Duffeyroll Cafe: In a world of overblown, big-as-your-head shopping-mall sticky rolls drowned in extra frosting, the Duffeyroll Café is dedicated to preserving the relatively restrained roots of the classic cinnamon roll: Light pastry, fresh buttery texture and sweet, but not cavity-inducing, glaze. After 20 years in business in the Happy Canyon shopping center, they recently opened a second shop just around the corner from the Pearl Street light-rail station. Also serving lunch. |4994 E. Hampden Ave., 303-753-9177; 1290 S. Pearl St., 303-753-9177 (same phone for both locations) |Tucker Shaw
Applejack Wine & Spirits: It’s still there. The gargantuan Applejack Wine & Spirits, in business for
over 40 years, remains the Front Range’s premiere booze-lover’s paradise. The unmatched range of liquids
ranges from the pedestrian to the royal and includes one of the country’s most impressive collections
of Bordeaux. Visit applejack.com for an invite to next Monday’s Fete du Bordeaux, a wine-and-food
celebration pairing local celeb-chef Kevin Taylor’s haute vittles with an impressive flight of vintage Bordeaux
faves. | 3320 Youngfield St., Wheat Ridge, 303-233-3331 | Tucker Shaw
The Oven: Don’t let the fast-casual atmosphere put you off The Oven is a great place for drinks
and dinner. The two wood-fired ovens not only make a perfectly crisp pizza crust, they slow-roast vegetables
to bring out a caramelized sweetness perfect in a fall salad. Three of us shared the oven-roasted
vegetable salad ($7.95) and two 9-inch pizzas, the fresh tomato with green olives and Haystack Mountain
goat cheese ($7.95), and a “Brian’s Pie” special with roasted chicken, oven-cured tomatoes and a
rich white sauce ($8.95). All perfect with the “zippy grapefruit flavor” of the Matua sauvignon blanc.
| 7167 W. Alaska Drive (at Belmar), Lakewood, 303-934-7600 | Kristen Browning-Blas
