USA Today, which has been giving Denver some taste tests recently, has included The Squeaky Bean at 1500 Wynkoop on the newspaper’s selection of “10 best chef’s counters to watch your meal being made.”

The story suggests that some restaurants give you a show with the meal by sitting diners ringside to watch culinary magic.

“Restaurants are adding chef’s counters, allowing diners to watch their meal prepared like a real-life version of a Food Network show,” the story says. “‘It makes dining memorable, what you can talk about to friends,’says Amber Gibson, a Chicago-based food and travel writer. While some of the menus can be quite pricey, they’re perfect for a special holiday meal or celebration. Gibson shares some favorite counters with Larry Bleiberg for USA Today.”

About The Squeaky Bean, USA Today said, “Diners at the eight-seat kitchen counter get a personal experience with talkative chefs, who are glad to answer questions about the food they’re preparing. ‘You get to see a lot of dishes come out of the kitchen. It’s almost like a visual menu,’ Gibson says. Guests can order a set tasting or off the menu, which features a range of meats, seafood and salads. 303-623-2665; www.squeakybean.net.

See the rest of the top 10 picks at www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/10greatplaces/2014/12/05/chefs-counters/19886897/.

Thrillist, the irreverent website in tireless pursuit of the best eats across the country, has included a Denver restaurant on its 21 Best New Restaurants in America list.

Work & Class, the yummy down-to-Earth eatery with no reservations at 2500 Larimer St., was Denver’s contribution to the top-spots list.

Thrillist editors said, “There are no mysteries at Work & Class. You pick a meat, you pick a side, and you should probably also pick a beer, because it’s Denver. Simple right? But when you’re making a choice between red chile-braised pork and coriander-roasted colorado lamb or chipotle-tomato mac & cheese and Brussels sprout, apple, and bacon hash, things get pretty damn stressful

“Oh, and there are apps like the Peppers Five Ways, a fiery mixture of fresno chile poppers and bacon-wrapped jalapeños, and pepper jam with toasts, and, well, two others, but you’ll get distracted again by the fact that you can add extra poppers or bacon-wrapped numbers. Which you should because you’re a smart person.

“The on-the-surface-simplicity extends to booze with a mix-and-match style set-up where you choose a liquor and choose a house mix, but just try and stay level-headed when opting for the spicy basil sour versus the spiced cran-apple cider and when picking which of the 10 tequilas you should add in. The answer here is obvious, though: treat it just like that choose-your-own-adventure book where you totally went with every option and go back again, and again, and again.”

See the rest of the best at www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/the-best-restaurants-in-america-2014-gato-the-commissary-and-more.

This year, for $13.95 per adult and $7.95 per child (children 2 and under eat free), families are invited to join Hard Rock Cafe Denver in the Denver Pavilions for a morning filled with a buffet-style breakfast, holiday music, decorations and, of course, Santa.

At 8:30 a.m. Dec. 13, 14 and 20, each child will have the chance to have his or her picture taken with Santa and to share with him what they want for Christmas. Children in attendance a;so will be given a party bag filled with rockin’ holiday goodies to take home. Limited space is available, reservations are required and can be made by calling 303-623-3191.

Hard Rock Cafe Denver will also hold a silent auction at each event featuring items donated from area businesses, with all auction proceeds benefitting Downtown Denver Events’ annual Denver Parade of Lights, along with various charities, which rotate each weekend. Charities benefitting from silent auction proceeds include Ronald McDonald House Charities of Denver on Dec. 13 and 14; and WhyHunger on Dec. 20.

While the weather outside is delightful, it soon could be frightful. With that in mind, Zengo and La Biblioteca restaurants at 1610 Little Raven, is serving Ponche Navideno, a Mexican warm fruit punch starting today through Dec. 31.

The fruity beverage is available without alcohol for $5 or with Monte Alban Reposado Tequila for $9. Want to replicate that warm and fuzzy feeling at home? Here’s the recipe:

Ponche Navideño – Yields one liter
Ingredients:
1 red apple – peeled, cored, sliced
1/2 mango – peeled and diced
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup cranberries
1 cup pineapple – diced
4/5 tbsp. brown sugar
6 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 cups water
3/8 cup blanco tequila
Procedure:
1. Peel, then slice apple, mango and pineapple.
2. Combine all ingredients except tequila in a large pot.
3. Simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes.
5. Mix in the tequila, stir often.
6. Chill.

December is busting out all over with holiday travelers – and with that comes stress. To help de-stress the hectic season, Denver International Airport concessionaire Mission Yogurt, Inc. is offering promotions in celebration of some of the most delicious days of the year.

• Dec. 20 is National Sangria Day. Enjoy a free sangria with any entrée Purchase at DIA’s Que Bueno Mexican Grille (concourse B).
• Dec. 21 is National Hamburger Day. Receive $5 off any hamburger at Timberline Steaks and Grille (concourse C) with the purchase of a beverage.

Eavesdropping on two men at Denver County Court: “Is that your lawyer with the flip phone ?”

“Yes it is.”

“Well, pack your stuff because if that is all he can afford  you are definitely  going to jail.”

Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall has partnered with McDonald’s and Bailey’s Moving & Storage to host a clothing drive benefiting The Rose Andom Center for survivors of domestic violence.

The clothing drive will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at a central Denver McDonald’s location (4020 W. Colfax). Bailey’s Moving & Storage will have a truck on-site during the collection period for donations of lightly used winter clothing and coats.

The Denver Broncos announced their partnership with the Rose Andom Center — the first family justice center in Colorado — in October. As a public/private partnership, the Rose Andom Center brings together 15 community organizations and seven government agencies to work together under one roof, and will provide a streamlined referral process to numerous other off-site partners and programs to aid those affected by domestic violence.

The center is projected to open in the Spring of 2015. For more information about the Rose Andom Center, please visit: www.RoseAndomCenter.org.

Real estate investors wanting to keep their money in Colorado, should look no further than Denver, thanks to the millennials, the upcoming real estate generation, which is predicted to dictate market trends for decades to come, according to a story in U.S. News & World Report.

The story said, “In a report released October 2014, entitled, 15 Economic Facts About Millennials, released by the White House, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers or CEA, noted that the millennial generation, which accounted for one-third of the U.S. population in 2013, will shape the nation’s economy ‘for decades to come.'”

“This July, the National Association of Realtors, or NAR, released a report entitled, Best Purchase Markets for Millennial Home buyers, which took into account a lot of variables that can affect real estate investors when making a decision on where to buy investment property.

“According to the NAR report, home buying among young adults under age 35 peaked in 2005, at 43 percent, before declining to 36 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

“‘Limited job prospects, student debt and flat wage growth have combined with tight credit conditions, and low inventory to price millennials out of some of the top cities, such as New York and San Francisco,’ said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. ‘However, NAR research finds that there are other metro areas Millennials are moving to where job growth is strong, and home ownership is more attainable. These markets are well-positioned to soon experience a rise in first-time buyers as the economy improves.'”

“In conducting the study, NAR looked at a number of factors, such as the local employment situation, the inventory of homes, the migration patterns of millennials (where they are moving to) and the affordability of homes in those areas.

“Out of the top 100 metropolitan areas analyzed by NAR, 10 markets stood out as projected to gain or to witness an increase in millennial homebuying in the upcoming year. Those metropolitan areas are:

* Austin, Texas

* Dallas, Texas

* Denver, Colo.

* Des Moines, Iowa

* Grand Rapids, Mich.

* Minneapolis, Minn.

* New Orleans, La.

* Ogden, Utah

* Salt Lake City, Utah

* Seattle, Wash.

Other metropolitan areas, which show strong potential for attracting Millennials include:

* Madison, Wis.

* Nashville, Tenn.

* Omaha, Neb.

* Raleigh, N.C.

* Washington, D.C.

“If there is a downside, it is that next year interest rates are expected to rise by 1 percent to 5 percent, Yun said. Although higher interest rates are always a deterrent to buying, he does not feel even a one percent rise will cause potential homebuyers to panic.”

Read the entire story at www.money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-smarter-mutual-fund-investor/2014/12/01/10-us-real-estate-markets-investors-should-watch.

USA Today readers have cast their votes for the top 10 brewery tours in the nation. In Colorado, New Belgium Brewing Co. in Fort Collins, birthplace of Fat Tire, landed in a respectable third place, while Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont came in seventh.

Here’s what USA Today said:

“With thousands of breweries in the USA, selection by our panel of beer experts for inclusion in the contest was an honor in itself, and being voted by USA Today readers into the top 10 is certainly worth bragging about.”

The full list of winners in the Best Brewery Tour contest category for Readers’ Choice is as follows:

1. Olde Mecklenburg Brewery – Charlotte, N.C.
2. Magic Hat Brewing Co. – Burlington, Vt.
3. New Belgium Brewing Co. – Fort Collins, Colo.
4. Susquehanna Brewing Co. – Pittston, Pa.
5. Samuel Adams – Boston, Mass.
6. Tröegs Brewing Co. – Hershey, Pa.
7. Oskar Blues Brewery – Longmont, Colo.
8. Philadelphia Brewing Co. – Philadelphia, Penn.
9. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Chico, Calif.
10. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery – Milton, Del.

See what USA Today said about each winner at www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-brewery-tour/.