Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery is kicking off its 16th annual partnership with local fire departments with the Fire Chief Ale limited-time-only promotion.  From March 6th through April 15th, the brewery restaurant will be featuring Fire Chief Ale and an accompanying seasonal menu.  Over the past 16 years, Rock Bottom has raised nearly $2 million in donations for local fire departments and related charities.  During the 2012 promotion, for every pint of Fire Chief Ale sold, Rock Bottom will donate partial proceeds to this worthy cause.

WHAT:      Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock will join up to 337 of Denver’s top chefs during a press conference to officially announce Denver Restaurant Week, the largest culinary celebration in Denver’s history, and the largest restaurant week in the nation for the second year in a row. Mayor Hancock will toast to the chefs, and flip a Denver omelet with Jorge de la Torre, Dean of Culinary Education at Johnson & Wales University, in honor of the event.   

The visitors bureau for Denver says the city now has the nation's largest restaurant week based on the number of participating restaurants.

Visit Denver, The Convention and Visitors Bureau said Wednesday that 303 restaurants offered multicourse meals last Feb. 25 to March 11 for the special price of $52.80 for two people, or $26.40 for one. The number of participating restaurants was up 7 percent from 2010.

Based on survey results, the bureau estimates 360,480 meals were served, which is also up about 7 percent from last year.