Cooking and Eating at SALT Bistro

So today’s blog topic was supposed to be about the food from my wedding rehearsal dinner and Moroccan chicken, but that got trumped after my dinner at the new SALT Bistro in foodie town Boulder, CO.  The menu is fabulous and they support local farmers and growers not only by using their produce, but also by listing the farms on the menu.   I know it’s kind of trendy, but when the food is this good, it is well-deserved.

We sat with a bird’s eye view of the kitchen and not one to be shy when it comes to food, I started chatting up the “Flatbred Guy”, Brett.  Owner Bradford Heap heard our group talking about the types of olives (their staff was being tested to ensure they knew all the types of olives on the menu), how to use brined lemons and the value of home-grown celery.  Chef Heap untied his apron and handed it over.  I told him he shouldn’t joke about giving me such a great opportunity and before he could object, I’d tied on the apron and jumped behind the counter.  Before I knew it, I was behind the counter making my own flatbread!  For a foodie, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Pretty exciting, but intimidating at the same time…The place was hopping not to get kicked out so I tried to stay out of the way as much as possible.
My mouth had been watering while the peppers had been roasting in the wood-burning fireplace so I knew that had to be included.  What to add next?  Caramelized onions?  Nope.  That’s on the menu.  I found parsley, good quality chevre and some grape tomatoes.  With the flick of a wrist, I (thankfully) released the dough into the oven and all the toppings were set to bake.

Back to the other side of the counter I went where our entrees awaited.  I had a mouthwatering wood roasted pork chop from Long Farms with polenta and some AWESOME brussel sprouts.  I could go on and on about how great this place was, but you really should try it.

A few take-aways from my experience at Salt:

1 – If you are ever in Boulder looking for a fabulous place to eat, go hungry and eat at SALT

2 – I always prefer to sit as close to the kitchen as possible.  This way you can see the food as it comes out of the kitchen, and in some cases you can see it being made.  In rare instances, you can weasel your way into the kitchen

3 – Quality ingredients matter.  As proven at Salt, not only do they use quality ingredients, but they use local farmers and growers to supply the ingredients.   Helps the growers and the food really does taste better (did I mention I hate beets and had the most delicate and flavorful beet carpaccio with chevre and baby greens)

4 – Take photos of what you order.  I was too excited and broke this rule, but it’s fun to review later and if the food is fabulous, you can send it to your friends.

Oh, if you’ve read this far and are curious about how the flatbread turned out, it was definitely not the highlight of the evening, but Chef Heap tried it and thought it was good, except ironically, it needed more salt.  I woke up the next morning with a huge smile and couldn’t wait to call all my friends and share my story.