Eatery Update: February 2011

OPEN, CLOSED & COMING SOON

Wine & Cheese Winebar and Restaurant opened at 14697 Delaware St. in Westminster. …Empire chef Jim Cohen is dishing stellar wood-fired pies at Pizzeria da Lupo, 2525 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. …Frasca Food & Wine has opened Pizzeria Locale at 1730 Pearl St., Boulder. …Zudaka Healthy Latin Food is now serving at 4457 Broadway in Boulder dishing vegetarian fare including arepas, delightful griddled soft corn cakes with various topping and salsas. The site formerly housed Papusas Sabor Hispano, which relocated to 4550 N. Broadway. …ViNa Restaurant is serving Vietnamese cuisine at 1630 30th St., Boulder. …Backcountry Pizza and Tap House is open at 2319 Arapahoe Ave. in the former Dolan’s/Pelican Pete’s space. …Cuvee, a wine bar and bistro, has opened at 946 Pearl St. in the former Blending Cellar location. …The first Boulder location of Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill is serving at 1905 29th St. at the 29th Street Mall. …Herb’s Quality Meats has finally reopened in a new space at 1000 Depot Hill Road, Broomfield. …Deli Cioso Mexican Restaurant has opened at 605 Briggs St., Erie. …Broomfield’s Flatiron Crossing Mall will never smell the same. The Cinnabon shop there has closed and will be replaced by a Red Mango frozen yogurt stand. Also closed at the mall: McDonald’s. …After 28 years of chile rellenos, Juanita’s Mexican Food closes March 1 at 1043 Pearl St. to be replaced by a new eatery concept. …An all-chocolate boutique and bakery, Love & Chocolate, is set for 805 Pearl St., Boulder. …A third Boulder Moe’s Broadway Bagel will fill 3267 28th St., former site of the Belgian Bakery. …Coming soon: Saba Felafel, 1153 13th St., Boulder (from the Udi’s Bakery folks); the casual Kitchen Café, next door to The Kitchen; the first Colorado location of Naked Pizza, 1629 28th St., Boulder; and Il Café, next door to Frasca.
  
FOOD NEWS

Boulder’s Bácaro has completely revamped its menu and now offers 75 small plates that are meant for casual sharing. …Happy anniversary to Boulder’s Great Harvest Bakery opened 27 years ago by Scott and Sally Creevy. That’s a ton of slices of fresh bread with butter.
  
ON THE MENU

Among the best dishes I’ve tasted locally in the past month are: arepas with black beans, cheese and sweet plantains at Zudaka Healthy Latin Food, 4457 N. Broadway, Boulder; tastebud-tweaking lahb salad—ground chicken with onion, roasted rice and chile-infused lime dressing—at NaRaYa, 1575 Folsom st., Boulder; thin-crusted wood-baked pizza with pancetta, caramelized onions and scamorze cheese at Pizzeria da Lupo, 2525 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder; and wonderfully chewy-sweet classic macaroons made by master baker Michael Vyskocil at the Old Fashioned Bavarian Bakery, 613 Frontage Road, Longmont.
  
CULINARY CALENDAR

It may be called Denver Restaurant Week but many North Metro and Boulder eateries are also part of the great deal offering multi-course $52.80 dinners for two Feb. 26–March 11. Participants include Bloom, Hana Matsuri Sushi and Jewel of India (Broomfield), 240 Union (Lakewood); Wine and Cheese (Westminster), Alba, Arugula and Black Cat Bistro (Boulder), Terroir (Longmont), Colterra and Treppeda’s (Niwot), and Via Toscana (Louisville). At Trattoria on Pearl, one choice is lobster bisque, filet mignon with basil-pesto mashers and broccolini, and molten chocolate cake. Menus: denver.org/denverrestaurant. …At 30 years old, the Chocolate Lovers Fling is the longest running culinary event in Boulder County. The Safehouse Benefit takes place Feb. 12 at the UCAR Event Center. Details at safehousealliance.org. …The Lyons Farmette hosts a bee-keeping class Feb. 27 taught by beekeeper and meadmaker Ben Rodman. Information: lyonsfarmette.com. …Breadworks hosts special dinners monthly including a Feb. 25 soiree featuring the art of Jan Burch and classical keyboard music from Maggie Fries. Make reservations for the four-course dinner ($14/ $7 kids inclusive)  at 303.444.5667, ext. 3. …Save this date: June 7, 2nd Annual taste of Elegance, Omni, Broomfield. …John Lehndorff talks about food on Radio Nibbles, 8:25 a.m. Thursdays on KGNU (88.5 FM Boulder, 1390 AM Denver, kgnu.org). …Send info about local restaurants and food events to: [email protected].
 
FOOD WORDS

“I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them.” —Nora Ephron, Heartburn