First Bite Boulder 2010

I believe that first bite boulder is great steal however the food was mostly sub par.  Here are the highlights and unfortunately some of the many lowlights

Greenbriar inn plate score:  3
At the classic greenbriar inn, we had a justin bieber look a like with the hair with and some interesting hip moves while tossing our caesar salads.  He seemed to confuse veal sweetbreads (thymus glands) with the pituitary gland.  For those of you who are not familiar, your pituitary gland is about the size of a green pea and is found in your brain, so there really wouldn't be much to eat plus most Americans don't usually eat brain.  Then again thymus glands are probably not high up on the list either. The classic preparations and ingredients were not exciting for me as i believe my palette has adjusted to  multiple layers of flavor and textures i expect from contemporary and fusion cuisines.  Additionally the pumpkin cheesecake had lumps of unblended cream cheese and did not come close to the pumpkin cheesecake at Q's in the hotel boulerado last year.


4580 plate score: 5
The service wasterrible at 4580 with 2 waitresses covering at least 6 tables each.  The butternut squash bisque was heavy on the orange zest which masked the flavor of the squash.  The whole lamb shank, supposedly braised in red wine, tasted bland and needed salt.  Even though the owner brought us dessert wine to apologize for the poor service, the food could not make up for the poor service.


Black Cat Plate score: 5
I was most excited about the Black Cat's farm to table approach after reading so many positive things from food editors in local and national magazines.  We sat up against the open kitchen at black cat and watched intently as the chefs sauteed and plated their dishes in the tiny space behind the counter.  The savory spiced pumpkin cake with dressed greens was a solid appetizer but my parsnip soup had the texture and consistency of milk.  It was simply unappetizing.  My roommate appeared to enjoy her pumpkin bolognese gnocchi but my braised and crisped pork shoulder, which the waitress excitedly explained came from a pig that was raised by the chef was not as fatty as the waitress had described and thus was not worth the $8 supplement.

The disaster came at the dessert with the madeira chocolate terrine.  The wine flavor was super concentrated and thus extremely bitter and as a result I could only muster two small bites.  I shared my concerns with the waitress with the very intent of her offering us another dessert.  We promptly settled for the replacement pumpkin mouse which was served in a champagne glass and a stale (or strangly chewy) gingerbread cookie.  There was a layer of egg cream which added a nice contrast to the spice of the pumpkin flavor but I would have liked something crunchy perhaps a streusel topping of sorts.


Mateo Plate score: 8
Mateo suprised me as being the "best" out of the the four places.  My apple and chestnut soup was delicious with slices of honeycrisp apples and toasted hazelnuts.  The gnocchi with onions, squash and mushrooms in a sage butter broth was suprisingly light and delicious versus the normal cream sauces i encounter.  My grilled colorado lamb loin was slightly overcooked but paired well with the roasted tomato and truffled lentils.

I will not return to 4580 and greenbriar inn but will give black cat a second chance in the future.