Today some co-workers and I ventured down to try one of Downtown’s newest concepts - kuulture - located at 1512 Larimer in Writers Square.  I last wrote about kuulture in a May post when they were still under construction.  They have now been open a few weeks and their store is very cool - modern furniture and bold colors etc. - very reminiscent of Design Within Reach. 

I got to try a couple of samples of their acai and pomeberry flavors- both were delicious.  For my snack I ordered their original yogurt with fresh kiwi and blueberries on top - it was great.  Better yet it was healthy and non-fat!  I was surprised by how many people noticed and asked about where we got our yogurt on the walk back along the 16th St. Mall.  It would appear that Downtown Denver really needed a fresh concept like this.  When you get a chance, I highly recommend checking them out.

The Supreme Court at the Sheraton (formerly the Adam’s Mark) has closed and will be the new home of Katie Mullen’s Irish Pub.  The Denver Business Journal broke the story in their September 19-25 edition which came out today.  Work is already underway!

Katie Mullen’s will be a tavern with a long bar, high top tables, a stage for live music, Irish food, a long list of Celtic drinks and a large patio on the 16th St. Mall.  This is another great first for Downtown Denver because this will be the first U.S. location for this concept.  Paul Maye, the owner, and his family have four pubs in Northern Ireland and hope to eventually take this concept to Chicago, Miami, New York, and California.  Paul choosing Denver as the first says so much about how far Denver has come as a destination city.

I have met Paul and know firsthand that this will be a very well designed and expertly managed venue.  I have been covering the evolution of the Adam’s Mark into the Sheraton for over a year now (8/21/07, 2-11/08, & 4-8-08) and I am so happy to see the first new tenant announced.  Further details in the article confirm that Bravo Ristorante and the Capitol Bar will also re-open as new concepts later next year.

Downtown Denver is the host of the 2008 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) World Championship which started yesterday and goes through the 21st.  Over in Skyline Park they have constructed a state of the art Lucite portable racquetball court where the competition matches will be played.  This is exciting for Denver because it is the debut of this portable court.

The top 32 professional players in the world will compete and the semi and finals will air on ESPN Classic.  I had my first chance to go check it out this morning and got to see a couple players doing their warm up.  I think events like this are great and continue to bring international exposure to Downtown.  I was impressed by the court - it is a perfect fit in the park.

On Tuesday we attended the the 21st Annual Uptown Sampler.  We spend a lot of time on 17th in Uptown and have seen signs for it but this was the first year we bought tickets.  We started at Strings and moved our way down 17th.  At each participating restaurant there were “samples” of cuisine that were included with your ticket price and you could then buy wine or cocktails etc. 

Some restaurants had a lot more to offer but overall it was fun walking from place to place and checking everything out.  One huge standout for us was one of the newest eateries on 17th - D Bar Desserts.  Located at 1475 E. 17th Avenue, D Bar Desserts opened in the spring of this year.  Our sample there was an awesome chocolate mousse parfait dessert that was topped with crumbles of chocolate shortbread.  The space itself is very well designed - clean lines, modern, calming and very elegant.  Center stage is the pastry case where you can buy confections a la carte and next to that is a large open display kitchen where we saw desserts being made.  They also have a great patio right on 17th.

What was special about our visit was that the owner and chef, Keegan Gerhard, himself was on the patio serving patrons.  Up until now I had only seen him on Food Network when he was competing in all of those ultimate pastry championship competitions.  If our sample was any indication we are going back as soon as we can to try their food - they serve lunch and dinner as well.  I am so excited to see the culinary scene in Denver taken up to another level!

Last week’s Denver Business Journal article revealed that the new owners of the Denver Pavilions have set their sights on two of the hottest international retail concepts today - H&M and Zara.  Mark Sidell, President of Gart Properties hopes to sign one or both of them by the end of 2009.

“These are high-style designs at popular prices.  It really makes cutting-edge fashion accessible.” - Mark Sidell, President, Gart Properties

Zara is based is Coruna Spain.  H&M is based in Sweden.  I previously posted about Denver Pavilions in January and most recently in July.  I think this is very exciting and really shows how serious the new owners of the center are about making big changes to re-energize the Pavilions.  It is going to take one of a kind destination type retailers to attract other new retailers to Downtown and I think this strategy is definitely the way to go.  The next 18 months will be very exciting and I will provide updates as the $24 million renovation gets underway.

Last week I had the pleasure of working Downtown during the Democratic National Convention.  Never in my life - I am a native of Denver - have I seen Downtown more alive than it was during the DNC.  Walking along the 16th Street Mall and around the core it was so exciting and thrilling to see so many people and so much activity going on.

I thought it was great that at certain points in the day pedestrians spilled into the bus lanes as people made their way down to the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.  I never thought I would see it but throngs of people even shut down the mall for a period of time while celebrities crossed from Earl’s to the Hard Rock Cafe.  This infusion of people provided a glimpse of where Denver is headed in the very near future both with its residential and workforce populations.  It was Awesome!

Work on the Lawrence Halprin fountain in Skyline Park has been completed.  Personally I am very happy to see it funtioning again.  I first wrote about this project in my June post.  This water feature along with the other improvements to the park help to create an urban oasis in the core of Downtown Denver. 

I have already noticed a significant increase in visitors over the lunch hour and it is amazing how the sound of running water can both calm a space and make it more inviting.  As more residents move into Downtown I expect Skyline Park to become a much more popular amenity and this fountain to become more of a public gathering space.