew up on, but I can get better-than-basic Italian at Cafe Jordano, SW of town, and incredible upper-end Italian at Luca D'Italia. From Star of India in Fort Collins to the Royal Peacock in Boulder down to India's in Denver, I've had amazing Indian food. I've had perfectly good Chinese food at Twin Dragon and the Imperial, and some fine Chinese dishes at not-strictly-Chinese restaurants like Moongate. Now that's American Chinese. Exceptional authentic Chinese food can be found anywhere near Alameda and Federal, where there is a substantial asian population. In fact, this city has numerous ethnic communities where you can spend very little and eat like a king, but most people don't bother to look into it. With large Russian, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, and Korean communities, this area has some of the most affordable and authentic food around. Some of the best chefs in the country are here right now, people who trained with Ducasse and Keller and Paladin. What it doesn't have is snobbery and the nerve to charge a small fortune and insist on a dress code. If you want that, look elsewhere. The people here like to put the emphasis on quality of life and quality of food. And while that might put them under the radar as far as national recognition goes, it is not lost on the thousands of diners in the region, mostly transplants from "fancier" cities, who do know good food from guano. That being said, Frasca and L'Atelier in Boulder, Z Cuisine, Sushi Sasa, Sushi Den (from the Japanese seafood markets to Denver- overnight- 6 days a week), Cafe Star, Duo, 975, Deluxe, Zengo (but not Tamayo), Mizuna and Luca D'Italia are all fine establishments. And please don't tell people to order Colorado green chile. It's an abomination in comparison to New Mexico's. Oh yeah, I lived in Albuquerque, too. Now if I ever hear you comparing us to a AAA ball club again I'm gonna track you down and kick you in the nuts. With love, Maybelline

I don't know about wholesale, but you might want to try Marczyk's Fine Foods http://www.marczykfinefoods.com/ at 770 E. 17th Ave or Cook's Fresh Market http://www.cooksfreshmarket.com/ or maybe one of the Tony's Markets http://www.tonysmarket.com/. Parisi's is a restaurant with a small deli section. You might want to try them, too http://www.parisidenver.com/. If none of these places have what you're looking for, they'll most likely be able to tell you where to go to get it. Good luck with your move.