GET THE RECIPES
Bass with Herbed Rice and Coconut-Vegetable Chowder
Grilled Lamb Spiedini with Eggplant, Red Bell Pepper, and Arugula Salad
Fried Cauliflower with Saffron Yogurt and Lemon
Our criteria for the annual report on "America's Foodiest Town": Small (fewer than 250,000 people), quality farmers' markets, concerned farmers, dedicated food media, first-rate restaurants, talented food artisans, and a community of food lovers.
Boulder has won just about every shiny happy lifestyle award a city can: Healthiest, Most Educated, Most Bicycle-Friendly—the list goes on. And this year, it can add one more: Bon Appétit's Foodiest Town in America. It turns out that, along with having fit, smart, and eco-conscious citizens, Boulder is home to a number of innovative food companies (Celestial Seasonings, Izze Beverage Company, and Bhakti Chai), several top-tier restaurants, and one of the best farmers' markets in the country. This town of 103,000 about an hour's drive northwest of Denver is a bellwether of a changing food culture across our land. Nationwide, there's a new ethos, one based not on gluttony or excess but on moderation: Chef Jamie Oliver is trying to change school lunch programs, the "never trust a skinny chef" mantra is passé as top chefs slim down, and the first lady wants us to get fit. With all this in mind, I took my seldom-used running shoes and well-worn appetite to Boulder for a week's worth of pain (exercise) and pleasure (eating). I wanted to sample the place's much-lauded lifestyle and cuisine. And I wanted to road-test a rumor I'd heard from my fitter foodie friends: Does a burger really taste better after exercise?
DAY 1
Pain: one-hour bike ride around town; 35-minute run
Pleasure: speck, pâté, and Brie sandwich on baguette; prosciutto fritters; house-cured lomo*; three beers*
Something is wrong. Typically, the first thing I do when I arrive in a new town is make a beeline to my first meal. But instead I am astride a bike; rather than reading a menu I'm studying a map of more than 300 miles of bike lanes and multi-use paths. My self-imposed car ban—I'm opting to walk, run, and bicycle around town—suddenly seems doable. I pedal from my hotel to Dish Gourmet, a new-school deli that house-cures many of their meats. The Whittier sandwich (speck, pâté, Brie, apple chutney) makes a nice picnic along Boulder Creek Path, a seven-mile multi-use artery running from Valmont Reservoir westward to Boulder Canyon. It's the Broadway of Boulder. But instead of cars, you'll find joggers, cyclists, and other active folks. After letting my food digest, I join them for a jog.
You think a cold beer tastes good after mowing the lawn? Try chugging one after running at an altitude of 5,430 feet. A pint of Karma, a Belgian-style pale ale from Avery Brewing Company, goes down quick at The Kitchen, a bi-level restaurant known for its rustic, market-driven food.
DAY 2
Pain: two-mile hike; five-mile run
Pleasure: fava bean crostini, beet risotto cake, two pizzas; house-made mozzarella salad; pork bun, duck pancakes, fried brussels sprout leaves; three beers, two cocktails, one bottle of wine
When I wake, I'm not sure what hurts more: my calves from yesterday's run or my head from last night's beers. I blame the latter on the altitude. Less than hour later, I'm standing atop 6,863-foot Mt. Sanitas. In the distance I see the University of Colorado campus, and beyond, the skyscrapers of Denver. After a lunch of beer and a vegetable tasting plate that includes roasted asparagus and sugar snap peas at eco-bistro Salt, I'm feeling energized. This feeling lasts until a few hours later, about 15 minutes into a grueling trail run with marathon runner Bobby Stuckey, co-owner and head sommelier of Boulder's best restaurant, Frasca Food and Wine. Stuckey says that the main reason he and chef/co-owner Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson settled on Boulder for their restaurant, inspired by Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, was for the quality of life. "If we had chosen San Francisco or New York, both of us would probably be burned-out," says Stuckey. "Here we're able to do what we do at a higher level and for a longer time because we have a more balanced approach. If I skip one day of exercise, I can feel it and people can see it—just ask my staff." He talks about the supportive Boulder community and the availability of top-notch ingredients from local farms. I have more questions to ask him, but I have to stop and walk. Finally, a pint of Left Hand Brewing Company lager and a few pizzas (one with house-made sausage and mozzarella and another with seasonal local potatoes and goat cheese) from Pizzeria Basta come to the rescue. Some recoup with a massage, I prefer wood-fired pizza.
DAY 3
Pain: 2.6-mile hike; 45-minute mountain bike ride
Pleasure: roast chicken with french fries; Colorado lamb ragù risotto; frico caldo
On a steep hike up Gregory Canyon Trail, I take it slow, but by the time I finish, my legs still feel like Jell-O. It doesn't help that on my ascent I am passed by a gent I'm guessing isn't a day younger than 70. For lunch, I have one of Boulder's most iconic dishes, local Wisdom's Natural Poultry chicken with fresh tarragon, beurre fondue, and house-cut fries. It's simple, but at Mateo, native son chef/co-owner Matthew Jansen does magical things to the bird: The skin is ultra-crispy and the meat runs with juices—could it be the altitude? I'd happily run five miles, sore calves and all, for a lunch like this again. After some organic rooibos tea at The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, I meet up with Frasca's private events manager, Cristin Napier. She is taking me mountain biking with three of her girlfriends, who are all former pro athletes. At one point, after barreling down a rock-filled path and nearly crashing twice, I have to get off my bike and walk it up a hill. But that night, by the time I finish my Ginger's Lost Island cocktail prepared by Frasca's then bar manager (and professional trail runner) Bryan Dayton, I have recovered. In fact, I am riding pretty high—all the exercise is making me feel good. Or perhaps it's the grilled Wagyu beef sirloin with fingerling potatoes.
DAY 4
Pain: 30 minutes lap swimming; 45-minute run
Pleasure: sprout salad; crispy Colorado bass; fried cauliflower, fried chicken, fried scallions with aioli; green tea Pimm's
After laps at the pool at the luxurious St Julien Hotel & Spa, it is time for the most dreaded exercise of my visit—a trip to a vegetarian restaurant. Leaf, a Boulder favorite, is packed at lunch with everyday folks eating things like bibimbap and seitan Reuben sandwiches. My sprout salad is as good as any salad I can remember. After lunch I go for a run. I'll admit it—I've been bitten by the exercise bug. Apart from a few aches and pains, I am feeling better than I have since college. The more I exercise, the more I can eat—I've found my new food mantra. That night, I hook up with Jake Rosenbarger and his wife, Kim, at Café Aion. I'd met Jake a few days before at The Kitchen, where he's a manager. Rail-thin, Jake is a 32-year-old retired professional cyclist who originally moved to Boulder for the same reason so many other athletes do: to train at altitude. We chat about his just-opened Kim & Jake's Cakes, which specializes in cocktail cake flavors like Dark and Stormy and Derby Julep. When I ask him how a former pro cyclist gets into baking, he explains how many calories bike racing burns—tons. The three of us polish off a small-plates smorgasbord including fried cauliflower, fried chicken wings and drumsticks, house-cured bacalao, and foie gras tourchon. We finish off the night at The Bitter Bar, a cocktail nook inside an Asian-inspired spot called Happy, where I have a memorable green tea Pimm's made with Charbay green tea vodka and muddled citrus.
DAY 5
Pain: three-mile hike/run
Pleasure: ohitashi (spinach, bonito flakes in chilled tempura sauce), sea urchin, sushi; asparagus flan; pasta alla chitarra with shrimp, sweet corn, and Swiss chard; Kampachi crudo
And on the fifth day, I rest—sort of. I ride to Chautauqua Park for one last relaxing hike. Apparently, many elite marathon coaches are Japanese and, well, they need a place to eat. Sushi Tora, just off Pearl Street, has fish flown in weekly from Japan's Tsukiji Market. After two hours, three bottles of wine—split with a local friend—and aji (horse mackerel), ko ika (young squid), and kinmedai (goldeneye snapper), I am beginning to think that Boulder's good food spots are almost as plentiful as its elite athletes. I take a leisurely ride around town, just enough to work up an appetite for dinner at Frasca. The signature frico caldo is a hash brown on steroids, made from potatoes, onions, and Montasio cheese. Judging from the dishes I eat at Frasca over the course of a week—Chef Mackinnon-Patterson also excels at pasta, slow-cooked meat, and Colorado lamb—I can only assume that when the Frasca team's two new ventures (a pizza spot and a café) open in November, they will become a couple of the country's best.
DAY 6
Pain: 45-minute run
Pleasure: vegetable dumplings; bacon and blue cheese burger; local beer
On my final day I join what seems like the entire city in their routine—a morning jog with friends followed by a visit to the Boulder County Farmers' Market. I recognize the purveyors from restaurant menus: Cure Organic Farm, Hazel Dell Mushrooms, Red Wagon Organic Farm, and Wisdom's Natural Poultry. Hungry, I head over to Sisters' Pantry dumpling stand for their steamed and griddled crispy garden vegetable dumplings. There's only one more thing to do before setting out for the airport. At Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery on Pearl Street, I finally get my burger—a bacon blue cheese one paired with Colorado Kind Ale. So, I ask myself, Does a burger taste better after exercise? Yes—at least in Boulder it does.