Restaurant Reviews

Claiming regional or ethnic credibility at a restaurant not located in that region can be a dubious prospect. Sometimes it’s a genuine transplant bringing the recipes of their youth and culture to the uninitiated hinterlands; sometimes it’s just run by someone who ...

Boulder’s Gindi Café has a European influence exemplified by offering both food and ambience best described as fresh and modern. One is certainly glad this eatery chooses to emulate these continental qualities instead of, say, those of the Inquisition or Serge ...

Film aficionados will doubtlessly recall the scene in Pulp Fiction when criminal kingpin Marsellus Wallace assures hitmen Vincent and Jules that their vexing body disposal problem will soon be solved. Wallace informs his assassins that none other than The Wolf, a ...

The standard-issue American breakfast of bacon and eggs traces its lineage back to its British ancestor, the “full English.” While some breakfasts may focus on sweet pastries and not much more than a tipple of coffee, the Anglo-American approach embraces both  ...

I cringe when the third course arrives at Gold Hill Inn. I cringe because I realize there’s no way to describe this unique experience without feeling gross and unqualified...

Back in the ’80s, before microbreweries and tap rooms had entered the public consciousness, my parents and underage self took a tour of Washington’s now-defunct Olympia brewery. While I recollect that the bar at the end of the tour was an ornate carved wood affair, ...

Recently a pal insistently extolled the virtues of Brasserie Ten Ten’s weekend brunch, but I remained skeptical. However, I have been happily satisfied with this French-influenced eatery’s fine happy hour and have splurged on its seafood platters. So friend Wayne and...

Once known as Pizzeria Basta, the Boulder eatery now simply known as Basta still serves savory wood oven pies. But this name change more accurately reflects a menu offering much more than just pizza, which is a smart move. Because while I’ve always felt the pies here...

Neither good food nor subtlety was a strong suit at the busy suburban mall food courts of my youth. In those pre-Sbarro years, kitsch was king. Over-the-top Union Jack displays heralded the fish and chips stand, and garish, if not stereotypical, lanterns and kimonos ...

One of my pet peeves is the eatery that appropriates inexpensive ethnic food and gussies it up beyond recognition with little resulting benefit. Adding insult to injury is the establishment that jacks up the prices on affordable chow to something approximating the ...

The brief email arrived late on Saturday afternoon from old friend Daniel, who I hadn’t seen in years. It was a summons to Lafayette’s Udon Kaisha, which he deemed “the best!” Not one to turn down such an invitation, I soon found myself in a strip mall chockablock ...

Mara had a bee in her bonnet vis a vis biscuits. Solicitous friend that I am, I proposed a weekend morning’s excursion to Hygiene, where we could sample the rustic charms of the Crane Hollow Cafe. Resembling more of a lived-in cottage than a sleek diner, this homey ...