April Food News

Openings/Closings
Comida Cantina opened at 721 Confidence Dr. in Prospect. / Geisty’s Dogg House opened on 13th Street in Boulder. / Parma Trattoria & Mozzarella Bar opened its doors at 1132 W. Dillon Rd. in Louisville. / South Mouth opened its new Memphis-style wings restaurant at 1650 Broadway in Boulder. / With a 1950s charm and jukebox, StarLite Diner & Lounge opened in early April in the 29th Street Mall. / Saxy’s Café and Shug’s Low Country Cuisine in Boulder both closed their doors, as did the entire Spicy Pickle restaurant chain. / The Cactus Wheel in Louisville closed. / Because we missed last month’s food news, here are some older yet still important openings and closings: Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que opened a Boulder location at 675 30th Street. / Oliverde, an olive oil and vinegar specialty store, opened at 2027 Broadway in Boulder. / Eric Skokan, of Boulder’s Black Cat restaurant, announced that he will open a new restaurant, Bramble & Hare, in Boulder.  / 8Island Hawaiian BBQ and Del Taco of Boulder both closed their doors. / The space housing BJs Restaurant & Brewery on Pearl Street will soon be taken over by West Flanders Brewing, a collaboration between the proprietors of The Sink and a local craft-brewer. BJs is expected to open a new location at the Twenty Ninth Street Mall. / The Pinyon, which graced the cover of Yellow Scene last year, served its last dish of locally inspired comfort food in early April. According to Westword, chef-owner Theo Adley sold the joint to H Burger CO, a Denver-based burger chain. Adley plans to make the move to Denver.

News
Gov. Hickenlooper signed the “Local Foods, Local Jobs Act,” also known as the cottage food bill, into law, allowing small food producers to sell directly to customers without requiring the use of commercial kitchens or health department inspections. / Oskar Blues will open Lyons Soul Distillery starting with a spirit made from local, organic agave, and The Bitter Bar has collaborated with Avery Brewing on a specialty beer aged in a whisky barrel. / The Denver-based Tavern Hospitality Group bought the Absinthe House space in Boulder. / Arugula is offering bottles of wine for 40 percent off every Wednesday night from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. / Pizzeria Locale’s sommelier, Matthew Mather, was named one of Food & Wine’s top sommeliers of 2012. / Salt Bistro’s bar manager, Adrian Sutevski, won the Boulder’s Best Mixologist competition in March. / Starting this month, chef Ian Clark at Centro will begin offering Handbuilt Ales from his new nano-brewery, Bru. / 503 International Café in Lafayette has applied for its liquor license. / Frasca Food and Wine was announced as a finalist for the James Beard Award.

Best of the Month
The combo bún bowl at Black Pepper Pho in Boulder was the perfect antidote to a chilly spring day, with grilled pork, chicken, and shrimp marinated in lemongrass and Vietnamese spices, then grilled to perfection and layered atop a bowl of fresh rice noodles, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, herbs and heavenly pickled daikon and carrot.  Served with a pork egg roll and Vietnamese fish sauce on the side, I was licking my bowl. Excellent, fresh, traditional Vietnamese food in a fast-casual atmosphere. / Go beyond the margaritas with perfect guacamole and smoked chicken tacos at The Rio Grande Restaurant in Boulder. / They’re trying to up their game, food-wise, and have definitely succeeded. / For lunch, stop in at Oak at Fourteenth in Boulder for their outstanding Honey Crisp apple and kale salad, which is so incredibly tasty it will make you forget that kale is also crazy good for you.

Events
Centro will celebrate its fifth anniversary on April 4 with a special dinner to benefit Watershed School’s Farm to Table Program. A $25 donation gets you an “all you can eat” roast pig barbecue dinner. / Chef Brett Smith will host a dinner at Zolo Grill on April 5 to benefit the Autism Society of Boulder County with guest chefs John Platt, Qs Restaurant and Riff’s Urban Fare; Mark Monette, Flagstaff House; Hosea Rosenberg, Blackbelly Catering; Dave Query, Big Red F Restaurant Group; and Jennifer Bush, The Bitter Bar. / Colterra in Niwot has begun offering Colterra Demo Cooking Classes. Check colterra.com for the schedule. / Drink Local Wine: Colorado will take place April 28 at Metro State College in Denver; tickets are $35.