Boulder Food Crawl

Day two in Boulder started early!

I was so excited to be in
Colorado I woke Kelsey up even though it was an hour earlier my time.

I wake up early...sorry Kels

We started with some bagels and coffee on the go to fuel up for our hike! Boulder has great hikes with beautiful views. And as I sit here in rainy rainy dreary Seattle I am soo missing this one.

We got off the trail and needed to cool off in the creek! After a brief stop at Target for floating accessories we were on the banks of the creek trying to beat the oppressive heat.

Here is Kelsey with her floaty! Isn't she a cutie! She is deciding if she should brave the creek and float down the "rapids". 

We had a long morning/afternoon filled with aerobic activity. So what does that mean to me???

Wine Time Baby!

After we cleaned up from our very "Boulderish" day. We headed to an Italian Pizzeria called

 Pizzeria Locale.

They offer a great HH. The restaurant is clean, bright and white, with a long bar where you can feel like your in Napoli watching the handsome bartenders pouring Vino Bianco.

Prosciutto Di Parma Riserva & Olive

The prosciutto was buttery and perfectly salty, the olives paired nicely with the crisp white wine. I was already in HHH (Happy Hour Heaven).

But we were at a Napoli Pizzeria, so we had to try the pizza.
(I know, poor us) 

http://www.pizzerialocale.com/

We ordered the Margarita Pizza. It was stunning. Thin crust, melty cheese, simple yet amazing sauce and basil. All we could both think of was the scene from Eat Pray Love.


But because we had more appetizers to conquer we did not devourer the whole thing like Julia Roberts.



Next we strolled down the street to Aji, a Latin American restaurant. We chose more than a few items off their menu as well as the menu of their sister restaurant next store Leaf, a vegetarian restaurant.


We started with their house sangria.

Refreshing...

Aji makes their own hot sauces, which are fabulous!

From the Aji menu we ordered:

Duck and Pork Tacos

Lobster and Banana Ceviche

From the Leaf Menu:

Tempura Avocado

Apricot Deviled Eggs

It was all amazing and delicious, but my favorite were the Lobster Civiche and the Tempura Avocado.

http://www.ajirestaurant.com/Home_Page.html

Not only were there plantain chips but the civiche actually had citrus marinated bananas mixed with the rich lobster meet. I would not have guessed banana and lobster together but it was a pleasing surprise. Topped with pickled red onions it was tangy & luxurious.

http://www.leafvegetarianrestaurant.com/Home_Page.html

This dish was truly amazing. On the plate is a sour orange sesame reduction, with black sticky rice cradling the tempura avocado, topped with a mango salsa. Tempura avocado is genius, crunchy exterior and a silky lush interior, the acid cuts the richness of the dish. It was inspired!

No need to say how we felt after this meal, FULL. But well worth it! Long drawn out meals are what it is all about, we sipped and nibbled, laughed and caught up on each other's lives.

We slowly walked back to the apartment, and caught up on The Bachelorette, a perfect evening after our meal...ok meals!

Day 3 next and more food to come!

Back to Colorado!

After I graduated college I spent a winter in Breckenridge, Colorado to live the life of a ski bum. I definitely achieved that goal, but gained so much more. I moved to this state not knowing a single sole and left with more friends and amazing memories than I could ever have imagined. Ever since, I have been dying to go back to this amazing place that truly stole a huge part of my heart. Okay enough with the seriousness...let’s get to the eating and drinking!

I finally had the perfect excuse to go back. My very best friend Kelsey who I have known, as we like to say, "from the womb" moved to Boulder, Colorado this past year and I was able to get away for a long weekend to stay with her.

Most people do not like traveling...

I am not one of those people.

I don't get stressed out, I always arrive early, I always bring entertainment, and I always give myself a small indulgence to make the trip enjoyable.

SEE EXAMPLE BELOW

 

I enjoy the quite time to myself and the anticipation for my destination.

I arrived around 12:30 and was shuttled into Boulder by my lovely partner in crime Kelsey. After I had settled in at her apartment it was off to happy hour! (Oh how I love HH)

* Readers be warned, this vacation was what I like to call a "Food Crawl". Kelsey and I are both foodies and enjoy the art of eating, and we are good at it.

What else can I say but we ate well, drank well, laughed well and lived well on this vacation. M F K Fisher would be proud!

We started to wander around beautiful downtown Boulder along the red brick streets and found ourselves on the roof top of Rio Mexican Restaurant.

Boulder is hot in the summer, like "find air conditioned activities at any cost" kind of hot. But Rio has a great roof top looking out on to the mountains, and has misting sprinklers all around the patio, to help all its outdoor guests keep cool. What also helped us keep cool were dangerously strong Margaritas. 

http://www.riograndemexican.com/boulder

These delicate looking bevies are not so subtly alcoholic. The restaurant has a 3 marg maximum. After one of these lovely libations, the black clouds hovered ominously and we headed to our next "inside" location to wait out the afternoon rain storm. We found ourselves in the French bistro Brasserie Ten Ten in time for their HH menu.

As we looked through the menu, I spotted bone marrow and there was no way I wasn't trying it. I have wanted to try bone marrow for the longest time, ever since seeing Anthony Bourdain suck it down on the Travel Channel.

http://www.brasserietenten.com/

BONE MARROW

fleur de sel, port poached shallots,

ten ten dijon& baguette

and

a Stella

It was truly a decadent snack and helped us pass the time while the rain poured. We indulged in the chat and gossip we had been missing over the past months and were able to walk home after the rain subsided, feeling satisfied and excited for the rest of our time together!

http://centrolatinkitchen.com/

After we rested at her casa we got ready for my first night out on the town. We met one of Kelsey's friends Laurie downtown, who had driven up from Denver for the night. We had a blast! We started at Centro for a few drinks and a snack to last us the night.

There were so many delicious looking items on the menu; one I still wish we would have tried was an Avocado Salsa with pork belly, SOOO BASICALLY PORKBELLY GUAC....??? I know, I know I'm still kicking myself for not trying that one. But no worries, our dish was as equally glutinous.

Lobster Nachos

With Pork and Green Chilies.

Crazy good with a cold beer on a hot night.

After we put a few (ahhem) calories in our stomachs, we were ready to hit the bars for a few drinks and some serious lady talk. It was truly a lovely first day back in the CO.

And can you believe this was only day one?

I told you, FOOD CRAWL.

Stay tuned for day two, it will go down in history as one of best HH marathons I have ever completed. And only Kelsey could have kept pace!