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| | | | | BY MIGUEL OTÁROLA, @MOTAROLA_EATS Last week's news put two major Denver redevelopment projects up for comparison. The first was the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit line along East Colfax Avenue, which has made a tremendous dent not just on the street, but on the businesses abutting the miles-long work zone. The second was the renovation of 16th Street (Mall), soon to be completed after construction obstacles kept a fair share of visitors and restaurant clientele away for years. Downtown now looks unimpeded and on the way to thriving. City officials are banking on a milk tea business and an ice cream shop to draw more families downtown. Meanwhile, people are avoiding Colfax, so restaurants have had to find unusual ways to raise money. Each instance has drawn multiple restaurant casualties. It's a Denver-specific case of deja vu that has not gone unnoticed by business owners or patrons. EDITOR'S PICKS
TIP POOL
What's your favorite dish that you can only order on Colfax? Let us know and it might end up in a future Denver Post article. 
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My only other experience with Ethiopian food -- aside from a recent lunch at Konjo Ethiopian Food
's new location inside downtown Denver's Milk Market -- was in Minneapolis, where there's a large East African refugee population, and a beloved restaurant called Dilla's. The owners of Konjo, Fetien Gibre-Michael and Yoseph Assefa, have introduced an untold number of Denverites to injera, a spongy bread that accompanies most meals. On its own, the bread's distinctively sour taste is undeniable. Beneath the turmeric rice, chicken simmered in vegetables and berbere spice, and the mixture of yellow peas with garlic and onion (called kik), the injera rounds out the heat for a filling meal. | |
