Grab a fork — Restaurant Week coming

Visit Denver has unveiled the menus and list of restaurants participating in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week. This year’s dine-around runs from Feb. 20 through March 1, which includes two weekends.

“We want people to be intrigued by new restaurants or tantalized by menus from some of their favorites and go online and book reservations right away,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver.

More than 250 eateries in Denver and the surrounding suburbs will offer multi-course dinners for the fixed price of $ 30, not including tax or tip. Many of the participating restaurants also include wine, beer and drink specials.

“The fun of restaurant week is looking at how all the chefs, faced with the same challenge of providing a knockout multi-course meal for just $ 30, get creative to find different solutions,” Scharf said. “Denver’s restaurant scene is exploding and gaining a huge national reputation, so this is an excellent time to get out and explore some dining spots.”More restaurants sign up daily, so diners should check the site often for new listings.

Gabby Gourmet’s husband diesMark Miller, my friend and a huge fan and friend of Denver’s restaurant community, died on Jan. 11 after a lengthy illness. He was 82.

Mark, husband of author and TV/radio personality Pat “Gabby Gourmet” Miller, was the power behind the throne. As Gabby’s chief of staff, Mark ran the business of being The Gabby Gourmet.

There was no better friend to the local restaurant community. Mark was both revered for his gentle gentleman persona and feared for his fierce advertising sales prowess.

Prom show comes to Denver

TLC’s national program “Say Yes to the Prom” is coming to Denver, and The Cable Center has been chosen as one of five partners by TLC’s parent company Discovery Communications to host one of its 2015 events.

Now in its fourth year, “Say Yes to the Prom” will give a select group of deserving girls from Abraham Lincoln High School the opportunity to develop mentoring relationships with industry professionals, build their self-confidence and self-image and, of course, “say yes to the prom dress.”

To make this a special event for the girls involved, The Cable Center will host a Prom Dress Drive from 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 31 at The Cable Center, 2000 Buchtel Blvd. More than 500 new and gently used dresses, with dry-cleaning tags, are needed in order for the girls to have the best shopping experience.

For more information, click here.

DeGeneres talks Colorado pot

On her talk show on Jan. 13, daytime diva Ellen DeGeneres was discussing how low gas prices are these days.

“In Colorado gas is less than two dollars per gallon,” she said. “That’s how they do it there. Gas prices are low and people are high.”

Say no to the munchies

Bethenny Frankel, the beauty and brains behind the Skinnygirl adult beverages brand, is putting her Skinnygirl stamp on marijuana.

According to Us Weekly magazine, the former “The Real Housewives of New York City” star will launch her own line of Skinnygirl “no munchies” marijuana in states where cannabis is legal, including Colorado.

“It will be a specially engineered strain of pot designed to not give you the munchies,” an insider close to the Skinnygirl cocktails creator, 44, tells Us magazine. “She read about how profitable the cannabis industry is and wants to get in on that.”

New owners for Wazee Supper Club

Roadhouse Hospitality Group has acquired the 40-year-old Wazee Supper Club at 1600 15th St. in LoDo, making it the 17th restaurant for the family-operated Colorado-based company.

Roadhouse Hospitality Group has been one of the state’s best-established restaurant family dynasties for nearly three decades. Owned by the brothers Dan, John and Mike Shipp, the group comprises such diverse eateries as the popular Washington Park Grille, Reiver’s, Spanky’s Roadhouse in the University of Denver neighborhood, the upscale pair of dining experiences that are the two Hodsons (downtown and Southglenn) and myriad mountain destinations such as the Kickapoo Tavern in Keystone, as well as four Dusty Boot Steakhouse & Saloons in Greenwood Village, Aurora, Eagle and Beaver Creek.

The Shipp brothers plan renovations for Wazee that will revisit its past while highlighting significant features that the beloved and now-famous restaurant — President Obama ate pizza there in 2014 during a Denver stop – lost over the years through ownership changes and remodels.

Arvada baker makes a move

The locally owned Great Harvest Bread Co. bakery in Arvada is expanding by moving locations from its existing spot to the next-door space at 7745 Wadsworth Blvd. The bakery will continue to provide the same whole grain and specialty breads and sweets as before in addition to an expanded line of breakfast and lunch sandwiches. The grand reopening celebration took place on Jan. 16.

To celebrate the new location, customers who buy any soup mix will receive a half dozen bag of rolls or a mini loaf for free throughout January.

Owner Cheri Miller says: “We want people to come in and stay a while as they enjoy a good cup of coffee, soup and a sandwich. This new space gives us the opportunity to be more of a community gathering place.”

The Arvada Great Harvest is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit here or find the bakery on Facebook.

Beat up on cancer

Put on your boxing gloves, Denver. It’s time to hop in the ring and put up one heck of a fight against cancer. The University of Colorado Hospital Foundation’s “Let’s Knock Out Cancer” gala is set for 6 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Hyatt Regency at the Colorado Convention Center, 650 17th St. Learn more about the event and buy your tickets today.

Overheard

Eavesdropping on Facebook: “I just finished a 40-mile bike ride, came in the house and sat next to (my wife) on the couch and reached over for a big handful of popcorn. She turned and looked at me and said, ‘You know you’re smelly.’ Well, good to see you, too!”

Penny Parker’s “Mile High Life” column gives insights into the best events, restaurants, businesses, parties and people throughout the metro area. Parker also writes for Blacktie-Colorado.com. You can subscribe and read her columns (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) at www.blacktie-colorado.com/pennyparker. She can be reached at penny@blacktie-llc.com or at 303-619-5209.

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