eat! drink! shop!: Berkeley Park

By Doug Wagner, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 9, 2008 at 3 p.m.
Updated November 10, 2008 at 8:54 a.m.

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Video Video: Owner of Oriental Theater, Scott Labarbra, gives a little insight to the venue. Watch »

Photo by Marie Griffin, / The Rocky

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans figures are among the vast selection of antique toys. Roy is priced at $125, Dale at $90.

Photo by Marie Griffin, / The Rocky

Direct lens technology fits prescription lenses into curved frames.

Photo by Marie Griffin, / The Rocky

Artistic flourishes like these lanterns are wall-to-wall at Provide-N-Ce.

Photo by Marie Griffin, / The Rocky

A sculpted shoe by gallery owner Marie Gibbons

Photo by Marie Griffin, / The Rocky

The Oriental Theater is available for private parties, corporate meetings, lectures and even baby showers.

Photo by Marie Griffin, / The Rocky

Musician Kelli Rudick performs a sound check before a show at the Oriental Theater last month.

Photo by Marie Griffin, / The Rocky

Swing Thai keeps the prices low and serves up mean versions of pad Thai, drunken noodles and classic Thai soups.

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*CORRECTION: A photo cutline with this story should have credited the shoe sculpture titled "Jump" to Kristy Melodia.

The Berkeley Park neighborhood has to be the best place in Denver for something to go wrong with your drive shaft. You couldn't ask for a better spot to be stranded with a whole day on your hands while the boys at Rocky Mountain Driveline (4210 Tennyson St.) buckle down to get you back off the streets and on the road.

With no other means of transportation than your feet, you can get most of your holiday shopping done, spend a couple of hours gallery-hopping, take your pick of Mexican, Italian and Thai food and even take a dance lesson at the Ward/Carter Dance Studio (4275 Tennyson St.).

Not in the mood to dance as that repair bill looms? There's always Elitch Lanes, where you can drown your sorrows in a pitcher even as you're trying to stay out of the gutter.

It's all good. The fact is, you could have broken down in Commerce City.

The Green Door

What's behind this Green Door is a surprise indeed: a collection of very vintage console radios, some working, some not, but all beautiful in a way that only age can achieve. Just try to walk past the 1924 FADA Neutrodyne without turning the knobs or the 1927 Atwater-Kent battery radio without opening the cabinet for a look inside. It can't be done. Owner Al Green comes by most of these treasures at estate sales in one of the oldest parts of town, and he never knows what he'll get. In turn, you never know what you'll get. With our purchase, we got a complimentary casket brochure/joke pamphlet sent out by a Nebraska mortuary in 1961. This is the kind of added touch you just don't see anymore.

Don't miss: Oh, guess we forgot to mention that most of this space is devoted to a huge selection of used furniture. Not as impressive as the radios, but it looks very, you know, useful.

* 3985 Tennyson St.; 303-455-4484

Swing Thai

The main attraction here is the prices - only one item more than $10 - and while some flavors may not run as deep as they do at your favorite Thai place, you'll find no fault whatsoever with the Pad Thai or the Drunken Noodles. And the soups - tom yum (lemongrass) and tom kha (coconut and lemongrass) - are classic, soul-warming renditions.

Don't miss: a Thai Island Tea at the gleaming wood bar (or on the back patio in the spring, when the flowers tend to riot)

* 4370 Tennyson St.; 303-777-1777, swingthai.com

Mouthfuls Pet Boutique

Looks like a certain store owner heard that indulgent Americans spend more than $40 billion a year on their pets. If it's frivolous to the point of absurdity, you'll find it here. There are bandanas and Broncos jerseys for your pooch, and a bakery counter with peanut-butter and oatmeal cookies and "doughnuts" with carob and yogurt icing. OK, it's not all frivolous. There are also leashes, collars, deshedding shampoo and an array of natural foods. Actually, when it comes to your share of that $40 billion, this is a good place to spend it wisely.

Don't miss: You might still be able to snag a "Bush sucks" T-shirt before they become collectors' items.

* 4224 Tennyson St.; 720-855-7505, mouthfuls.net

The Yankee Trader

If, like us, you're a tortured soul who hasn't forgiven your parents for letting you sell your collection of GI Joes at a garage sale, a visit to this antiques emporium would just be further torture. Yes, they're going for $150 to $250 apiece. But if you do decide to come in, there's plenty to distract you from your troubles, like model cars and farm equipment, Pez dispensers, tin toys, holiday decorations, an Army-Navy room, Marx toys, those '70s Looney Tunes glasses from Pepsi, games and drugstore paraphernalia. And if you're not in the market for such nonessentials in these tough times, hey, the memories are free.

Don't miss: the Dr. Kildare game, $25

* 4000 Tennyson St.; 303-480-1132

Parisi

It's an enticing, dizzyingly long menu, but spare your eyes and just pick one of the 24 wood-fired, thin-crust pizzas with names like Salamino Piccante and Radicchio & Scamorza. We know pizza's a very personal thing, but we'll stick our necks out and say Parisi's is as good as any in Colorado anyway. Never had speck or smoked scamorza cheese, let alone on a pizza? Kill both those birds by ordering the Siciliana. And if your appetite just won't be contained to the pizza roster, the pesto gnocchi is just like your mother should have made.

Don't miss: the deli, stocked with oils, salamis, cheeses and everything else you need to do the authentic-Italian thing at home. And we'd point out the Gelato D'Italia counter, but we're sure you'll find it on your own.

* 4401 Tennyson St.; 303-561-0234, parisidenver.com

Clotheshorse

This consignment shop is a bit of a tight fit for the space, and as a result, you'll find nothing but clothes, shoes and bags that, while technically used, are still waiting to be broken in. They don't have room for anything less. Labels include Jones New York, Andrew Marc, Gap, Lord & Taylor and Talbot's. And no fakes when it comes to the bags. Among the deals on a recent day: a $115 Cole Haan for $79 and a $220 Coach for $95.

Don't miss: the jewelry case

* 4232 Tennyson St.; 303-477-7800

Provide-N-Ce

The Web site says Provide-N-Ce specializes in Vietnamese arts and crafts, but "arts and crafts" just doesn't do this gallery/shop justice. We're talking elegant silk bags and blouses with beautiful embroidery and purses made entirely of imitation-ivory beads. Most impressive are the thread-on-fabric works with such vivid detail that they look like hyper-realist paintings; the second you walk in the door, the floral pieces seize the eye like something on fire. "Arts and crafts"? Nope, just plain old art.

* Don't miss: "Rhythms of Daily Life," a show of work by Le Phan Quoc, through Nov. 29

* 4325 W. 41st Ave.; 303-477-0309, provide-n-ce.org

Sports Optical

The specialty here is sunglasses and safety glasses for sports, featuring direct lens technology, which somehow coaxes prescription lenses into curved frames. The sign also says "Exotic Eyewear," and there are cases full of frames that are anything but utilitarian. Owner Bret Hunter scours glam capitals like Paris, Milan and Vegas and comes back with slick models by the likes of Anglo American Eyewear Optical, Zig Eyewear and Gucci. Sexy librarians, take note.

Don't miss: the laugh-out-loud shades you'll swear were custom-made for the Elvis impersonator in your life

* 4337 Tennyson St.; 303-455-3369, sportsoptical.com

evb studio

At evb, whimsy does what it's supposed to: It runs free. The studio is packed with clay and mixed-media sculptures that look like sudden notions acted upon: a rabbit's head atop a woman's bust, a baby with three stacked heads, a window ledge lined with real rocks and clay shaped to look like rocks, only with facial indentations. Artist Marie E.v.B. Gibbons really has this stuff down, and if you want a peek at her process, show up during the neighborhood's First Friday Art Walk and she'll lead you through a "mini-shop." Last week's assignment: to capture in clay what Frida Kahlo might have looked like as a baby.

Don't miss: "sole purpose," a juried exhibition exploring the concept of footwear, through Dec. 5

* 4343 W. 44th Ave.; 720-234-7337, evbstudio.com

Sherlock Hound's Pet Deli

In the 10 minutes we spent here, owner Judith Martinez got to know our dog as well as we do, and he wasn't even with us. We walked out with samples of an all-natural food (in two flavors) that should ease his aging joints and a sample of a supplement (for horses!) that's been known to boost the joint medicine we'd already been giving him. We also secured some treats that are just right for dogs that have trouble with the fattier things in life. Come in even if your pet is in the prime of health - we're assuming you want to keep him that way.

Don't miss: Grammy's Pot Pie With Real Meat and Homestyle Gravy dog food - that's better than we eat most nights.

* 4164 Tennyson St.; 303-433-3234, sherlockhoundpetdeli.com

Tenn Street Coffee

Caramel apple cider - let the words melt in your mouth. This cafe may not have invented the concept, but it has perfected it. Between that, the baked goods and the biggest cups of espresso we've ever come across, there's fun for the whole family here. The books, magazines and newspapers available for perusing are just the icing on the cinnamon roll.

Don't miss: live music on the weekends, with neighborhood jam sessions a regular on the roster

* 4418 Tennyson St.; 303-455-0279, tennstreetcoffee.com

When was the last time you went to one of the old theaters in town for purposes other than music appreciation? Like, say, for a political fund- raiser? A burlesque show? A lecture? A vaudeville-style show? A neighborhood meeting? A telemark-skiing film? A round of pool?

Believe it or not, there's a place - a single address - where that isn't even the half of it. At the Oriental Theater, a typical week's lineup is likely to encompass such diverse happenings as a bell-choir concert and a high school's staff Christmas party (see the December schedule). If there's nothing else planned for Tuesday, you can count on convening with like-minded souls for a kung fu flick; drop by and you'll leave convinced that tiered seating and martial-arts movies were made for each other.

The Oriental doesn't have everything a community needs, but it comes pretty close. The man to thank is owner and booking manager Scott LaBarbera, whose 44th Avenue Productions opened the restored version of the 1927 structure on New Year's Eve 2005. His vision was one of a theater with the goods to deliver state-of-the-art entertainment while serving as a true neighborhood gathering place.

Almost three years later, with new sound and lighting systems and a crowd-pleasing in-house restaurant in place, the neighbors have voiced their approval in more ways than one. Besides stopping in just to say "thanks," one of them leases the lighting rig to LaBarbera at a very generous rate just to be involved, and others regularly offer to work the door gratis.

"Some people have even moved here because of what we're doing," LaBarbera said.

Another key player has been Jay Bianchi, who owns jam-band meccas Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom, Dulcinea's 100th Monkey, et al. with his brothers. He and LaBarbera have joined forces to cross-promote shows and lend their venues to each other to get their acts the best fit.

Bianchi also brings a wealth of experience - read: connections - to the arrangement. So besides helping to feed the neighborhood's healthy appetite for jam, he's landed Oriental shows by national heavyweights such as Johnny Winter and Victor Wooten.

And AEG has recently gotten in on the acts, bringing in the likes of the Fleet Foxes. LaBarbera, meanwhile, focuses on shows by local performers such as Paper Bird, scheduled for Nov. 26.

Add in the private parties, film showings, corporate meetings, lectures, open-mic nights, fundraisers and other community events, and the lights burn just about every night of the month.

Even if it's just a DJ spinning in the lobby - decorated, by the way, with art by hometown artists - an evening at the theater takes on a whole new meaning at the Oriental.

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