The Bolder Life: Adventures in Huckleberry Dining

I live in Boulder, so naturally I’ve spent many summer days enjoying some of Colorado’s beautiful sunshine and the sound of the nearby creek on the patio at the Dunshanbe Teahouse. I’ve savored platefuls of colorful ceviche and refreshing mojitos at Aji. I’ve contemplated going strictly vegetarian while at Leaf. I’m like a regular on the Three Leaf Concepts circuit. But my mind, (and taste buds), were officially blown on my first visit Huckleberry—Three Leaf’s tiny gem of an eatery located in Old Town Louisville.

Nestled on the south end of Main Street in a historic, old home, Huckleberry pretty much embodies the word “quaint”. The restaurant/bakery’s interior looks and feels like I’d imagine my grandmother’s house would look like if my grandma lived on a farm, painted her dining room in beautiful pastel hues and hung homey folk art on the walls. It doesn’t hurt that you’re immediately greeted by delicious smells and a display cooler filled with some of the most inviting sweet treats I’ve ever seen.

Now I’ve heard phenomenal things about their breakfast and brunch service—but at seven o’clock at night, a girl needs dinner; and after consuming some not-so-delicious meals this week, my stomach needed some reassurance that good food still exists. Of course I didn’t dine at this Louisville treasure alone—ordering a variety of entrees as a party for one looks incredibly awkward. So I dragged my sister and her fiancé along so I could sample their dishes too.

After some serious decision making, I decided to go with the Trout Almondine topped with a luxurious lemon-amaretto cream sauce and served with roasted potatoes and green beans. This dish restored my faith in food giving me a rich meal with a lightness that left my stomach feeling the right amount of full. My sister, after initially having her on the sold-out Butter Nut Squash Ravioli decided to go with the Polenta Zucchini Parmesan. I’ve had some pretty good polenta in my time, but the flavor that Huckleberry packed into this perfectly cut circle of polenta was outstanding. When I asked my sister how her meal was, I was met with only silence—which the universal language for “sooo good”. My soon-to-be brother-in-law went with the classic comfort food, Chicken Pot Pie, baked and served in soft and flaky shell served with warm salad of greens on the side to add the health factor to the dish.

Our laid-back but attentive waiter offered us a selection of wonderful sounding desserts, which includes everything from old fashioned soda shop staples of Sundaes, Milkshakes and Root Beer Floats to a Strawberry Layer Cream Cake, a Triple Chocolate Layer Cake, a Lemon Curd Cake a variety of other baked goods made in-house.

I’m so glad I ventured east of 55^th street this evening. I’m counting down the days until I get to visit Huckleberry again. I’m planning on bringing several more guests next time because there’s no way that I’m going to be able to limit myself when it comes to sampling the breakfast/brunch menu at the Louisville restaurant that was voted “Best Brunch”… in Boulder.

Huckleberry is open seven days a week and is part of Three Leaf Concepts Restaurants that includes The Boulder Dunshanbe Teahouse, Aji Latin American Restaurant, Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant and Zucca Italian Ristorante. Three Leaf Concepts also runs the Three Leaf Farm in Louisville where they grow organic produce to supply their restaurants with.