Steak can be tender. But the steak business is tough.
Prime 121 was shuttered Monday, bringing an end to steak veteran Scott Fickling’s venture into Cherry Creek’s competitive restaurant scene.
The phone message now says: “Thank you for calling Prime 121. Due to the economic downturn, on Monday, Sept. 8, Prime 121 closed its doors. We appreciate all of our loyal customers and thank you for coming in as often as you did.”
The Clayton Lane restaurant opened as Bob’s Steak & Chop House in 2005. It featured a giant glazed carrot with your meal. Denver shrugged.
Fickling, who earned his chops at The Palm, opened Prime 121 in 2006 — and although it enjoyed some early success, it never could shake the stranglehold Elway’s has on the Cherry Creek steak and singles scene.
The restaurant filed for Chapter 11 in May — but continued to grill through tough times.
Fickling did not return calls Wednesday.
Home again
. Michael Ledwitz scores with a cover story interview with John Elway in the upcoming issue of Denver Magazine.
Elway is pictured in the story with his dogs and his girlfriend, Paige Green — who opens up a little.
Elway met former cheerleader Green at a golf tourney, the story goes, then saw her again on an infomercial, gave her a call in L.A. and . . .
“Well, we’ve all been on first dates,” Green says. “It either gets better or worse from there. In this case, it got good enough that I moved to Denver a year later.”
The future?
“We live one day at a time,” she wisely says.
Drinks on the house.
Here’s a toast to the powers that be for picking “The Thin Man” as our next One Book, One Denver selection. The idea is to get the entire city to curl up with Dashiell Hammett’s noir detective tale of Nick and Nora Charles — urbane heavy-drinking Manhattanites.
Maybe all of Denver will start talking like them.
There’s a free screening of the movie “The Thin Man” at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 at Starz FilmCenter to wrap up all the events — listed at denvergov .
In the movie, you’ll hear some good lines.
Reporter: Say, listen, is he working on a case?
Nora: Yes, he is.
Reporter: What case?
Nora: A case of scotch.
City spirit
. Lannie Garrett brings back the Gypsy Swing Revue weekends Oct. 4-Nov. 29 to Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret for one of the best shows in town, “Under Paris Skies.” Meanwhile, you can always catch the Gypsy Swing Revue at the Irish Snug on Wednesdays. . . . Malcolm Farley celebrates the opening of his new gallery, 259 Clayton St., with a party 5-9 p.m. Friday and the unveiling of his new Barack Obama acceptance speech portrait. . . . Sez who: “The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.” Nick Charles
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Husted also appears Tuesdays and Fridays on “Good Day Colorado” on Fox 31. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek a Husted’s next column at .
