The Kitchen

The Kitchen is a much-buzzed Boulder farm-to-table restaurant that elbowed its way to the #14 spot on 5280's 25 Best Restaurants list in October 2011.

Mr. Oyster and I visited The Kitchen a couple years ago in our pre-blog days and we felt a bit lukewarm about the place, but we decided to give it another try last weekend.

The Kitchen lies immediately west of the Pearl Street Mall, just next door to Salt. Adjacent to The Kitchen are its sister restaurants, The Kitchen [Upstairs], and The Kitchen [Next Door].

The Kitchen seems to epitomize Boulder with its ubiquitous use of the word "community," its commitment to renewable energy, and its nonprofit dedicated to gardens in schools.

We stopped by for brunch on a Saturday at 12:30 pm.. The Kitchen doesn't take reservations for brunch, and securing a table was no easy feat. We were told that the wait would be about 20 minutes, and after that 20 minutes passed we were offered a patio seat. Considering how blustery it was that day, I'm surprised the staff would seat people outside. We opted to wait another ten or so minutes for an indoor spot. Once that was "ready", we went inside and then had to wait a few more minutes before the table was fully prepped.

And we were finally ready to begin our meal. Our waiter brought a carafe of water, and I ordered a latte ($3.95).

Latte

My latte was perfect. The swirled foam layer was frothy, thick, and creamy. The sugar chunks on the side made for a beautiful presentation.

My husband decided on the Long Family Farm Ham with poached eggs, Hollandaise, and an English muffin ($14), which The Kitchen curiously spells out on their menu rather than call it "Eggs Benedict." The dish arrived with a side of breakfast potatoes.

Eggs Benedict

The presentation was lovely and the portion was fairly large. The bread was topped with multiple layers of thinly-sliced ham, poached eggs, and a generous helping of creamy hollandaise sauce.

The benedict was good but not particularly special. The hollandaise and ham both tasted a bit bland.

The breakfast potatoes were really the star of this dish. They were perfectly seasoned, and cooked to a crispy exterior and soft interior.

My brunch dish was the Spicy Long Farm Pork Green Chili ($14), which came with two eggs and cornbread.

Spicy Long Farm Pork Green Chili

The Kitchen advertises this dish as "spicy" by the first word in the dish's title, but it really had no heat at all to it. I was disappointed by the lack of spiciness, although the chili was otherwise well-seasoned and filled with large chunks of pork. The cornbread cube was dry and bland; I had to mix it with the chili to make it enjoyable to eat.

I hadn't requested any specifics as far as how the eggs were cooked, but they were served in the exact form I prefer them: over-medium, with just a hint of runny yolk.

Service was a little slow but otherwise good. The waitstaff did a great job of refreshing our water carafe and my husband's iced tea.

The Kitchen offers a great restaurant concept in terms of their commitment to farm-to-table dining and community support. However, their prices feel a bit steep and their brunch offerings just don't quite come together for me.


Casual Dining

(6 of 10)

Pros: High quality ingredients, great lattes
Cons: Food sometimes lacking in flavor and cohesion, long wait for table at brunch

Website:
http://thekitchencommunity.com/the-kitchen-boulder/

Larkburger

There are so many hamburger spots in Denver that Larkburger never really made its way to my radar, despite the nonstop blogging hype and the weed-like proliferation of its restaurants across Colorado. That was, until a location opened up in the Denver Tech Center that was just way too convenient to pass up.

Larkburger labels their burgers as "gourmet" at every opportunity, and that's probably a result of their fine dining roots at Vail's Larkspur restaurant. That's also why you see truffle flavor permeating so much of the menu.

My husband, my mother-in-law and I arrived at Larkburger for lunch on a Saturday. Their Greenwood Village location is right at the heart of the Tech Center, in a fancy-ish strip mall that's packed to the brim all workweek long but is eerily quiet on weekends. As expected, Larkburger only had a few other customers during our Saturday visit.

The menu at Larkburger is very, very simple. You have a choice between various types of burgers (beef, tuna, turkey, mushroom) in a couple of different sizes, but that's where your options taper off.  The restaurant encourages a medium cooked burger, Tillamook cheddar is the only cheese option, and your toppings will be lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and sauce. Some people might find that constricting, I thought it was easy and perfect.

My husband selected the Larkburger with cheese ($6.5), I ordered the Little Lark with cheese ($4), and my mother-in-law ordered the Turkey Burger ($6.25). We also got an order of their Truffle and Parmesan Fries ($3).

Just a few minutes later, out came our food:

Left to Right: Larkburger, Little Lark, Turkey Burger  
Background: Truffle & Parmesan Fries 

One bite into my burger, and I completely understood what all the fuss was about. So good. Maybe it was the quality of the meat, or the fact that it was cooked so perfectly, or the buttery sauce or fresh toppings, but this an insanely good hamburger. I didn't even feel the need to add ketchup.

My husband loved his Larkburger equally. He made fun of the miniature size of my Little Lark, but I thought it was the perfect portion. I didn't try my mother-in-law's turkey burger but she loved it.

The fries were just ok. I prefer thick, steak-type fries, and these were very skinny and lacked the punch I was hoping for.

Overall, an outstanding hamburger for cheap. I'll be back.


Everyday Dining

(8 of 10)



Pros: Amazing hamburgers, great service, cheap
Cons: Some people may not like lack of menu options, fries were average

Website:
http://www.larkburger.com

Bernie's Hot Dog Co.

Disclaimer: I'm not a huge hot dog fan. To me, a typical hot dog tastes OK but not great. Plus I sort of avoid processed red meats. But my husband is an occasional hot dog eater, and he was intrigued by Bernie's after driving by their Highlands Ranch location. Since our first visit many months ago, he's become a regular, and I tag along every once in a while.

Bernie's is located in the most stereotypically suburban setting imaginable, in a small strip mall-ish cluster of restaurants near a main artery of Highlands Ranch and across from Home Depot. But don't be fooled by the location; Bernie's is one of very few non-chain, local restaurants in the south suburbs.

Walking into Bernie's, you might forget just how deeply entrenched in the suburbs you are.The interior is a combination of eye-popping red and green walls and, in an apparent reference to its own menu offerings, canine photos plastered all over the restaurant.

Anyone wary of standard hot dogs will be pleased to discover that Bernie's offers veggie dogs, turkey dogs, and "all-natural" dogs. The "all-natural" dogs are made of Vienna beef with no added color, hormones, or nitrites, and they're what my husband and I have ordered every single time we've visited. In other words, they're delicious.

The most difficult part of a visit to Bernie's may be deciding from their 20+ condiment offerings. Besides the usuals like ketchup and pickles, there are more exotic options including blue cheese, bacon, and green chili. My husband usually orders the "Michigan Ave" (aka a Chicago Dog), which comes with yellow mustard, pickle spears, tomatoes, sweet relish, diced onions, banana peppers, and celery salt. I've tried the Michigan Ave a couple times but got turned off by the subsequent bad breath and fluorescent green relish; now I stick to just ketchup and mustard.

All-natural dog with Michigan Ave toppings

All of our meals at Bernie's have included a side of their beer-battered fries, which are always served piping hot, and with all the salty and greasy goodness you ask for from a hot dog joint.

Beer-battered French fries

Nothing stands out as being the best thing i ever ate, but you can definitely get a great hot dog - customized to your liking - at a very decent price.

Everyday Dining

(7 of 10)

Pros: Good food. Lots of hot dog and condiment options, great service

Cons: Boring location, buns are nothing special, not many healthy options

Website:

http://bernieshotdogs.com/