Holiday Rush

That's where Long is serving "contemporary American cuisine with a bit of a Southern accent," Tang says. Which translates to shrimp and grits, slow-cooked pork belly and sweet-potato gnocchi to go along with 1515's $65 five-course tasting menu and more standard board of chicken, fish and steaks.

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Leftovers: Back in May, I talked with Eldon Larson about the wine-shop-slash-restaurant he and his partner had planned for a space at 5240 South Main Street in Aurora's Southlands development, with a targeted late-summer opening. Well, Wine Experience Cafe & World Restaurant finally rolled out the carpet late in November. The menu — overseen by chef Matt Franklin, most recently of Lakewood's 240 Union — is a combination small plates/large plates affair, international in influence and made for wine pairing. We're talking Maytag blue-cheese soufflés with apricot gastrique, lobster corn fritters, fresh figs with peppered honey, hoisin duck breast with candied kumquats (when's the last time you saw kumquats on a menu?) and plain ol' spaghetti — and, of course, the restaurant has just the vintage to go with each dish, since the wine store stocks hundreds of bottles from around the globe.

Meanwhile, a new wine shop in Lakewood's Belmar development, Mile High Wine & Spirits (435 South Vance Street), opened by longtime wine-industry veteran Keith Miller and partner Chris Giellis, just passed the three-month mark. "Belmar is one of those communities that's still building," Miller says, and while he and Giellis didn't want to move in too soon, neither did they want to wait too long. Why? Because right now, they have a clause in their lease that guarantees they'll be the only wine shop in Belmar — which is a nice position to be in.

Though I'm not overly in love with any of the Thai Basil locations, I am a fan of their newest promotion: Happy Night. Until December 30, every Thai Basil is offering 25-cent domestic beers and 50-cent imports from 5 to 10 p.m. with the purchase of a dinner. Sound too good to be true? Well, sorta: The limit is two beers per customer.

Speaking of places I'm not in love with, this past week also saw the opening of Grand Lux Cafe at Park Meadows, brought to you by the people (namely David Overton) behind the Cheesecake Factory chain. In last week's column, I shared my shock that the Capital Grille steakhouse chain is operated by the same company (Darden Restaurants) that owns such exceptional culinary brands as the Olive Garden and Red Lobster. In a sane and ordered universe, this should automatically mean that the Capital Grille, too, sucks balls — but in fact, the Capital Grille is a benchmark of steakhouse excellence, just as Olive Garden is a benchmark of trash. And so I'm stopping myself from making vicious fun of Grand Lux just because it happens to have been invented by the guy who loosed the horror of the Cheesecake Factory onto the world. Who knows? Maybe the place will kick ass. Maybe this restaurant, born in 1999 as a 24-hour, upscale-casual concept in the Venetian Resort in Vegas and now boasting eleven locations stretching from Los Angeles to Paramus, New Jersey, will be another Capital Grille, another winner come from losers. But then again, some people really do seem to like the Cheesecake Factory...

And speaking of restaurant groups (good ones this time), I talked again with Peter Karpinski of Sage Hospitality Group, which is close to signing a deal to take over the Westin Westminster, where chef Ian Kleinman is working his magic at O's Steak and Seafood. But once that deal goes through, it's unlikely that much will change at O's. Most important, Kleinman should be able to keep his molecular gastronomy menus ("Mr. Wizard," October 25).

Karpinski also told me where Sage Restaurant Group, which brought us the very hot Corner Office ("Dirty Sexy Money," November 22), will be opening Second Home Kitchen and Bar come March: in the space vacated by Mirepoix at the JW Marriott, which Sage now owns. And until Second Home opens, guess what restaurant will keep providing breakfasts for all those hungry travelers? Prime 121, right across the street at 121 Clayton Lane (reviewed last week in "Cowed.") Every morning, Prime has been firing up the burners and feeding guests of the Marriott put out by the fact that the hotel is currently operating without a restaurant of its own.