Sure, Denver can brag about Cart-Driver and Blue Pan. Boulder flexes Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage, and Lakewood throws Pizzeria Leopold around like it����ap a giant, spinning wheel of cartoon pizza dough. But in Longmont, three heavyweights — Rosalee’s Pizzeria, Urban Field Pizza and Market and Antonio’s Real New York Pizza — sit casually within a few blocks of each other.

A few blocks!

And while Longmont is always a sacred destination for crust purists, on Saturday, Sept. 5, it will become something else entirely. The downtown area, near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Kimbark Street, will host the inaugural . (The state’s first-ever pizza fest, if you can believe it; something that feels like a historical oversight we’re finally correcting.)

More than 20 pizzerias from across the state will sling slices side-by-side, effectively turning downtown Longmont into an open-air cathedral of melted cheese.

The secret sauce to Longmont����ap pizza reign? It isn’t shackled to a single pizza identity. It����ap not locked into the rigid dogma of New York, Chicago or Detroit. No, Longmont has something much better. It has options — a distinct pizza ecosystem that collects the best flavors and styles from around the world and fires them up in a town where you can devour your square or triangular slice with an unobstructed, postcard view of Longs Peak in the background.

People who know pizza have taken notice. Rosalee’s ranked 14th on a best pizza in America list last year, the only Colorado shop to make the cut. Their New York-style-but-crispier pies are certainly deserving, built on a long cold-fermentation dough, piled with traditional toppings (read: no Thai chicken or mac and cheese here) and baked to perfection in a 625-degree electric oven. Urban Field, which does both Detroit and artisan round pizzas, earned fifth place in the world at the 2025 International Pizza Expo for its golden, lace-edged Detroit-style pies. The Washington Post called Antonio’s the best New York pizzeria in Colorado.

And 13-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani (who will be judging Pizza Fest����ap amateur competition) recently chose Longmont for a Colorado outpost of his Slice House eatery; he already has locations in Boulder and Loveland.

Which begs the question: how did this sleepy Front Range town become the epicenter for all things good pizza? Just ask the people building it. When Nick Swanson was scouting spots for his Urban Field Pizza and Market ahead of its 2022 opening, he said he toured 200 potential restaurants along the Front Range, from Fort Collins to Denver to Louisville.

“When we were looking for locations, we just loved the sense of community here,” Swanson said. “Longmont is such a tight-knit community. People who live in Longmont are so proud of the fact they’re from Longmont. It runs so deep here, so they support their own. They just show up.”

Especially in such a small town, you might expect the pizzerias to be fiercely territorial. Instead, they’re incredibly collaborative; Urban Field, Rosalee’s and Antonio’s recently teamed up to form Pizza With Purpose, the community-minded, philanthropic backbone of the Colorado Pizza Festival.

“When all the SNAP benefits were getting erased for people, some of us in the community started talking. What can we do to help? It took one meeting. The three of us sat down and brainstormed the idea: Let����ap throw a pizza party. What better way to get people excited about raising money for food insecurity than throwing the ultimate pizza party?” Swanson said.

And so, on Saturday, Sept. 5 at least, Longmont will claim the official, undisputed crown as Colorado’s pizza capital when it hosts the inaugural Pizza Fest. Proceeds benefit hunger relief organizations across the state, including Slice Out Hunger, Longmont Food Rescue, Community Food Share and Colorado Friendship. All we, the pizza-loving public, have to do to help is show up and eat as many slices as the stretchiness of our stomach linings allow.

The heavy hitters on the Longmont pie scene will be there, of course, but so will Slice House by Tony Gemignani, Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage, Joy Hill Pizza out of Denver, Boulder’s Barchetta, Pizzeria Leopold and at least 15 more.

They won’t merely show up with boxes of pizza, either. They’ll bring their dough and ingredients and bake fresh pies on-site, selling slices of cheese plus a specialty pizza with a rotating lineup of toppings. It����ap a massive undertaking, turning Main Street into a blocks-wide pizza party. It����ap also an invitation for the rest of the state to come on up and see what Longmont����ap cooking.

“More than anything, I want people to come up and see what Longmont����ap all about,” Swanson said. “It’ll be fun to get all these pizzerias together.”

Colorado Pizza Festival; Saturday, Sept. 5; 1-10 p.m., in downtown Longmont, $15 general admission + $3-4 per slice or $50 Golden Ticket; 

Leven Supply

I have a soft spot for pizza, and pizza, in turn, has provided a soft spot for me — my belly. As a result, I don’t eat it as much as I used to, so when I do, I try to pick something new and special. Leven Supply filled that bill with the Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza ($19). Topped with beautiful, oily cupping pepperoni, hot honey, basil and a fascinating, refreshing lemon ricotta, it lived up to my expectations. Since this was the first time I’d seen or heard of lemon ricotta, I asked the restaurant for its backstory. Here’s the response from Luke Hodnett, who created it for a different dish four years ago.

“One of our favorite components on the pizza is the lemon ricotta. It gives the pizza a creamy complement to the acidity of the lemon slices without hiding any of the lemon flavor we wanted in the pizza. The beauty of it is its simplicity and balance: good ricotta and olive oil, fresh lemon zest and juice and a dash of salt all whipped together and piped fresh onto each pizza.”

The crust was nicely done, although it had a little trouble holding up to the weight of the toppings and the effect of the honey. Would I order it again? Absolutely, although I’ll need to go for a few walks first.

300 E. Alameda Ave., Denver; 

Vinnola’s Italian Market

I’m not from the East Coast, so I don’t have any preconceived notions about what a chicken parm sandwich “should” taste like or look like. I don’t need it to come on a specific kind of roll and I don’t judge it by whether the cutlet is thick or thin or somewhere in between. I only know what I like. And I liked the chicken parm sandwich from Vinnola’s Italian Market in Wheat Ridge. The chicken was breaded heartily enough to give it a satisfying crunch; the roll was solid but soft; the sauce (in a dipping cup) was full-flavored; and the melty mozzarella stretched all the way from the plate to my mouth. Did I mention it was $12.95 (with chips) – several dollars less than equivalent sandwiches around metro Denver? Founded in the early 1970s, Vinnola’s is a market selling Italian groceries, a deli counter and a cafe, where you can sit and listen to “Mambo Italiano” on the speakers and watch people stream in and order Italian sausage sandwiches to go, or spaghetti and (giant) meatball to eat inside. Regulars get hugs from the friendly folks behind the counter, and everyone receives a warm welcome.

7750 W. 38th Ave., Wheat Ridge; 

Ma’s Kitchen Dim Sum & Bar

If you’re like me, you’ve been reveling in the explosion of dumpling shops in metro Denver. After all, we were a virtual dumpling desert up until a few years ago. I live in east Denver, and although I was sad to see Okinawa close (it was a go-to in my family), Ma’s Kitchen, which has the same owners and is located at the same address, is a fantastic replacement. Every dish we ordered, from the spicy Sichuan chicken to the shu mai to the pan-fried pork buns (6 for $13), resulted in smiles around the table. The beautifully presented buns in particular, juicy on the inside and crisp on the outside, were a standout.

2301 E. Colfax Ave., Denver;

La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant

There are plenty of Denver restaurants that we can’t afford to lose — especially since we’ve lost so many already. One of those is La Fiesta, the 63-year-old Colorado-style Mexican food spot that is still owned by the same family — a family that makes both regular and new customers feel like their own. Located in a former grocery store on what has become a very busy, very developed Champa Street, La Fiesta is decidedly old school, delivering big plastic menus to your table, chock full of burritos, tacos, enchiladas, chile rellenos, green chile and all the combo plates your heart could desire. Primarily known as a weekday lunch spot, it also offers dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, which is when I ordered the chile relleno burrito, which is stuffed with rice, a crispy fried pepper and cheese, and topped with green chile, refried beans and veggies. La Fiesta is a gem that shines back on a different era in Denver. Hopefully it continues to shine into the future.

2340 Champa St., Denver; 

Hours before the dinner rush begins, cooks, servers, bartenders and dishwashers gather for a family meal — a pre-service tradition that gives the staff a chance to slow down, share food and connect before the pace picks up.

At ’ Capitol Hill “Block,” where Mizuna, 225 E. 7th Ave., Luca, Vesper Lounge and Salita sit side by side, it����ap a ritual employees look forward to as much as dinner service itself.

Four days a week, Mizuna daytime sous chef Gerry Perez, whose tenure started with the Bonanno group at its inception 25 years ago, cooks for roughly 75 staff members. He transforms pantry staples and seasonal ingredients into everything from fragrant curries and veggie-packed pastas to sheet pan pizza. His legendary “Gerryladas” — an enchilada dish so beloved it earned its own nickname — have become the stuff of restaurant lore.

“Family meal is a big deal around here,” said Jacqueline Bonanno, who co-owns Bonanno Concepts with her husband, chef Frank Bonanno. And after over two decades of Perez pouring love into those pre-shift dinners, it����ap easy to see why.

At many dining establishments, family meal doubles as an unofficial test kitchen. Cooks take turns stepping away from the regular menu to try new techniques, showcase favorite recipes or transform odds and ends from the walk-in into something memorable. Every now and then, those staff-only dishes prove too good to keep behind the kitchen doors.

That creative spirit is alive at MAKfam, 39 W. 1st Ave., which has been serving elevated Chinese comfort food since 2023. Chefs Kenneth Wan and Doris Yuen rotate family meal duties among the line cooks, giving everyone a chance to flex their creativity. “Family meal is an opportunity for our chefs to cook something that interests them and showcase their skills,” Wan said. “It helps foster creativity and gives our chefs a platform to show their fellow coworkers what they are capable of.”

That freedom has already produced menu-worthy dishes, including chef de cuisine Liana Amica’s chilled tofu salad with silken tofu, cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, cilantro and black vinaigrette. Another staff meal favorite, a rich mapo tofu prepared by Aimee Zheng of Panda Bao, previously on staff at MAKfam, also spent time on the menu.

At Champagne Tiger, the French-American diner and queer community space that opened in Denver’s former Tom’s Diner, 601 E. Colfax Ave., in 2024, family meal serves as both a daily reset and a proving ground for new ideas.

“Family meal is one of the ways we create community within our restaurant,” said chef Josh Hood. “It����ap time to take a break together from daily service,” while giving young chefs and expos a chance to practice using food scraps creatively, experiment with new dishes and sharpen their skills.

Some of those experiments make the leap to diners’ plates, too. Pasta dishes first tested during family meal have later appeared as weekly Pasta & Piano specials, proving that the next standout menu item might begin as a platter shared around the staff table.

The same spirit of experimentation carries over at Sắp Sửa, 2550 E. Colfax Ave., a modern Vietnamese restaurant that recently celebrated its third anniversary. There, husband-and-wife chefs Anthony “Ni” Nguyen and Anna Nguyen encourage cooks to make the most of whatever ingredients are on hand. A fried tofu dish topped with a fragrant scallion, ginger, chili and bonito sauce became such a hit during family meal that it graduated to the menu for months before evolving into a version featuring crab.

More recently, cooks Ben Ward and Nova Lopez transformed leftover ingredients into a Middle Eastern-inspired spread of pork patties, tzatziki and cucumber-tomato salad using ingredients destined to be used up before the next delivery.

“Family meal can be an easy thing to write off as a nuisance, or just something that needs to be done,” Anna Nguyen said. “They took it and made it great.”

For Zuri Resendiz, family meal is about making sure everyone working at his restaurant has a moment to pause.

At nearly two-year-old , the chef-owner of the intimate eatery known for its inventive blend of Central and Southern Mexican and Peruvian flavors makes a point of feeding his five-person team at the end of every shift. On slower nights, everyone can sit down together. When the restaurant is busy, Resendiz waits for a lull in service, then sends employees to eat in turn, insisting they take a real break rather than grabbing bites between tasks.

“We have the privilege of making whatever they want,” he said. One night that might mean ramen; another, tacos or quesadillas. Family meal has also become a launching pad for new ideas. A birria grilled cheese dreamed up by sous chef Heriberto Sosa has become a perennial staff favorite and will likely land on a future menu, while a Colorado lamb huarache made the jump from family meal to special before earning a permanent place in the restaurant����ap lineup.

But for Resendiz, the meal itself matters more than what����ap on the plate. When he sees cooks or dishwashers trying to eat standing up, he stops them.

“Bro, take a seat,” he tells them. “You have to take the time to really enjoy it because we don’t know what����ap gonna happen tomorrow.”

Gerry’s Sheet-Pan Pizza

The Bonanno Group restaurants always have plenty of dough and fresh cheese available for menu items, so sous chef Gerry has made Tuesdays a favorite with his sheet-pan pizza, usually served alongside a crisp green salad tossed with a simple homemade vinaigrette.

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 8 cups high-gluten flour
• 4 cups cold water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ ounce fresh yeast

Gerry’s Favorite Toppings:

• Crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• Pepperoni
• Diced serrano peppers
• Fresh mozzarella from Luca
• Parmigiano Reggiano, for dusting

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a mixer with the dough hook for 8 minutes. Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a ball. Place on a cookie sheet and let proof in the refrigerator for 4 hours (preferably overnight).

Roll out dough on a sheet tray and let it proof on the counter for one more hour.

Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and top with your favorite toppings. Return to the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.

On Tuesday, the ski company announced new initiatives intended to enhance its guest experience, from upgrading ingredients in its most popular mountain eats to adding more convenient features to the My Epic app. It����ap all part of a multi-year vision — formally called Epic Experience — that seeks to attract tourists to Vail Resorts properties on the heels of a difficult ski season.

Skiers visits to Vail properties during the 2025-26 fell 12.5% compared to the winter prior, the company previously said, thanks to abysmal snowfall in Colorado and across much of the Mountain West. Additionally, early Epic Pass purchases had declined 10% as of June.

While Vail Resorts has focused many years on building its network of resorts across the globe to give Epic Pass holders the choice of 42 different places to ski, the company is now investing in the onsite experience to build customer loyalty, CEO Rob Katz said in a statement Tuesday.

“The next chapter of growth for Vail Resorts is about delivering a guest experience that undeniably leads the ski industry and is best in class in the travel sector,” Katz said. “Epic Experience is about using the strength of our integrated model and leveraging our scale and technology to make every part of the mountain journey more seamless, personalized and memorable.”

Amenities for lessons and gear

That mission includes giving guests luxury treatment when they book private ski lessons through a new program called Epic Ascent. Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek will serve as test sites for the new program this upcoming winter, which offers tourists “high-touch customer support and a dedicated concierge to coordinate every detail of their overall trip, like dining reservations, transportation coordination and white-glove gear rental,” the announcement states.

Epic Ascent is expected to roll out to more locations by the 2027-28 season.

Vail Resorts is also planning to expand the initiative, which gives skiers a unique opportunity to rent gear ahead of time and have it delivered to wherever they are staying. Visitors who choose to demo newer models of skis and snowboards at certain resorts will be able to do so without paying the usual My Epic Gear membership fee. (Memberships cost $50 in previous seasons.)

Participating resorts include Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Whistler Blackcomb, Park City, Crested Butte, Heavenly, Northstar, Stowe, Okemo, and Mount Snow.

Upgraded food and app features

Beyond lessons and gear rentals, Vail Resorts will invest in the food options at 15 of its properties, including Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte in Colorado. Menus will still feature ski day staples like chili, burgers, pizza, fries, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and mac and cheese, which the company says make up the majority of food sales. However, guests can expect a “significant investment” in higher-quality ingredients and more elevated food presentation.

Burgers, for example, will soon be topped with and pecan-smoked bacon, and served on brioche buns with waffle fries and a signature sauce. Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Whistler Blackcomb will also offer signature dishes that “reflect the energy, culture and character of each resort,” the company said. Prices are not expected to increase beyond normal inflation, it added.

To make on-mountain activities more convenient, Vail Resorts is adding new features to the My Epic app, such as the ability to purchase lift tickets and transfer buddy passes to friends and family. The app will also integrate Apple Pay and Google Pay.

In the future, Vail Resorts anticipates skiers will also be able to purchase lessons, reserve gear rentals and plan trip itineraries, assisted by AI, directly within its app.

“Exceptional experience is not one moment — it is the standard we want guests to feel across their entire journey,” Katz said in the announcement. “From the food, lessons and gear that shape a day on the mountain to how we communicate with and support our guests, we are focused on removing friction, elevating the experience and creating more moments that inspire guests to return.”

Pizzeria Lui, 5380 W. Mississippi Ave., in Lakewood, opened in 2017 after Zach Parini left his job as a baker at Golden’s Grateful Bread to dig into the world of Neapolitan-style pizzas with a counter-service restaurant. In 2020, business picked up significantly as people got take-out pies during the pandemic. Parini’s shop was only open from 3 to 9 p.m., though, so he could protect his family time.

“It is with gratitude that we share, that after 10 years, Pizzeria Lui is closed,” the store posted on Instagram on Friday. “We thank you for your loyalty and appreciation over the years. It has been wonderful getting to know each and every customer. Thank you to the team at Pizzeria Lui for your hard work and dedication. We look forward to spending time with our families.”

For something relatively simple at its core, pizza can simultaneously spark debate and provide comfort like few other foods.

Its range of fans is impressive, from picky kids who sustain on cheese pizza to connoisseurs with impressive wood-fire pizza ovens in their backyards. But no matter where you fall on the pizza spectrum, there’s always room to improve. Enter King Arthur Baking Company’s new “The Book of Pizza: Recipes for Every Pizza Maker,” with more than 250 pages of tips, tricks, recipes and serving suggestions to level up your pie game.

Learn how to make (and the difference between) New York style, Detroit style, Chicago style, Neapolitan and Pizza alla Panna. Perfect a tomato sauce with only two ingredients, and give yourself a cheese education. Wonder what flour to use? No worries — King Arthur is baking royalty for a reason.

Find scratch pizza solutions for lazy weekends or weeknight dinners. Not sure where to turn? The book’s pizza flowchart will tell you what style is best for you at the moment. Have you embraced sourdough? That makes good pizza, too. The options really are limitless, and the in-depth instructions are suitable for both beginner and experienced cooks. No need to already be a dough pro.

While the majority of the book is pizza-centric, it goes a step further by guiding users through dipping sauces (make your own hot honey or ranch), side dishes and more, making it one-stop recipe shopping.

For dessert, we turned to another new cookbook, “Bittersweet: The Five Tastes of Dessert and Beyond“ by Thalia Ho. The book explores those five tastes — bitter, sweet, sour, salt and umami — and offers recipes incorporating them. It����ap a luscious and introspective book that����ap as much about feeling as it is cooking. And we thought Ho’s Walnut and Honey Semifreddo was the perfect exclamation point on our pizza party.

Butter Lettuce Salad with Herby Buttermilk-Avocado Dressing

Serves 4 to 6.

Here, billowy butter lettuce is speckled with all the soft herbs of early spring. Slivers of radish and cucumber provide crunch, a handful of peas adds pops of sweetness, and the avocado adds creaminess — both in the salad itself and in the tangy dressing. From King Arthur Baking Company’s “ ” (Simon Element, 2026).

For the dressing:

• ½ c. buttermilk, well shaken, plus more as needed
• 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 small avocado, halved, pitted and peeled
• ½ c. fresh soft herbs of your choice, such as cilantro, basil, parsley, dill and/or chervil
• 1 tsp. honey
• ¾ tsp. fine salt, plus more to taste
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

For the salad:

• 2 heads butter lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces (about 10 c.)
• 8 radishes, sliced paper thin
• 1 English or 2 Persian cucumbers, sliced ¼ in. thick
• 1 c. shelled fresh peas
• 1 small avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and diced
• Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Make the dressing: Combine the buttermilk, lime juice, garlic, avocado, herbs, honey, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until creamy and emulsified. Thin as needed with additional buttermilk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if desired. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. The dressing can be made ahead and stored in a lidded container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

For the salad: Spoon ½ cup of the dressing into the bottom of a large serving bowl. Top with the lettuce, radishes, cucumber and peas. Toss together until evenly coated. Add the diced avocado and toss gently to combine. Season the salad with salt and pepper and serve right away, with additional dressing on the side.

Popeye

Makes one (11-inch) pizza.

Spinach is the defining feature of a Popeye pizza, of course, but this is sneakily also a three-cheese pie featuring ricotta (for creaminess), feta (big flavor) and mozzarella (for stretch!). If your ricotta is at all wet, place it in a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and drain for 15 to 30 minutes before using. The fresh basil leaves seem like they should be optional, but here they really aren’t: They add a vital freshness to the pie, not to mention some pretty greenery. From King Arthur Baking Company’s “ ” (Simon Element, 2026).

• ⅓ c. (75 g) whole-milk ricotta
• 2 cloves Garlic Confit (see below), mashed to a paste, plus more cloves for garnish
• ¼ tsp. fine salt, plus more to taste
• ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ½ c. (42 g) fresh baby spinach
• ¼ packed c. fresh basil leaves, chopped, plus small leaves for garnish
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced crosswise
• 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 1 ball Weeknight White Dough (see recipe)
• Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting
• ½ c. (57 g) low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, shredded
• ¼ c. (43 g) feta, crumbled
• 1 tsp. Garlic Confit oil, for finishing

Directions

Arrange racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven. Place a baking steel or stone on the lower rack and preheat the oven to 500 degrees for at least 1 hour.

In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta, mashed garlic confit, salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, chopped basil and scallion. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat.

Shape the pizza: Dust your work surface with flour and place the dough on it. Without distorting the round dough, flip it over so that both sides are coated with flour. Use your fingertips to gently depress the center of the dough, being careful not to touch the outer edge of the crust. This step is important — leaving the circumference untouched at this stage will result in a beautiful bubbly outer crust postbake. Continue using your fingertips to press the center of the dough outward until you have an 8-inch circle. Again, taking care not to touch the outermost edge of the crust, lift the pizza from the work surface and use your knuckles to gently stretch the dough into an 11-inch round. If the dough is at all sticky, use more flour. Use two hands at once to gently move the dough in a circle, allowing gravity to do most of the work for you, rather than pulling on the dough. If the dough resists stretching, return it to your floured work surface and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax, then try again.

Lightly dust a peel or an overturned baking sheet with semolina and transfer the shaped dough to the peel. If the dough retracts when transferring it to the peel, gently re-form it. Shimmy the dough on the peel to ensure it����ap not sticking; if it is, lift the edge of the crust and add more semolina.

Spread the ricotta mixture over the dough in an even layer, leaving a ½-inch border. Top with the spinach mixture, piling it more heavily on the outer edge (but avoiding the crust), then distribute the mozzarella and feta over the spinach.

Bake: Use the peel to transfer the pizza onto the steel or stone, then bake for 3 to 4 minutes. Check the bottom of the crust — it should be spotted and charred in places, and the edge crust should have some color. If not, rotate the pizza and bake for another 1 to 2 minutes.

When the bottom has sufficient color, use the peel to transfer the pizza to the top rack, switch the oven to broil, and broil for 2 to 3 minutes, until well charred in spots. (Don’t walk away–pizza can go from perfectly charred to burnt quickly.)

Use the peel to remove the pizza from the oven and slide it onto a wire rack. Drizzle with the garlic confit oil and scatter whole basil leaves over. Top with additional whole confit garlic cloves. Slice and serve.

To make garlic confit: Combine 6 ounces of garlic (about 36 cloves) and 1 c. olive oil in a small oven-safe baking dish or loaf pan. The garlic cloves need to be completely covered by the oil; if they aren’t, add additional oil to cover. Bake the garlic in a 300-degree oven until the cloves are very tender, about 90 minutes. Let cool to room temperature in the oil, then use immediately or transfer to a lidded jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Weeknight White Dough

Makes enough for two 11-inch pizzas.

When we say “weeknight pizza,” we’re referring to homemade pizza that you can get on the table for dinner — even if you don’t give a single thought to dinner until 5 p.m. Granted, a little foresight never hurts. Though it can be on the table in as little as two and a half hours (most of it downtime), its real superpower is that it can be kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours. From King Arthur Baking Company’s “ ” (Simon Element, 2026).

• 300 g (2 ½ c.) unbleached all-purpose flour or 00 flour, plus more for dusting
• 6 g (1 tsp.) fine salt
• 4.5 g (1 ½ tsp.) instant yeast
• 19 g (1 ½ tbsp.) extra-virgin olive oil
• 222 g (¾ c. plus 3 tbsp. and 2 tsp.) lukewarm water (85 to 90 degrees)

Directions

Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and yeast, then add the oil and water. Mix to combine, then knead the dough by hand in the bowl until you have a rough but cohesive dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Uncover the dough and perform a bowl fold: With a wet hand (which will help keep the dough from sticking to you), grab a section of dough from one side, lift it up, then press it down into the middle. Repeat, turning the bowl 90 degrees (a quarter turn) after each stretch, until the dough won’t elongate easily and forms a smooth, tight round ball, 4 to 6 times total. Turn the dough over, placing it seam side down in the bowl. Cover and let the dough rise at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) for 1 hour, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in size. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 500 degrees with a baking steel or stone placed on a rack in the lower third and an empty oven rack in the upper third.

Divide the dough: On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (about 275 grams per piece). Form each piece into a tight ball and place seam side down in a lightly greased container. Cover with a lid and let it rest at room temperature while the oven preheats, 20 to 60 minutes. The dough is now ready to use. Alternatively, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours; remove the dough from the refrigerator 1 hour before shaping and baking your pizzas.

Walnut and Honey Semifreddo

Serves 6 to 8.

From ” “ by Thalia Ho, who writes: “For me, few things are as sweet and sentimental as semifreddo. It����ap simple but elegant, and it has a power that lasts long after a mouthful has ended. I like mine with praline and honey, in addition to Nocino, an aromatic bittersweet liqueur that����ap made from unripe walnuts.” Note that the recipe requires a candy thermometer, and you’ll need to prepare the dessert a day ahead to give it time to freeze. (Harvest, 2026).

For the praline:

• ¾ c. plus 2 tbsp. (125 g) walnuts
• ½ c. plus 2 tbsp. (130 g) granulated sugar

For the semifreddo:

• 2 c. (480 ml) heavy cream
• ¼ c. (85 g) honey
• 2 tbsp. Nocino liqueur
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 6 large egg yolks

Directions

Adjust a rack to the middle of the oven, then preheat it to 350 degrees.

Make the praline: Scatter the walnuts into an even layer over a lined baking sheet. Roast for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant. Cool completely.

Next, combine the sugar with ⅓ cup water in a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook, without stirring, until an amber-hued liquid has formed. Remove and pour over the roasted walnuts. Set aside to harden, then chop rough or fine, depending on your preference.

Make the semifreddo: Line an 8- by 4- by 3-inch loaf pan with a few layers of plastic wrap, leaving an overhang over the sides.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream, honey, liqueur and vanilla to stable peaks on medium speed. Be careful not to overdo it; you want it supple enough to fold in later without too much resistance. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill until needed.

Next, put the sugar and ⅓ cup water into a medium saucepan. Attach a candy thermometer to the side. Heat over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until the granules have dissolved. Raise the heat to high and bring to a rapid boil. Continue to cook until the syrup has reached thread stage, around 230 degrees. Meanwhile, start whisking the egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer. Start on low at first, then increase the speed as the syrup nears temperature. Carefully stream the boiling syrup into the yolks, between the whisk and the side of the bowl. Turn the speed to high and continue to whisk until pale, thick, and tripled in volume. All the steam will have escaped, and the bowl will no longer be hot to the touch.

With a large rubber spatula, gently fold thirds of the whipped cream into the yolk mixture, trying to retain as much lightness and air as possible.

Fold in the praline. Scrape into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top with an offset palette knife. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze until firm, at least 8 hours or, preferably, overnight.

Unmold the semifreddo onto a serving plate. Slice with a warm, sharp knife and serve soon after. This will keep, covered, in the coldest part of the freezer for 5 days.

©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

This time around, it’s a new outpost of Soda Club, a wine bar that Death & Co.’s Ravi Derossi and wine director Drew Brady first opened in Manhattan in 2021. Soda Club is a Michelin Guide-rated “Bib Gourmand” restaurant for its price and quality.

The pair will also add handmade pastas at the hotel, 1260 25th St., in a space last used by Super Mega Bien, which shuttered this year amid a legal dispute. They expect to open for business by August.

“When we decided to expand Soda Club, Denver was our first choice,” Derossi, who is from Colorado, said in a statement. “It����ap exciting to bring this vision back to my home state in such a vibrant location.”

The name Soda Club, according to the Michelin Guide’s , “is derived from Italy’s tradition of hand-crafted sodas; and its spirit from the turbulent Prohibition era.

“There are also natural wines to accompany the seasonal, deftly executed vegan dishes,” the guide says of the original East Village restaurant, led by executive chef Amira Gharib.

Fresh pasta dishes that change seasonally and “pinsa”, a traditional pizza with a lighter crust made from rice and wheat flours, will be on the menu at the Denver location. At some point, Derossi and his team would like to conduct lessons on pasta-making.

Death & Co. opened in 2018 as the inaugural cocktail bar of the Ramble Hotel. Like the bar in New York City, it has earned nods for its stylish approach, including being named one of North America’s 50 best bars by the World’s 50 Best rankings in 2022.

“Once you try it, it’ll speak for itself. We’re getting rave reviews, especially from the East Coasters,” said store owner Jamey Cutter, 56.

Cutter is franchising Denver’s first Slice House by Tony Gemignani at 555 N. Broadway, set to open later this year.

The spot will have whole pies, pastas, wings and salads for sale, though its pizza by the slice is the standout. Nine choices will be on display, six New York style, one Detroit, one Sicilian and one “grandma” style — a pan-fried thin crust pie that����ap a family recipe from Gemignani, the chef who started the brand.

There will even be a special Colorado-style pie, a hatch green chile pizza with a pineapple salsa and Cholula-soaked chicken, topped with a cilantro lime sauce. A slice of cheese pizza will run $6 to $8.

“Tony’s pretty amazing. He’s got his flagship concept, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in North Beach, San Francisco. Great concept, well-known, full-service. That����ap where he started out,” Cutter said.

Gemignani founded the brand in 2010, and it now has locations from Tennessee to Idaho. His roots run deep in Colorado, mentoring the chefs who later started Boulder’s Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage and Denver’s Blue Pan Pizza.

Cutter’s first interaction with Slice House came a few years ago, when he was visiting his brother in California.

“I went over for lunch and I was absolutely blown away, hadn’t tried anything like it,” he said.

In January, he opened a location in Boulder. Another franchisee has locations in Longmont and Loveland. Cutter’s contract is for seven spots in the state. Two or three will be in the Denver area.

“For this concept, I think it works better on the outskirts of downtown,” he said.

Cutter said the location, by the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Broadway with easy access to Speer Boulevard and Interstate 25, made it ideal. There’s plenty of parking for take-out, and the nearby neighborhoods will keep business going on weekends, he said.

The $750,000 build-out will be wrapped up later this year, with doors opening in the fourth quarter, he said. The franchise group consists of just him and his wife, and the two are working to secure loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration to help finance the new spots.

This isn’t Cutter’s first time franchising, though. He owns the Corner Bakery at 717 17th St. and used to also run its two 16th Street Mall locations before the pandemic shuttered them. Before coming to Denver 20 years ago, he was a regional manager at Jamba Juice, overseeing 80 locations across five states.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business since I was 15 years old,” he said. “I was born into it.”

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“We believe reducing wages for tipped workers would undermine the years of work Denver has done to move toward a fair and equitable wage structure,” the Denver Independent Restaurant Coalition Against Wage Cuts wrote in a letter sent to Denver City Council on Tuesday afternoon.

“Our city has made meaningful progress, and reversing that progress would send the wrong message to workers, small businesses, and the broader community,” the letter says.

The recipients of the message are the only ones who can adjust Denver’s tipped minimum of $16.29 an hour, among the highest in the country. That figure is more than double the $8.08 hourly wage restaurants could pay their workers in 2019, when the city passed an ordinance to start raising minimums.

The letter pushes back against a recently released report, authored by two Denver restaurateurs, detailing the state of the city’s restaurant industry. That report found that increased labor costs are ​​“the most frequently cited challenge” among restaurant owners and the “most destabilizing factor” for Denver’s full-service establishments.

The report also called for the city to return to the state’s tipped minimum wage of $12.14.

But the Coalition Against Wage Cuts says other rising costs should be on the chopping block rather than employee pay.

“Costs are unpredictable, persistent, and increasing across every area of operations,” the letter says. “But the solution cannot be to offset those pressures by reducing pay for workers who are already among the lowest-paid members of our local economy.”

The group cited safety, a “confusing” licensing process, rising rents and unfavorable lease structures as areas riper for the city to fix. They also highlighted a disconnect between Denver’s desire to “cultivate a thriving community of independent businesses and the actual support, incentives, and practical relief available to help them survive.”

“These are the systemic pressures that continue to strain independent restaurants across Denver and deserve thoughtful policy attention,” the letter reads. “We urge you to reject any proposal that would lower wages for tipped workers in Denver.”

Kristen Rauch, the executive director for independent restaurant industry group EatDenver, noted that the majority of the signatories were either limited or counter-service restaurants rather than the full-service sector, which has lost 15% of its jobs since 2019. Some, she added, aren’t located in Denver or don’t take the $3.02 tip credit, which allows restaurants to pay employees below the base minimum wage of $19.29, though they are required to make that amount up if tips don’t get them to that number.

“I’m appreciative of any small business perspective and people advocating for the industry, but we’re looking to represent the whole industry,” Rauch said. Her group, and the sector as a whole, comprises mostly full-service spots.

The coalition’s letter also called into question the validity of the restaurant report authored by Big Red F co-owner Dana Query and Snooze A.M. Eatery founder Adam Schlegel.

“This report was authored by restaurant owners who stand to financially benefit from the very policy changes being discussed,” it reads. “This presents a serious conflict of interest and raises concerns about bias in the policymaking process.”

But Query, whose group operates Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar and The Post in Denver, said she has “no skin in the game.” Her restaurants pool tips and don’t take the tip credit, she said, which means her serving staff is paid a base of at least $19.29.

“We were asked to do it because the city knows it has a problem and wanted to hear from the industry,” she said of how she and Schlegel came to author the report, which was based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of data and interviews with restaurateurs. She and Schlegel said the report was not based on a “single data point or perspective.”

“I don’t benefit from the tipped wage changing at all,” she continued. “It����ap misinformation to try and villainize Adam and I.”

Rauch, the EatDenver director, said that, despite the industry report recommendation, dropping the city’s tipped minimum wage to the state’s tipped minimum is not something restaurants want, nor is it on the table for potential city council proposals.

She expects her group to make an official policy endorsement in the coming weeks.

“That was something when we were reviewing and starting conversations,” she said of the report����ap recommendation. “But it was pretty much an immediate no.”

The signatories on the letter are Annette Scratch to Table, Aguanile, Art Club Coffee, Bar Max, Capital Thai, Convict Coffee, Copper Door, Corner Beet, Crema, Dio Mio, Easy Vegan, Farang Thai Kitchen, Finn’s Manor, Fort Greene, Ginger Pig, Good Bones Colfax, Hearth Denver, Hi Dive, Hooked on Colfax, Hudson Hill, Johnny Bechamel’s, MAKfam, Maiz Denver, Middlestate Coffee, Monarch Denver, Moon Raccoon Baking Co., Mother Other, Neon Cowboy, Outside Pizza, Peach Crease Club, Portside, Procession Coffee, Queen City Coffee Roasters, Rebel Bread, Redeemer Pizza, Rooster Cat Coffee, Rougarou, Sap Sua, Sesame Sandwiches, Sfoglina, Somebody People, Stella’s Coffee Haus, Stokes Poke, Stowaway Kitchen, The Cake Bar, The Crypt, The Denver Coffee Co, The Pearl, The Wild, Torpedo Coffee, Town Hall Collaborative, Traveling Mercies, Velvet Lasso, Weathervane Cafe, Yacht Club and Yuan Wonton.

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Monarch, his “pizzeria-meets-bistro,” will move into the Urban Cowboy boutique hotel at 1665 Grant St., replacing Little Johnny B’s, whose owners have decided to focus on their full-kitchen iteration, Johnny Bechamel’s, the free-wheeling Italian restaurant they opened last December at 81 S. Pennsylvania St.

Freeman and co-founder Danny Matthews will assume full-time command of the wood-fired oven in the hotel bar on Saturday, May 9, after first hosting a series of pop-ups inside the space (the first is April 13).

“I’ve been there a bunch when it was Roberta’s and Little Johnny’s, and I always just thought the place was super cute,” Freeman said. Roberta’s was a Brooklyn-based pizza restaurant that ran the space before Little Johnny B’s.

Little Johnny B’s stay at Urban Cowboy was always seen as temporary in the lead-up to Johnny Bechamel’s opening, said Devon Klug, a spokesperson for restaurant owner Mamas & Papas Hospitality Group, which also owns Dio Mio and Redeemer Pizza. Their exit was an opportunity for Freeman, who has been looking for a permanent space since 2023.

“Little Johnny B’s totally came in and saved us when Roberta’s left,” said Nicole Valdez, Urban Cowboy’s general manager, adding she is excited by Monarch’s “new, fresh program.”

Freeman will remain executive chef at Somebody People, 1165 S. Broadway #104, Denver. Owners Sam and Tricia Maher were aware of his property search since they started working together, he said.

“It’s all something that he’s worked for and that we encouraged him to do,” Tricia Maher said.

He just onboarded a new sous chef, Nicole Zell, and will continue to help plan the restaurant’s menu and source its ingredients.

His mind’s eye is now on Monarch, though. Soon he and Matthews will be there cooking every day, he said, baking sourdough pizzas and pastries. He expects to make plates of seasonal veggies and rotating salads, too.

“We want no printed menus. It will all be handwritten,” Freeman said. “Maybe one or two mainstay items, but other than that, really letting people and nature tell us what’s good.”