5280 magazine’s annual edition of the 25 best metro-area restaurants hit newsstands this week with a list of eateries that come as no surprise.
Leading the pack is Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder’s often-decorated dinner spot. Restaurants that moved up on the list include Fruition, up from No. 3 to No. 2 this year, knocking Mizuna down one notch from that position; Sushi Den, which moved from No. 6 to 4; Z Cuisine, which ranked No. 8, up from 18; Barolo Grill at 11, up from 22; Fuel moving from 19 to 13; Olivea at 15, up from 25; and the Kitchen at No. 14, up from 21.
Newbies to the list include ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro at No. 5, Bittersweet at No. 7, Cafe Aion in Boulder at No. 12, Izakaya Den at No. 16, Linger at No. 22, Edge in the Four Seasons at No. 23 and Il Posto at 24.
The places that slipped in ranking include Luca D’Italia, from No. 4 to No. 6; Potager at No. 9, from No. 8; Table 6, from No. 7 to 18; Rioja at No. 19, from 12; Tables at No. 20, down from 9; Opus at No. 21, from 5; and Vesta Dipping Grill at No. 25, from 16.
Denver Restaurant Weeks.
Ladies and gentlemen, mark your calendars. Denver Restaurant Weeks is set to serve up discounted dinners from Feb. 25 to March 9. A multicourse meal will cost $52.80 for two or $26.40 per person. This year, a record 303 eateries served 360,480 meals.
“Denver Restaurant Week(s) is essentially a gift to the people of Denver from our top restaurants, which we enthusiastically promote,” said Richard Scharf, right, president and chief executive of Visit Denver.
Registration for participating restaurants begins Oct. 31. Menus will be posted on in early 2012.
Freebie.
All 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. will mark National Coffee Day with a free medium cup of coffee or cappuccino or latte while supplies last from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. today.
CofFREE Day is a fresh-brewed thank-you to 7-Eleven customers for their patronage.
Resort ranch sold.
The Old Cow Town Ranch, a 320-acre 1880s reproduction town that I wrote about earlier this month, sold at auction for $2.35 million, less than the original $10 million asking price and the published $2.7 million starting bid.
The J.P. King Auction Co. handled the transaction on behalf of resort owner Myron Smith.
The property was purchased by David John Wendl of Carroll, Iowa. Wendl owns a bed-and-breakfast near the property.
Mothers of Invention.
The Denver Metro Chamber and the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center will host the fourth annual Mothers of Invention Regional Conference from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday on the fourth floor of the Chamber, 1445 Market St.
Keynote speaker is Jan Miller, founder and president of Stander, a business that invents and designs products intended to foster independence for elderly people.
Cost is $59, which includes breakfast and lunch, or $79 at the door; $25 for students with a valid ID. Go to .
EAVESDROPPING
A woman to another woman at Larimer Place:
“If cheese were a man, I’d date it.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
