Hello from Boulder!

NOTICE THE BRIGHT COLORADO SUN.

My niece Rose moved to Boulder from Oakland in February, for the adventure of it, and to be with her boyfriend Lawrence, who is going to grad school there.  I'm Rose's Parental Unit, so I had to check it out.  (Lawrence has received the Parental Unit Seal of Approval.) Boulder is its own special place, as everyone told me when I announced that I was going there to visit.  And I have found it to be so.  

This bike shop/tap room/coffee bar may be the only one in the universe.  And it is CERTAINLY the only one that serves free coffee flights every Friday morning.  What are coffee flights, you ask.  Why, silly, they are three consecutive cups of coffee, the first light, the second dark roast, and the third espresso.  They are served by a beautiful and knowledgeable barista who is very happy to tell you about the origin of each cup.  And she didn't even make me feel like a nerdy dweeb for using 1/2 & 1/2 -- although she did acknowledge that it's usually not done. 

In the foreground, Lawrence, on his 2nd cup.  Oh yes, they give you
some bubbly water to cleanse your palate when you're done.

Anyhow, the coffee comes from Ampersand Coffee Company, whose symbol is so weird that it is not recognizable as an ampersand, the most delightful of punctuation marks.  Disappointing, but let's move on.  Ampersand works directly with WOMEN coffee farmers & tries to eliminate as many middle men (& women) as possible so that the farmers get a good fair price.   & then, your donation -- whatever you wish -- goes to a good cause.  Talk about virtue! Is this a great way to start a day or what??!?

Then it was on to the Dushanbe Teahouse for breakfast. Dushanbe in the Republic of Tajikstan is the sister city of Boulder.  The Dushanbe folks built a fabulous teahouse, cut it into pieces, and rebuild it in Boulder.  (Maybe they were inspired by Boulder's reputation for virtue.)  This teahouse is just wow wow wow:

 Hey, Dushanbe, are you up for being San Francisco's sister city too?   In return, we can send you.... hmmm... I know!  A fabulous Victorian cafe! 

But of course a restaurant this awesomely beautiful doesn't have to have good food.  We know that. 

But it does.

At the bottom, a Banh-mi breakfast sandwich with fried eggs and pork belly.  On the right, Kookoo Sabzi, a Persian herb omelette with baba ghanoush, crispy saffron rice, walnuts & house made naan. At the top, Mexican chilaquiles.  I didn't try the chilaquiles, but Rose and Lawrence vouched for them.  The other two dishes were exceptional.  Wonderful strong flavors.   

Today, we're going on a bike ride to somewhere with more delicious food.  More later.