The Hotel Monaco at 17th and Champa has put on a fresh face in its lobby and meeting spaces with an impressive makeover that was long overdue.

The hotel hadn’t redesigned its lobby since 1998. The lobby renovation completes a three-part plan for the makeover that started with restaurant Panzano then the guest rooms.

“Our evolution has come full circle,” Hotel Monaco general manager Von DeLuna told me during a walk-through Monday. “This is the final stamp on a three-year process.”

Interior designer Susan Caruso, who also designed the free run 4.0 v3 renovated guest rooms, was given the task of an overhaul of the hotel’s whimsical lobby and meeting spaces. Her theme was “rugged cowby meets city slicker”.

Caruso worked around the hotel’s iconic colorful ceiling in redesigning the public space. The entry into the lobby boasts bronze, iron and rustic metal fixtures that mix classic styles with modern cut globes, softened with accents of warm silver leaf.

The wall that leads to the meeting rooms and restrooms below is bedazzled with three silver steer skulls, and the walls of the lobby are adorned with Western-themed paintings.

Next up is the goal of expanding Panzano’s bar in late fall. The expansion will add roughly 24 seats to the space that is packed during the restaurant’s wildly popular daily happy hour from 2:30 to 6 p.m.

Wine time

The Palm restaurant inside The Westin Hotel at the Tabor Center is launching its annual Patio Wine Series from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays. These events are about as much fun as you can have on a patio. Not only do you get to taste wow wines, but you also get to munch from The Palm’s boffo buffet.

This Thursday features Rockin’ Reds, with subsequent Thursdays pouring various varietals including Think Pink Roses on July 12, Denver’s Infinite Monkey Therorem on Aug. 23 and Taste Alexander Valley on Sept. 13. The series ends with a bang: Silver Oak 40th anniversary on Oct. 3.

Tickets are $25 per person not including tax and tip. Reservations: Wendy Klein, wklein@thepalm.com or 303-825-7256.

Parking pickle

Argh! The Palm’s valet and parking garage has been taken over by a new company who (in its infinite wisdom – NOT!) has opted to charge for valet – $5 at lunch and $7 at dinner.

With The Palm’s exit from the complimentary valet service, the population of free valets in downtown Denver is sorely diminishing. It’s a sad state of affairs.

Besh is best

John Besh, the fatally handsome chef and owner of a New Orleans restaurant empire, will be guest chef for a four-course dinner, wine pairings and a copy of his new book, My Family Table, on June 18 at Frasca in Boulder.

Besh has written several cookbooks, runs restaurants, free run 4.0 v3 femmes is a James Beard Award-winner and frequent TV personality on cooking shows. For resservations, call 303-442-6966.

The seen

Bison boss and media mogul Ted Turner dining at his namesake restaurant Ted’s Montana Grill on Larimer Square on Friday. And Broadway and TV star Kristin Chenoweth at Edge with her family from Oklahoma. Chenoweth was in town for her one-woman show at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Eavesdropping on a woman at The Four Seasons Denver Level 3 Thursday pool party: “Does everybody have to be size 2 to be here except our corner of the room?”

Bravo TV’s reality star Josh Flagg from Million Dollar Listing is the special guest for Realty & Reality, a fundraiser for the Denver Colorado AIDS Project from 6 to 8:30 p.m. June 8 in the penthouse of Residence XXV (1891 Curtis St.).

“We’re very excited that Josh is able to join us to raise funds and awareness,” said Ruth Pederson, CEO of Colorado AIDS Project. “We are very free run 5.0 grateful that he is supportive of the work that we do for HIV-affected individuals here in Denver. To have the support of such a young dynamic individual whose reach is national is invaluable.”

In addition to being a reality star, Flagg is a published author and one of Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30.” Season five of Million Dollar Listing debuts June 6. For more information on Flagg, go to joshflagg.com. Tickets to the Denver event are $50. To buy them go to denvercap.org.

After the event, Flagg will host an after party at Chloe Mezze lounge (1445 Market St.) for small plates, speciality cocktails and dancing. The cover charge will be waived until 10 p.m. if you show your DCAP ticket stub at the door.

Beer here

Elitch Gardens amusement park has partnered with Wynkoop Brewing Co. to brand two beers for park attendees. The craft beers in the Blue Moon Beer Garden are part of Elitch’s effort to up the food offerings from fried to fresh.

“We wanted to make a culinary presence in the park,” said food and beverage boss Homer Hall. “This was the natural evolution. What is more Colorado? Craft brewing.”

Hall said his goal is to brew beer on the Elitch Gardens property in a few years. In addition to offering Wynkoop beers, chefs at Elitch’s are using the brews in barbecue sauces also sold at the Beer Garden.

Chef Chris Basley wanted to capitalize on Denver’s culinary scene by bringing fresh made food to the park.

“Denver has such a great culinary scene already, so we wanted to embrace it,” Basley said. “We make salads and wraps fresh every day and tacos and sauces from scratch.”

Hall said that his mission was to repair the amusement park food image. “Having everything fried is not what Colorado is. We’re cranking out really good fresh food.”

Kleinman cooks

Molecular gastronomy whiz chef Ian Kleinman is in the house at Studio F, the cooking school space owned by chef James Mazzio in the Ice House in LoDo, through Saturday.

On Friday, I sampled a lemondrop martini with blueberry caviar, liquid nitrogen bruschetta popcorn, lump crab creme brulee with soy sugar, ginger poached pears and habanero tobiko, strawberry yuzu sorbet with frozen olive oil and goat cheese jelly and Ian’s fried chicken with coconut gravy. Yumalicious! Reservations: studioflodo.com.

[scrollGallery id=11 start=0 autoScroll=false thumbsdown=true]

Business bonus

Denver-based small businesses with a social or environmental mission have a chance to apply for a $50,000 investment starting on Tuesday.

Galvanize, a local organization, is teaming up with Denver to launch i4c, as in I foresee, a campaign during National Small Business Week to provide financial support, mentoring opportunities, office space and strategic marketing for businesses in Denver. Three winners will be selected July 13. More information: i4campaign.com.

Eavesdropping on a man to his wife after a recent episode of “Two and a Half Men”: “They are talking about shows that ‘jump the shark,’ but this show jumped the entire aquarium when Kathy Bates shows up playing Charlie Sheen’s role.”

My Facebook page has moved. Be sure to like it! Also, here’s where you go to get my column emailed to you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. My email: penny@blacktie-llc.com.