We asked 24 of Boulder's most notable chefs what they like to do in Boulder. Click on each one below to hear what they said. You'll learn about their favorite bike rides, favorite beers, favorite meals — all from the chefs who really know Boulder's acclaimed food scene.
My Perfect Day: Go for a run and get a quick workout in at home. Make some coffee (Ozo's organic blend), and enjoy it on the front porch. Then it's breakfast at Lucile's: the shrimp and grits, a biscuit and homemade jam, and the house spiced tea.
My Perfect Day: Wake up early and get the newspaper at Lolita’s Market. Walk across the street and get a scone and coffee at Spruce Confections. Read the paper with my breakfast on the patio. Drive to Walker Ranch with my dog and hike the loop.
My Perfect Day: Begin at Vic’s Coffee Shop in North Boulder with a dark roast coffee and a soy chai for my teenage son, who makes waffle cones at Sweet Cow ice cream shop. Take our dog to Coot Lake, a hidden gem with amazing views and fun, easy trails.
My Perfect Day: Visit Munson Farms to see what’s available and order produce for the restaurant. Fuel up for the day with a delicious meal from Mateo. Lunch on a weekday, brunch on a weekend. Watch a soccer match at a bar in downtown Boulder.
My Perfect Day: Wake up and go on a run along Cotton Wood Trail with my dog Maddex. Once back at the house, make a fresh pot of Ozo coffee, then head to the garden and pick breakfast for my wife, Bryce and me. Then make some sandwiches with meats and cheeses I picked up at Cured on the East End of Pearl St.
My Perfect Day: It starts with waking up with my beautiful fiancée Alison and my 4 1/2-year-old son Camden. We have a nice breakfast at Lucile’s or Le Peep. Then off to the hills for hike up a trail on Chautauqua or Mt. Sanitas.
My Perfect Day: Starting the day with a strong cup of maté from Pekoe tea house. Then, hiking to the top of Mt. Sanitas with a good friend and my young daughter strapped on my back. Or, depending on the time of year, taking my oldest daughter to Eldora to ski, snowboard and play in the snow.
My Perfect Day: My day starts at 5am every morning with an intense workout. I cook breakfast with my beautiful wife and handsome little boy. When we do cook at home we do it right — local whenever possible. When the Boulder Farmers Market is in full swing, we stop by sometimes twice a week.
My Perfect Day: I wake up with a strong cup of coffee and a bike ride up over Lee Hill Drive. Back at the house, I let the chickens out, gather the eggs, then walk through the garden to see how all my plants are doing. With freshly picked kale and eggs from our hens, I decide to make my kale and grass-finished “Dubliner cheddar frittata.”
My Perfect Day: Take a hike up Mt. Sanitas with my dogs. Have a cup of coffee at The Cup. Spend three hours reading at the Boulder Public Library – I could read all day!
My Perfect Day: A morning hike at Chautauqua, breathe in that fresh mountain air and enjoy the morning sunshine — super healing. Grab a hot tea and a Heather’s Wing at Spruce Confections, hang outside with friends on the patio and enjoy some great people watching.
My Perfect Day: After breakfast, visit the farm, saddle up the horses and do a relaxed morning ride around the farm and along the Coal Creek Trail. Spend a half hour or so turning compost with my John Deere tractor. Head to Boulder and enjoy a light lunch at the Chautauqua Dining Hall, and after, go for a hike up the Mesa Trail, at the foot of the Flatirons, with my wife and dogs.
My Perfect Day: Rise early and start with a morning walk, enjoying the morning’s quietness and light. My new favorite trail is off Hwy 36 in North Boulder called the Foothills Trail. Afterwards, stop by The Cup on Pearl Street and order a cappuccino from Tyler. He puts great images on top of hot chocolates!
My Perfect Day: Start the day with an espresso from Boxcar Coffee and the best croissant in town —these guys do it right! If it’s open, I will always grab a sandwich for lunch from Cured to eat after my bike ride. Generally, I will head out on a ride connecting all of the dirt roads northeast of town. This route avoids traffic and is quiet.
My Perfect Day: Run (or hike) the Mesa Trail, which goes through the forest along the base of the Flatirons from Chautauqua to Eldorado Springs. It is 6.5 miles long each way and is hilly. Before your run or hike, visit Boulder Breadworks and pick up goodies. Eat your food on the trail or back at Chautauqua Park for a picnic.
My Perfect Day: Evening prior to the big day: Go to McGuckin Hardware to get flies for fishing. (Even if I don’t need flies, they always invariably have something I need!) Next morning: Up early, coffee, demolish the day’s sodoku, garden perusal, pick lettuce for dinner, and a quick bike ride to The Village Coffee Shop for a great green chile breakfast burrito.
My Perfect Day: Wake up early. Have breakfast at The Village Coffee Shop. Get some juice at Wonder to take on a hike, a bike ride or to go fly fishing up Boulder Canyon. If you don’t have a bike, rent one from my buddy Doug at University Bicycles (The Greatest Bike Shop in America). Ride up the Boulder Creek Path, fishing for brookies and brownies.
My Perfect Day: Get lunch at T|aco downtown. They have some of the best tacos in town! Peter [Waters] is the owner and he really knows how to deliver great hospitality even in such a casual setting — he makes everyone feel at home and welcome. Neighborhood wise, it’s one of my favorite spots to go — a great place to see people from the neighborhood.
My Perfect Day: Wake up, walk down to Pearl Street for the “house special” at OZO Coffee. Rent cruiser bikes from University Bikes on Pearl Street. Ride up Pearl Street to Eben G. Fine Park and then catch the Boulder Creek Bike Path.
My Perfect Day: Wake up to the Boulder sunshine and start my day with a meditation and some Qigong. Then head to Tangerine Restaurant for the perfect Conscious Coffee cappuccino along with our famous trout-and-apple Benedict. Gather my wife and four sons and take everyone for a stroll and some people watching at the Boulder Farmers Market or on the Pearl Street Mall.
My Perfect Day: Pick up a perfect cup of coffee at The Cup on Pearl Street’s East End. Go to Black Cat Farm to see the animals and pick out fresh veggies. Lunch on the lawn at the Farmers Market.
My Perfect Day: Make an early-morning trip to the Boulder Farmers Market. Be there when they open to get first dibs. Continue walking through downtown historic Boulder to brunch or lunch at The Kitchen. They do a great job, and I appreciate their philosophy.
My Perfect Day: Wake up to a sunny, warm, blue sky. Hop on bikes with my daughter and Boo and head to the Boulder Farmers Market. En route, swing by my restaurant, Café Aion for a large press pot of Ozo coffee and fresh fried cinnamon sugar donuts. At the Farmers Market grab picnic fixings (tomato, onion, arugula, bread, cheese, peaches), stop by Oxford Gardens’ tent to tease Peter Voltz and get a balloon sculpture.
My Perfect Day: Start with coffee! Boulder is one of the best cities in the U.S. for coffee. Although Ozo and Boxcar are some of my go to spots, my new favorite shop is Alpine Modern up on The Hill. If it’s a Saturday morning or Wednesday evening I am sure to be at the Boulder Farmers Market.
