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Out to lunch…Come noontime, you’ll find us at the new Luna Hotel Café—gone is the erstwhile Velocity‘s crêpe menu and in its place are inspired sandwiches, salads, and a handful of tapas. What to order? The Chattanooga BLT with candied bacon, thick slabs of tomato, crispy lettuce, a slather of mayo, and toasted sourdough is our top choice—closely followed by the Caprese with sweet pesto, red tomatoes, warm mozzarella, and crunchy bread. The sandwiches are huge (and cheap, running $5 to $5.75). For something lighter choose the cobb salad or the preserved-lemon and garlic hummus with warm pita. On a sunny fall day, snag a patio table and the staff will deliver your meal through a sliding window that connects the kitchen to the patio. 1612 Wazee St., 303-572-3300.
Think pink…The Race for the Cure may be over, but it’s still National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. That should be easy to remember when visiting Panera Bread—October’s featured flavor is the pink ribbon bagel (with bits of cherry chips, Bing cherries, and cranberries). For each bagel sold, Panera donates 20 cents to the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center Foundation (www.cancercolorado.com), a local nonprofit providing financial help to patients and families during treatment. Bagels on sale through Nov. 8.
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Out with the old, in with the new…Corridor 44, a new champagne, cocktail, and crudo bar in Josephina’s old digs, opens tonight (Oct. 4). The name is a riff on the oddly shaped 44-foot-long space. The interior’s white booths, crystal chandeliers, and zebra prints set the stage for Denver newcomer chef Eric Laslow‘s small plates. Especially exciting is the crudo (Italian for raw) menu with fresh offerings such as yellowtail with chive oil, radish salad, sea salt, and cucumber or the diver scallops with salmon roe, pickled fennel, and caper aïoli. Corridor 44 has a lot of promise—the chef’s previous restaurant, Laslow’s Northwest in Portland, Oregon, was featured in Gourmet magazine in 2002. 1433 Larimer St., 303-893-0044, www.corridor44.com.
Trading spaces…LoLa is moving from South Pearl Street to the East Highland neighborhood in 2006. The move won’t take place until March and logistics are still being worked out but chef/co-owner Jamey Fader expects the space to be nearly double. “We have a real opportunity to alleviate the inherent flaws in the program now—like parking, there will be a chef’s table, an open kitchen, and a private dining room.” Which isn’t to say the move isn’t bittersweet, South Pearl Street has been kind to LoLa but Fader says it’s time to make the move and grow the business. Stay tuned for details.
