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One of our favorite meals in Boulder is Community Night at The Kitchen. It’s a brilliant concept and so much fun. Every Monday night at 7 pm, diners who have signed up for Comm Night arrive and sit at a long table in the center of the dining room. There are usually 2 dozen people and reservations need to be made a few weeks in advance. No one knows what the menu is. You don’t order the food. The chef decides that day. When everyone is seated and has ordered drinks, the courses begin to parade out. Usually there will be three or four plates of one course passed around the table. You dine family style. It’s a social setting and you usually wind up chatting with your neighbors and getting to know other folks. You know… “community”. But more than just the community – people are there to sample some pretty amazing fare. All told, there will be anywhere from 9 to 13 different dishes that pass under your nose by the end of the evening. The best advice I can offer anyone going to Community Night: wear an elastic waistband.

a neighboring cocktail

mixed olives to start: picholine and niçoise

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Here it is at last, the final installation of our Boulder Sushi Tour series! I wish I could say we ended on a high note, but… well – read on.

akiyama of gunbarrel (boulder)

It’s been a good six weeks of sushi touring in the lovely landlocked city of Boulder, Colorado. People are always astonished at the quality of the fish considering the long drive to get to the ocean from here. They’d be even more surprised to learn how much fresh fish is flown in daily. The supply is there because the demand is there. We decided our final sushi restaurant to try would be Akiyama in northeastern Boulder.

the interior

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[Note: This originally posted last night except my server had some personal issues to sort out and things went awry for several hours. Server is feeling better this morning.]

It’s Bastille Day! What better way to celebrate the day than in the company of my favorite French person, Marianne. Actually, Bastille Day slipped our minds and we weren’t reminded of it until we walked into Brasserie 1010 this afternoon for Happy Hour. A live (non-French) band was playing (loudly) and there were red, white, and blue balloons everywhere. A crêpes station was set up outside and all of the waitresses were dressed in highly suggestive French(?) outfits.

Marianne is in between trips to Greenland (for work) and Beth has been in and out of town all summer. This past weekend kicked off our summer travel as well, so we thought it best to get together before everyone scattered off in all directions. The Bra, as I call it, had a special Bastille Day Happy Hour menu with several delicious temptations. We indulged. We were happier for it too.

i started off with a passion fruit and gin

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