Just shy of a three-year run, Lucha Cantina, 23 S. Tejon St., has closed.

There was much excitement when Chuck Holcomb and his partner, Chris Verikas, opened the Mexican eatery in the former Olive Branch location in February 2013.

“We’re closing on Dec. 31,” Holcomb said. “We’re opening a store in Lakewood and concentrating on northern Colorado. However, we have decided to become a small partner of the new concept, Red Gravy, that will take over the space.”

Red Gravy is headed by Eric Brenner, who most recently was the executive chef for Colorado Mountain Brewery.

“The concept is simply to offer upscale-casual modern Italian food that is fast, hot and a great value,” he said. “I will be highlighting some of my signature dishes like the tomato bisque that I won ‘Guy’s Grocery Games’ with. We will utilize the bakery to make our desserts, bread and handmade pastas. I will use my experience to offer gluten-free options for our pizza dough, pasta and breads.”

The plan is to open quickly, but a date for a debut has not been set.

‘Cupcake Wars’

Three Girl Scout troops converged at Prince of Peace Church on Dec. 19 to engage in a friendly battle of “Cupcake Wars,” patterned after the popular Food Network show.

Seventy-one girls, from kindergarten to 10th grade, gathered around tables, which had bowls of candies, sprinkles and colorful frosting on them to decorate their championship cupcake for bragging rights and a Girl Scout patch. Each participant was given two cupcakes. One was for practice to polish their design idea and piping techniques and the other was for presentation. The junior chefs had two hours to complete their masterpieces. Judges were Betty Villanueva, a chef at Cedar Springs Hospital; Jeff McCray, an assistant training chef at AspenPointe Café at Citizens Service Center; and yours truly. The winners were Grace Newsome, a Juliette Scout, Zoe Meyer, a Junior Scout, Shaykra Blue, a Cadette Scout, and Emily Grant, a Senior Scout.

Farm aid

It’s not too early to start thinking about the abundance of produce that farmers will be bring to the market this summer. To make that a reality and secure your share of the harvest, farmers need your financial support now. Even though they are not planting yet, there are other expenses for farmers during the winter before the actual tilling and sowing starts, like feeding their animal stock and buying seeds.

Farmers in the Arkansas River Watershed include Larga Vista Ranch (Boone), Hobbs Family Farm (Avondale), Venetucci Farm (Colorado Springs), Blue Raven (Pueblo) and Weathervane Farm (Buena Vista). They make up the Arkansas Valley Organic Growers, a local farmers’ cooperative offering Community Supported Agriculture shares for the 2016 summer season. Under the CSA model, members pay in advance for a weekly share of local farmers’ harvests so they are sure to have a steady supply of seasonal food.

The summer CSA season runs 25 weeks, from mid-June to November. There are several options, including a full vegetable share, a part vegetable share, a Colorado fruit share and several add-on options, like eggs and meat.

Visit headwatersgrowers.coop to learn more and to sign up for a CSA.

‘KVOR Table Talk’

Saturday’s show is benched because of an Air Force Academy Falcon basketball game vs. San Jose State.

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Send tips about restaurant openings, closings and specials to teresa.farney@gazettedev.gazette.com, 636-0271, Twitter@tffoodie or Facebook Teresa Farney.