Denver, CO
Denver chef named best restaurateur in the nation by James Beard
![Denver chef named best restaurateur in the nation by James Beard](https://www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/TDP-L-BRECKENRIDGE-409.jpg?w=1024&h=683)
Two Colorado chefs and restaurateurs struck gold at the “Oscars” of the food industry on Monday, taking home top awards from the James Beard Foundation.
Chef Kelly Whitaker and partner, Erika Whitaker, co-founders of Id Est Hospitality Group, earned the award for Outstanding Restaurateur among five finalists from around the country. Id Est boasts award-winning restaurants like Michelin-starred The Wolf’s Tailor and BRUTØ in Denver and Basta in Boulder, as well as the newish Hey Kiddo in Denver.
Matt Vawter, owner of Rootstalk in Breckenridge, won the title for Best Chef in the Mountain Region — which includes Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming — out of five finalists, including Denver’s chef Penelope Wong, co-owner of Yuan Wonton in Park Hill.
“What a moment, holy crap…,” Erica Whitaker said in her acceptance speech. “When we founded Id Est, our daughter was a year old, and now we’re just 10 days shy of her 16th birthday, and she’s here tonight…”
“…We own seven restaurants, but we also have engaged in so many different conversations around our food supply systems and been food advocates,” Kelly Whitaker added. “All these things are possible: to have restaurants, to have a family and to get involved.
“This year alone, we’ve contracted and built with farmers over 200 acres of regenerative land, we’re growing grains and milling flour. This isn’t just applicable to our tasting-menu restaurants, it’s applicable to a pizza or a sandwich,” he continued.
Kelly Whitaker was previously nominated as a 2020 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Mountain Chef for Wolf’s Tailor and was also an Outstanding Restaurateur semifinalist in 2023. “We don’t particularly chase these awards, but we definitely chase the platform this brings, and for that, we know that this is a responsibility,” he said. “I have more sense of fight now more than ever.”
Vawter, in his speech, thanked the James Beard Foundation for “recognizing what we do in our small little mountain community in Breckenridge. I started cooking when I was 14 years old to help my parents pay rent, and I never looked back.”
After working with Denver restaurateur Alex Seidel — another highly decorated James Beard award winner — at Fruition and Mercantile Dining & Provision, Vawter opened Rootstalk in late 2020 in a remodeled home from the 1800s. The restaurant, at 207 N. Main St., focuses on providing “elevated, everyday dining” with seasonal ingredients from local farmers and ranchers, homemade pasta, and a seven-course tasting menu.
“To our producers and our farmers, we get to highlight your products on the plate and in the restaurant, and it makes our lives really easy,” Vawter continued in his speech. “To my partners, Patrick and Cameron who are in the audience, you believed in me when you said let’s open a restaurant in the pandemic, you picked up your lives and moved. You practice what you preach, you work to get better every day and our restaurant wouldn’t exist without you…”
When the James Beard Foundation announced semifinalists in January, Colorado claimed 13 nominations, as it has for the last two years, including a few in nationally competitive categories such as outstanding restaurateur, outstanding chef and best new restaurant.
Last year, Colorado came up empty-handed in all categories at the prestigious awards. Only one finalist, chef Michael Diaz de Leon formerly of Whitaker’s BRUTØ, was in the running for the Best Chef in the Mountain Region.
Chef Caroline Glover, owner of Annette and Traveling Mercies in Stanley Marketplace, was the last local James Beard Award winner when she took home the Best Chef in the Mountain Region title in 2022.
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Denver, CO
Denver district attorney candidates make final pitches to voters
![Denver district attorney candidates make final pitches to voters](https://kdvr.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2024/06/666c25cf53c688.69775585.jpeg?w=1280)
DENVER (KDVR)- Candidates in primary races are entering into the home stretch with ballot boxes closing Tuesday.
There are some hotly contested races in Denver, including the race for the next district attorney. With no Republican running for the seat, the two Democratic candidates are going all in ahead of the primary election.
Two Democrats with significant legal careers are going head-to-head in hopes of becoming Denver’s next district attorney. They are each making their final pitches to a group of voters who are notorious for turning in their ballots just before they close.
John Walsh and Leora Joseph are battling to become Denver’s next district attorney.
Walsh served as U.S. Attorney during the Obama administration. Joseph is the director of the state’s Office of Behavioral Health. They both have some high-profile endorsements from influential figures across the state, but Walsh earned the endorsement of D.A. Beth McCann. Walsh wants voters to know he’s looking to reenergize the office while still holding people accountable.
“That depth of connection to the Denver metro community I think really matters. It’s that experience as a prosecutor but also a really, intimate understanding of this entire city that will make a difference,” Walsh said. “While I’m very proud to have Beth McCann’s endorsement, I’m not Beth McCann 2.0. In terms of what I would differently, I think we really have to focus on the problems we’ve got right in front of us. That includes a stubbornly high violent crime rate in Denver and an unfortunately increasing youth violence rate. That’s an area I would come at with vigor to make sure we are approaching it both to prosecute the small number of people both who are truly dangerous to the community but also that we work with the community to get young people opportunities to stay out of cultures that can lead to violence.”
Walsh also said he would focus on prosecuting drug dealers in an effort to curb the fentanyl epidemic and using the criminal justice system to get people treatment. He also said he wants to crack down on car theft.
Joseph wants voters to know she plans to prosecute crime but she also wants to use her background in behavioral health to bring a compassionate approach to what she says is a mental health crisis in the city.
“My central message: I’m running on change. If you think we need to change how public safety is being administered in this city, I’m your candidate,” Joseph said. “I think we need to handle public safety and the justice system differently. The biggest change that I am going to make is how the office is organized. Teams of prosecutors need to be in community and working hand-in-hand with police and community agencies, community organizations, the schools, nonprofits, mental health, we need to be a seat at the table and all of us need to be rowing in the same boat. I am committed to prosecuting crime, I am committed to not ignoring crime and I am committed to finding alternative solutions and pathways for people who are really struggling. When I talk about not ignoring crime, we’ve got to handle it. But what we’ve learned is that prison doesn’t work for everybody; prison isn’t the only option we need to do better. And the work I get to do now looks at models across the country. Where are local municipalities making change? That’s where I’ve been able to learn about how we use our court system and move people into treatment.”
Both candidates are touting their experience as reasons for voters to support them.
“I actually have the experience of running a large prosecution office successfully, not just internally but with respect to the community and to other government agencies and to the state,” Walsh said pointing to his experience as U.S. Attorney. “I was the top federal prosecutor for the state and was in that position for essentially [President Obama’s] entire administration. The reason I focus on that is because it’s a very specific job running a big prosecution office and to be successful at it, you have to be able to collaborate with a whole range of folks: people actually in the community, other government agencies, the state government, the federal government, those are things I’ve all done and done with success.”
“I understand he’s held a federal position and that isn’t this job. This job involves managing teams at a local level, involved in local government and that’s the work I’ve been doing: at the local level in Colorado. Managing teams and working in the District Attorney’s Office which is a unique set of laws and working at the state level- not in the D.C. federal system,” Joseph said.
Regardless of their differences in backgrounds and where they stand on policy, both candidates are encouraging voters to get those ballots in as soon as possible before polls close Tuesday night.
Denver, CO
Rideshare driver accused of unlawful contact may have 'other incidents,' Denver police say
![Rideshare driver accused of unlawful contact may have 'other incidents,' Denver police say](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1fa4809/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x672+0+0/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd8%2F78%2Fc37753e147b78726d56f5ede231a%2Fmug-nesrelah-kemal.jpg)
DENVER — Denver investigators believe there may be “other incidents” involving a rideshare driver accused of unlawful sexual contact.
According to the Denver Police Department, Nesrelah Bedru Kemal, 24, was arrested on March 11 following a report of unlawful sexual contact. He was charged with two counts of sexual contact – no consent and one count of false imprisonment.
In an update Thursday, Denver police said investigators received additional information and believe there may be “other incidents” involving Kemal while he was working as a rideshare driver.
Anyone with information on other incidents involving Kemal is encouraged to call the Denver Police Sex Crimes Unit at 720-913-6040.
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Denver, CO
Denver rideshare driver charged with unlawful sexual contact, false imprisonment
![Denver rideshare driver charged with unlawful sexual contact, false imprisonment](https://www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/cdxxdpdcars_pat5388_13292221-e1526518661154.jpg?w=1024&h=666)
A 24-year-old Denver rideshare driver charged with unlawful sexual contact may have other victims, Denver police said in a news release Thursday.
Nesrelah Bedru Kemal was arrested March 11 and charged with two counts of sexual contact – no consent and one count of false imprisonment, according to the Denver Police Department.
The alleged incidents happened while Kemal was working as a rideshare driver, said Denver District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Matt Jablow.
Investigators later learned there may have been other incidents involving Kemal when he was working as a rideshare driver, department officials said Thursday.
Anyone who may have been a victim can contact the Denver Police Sex Crimes Unit at 720-913-6040.
Kemal was released on a $1,500 bail.
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