Boulder, Colo.: Three reasons to make the drive from Denver
“I’m aware that Boulder is not Denver,” said Denise Mickelsen in 5280 magazine. But the smaller of the two cities has so many great places to eat that no honest list of the top 25 restaurants in the Denver area could fail to include several of them. Here are three I’d “put up against any James Beard Award–winner in New York City, Austin, or Los Angeles.”
This “dazzling” Basque-inspired restaurant “caters to your every whim.” Both “a finedining temple” and a party spot whose rooftop patio offers “an awesome view of the Flatirons,” Corrida combines an ambitious cocktail program with a menu featuring aged cuts of beef, tuna crudo with pickled ramps, and “creamy-centered” ham croquettes. 1023 Walnut St., 4th floor, (303) 444-1333
Long one of Boulder’s finest restaurants, Frasca opened a new chapter last December when chefs Eduardo Valle Lobo and Kelly Jeun took over the kitchen, bringing their “exquisite” touch with Friulian fare straight from a stint in northern Italy. Their menu is “a study in simplicity”: Come winter, their salad of bitter chicories and root vegetables roasted in prosciutto fat “will leave you speechless.” 1738 Pearl St., (303) 442-6966
“If you’re going to eat meat in Colorado, Blackbelly is where you want to do it.” Head butcher Nate Singer “knows where every single pig, lamb, cow, and bird in the shop comes from,” and chef-owner Hosea Rosenberg takes full advantage. No other place in Colorado serves better charcuterie, or can inspire as many dreams about plump rotisserie chicken or “massive pork chops gussied up with squash, chiles, and chorizo verde.” 1606 Conestoga St., (303) 247-1000