Stick a fork in them, they’re done.
After a protracted fight with the city over alleged safety violations, El Diablo and Sketch Food & Wine restaurants inside the historic 1st Avenue Hotel, closed their doors Thursday night.
The battle between restaurant owner Jesse Morreale and the city of Denver ended when Morreale opted out of the legal wrangling that previously closed the restaurants, then reopened them until the owner could bring the building into compliance.
Perhaps weary of the back and forth bickering, Morreale shuttered the eateries in the building that additionally houses offices upstairs.
Here’s what he posted on El Diablo’s Facebook page:
“It is with heavy hearts that we are announcing that tonight, May 2, will be El Diablo and Sketch Food & Wine’s last day of business.
“This closure has nothing to do with the restaurants themselves, we have been operating safely and successfully for over 4 years. Morreale Hotels, the owner of the building, and the restaurants simply can no longer contend with what we believe has been a predetermined course by the City of Denver since July 2012 to see that the building be closed and these great restaurants be put out of business.
“Even though we believe it is unquestionable that the City’s actions have been arbitrary and capricious, the damage that has been inflicted upon our resources and operations is too severe for us to recover from and we have no choice but to close.
“We are heartbroken at this turn of events and the cost, not just to the businesses and to the community surrounding them, but to our loyal and hard-working staff that will be losing their jobs as a result.
“We’d like to thank you all for the years of loyal support and patronage, and invite you to join us tonight to say goodbye to the restaurants we all love that have contributed so much to the revitalization of Broadway and were the anchor for helping to restore the once blighted 1st Avenue Hotel.
“We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for the great memories — we will miss you all!”
Morreale’s lengthy and frequent run-ins with the city also resulted in the shuttering of RockBar on East Colfax, a popular ’70s style dance spot. He still owns La Rumba, a nightclub at 99 W. Ninth Ave.
Patio pups
The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel invites pooches at the patio at 16Mix where a special section has been reserved for dogs and their two-legged masters.
Amenities for dogs include Brew Bones doggie treats, hand-crafted organic dog bones made from commercially brewed beer grains plus other all-natural ingredients, as well as a Sheraton dog bed in case Rover needs a nap.
To launch the promotion, volunteers from the Foothills Animal Shelter will be at the 16Mix patio from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and Tuesday with shelter dogs who are looking for forever homes.
Lunch specials will include draft beer for $3, fire hydrant cocktails for $4 and a hot dog platter for $5.
Hot, hot, hot
It will be a hot time in the old town May 11 when the Colorado Firefighter Calendar tryouts turns up the heat at the EXDO Events Center as a benefit for the Children’s Hospital Colorado Burn Center.
Fox-31 personality Chris Parente will emcee the evening with celebrity judges, including Trista and Ryan Sutter from ABC’s “Bachelorette” fame, Slacker and Steve from Alice 105.9, Brooke Diaz from 92.5 The Wolf, Becky Ditchfield, weather woman from 9News, Erica Cobb, entertainment contributor for 9News, and Brett Seeley from Brett Seeley Photography, among others.
CFC’s 2014 Firefighter Contestants will strut their stuff down the runway as they compete for a page in the 2014 calendar.
There’s a VIP cocktail reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m., which will give VIPs a chance to mix and mingle with the 2013 calendar models, the 2014 contestants and the celebrity judges. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. for general admission. Tickets range from $30 to $80.
The 2013 Colorado Firefighter Calendar tryout are slated for May 11 at the EXDO Events Center. The charity event benefits the Children’s Hospital Burn Center.
Fathers of the Year
Dick Franklin, father of Olympic Gold Medalist Missy Franklin, is one of four men to be honored by the American Diabetes Association as Father of the Year.
Franklin, executive director of Cleantech Open, will be lauded along with Bill Hanzlik, former Denver Nuggets player and coach and CEO of Gold Crown Foundation; Ed Haselden, chairman and CEO of Haselden Construction and Adam Sayers, co-founder and executive vice president of Axia Energy at the June 13 gala benefiting the American Diabetes Association.
Their selection was based on their ability to balance their personal and professional lives and to serve as role models for their children while making a positive difference in their communities, said Stephanie Loughner, co-chair of the all-volunteer Denver Father’s Day Council and an attorney at Franke Greenhouse LLP.
The 2013 Father of the Year Awards dinner will be at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center, starting with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $200 and can be purchased by calling
Kami Keiter, 720-855-1102, ext. 7010, or by emailing her at
kkeiter@diabetes.org.
More Dish on Oprah
When I wrote last week that an inside source had “dished” about Oprah Winfrey‘s upcoming appearance at the Denver-based satellite company Dish Network’s annual retailer convention in San Antonio this month and had made diva-like demands, John Hall with Dish corporate communications took exception to what the insider told me.
Here’s what Hall had to say: “Oprah Winfrey graciously accepted our invitation to join our Team Summit retailer convention later this month. We are happy to welcome her to the Dish family to spend some time with employees and retailers from across the country. As partners, Ms. Winfrey, OWN and Discovery have been a pleasure to work with and we look forward to our time together later this month.”
So there!
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