Special: Boulder, Colorado

Nearly 1,000 miles from my comfortable desk and Apple computer lies a land unknown to many and adored by thousands more. It is a slice of a big city with a small-town feel situated just a few miles North of Denver, Colorado. This mystical region of food lore is known as Boulder. Settled as early as 1858, this city of just around 100,000 hungry citizens loves just two things: the UC Boulder Buffs and great cuisine. I had the immense fortune to be able to sample both over a four-day stop in the metro. Here's the story of the second mile-high city.

There a few greater places on Earth for a bite than this quaint college town, which was ranked by Bon Appetit magazine as the foodiest town of 2010. After my trip, I can happily corroborate the magazine's findings. From the fancy to the affordable, Boulder simply has it all. On the expensive end, there's the city's flagship restaurant, Frasca Food and Wine, which features a head chef named Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson, a culinary artist known to the world after a successful run on Bravo's popular "Top Chef" television program. Coming back down to the wallets of your average university attendee, Boulder features a stretch of restaurants on University Avenue and an open air mall on Pearl Street that boast dozens of top and affordable restaurants. One such stop is the Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery, a cherished local stop for gourmet burgers and microbrews.

Unfortunately for my tastebuds, neither heavyweight establishment drooled over above were in the cards for my tour first of the city. What I did eat, though, proved an astonishing and previously inconceivable theory; Boulder, for such a small place, has immense depth when it comes to restaurants. My travels took me to only a single eatery considered among Boulder's top 100, that one being the French creperie Crepes A La Carte on Pearl Street. Even still, nearly every experience was positive on par with the finest casual eateries I have ever dined at. Geisty's Dogg House, just a short walk from the university, is my second most-loved stop for hotdogs behind Show Dogs of San Francisco. I ordered a regional specialty, bison, as my meat of choice. What I received was a buffalo sausage cooked to perfection and topped with hot mustard and jalapeño slaw. The whole item was nearly nine inches long and wrapped in a butter-toasted sourdough bun for only $6.

Another such stop proved to be Illegal Pete's, a gourmet chain of five establishments located throughout the Boulder-Denver metro area. With a combination of simplistic chefs and loyal customers, this restaurant has moved to the forefront of Hispanic-influenced cuisine in the college town. Chipotle style tacos and burritos are their specialty. The standard meats are all there - chicken, steak, shredded beef, and carnitas - along with a vegetarian and a primavera option. I ordered a grilled steak taco in a flour tortilla and then proceeded to unload half the condiment bar onto it. Roasted green peppers, queso fresco, sour cream, black beans, and a small helping of white rice all were carefully added to the behemoth dish. All the flavors were simply spot-on and strangely light, giving me the hard-fought urge to purchase a second and a third. It still stands as possibly the best "non-traditional" taco I have ever consumed.

From the fancy to the simplistic, Boulder, the city of Buffs, has everything any foodie could possibly desire. Whether it is world famous Frasca or the lesser known establishments, every dish here is worth eating. Typing this a back home in California makes me crave everything I miss about my favorite mile-high city. I can only hope I have the fortune of one day going back and trying all the unexplored wonders Boulder has to offer to those willing to look.

Restart!

As you may have noticed, Taste. has been very quiet recently. With just one post in the past three months, I am sure you've been getting a little bored with it. After all, how many times can you read about the same Thai restaurant without bawling?

Well, now there's something to look forward to. Taste. will be getting back off the ground in a big way starting this week. In addition to some of the best restaurants in the Bay and Northern California, look forward to more write-ups in Tampa Bay and a whole new set including top eateries in Boulder, Colorado, America's foodiest small city. Just typing this leaves me tingling with excitement. See you soon, and good eatings.

-Taste.

Krung Thai, (Thai), San Jose, CA

Krung Thai, arguably San Jose's best Thai restaurant since it's opening years prior, has just recently won my acclaim. For years I had driven by the sleepy main-street store waiting for the day I would dare to try it; yet at the same time, I feared the dinner I'd have to. All this confusion can be simply explained by the fact I had little knowledge of Krung Thai's brilliance and esteem. At the same time, my overwhelming dislike of the Thai cuisine (or at least San Jose's version) helped keep me away. Adding to the errors even after dining, I just recently realized I have been contributing to the location blocks South, which I have yet to try. This is a minimal discrepancy, as both serve the same food and are owned by the same Thai family, so I will continue writing this article as if nothing were in question.

Krung Thai's aura of excellence has been built by great service, better than average food, and a outpouring of love from the online community. Falling into the food category is one area the restaurant specializes in, appetizers. Delicious and traditional small plates flow out of the kitchen at rapid speeds, seeing that each table has at least two to it's name. The most popular may be the Satay, a Thai specialty. This savory stick of marinated meat comes in either pork or chicken and is nearly always served with a peanut oil sauce. Another favorite is the Kung Tod, or fried prawns, consisting of - you guessed it - a plate of perfectly fried seafood served with Thai sweet sauce.

The restaurant's famous appetizers and succulent desserts set the stage for mediocrity in the main course. However, Krung Thai breaks free from San Jose's traditional downfall - the inability to plate three perfect plates in a single meal. The middle entree is surely the best. Each dish has an affordable price tag to go with stunning flavor. The Yellow Curry is a perfect example, with large hunks of savory chicken and potatoes awash in a golden coconut sauce. A personal favorite is the Pad Ka-Na Prik Hang, or marinated beef with Chinese broccoli, a dish lathered in oyster broth. The dried red chills add an unexpected kick of subtle heat that pairs well with the boiled broccoli and savory beef.

For dessert comes sweet offerings such as the mango ice cream with fried banana, whose combination of oil and fruity cream makes for a wonderful finish. Never before had I tried mangoes and bananas as separate components of the same dessert. Now, it's something I regularly crave. The aromatic mango ice cream created a nice (albeit soupy) counterpart for the sweet crunch of the fried banana Thankfully, the dairy component was rather like a gelato in texture and took much longer to melt than a normal scoop, allowing the textures to be featured as ugh as the flavors.

Krung Thai has to be a top choice for dinner any time you stumble into the South Bay, a region known for mediocre cuisine when compared to the vibrant scenes of San Francisco, Oakland, and the North Bay. Krung Thai gives me and many others who call San Jose home hope that our little slice of California may soon develop into a renowned foodie hub.

A Slice of New York (Pizza), San Jose, California

A Slice of New York lives up to it's name. Everything from floor to ceiling creams "NEW YORK!!!". That is not meant as an analogy or cute literary line, but as fact. Their fifteen-foot ceilings are covered in pictures of NYC's subways, skyline, and cuisine. The restaurant just has one of those vibes when you walk in. It sends a welcome chill down your spine, like you simply know staying there means a great time in your near future. Essentially, at first step, not even first bite, you can be confident your meal is in good hands.

Though the visual and atmospheric attraction ends there, the fun has just begun for the customer. Following that, they will experience excellent service and top-caliber food I have been hinting at since line one. Around a dozen signature pies are served here. The City slice is my personal favorite, with The Sutton a close second. The first of the two sports sausage, pepperoni, olives, and vegetables. This combination-style pie has you from the start. Each ingredient comes through just enough to be appreciated in full. At the start, you catch a touch of the sausage, and as you continue to the crust, the produce and fungi take the front seat. Throughout, spicy hints of pepperoni make their way in.

The latter pizza is almost as good, but is one I find nearly too bland. The strong meat flavor hits you from the start. Following it comes more and more mushroom. The Sutton is finished off with a perfect crust that is crispy to the touch, but soft in the center. There is nothing better than folding your pizza in half and hearing the crunch of the edge as it breaks in half. Both are a mere four dollars for a colossal slice. Two will fill you up, and a drink is free with the pair.

A Slice of New York is San Jose's premier stop for an East-Coast triangle of heaven, and may even knock off growing juggernauts such as Bocca Lupo (a traditional Italian version). With it's pizza, pricing, service, atmosphere, and decor, it is a complete package. That is a phrase often said, but rarely accurate. At A Slice of New York, it rings true.

Naglee Park Garage (American), San Jose, California

Dreams can be built on Naglee Park Garage. Dreams on how they made the restaurant what it is today, dreams on how to afford the food, and, most of all, dreams as to just how good the food will be. While being able to purchase the fancy burgers is a sure question mark, no concern needs to be placed on the quality of the food - it's delicious.

When you have a good-sized chunk of meat, some Portobello Mushrooms and some tasty Swiss cheese, what could you make except a delicious burger. Maybe a nice pasta... At Naglee Park Garage, though, they specialize in the creation of mouth-watering burgers. Though each lip smacking beef patty packs a financial punch ($10-$15 dollars per burger), the size and quality makes up for the stimulus-sized bill. The meat is tender flavorful, and the remaining ingredients taste fresh and hearty. It's a real burger! A real good one, that is.

If you love juicy meat in your burgers and gooey cheese under a bun, you need to stop by Naglee Park. Then, there's the homey feel of the popular restaurant and the excellent service, two other undeniable pluses. Most of all, you have to appreciate Guy Fieri exposing this San Jose hotspot to the world. He got this one right.

The Fish House (Seafood), Ruskin, Florida

My trip to beautiful Tampa Bay would simply not have been complete without a visit to this shack legendary for it's fresh-caught fish sandwiches. The Fish House was rumored to have, along with strange business hours, excellent food at affordable prices. The fish, or so I heard, had a perfect set of seasoning and a picture-worthy fry. Nothing here was supposed to be anything short of spectacular. And, of course, it wasn't. Every whisper proved true as this lonely wood frame of a building won my affection at first bite. I myself dined on a succulent Grouper offering crafted out of newly captured seafood, a bun, and a light fry. Basically, think of fish fillet shoved in a Po Boy in the place of shrimp or andouille. It was to die for, a far too often used phrase that I have to use to accurately describe this sandwich. If you find yourself in the vicinity of Ruskin, the long drive here and sometimes insanely
long wait would be well worth it. After one taste of the
Fish House's Grouper sandwiches,
you'll understand for yourself.

That's Sweet!, Pleasanton, CA

The streets just got a whole lot sweeter with the unveiling of That's Sweet, one of the Bay Area's first mobile bakeries. The treats that come off this truck are on par with the best, including the hundreds of stationary cupcake shops located in the region. The rich frosting perfectly complements the base, and the fillings inside each goody are equally succulent. Lemon Buttercream has a tangy lemon center, for example, while Vanilla Salted Caramel is filled with fleur de sel. 

This truck is not limited to classics, either, as it has a firm root in the extra-ordinary with a Chocolate Maple Bacon offering that has breakfast and confection fans alike drooling for a taste. This delicacy in particular combines rich, sponge-textured cake and a maple frosting coated with savory bacon bits to create a tantalizing dessert. Like all of That's Sweet's other cupcake offerings, the pork option is an affordable $3 flat.

Next up is a traditional offering: Red Velvet. A vanilla frosting covers the top of this blood red pastry. It is simple, yet delicious, as even those like myself who shy away from red velvet choices enjoy this treat. It is a perfect foursome of baked flavors; red velvet, lemon buttercream, caramel and chocolate bacon, all of which are served separately or all together at this mobile eatery based in the diverse East Bay.