Boulder Colorado 2013: Basta, Frasca, Oak on 14th, Lucille's, Tora, The Sink

Basta

This is one of my favourite places to eat in Boulder. Wonderful wood oven roasted pizzas with very tasty crust and toppings, and other very good dishes.

Wood fire grilled vegetables, including potatoes, radicchio, croutons and a smoked balsamic dressing. A great "salad"!

Cipollini onion and root veg (puree) soup with mostarda, black garlic and olive oil; really delicious.

Wood fire grilled shishito peppers.

Duck rillettes, 3 Little Pigs Mustard, pickled garlic and Fat crackers.

Wood oven roasted pizza with sausage, rapini, garlic, fennel pollen, mozzarella and chillies.

Pizza with San Marzano tomato sauce, sprinkled oregano and mozzarella cheese.

Slow braised pork cheeks, semolina gnocchi, smoked hazelnut ailade and creme fraiche; another hit.

Weiser Farm potato and goats milk ricotta donuts; amazing!

Frasca

Frasca has been heralded as one of the more promising restos in the south west. I was not disappointed. It is certainly a destination in the Colorado culinary desert!

Carrot soup with pickled parsley; salmon tartar with olive oil; Thyme flavoured crab, mushroom and onion.

Laughing bird shrimp tempura with tartar sauce. The tempura batter was a bit heavy and lacked expected delicacy.

A  salad of treviso, escarole and mini lettuces dressed with myer lemon bagna cauda sauce.

Confit calamari with cannelli beans, breadcrumbs and black kale. A delicious dish.

Crisp pork belly with king trumpet mushrooms, tardiva, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Papardelle, perfectly cooked, with red wine and beef ragu, topped with a touch of grated parmesan cheese.

Raviolo filled with house made ricotta and an egg yolk, accompanied by black truffles and spring fava beans. A very harmonious and pleasing dish. The egg yolk was dark orange, rich and flavourful.

Delicate gnocchi with chanterelles and cream sauce.

Colorado beef shank and rare ribeye steak with fingerling potatoes, braised greens and parmesan cheese. The rare beef was graded, as per the "beef boy scale: 5/5/6 (taste, texture, juiciness, out of 10).

Torta cioccolata, dark chocolate with coconut butter cream and chocolate gellato. Quite a wonderful, satisfying finish to the meal.

Oak on 14th

Oak on 14th is an important restaurant in this region, characterized by it's well composed dishes, the range of menu items and the highly satisfying manner of cooking many of these well crafted dishes in a wood burning oven.

Burrata cheese, olive and kumquat tapenade accompanied by house made baguette.

Wood roasted red pepper and fennel soup, goat cheese panna cotta and fennel crumbs.

Manilla clams, house made chorizo, harissa and crispy potatoes.

Oak grilled hamachi collar, crispy garlic slices, soy and yuzu sauce. Another big hit.

Wood oven roasted bone marrow with anchovy chimichurri and herb/arugula salad, sided with toasts.

Grilled eggplant topped with fetta cheese, mint, mint and romesco sauce. This was delicious and the walnut puree based sauce was the perfect compliment.

Braised Berkshire pork cheeks, sweet English peas and roasted pepper jam.

Wood oven roasted brussel sprouts and garlic chips.

Blood orange and ricotta cheesecake with toasted pistachios, lavender stewed strawberries and strawberry sorbet. A very refreshing and satisfying dessert.

Lucilles

A hearty breakfast can be had at Lucilles. But, no standouts.

Buttermilk biscuits accompanied by gravy with tasty bits of smoked ham, cayenne pepper, onion and cream.

Eggs Eisenhower, 2 sunny side up eggs, hash browns, spicy sausage patty, andouille and collard greens, all accompanied by a very tasty house made ketchup.

The andouille sausage.

The collard greens, redolent with bits of smoked ham.

House made peppered vinegar accompanied the collards.

Tora

A very good, highly satisfying red miso/dark miso/shiitake dashi broth with chunks of sweet potato, eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, onion and dill.

The Sink

Smoked bbq brisket on a sesame bun, Sink hickory sauce on the side. Creole spiced french fries. A good, very moist brisket sandwich; tasty fries.

Teton waters ranch 100% pasture raised grass fed beef, cooked medium rare as ordered, topped with sliced avocado, onion and tomato. A good burger.

Restaurants of Vail, Colorado

Elway's

Steak taco app was good: small tender, very flavourful beef chunks with guacamole, salsa and soft tacos.

"U.S. Prime" rib steak I rated ("Beef Boys" rating: taste/texture/tenderness, all out of 10): 6/6/6. The steak seemed "mushy" as if tenderized, and my request of "rare" arrived medium rare. I ordered caramelized onions and they seemed like they were sitting too long.

Grilled artichoke was a side order and was very good. I really like the way the sliced the choke in half and seared it.

A side of fried rice with duck confit, was ok, but not enough duck flavour.

Cream spinach was rather mediocre because the sauce was unpleasantly watery/creamy.

New York style cheese cake was ok, but not worth the calories.

Moe's BBQ

Chicken was very moist but had a barely smokey flavour. Pulled pork was very moist with a very pleasant smokey, porky flavour. The ribs had a very nice smoky flavour and were perfectly cooked, coming of the bone easily, but not too easily. The seasoning was nice and peppery but the ribs were too salty. The ribs were dry rub only, no sauce. Good Texas toast. no distinctive BBQ sauce was offered.

Pepi's

Beef tartar with capers and finely diced onions was very good and was sided with thinly sliced red onion, pickles, sliced tomato, sliced boiled egg and lumpfish caviar. (no photo).


Tafelspitz, a favourite dish of mine when I am in Vienna, did not live up to my expectations, but their simple preparation of this dish had very tender, juicy beef covered in a mild horseradish sauce and was accompanied by sauteed potatoes, boiled carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and a sliced of cored cooked apple with a blueberry sauce.

Wienerschnitzel had a nice crispy, un-greasy crust and the veal was very tender and accompanied by sauteed potatoes, boiled carrots and cauliflower and red cabbage salad.

Microwaved strudel with  limp, uninteresting pastry with an overly sweet apple filling in a viscous, sugary sauce and accompanied by creme anglaise, whipped cream and cinnamon ice cream.

Key lime pie cheesecake with creme anglaise, and whipped cream. I ate as much as you see missing.

Vail Chophouse.

The rib steak, ordered rare, arrived medium rare and I rated (Beef Boys: taste/texture/juicyness, all out of 10) as 61/2/7/7 (no photo).

Matsuhisa

Oyster shooter: Saki, ponzu, raw quail egg with scallions and a raw oyster. Good for what ails you!

Salmon skin roll had a slightly smoky grilled skin, which combined with the other ingredients (pea shoots, tobiko roe, tomago egg omelette and chopped scallions), made for some wonderful complementary flavours.

Salmon sashimi with garlic puree, chopped chives and sesame sauce, a wonderful dish.

Black cod arrived sweet and perfectly cooked.

Soft shelled crab was perfectly crispy.

Tuna "taco".

Mixed sashimi: red clam, toro tuna, sweet shrimp, salmon with grilled eel and salmon roe sushi. I found the fish quite a bit fresher tasting, than expected.

Mochi, one of my very favourite Japanese desserts, each one with an ice cream filling: red bean, green tea and mango. They did this well.

Chocolate mousse filled "cigars" (not my choice).

Coconut banana spring roll. This was a very good dessert, crispy crust and lovely filling.

Where to Eat On The Mountain: Wildwood Smokehouse!!

Smoked chicken, nicely smoky, tender and juicy. Perfect.

Perfect baked beans, thick, with a nice smoky flavour from bits of smoked brisket.

A very tender, smokey beef brisket with Wildwood Smokehouse's own, wonderful BBQ sauce, a rich a smokey version and a perfect complement for their food. I bought a few bottles to take home. The bun was a mediocre choice.

Kelly Liken

Crispy celery root chips with a sweet and sour beet mousse and a honey crisp apple slice.

Barely seared elk carpaccio with bulgar tabouleh salad and whole grain mustard aioli.

Cauliflower and parmesan agnolotti, roasted maitake mushrooms, caramelized cauliflower, mushroom broth, fine herbs (including coriander). The combination of flavours made this a marvellous dish. The delicate pasta made the experience exceptional.

Bone marrow risotto: creamy parmesan and bone marrow risotto with roasted marrow bone, gremolata salad, chopped parsley. I loved the marrow flavours with the parmesan and saffron and the creamy texture was perfect.

Colorado beef short rib with horseradish and potato puree, roasted rutabaga and shallots, all with red wine jus. Not my fave, my adequately rendered.

Roasted root veg and cipollini onions with house made duck chorizo. This was a great side with earthy, caramelized flavours.

Citrus, olive oil cake with sweet rosemary mascarpone, red wine caramel sauce and blood orange. A very good dessert and an excellent rendition of olive oil cake.

I would have to say that Kelly Liken was my best restaurant experience in vail, of the places I chose.