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Eatery update: Coloradans on 'Top Chef'

By Lori Midson, Special to the Rocky

Published September 4, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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* When the fifth season of Top Chef, Bravo's insanely popular reality series, airs later this year from Williamsburg, a trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, it'll have a decidedly Front Range flavor. Not one but two Colorado kitchen magicians have reportedly made the final cut of cheftestants: Melissa Harrison, sous chef at Boulder's Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace (950 Pearl St.), and Hosea Rosenberg, executive chef at Jax Boulder (928 Pearl St.).

* Ned, referred to as "The Pie Maker" on ABC's Emmy-nominated series Pushing Daisies, can bring the dead back to life, can't lie without his right eye twitching, is absent a last name and owns a bakery called the Pie Hole, which is all preface to the fact that ABC is bringing the Pie Hole tour bus to 10 cities across the country, including Denver. The bus, decked out in decor from the show's set, rolls into Larimer Square from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 17. Aside from waitresses pedaling decorated daisy bicycles, plasma televisions playing Pushing Daisies footage and gadget giveaways (pie-cutters, of course), those who show up will get to stuff their pie holes with - what else? - free pie at participating Larimer Square restaurants. Information: PushingDaisiesTour.com.

* Rachel Woolcott, chef-owner of Aix Restaurant + Wine Bar (719 E. 17th Ave.), clearly understands the realities of a volatile economy. Her former dinner-only destination for uptight Francophiles is now a pared- down, come-anytime neighborhood American bistro turning out lunch/weekend brunch/dinner and a litany of unbeatable deals, including half-price wines every Tuesday, a terrific happy hour that runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and a $27, three-course farmers' market-inspired menu every Thursday. Come autumn, Woolcott plans to introduce Sunday-night cinema parties.

* Parallel 17 (1600 E. 17th Ave.), Uptown's sleek Vietnamese restaurant, is hosting its three-year-anniversary party at 3 p.m. Sunday with $3 food and drink specials, tarot card readers, tea leaf readers, mah-jongg, live music and prize drawings that include trips to Hawaii, St. Thomas and Napa.

* Tonight, join creatures of the night at the Denver Zoo for Brew at the Zoo, a suds safari boasting more than 40 Colorado breweries, live music, dancing and nibbles from several Denver restaurants, including Chedd's Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Cherry Cricket, Pearl Street Grill, Wazee Supper Club and Goosetown Tavern. Ticket prices are $55 for zoo members, $65 for nonmembers. Information: denverzoo.org.