There is perhaps no more consistently hopping dining room between Denver and Boulder than the Village Tavern’s, a fact which I overlooked recently when I made the observation that two other FlatIron Crossing spots—Bloom and Flatz—were the mall’s only culinary…

“Pinto Beans?” Corey Buck mutters. I’ve just told him this month’s secret ingredient. Silence follows. It turns out this truly is a challenge.