Innehållsförteckning för December 2025 från 5280 Magazine

When it comes to making magazines, exactly how many words each photo is worth is a constant debate. Editors and designers agonize over the limited space on our pages: Are readers better served by extra sentences explaining the topic at hand or a larger, more detailed image? But when audience engagement editor Malia Logan pitched a story about Denver’s vintage and upcycled fashion scene—“Sustainable Style,” page 54—we all agreed the pictures should do most of the talking. Once Logan identified six women to spotlight, art director David McKenna and photo editor Charli Ornett began brainstorming a visual direction that would make the portrait collection feel cohesive yet also allow each maker’s distinct aesthetic to shine through. “We wanted a special effect that would be in-camera, rather than post-production,” Ornett says.…

As the founder of Telluride-based Wagner Custom Skis, Pete Wagner is always on the hunt for good wood. So when, in May 2024, an executive told him Aspen Skiing Company was sitting on a pile of spruce, Wagner didn’t hesitate: “I’ll take it.” Aspen Mountain began glading trails on a 153-acre expansion in summer 2022. The terrain, which opened in December 2023 and is known as Hero’s, is a smorgasbord of steep drops, tight trees, and moguls. Using spruce harvested from Hero’s, Wagner produced 30 pairs of skis in various sizes, each of them all-mountain rippers. Made with a metal and aspen core and a varnished spruce topsheet emblazoned with aspen leaves, they’re designed to be light but strong. “We built them so that they can perform in bumps and…

New address aside, Benny Blanco’s Slice of the Bronx is an oldie but a goodie. The joint spent 24 years in Cap Hill but is now slinging the same great recipes in Arvada. Order this: the Nacho Libre with bacon, jalapeños, mozzarella, and a nacho cheese base. 10050 Ralston Road, Arvada As with most pizza spots, you can DIY your pie at Denver Pizza Co.—but with so many creative combos, why would you? Order this: the Cream Cheesman with cream cheese, pepperoncini, and bacon. 1116 Broadway; 5455 W. 38th Ave., Wheat Ridge Pizzeria Lui has dabbled in unusual toppings since opening in Lakewood in 2017. Eight years later, we’ve yet to meet a Lui pie we don’t like. Order this: the street taco pizza with chorizo, roasted tomatillo salsa, fresh…

THE UP CYCLER EMILY ALVIZU BOHEMIAN SCRAPCITY Emily Alvizu’s mantra is simple: “As long as it’s used, it’s in play.” From jackets born out of vintage blankets to price tags cut from recycled cardstock, Alvizu blends new and old materials into items that carry both beauty and meaning. When she began learning to sew in her late 20s, she found both a playground and a safety net in thrift stores. “It’s really scary to go to a fabric store and spend $30 when you don’t know what you’re doing,” she says. “But at a thrift store, you can get something for two bucks, and it’s easier to make mistakes and learn from them.” Those experiments evolved into a signature style that’s rooted in the nostalgia of the late ’60s and…

Colorado native and Evergreen resident Trent Davis Bailey traversed 460 miles of the state to capture the images in “Wolf Wars” (page 64)—or, as he calls it, a tale of two tails. “The question I kept asking myself is, How can I make the ranchers’ experience visible while also showing the other side of the story and what Colorado Parks and Wildlife is up against?” he says. “Each sees the wolf through different lenses.” Going into the assignment, Davis Bailey was aware of the Yellowstone effect argument for wolf reintroduction—the idea that the predators reduce overgrazing by culling the likes of elk and deer and spur a trophic cascade that improves river health and biodiversity. While he appreciates the difficulty of CPW agents’ roles in acting as middlemen and speaking…

If an oversize, furry paw yanks the scruff of your coat this holiday season, you might be on the naughty list. “This is your last chance to get yourself straightened out, or else,” warns John Mays, an IT guy by day and, this month, a Krampus. St. Nick’s foil in German folklore, Krampus whips bad children with a birch rod or, worst-case scenario, whisks them away to be tortured or eaten. “My take is not quite as severe,” Mays says. “I consider Krampus the first elf, the keeper of the naughty list. I want to be approachable to kids; it’s a fun thing.” Mays’ cloven-hoofed monster will make appearances across the state this season, but he will spend the official Krampus Nacht (December 5) at Denver Christkindlmarket. At the free,…

“Crêpes have been in my family for generations,” says Mawa McQueen, who was born in Côte d’Ivoire and grew up in Paris before coming to the United States in 2002. Until recently, you had to travel to the high country to get a taste of McQueen’s cooking, but in October, the founder of Mawa’s Kitchen in Aspen and two Crepe Therapy Cafés in the Roaring Fork Valley opened an outpost of the latter in Boulder. McQueen’s crêpes are as bold and vibrant as the chef herself: In addition to the tawny, speckled original version, she makes red velvet, matcha green tea, and rustic buckwheat varieties stuffed with everything from Nutella and strawberries to smoked salmon with dill cream sauce. Vegan and gluten-free options are plentiful, and blue corn and chickpea…

As artillery echoed through the bitter winter air of eastern Ukraine, Courtney Pollock fought for sleep on a stretcher inside her ambulance, parked on the last passable road before the front. It was December 2022, and Pollock was on her second trip to the war-torn country. Just a few kilometers away, across frozen fields, Russian forces were bombarding Bakhmut with as many as 50,000 artillery shells each day, according to Ukrainian officials. By the time Russia captured the front-line city in May 2023, a metropolis that had once been home to 70,000 people would be reduced to ruins. Pollock was a 38-year-old paramedic from the United States. The Colorado native had first journeyed to Ukraine the previous May, three months after Russia launched its fullscale invasion. “From my life experiences,…

While most Colorado creatives turn to the state’s snowcapped peaks or quaking aspens for inspiration, embroidery artist Anna Hultin has a much humbler muse: the open fields near her Loveland home. Her works evoke the things she sees there—namely, tufts of grass, flowers, cows, and more grass. “My desire is to bring wonder into something completely ordinary,” she says. “When you look at the fields in Colorado, there is so much texture…. I see so much beauty.” Using traditional embroidery techniques—along with watercolor paints, collaged fabrics, and loose, unspun fibers called wool roving—Hultin creates textured compositions that melt into single strands of thread. In her recently released book, The Stitched Landscape: An Embroidery Field Guide to the Textures, Colors, and Lines of the Natural World, Hultin walks readers through her…

Cart-Driver’s grilled zucchini tipped me off to the LoHilocation’s particular brand of joie de vivre, even before my first bite. Just as the plate of squash—Lincoln-Logged over a puddle of white miso Caesar dressing and showered with pecorino and breadcrumbs—was about to be plunked down before me, a car pulled up alongside the patio. A woman jumped out, opened her trunk, and began unloading a variety of farm goods. While setting down the plate, our server exclaimed, “Hey, that’s our zucchini farmer!” On the other side of downtown, Cart-Driver’s RiNo flagship has been turning out a tightly edited menu of exquisitely blistered pizzas, as well as ice-cold oysters and a legendary chicken liver mousse, for 11 years. It conducts business out of a 640-squarefoot shipping container that, while trendy, doesn’t…

PRICE KEY Average Entrée $ under $15 $$ $16 to $20 $$$ $21 to $30 $$$$ $31 and higher SYMBOL KEY Indicates a restaurant featured in 5280 for the first time (though not necessarily a restaurant that has just opened). Indicates inclusion in 5280’s 2025 list of Denver’s best restaurants. These selections are at the discretion of 5280 editors and are subject to change. A5 STEAKHOUSE $$$$ LoDo / Steak House This rarified chophouse by the team behind Tap & Burger features a range of specialty steaks, eclectic sides with Asian influence, and draft cocktails. Never pass up the beef tartare katsu sando and the chickpea fries to start your meal. Reservations accepted. 1600 15th St., 303-623-0534. Dinner ABEJAS $$$$ Golden / Seasonal Enjoy seasonal new American plates at this community restaurant. The ever-changing menu features farm-fresh produce,…