The Food Network reached out (or up?) to The Mile High City to pluck one of the Denver’s chefs, Leah Eveleigh, to battle three other contestants in “Cutthroat Kitchen,” a zany culinary competition hosted by Food Network star Alton Brown.

Eveleigh, the first Denver chef to compete, will be hosting a watch party beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19 (show starts at 8 p.m.) at Street Kitchen Asian Bistro, 10111 Inverness Main St., Englewood.

This is a reality-based culinary competition that pits the chef-testants against each other through cutthroat strategies, mind games and crazy sabotages dreamed up by host Brown.

The Jan. 19 event is the official “Watch Party Nationwide” and “Viewing Party in Denver” where the results will be revealed to the public. Win or lose, this is an opportunity for Denverites to come together and cheer on one of our own homegrown chefs while celebrating the cultural diversity of this great city.

Eveleigh made her culinary debut at the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival as the first Filipino food vendor and then created Tropical Grill Catering.

Join her and eat and tweet during the show (#cutthroatkitchen), and help her represent the Colorado culinary scene.

Light appetizers will be provided and the restaurant’s full menu and bar will be available.

For more information, go to: http://www.foodnetwork.com/cutthroat-kitchen/index.html.

Leah Eveleigh, left, will appear on the Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” on Sunday. Eveliegh will host a watch party at Street Kitchen Asian Bistro at 7 p.m. Sunday. The show airs at 8 p.m. Sunday. (Kit Williams photo)

Bourbon and bacon? Does it really get much better than that?

If you’re a B&B aficionado, Denver’s first Bourbon & Bacon Fest will get you in touch with your pork side. The event takes place on Jan. 25 in the McNichols Civic Center Building with VIP entry from 2 to 2:30 p.m., and 2:30 to 5 p.m. for general admission.

VIP tickets are $85, and general admission tickets are $45, but here’s the steal of a deal: If you are a subscriber to this column (www.blacktie-colorado.com/pennyparker and click on “subscribe”), you will earn a chance to win two VIP tix. The winner will be determined in a drawing on Jan. 20.

The Bourbon & Bacon Fest will feature bacony treats from local chefs along with bourbons and unique whiskeys from distilleries both large and artisanal. For tickets and more information, go to www.bourbonandbaconfest.com.

The Colorado Symphony, under the baton of conductor Joseph F. Young, is performing the Dr. Martin Luther King tribute concert and humanitarian awards, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Boettcher Concert Hall.

Young will conduct a program that highlights works by African-American composers including Jonathan Bailey Holland and William Levi Dawson. Media personality Tamara Banks returns as emcee.

Presented in partnership with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission and Humanitarian Award Committee, this concert is free for all ages. Tickets are required for seating and are available through the Boettcher Concert Hall box office in the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

This annual concert extols the life, work and legacy of Dr. King through music and acknowledgement of individuals who live and lead in King’s example.

The 2014 Humanitarian Award recipients are:

* Rose Shipp, posthumously awarded, founder, African-American Quilters and Collectors Guild

* Tom Luehrs, executive director of the St. Francis Center

* Murugan Palani, board chairperson, Rocky Mountain Minority Supplier Development Council

* Pastor Robert Woolfolk, Mrs. Eddie Woolfolk, Agape Christian Church, The Honorable Menola Upshaw Lifetime Achievement Award

* Thelma Gash, former principal Denver Public Schools, The Honorable Menola Upshaw Lifetime Achievement Award

* Josie Brady, Dr. Joyce Marie Davis Outstanding Youth Award

Former Denver first lady Wilma Webb also will award a special honor to be announced during the concert.

Joseph F. Young will conduct the Colorado Symphony’s Dr. Martin Luther King tribute concert on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Boettcher Concert Hall.

Los Chingones, 2461 Larimer St., the latest eatery from TAG founder Troy Guard (who’s on a new restaurant roll) is launching its new lunch menu this week, beginning at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday.

The $10 lunch special includes house-made chips and Rooster salsa, aqua fresco or iced tea of the day and choice of one of the following:

• Burrito desnudo — chicken leg, pork shoulder or skirt steak, chopped romaine, black or pinto beans, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, Mexican crema, cilantro
• Taco rice bowl — chicken leg, pork shoulder or skirt steak, brown rice, chopped romaine, grilled peppers and onions, pico de gallo, cilantro, shredded cheese, crispy tortilla chips
• Knife and fork burrito — chicken leg, pork shoulder or skirt steak, black or pinto beans, chopped romaine, shredded cheese, pico de gallo, Mexican crema, red or green sauce
• Three tacos of your choice — chicken leg, lamb neck, skirt steak, shrimp, cotija cheese, pork shoulder, white fish, butternut squash, octopus, pork stomach and beef tongue

Additionally, diners can order an “off-menu” insider special called The Precious: A pork tamale stuffed inside a burrito that is then deep-fried and topped with green chile for $12.  And you can wash it down with an “El Rey” — one of Los Chingones’ five 32-ounce cans of beer (Pacifico, Carta Blanca, Tecate, Mission Brewing or El Conquistador).

Sure chef Troy Guard just opened Los Chingones and Sugarmill, but that doesn’t mean he’s resting on his restaurant laurels.

Instead, he will open his largest concept yet in February. Guard & Grace (his daughter’s moniker) will be a 9,000-square-foot modern American steak house at 1801 California St.

The new space will offer private dining areas along with Denver’s largest patio with a fire pit, an expansive raw bar, wood burning oven and exhibition kitchen.

Meanwhile, Guard’s TAG Burger Bar at 1222 Madison St. is throwing its annual Taste of the NFL Fundraiser where a $25 donation to the Food Bank of the Rockies gets you beer, specialty cocktails and wings during the game on Sunday.

The January Burger of the Month at TAG Burger Bar is the New Year’s Resolution Burger: A veggie patty made from vegetable protein, edamame, quinoa and mushrooms on a whole wheat bun with a red beet gastrique, golden beet strings and brussel sprout leaves. Served with apple chips or French fries for $13.

Proceeds from this month’s burger go to Angel Eyes, an agency that provides free grief support services to anyone experiencing the sudden, unexpected loss of an infant or toddler.

The sales of the resolution burger, which will be featured this month at TAG Burger Bar, will help Angel Eyes, an organization that helps families dealing with the loss of a young child. (TAG Burger bar photo)

Seen in Pueblo at Marisol Therapeutics, a marijuana dispensary, Tommy Chong, half of the Cheech and Chong pot-smoking comedy duo. Chong posted on Twitter: “Just finished my 7th J and boy is my mouth dry. This legalization is tough on (an) old stoner.”

Chong told the media at the Pueblo dispensary: “This is one small stagger for a stoner and one giant leap for stoner-kind.”

Tommy Chong greets a large crowd at Marisol Therapuetics, a marijuana dispensary in Pueblo. The comedian and pot activist visited the shop in southern Colorado on Saturday. (Celebstoner.com photo)

Eavesdropping on a man in Aspen: “It’s so cold that you have to open the ‘fridge to heat the house.”

Yeah, it’s dang cold!

Say cheese, please!

When Mike Wheaton, owner of www.chowdownforcharity.com and Pat “Gabby Gourmet” Miller asked to me be a judge for the upcoming “Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich in Denver” competition, how could I refuse?

Who doesn’t need a childhood food flashback now and then?

You, too, can get into the act by showing up and judging samples for the people’s choice category. The competition takes place from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 11 at Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs (3525 E. Colfax Ave.). Overflow parking available at Bastien’s Restaurant and Steakhouse, just west of Steve’s hotdog joint.

The gut-clogging grilled cheese contest will benefit Denver Zoo. Chefs will have the opportunity to cook their grilled cheese to order using a portable grilled provided by Steve’s. And chefs wanting to join this cheesy competition, can contact Wheaton at 303-578-2330 or by e-mail at info@chowdownforcharity.com.

The event will be broadcast live on The Gabby Gourmet Restaurant Show from 1 to 3 p.m. on KHOW-630AM.

Participants so far are: Happy Leaf Kombucha, Michael Long and Elizabeth Woessner from The Main Course radio show on KEZW-1430 AM, Johnson & Wales University staff, as well as chefs from Punch Bowl Social, Project Angel Heart, The Pour House, Prohibition, Masterpiece Deli, Bull & Bush Brewery, Mobile Meltz and Marczyk Fine Foods. Also throwing down is a contender from The Truffle Table.

Judges include foodie gal about town Sarah Gore, Westword restaurant writer Lori Midson as well as yours truly.

Come on down and get your grilled cheese on!

(Allrecipes.com photo)

Bradburn Village, a residential and retail development in Westminster, just announced that a 35,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market is under construction at the site on the southeast corner of Vrain Street and West 120th Avenue. The new store will be a relocation of the current Whole Foods at 92nd and Sheridan.

“We are excited about this new opportunity and look forward to becoming even more connected to the city of Westminster,” said Will Paradise, president of Whole Foods Market’s Rocky Mountain Region. “Each of our stores are designed to reflect the unique character of the surrounding community.”

The project, which will include roughly 90 townhomes, is being developed by Continuum Partners.

The Whole Foods Market at 92nd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in Westminster is relocating to the southeast corner of Vrain Street and West 120th Avenue. (Whole Foods photo)