Basta
This is a special New Food Tuesday, not just because it is the first published piece but also because the meal today is to celebrate my ten year anniversary with my husband. He picked the restaurant and kept it a secret until we arrived. We took a drive to Boulder and I figured out the restaurant before we got there. It was Basta, a recommendation from our visit to Wolf’s Tailor last month. Basta is a sister restaurant to Wolf’s Tailor, they both source ingredients from Dry Storage where they mill their own local flour. I was very excited because I was craving pasta.
We arrived what looked like a business park in the dark, turned out it was an apartment complex. It was an unexpected location for sure. They have good signage though and the outdoor dinning yurts made it easy to find. We were greeted by a smiling host and server opening both glass doors for us to enter. The restaurant is intimate so there wasn’t really an entry, no where to wait indoors. Thankfully we were quickly seated for our 7pm reservation.
The atmosphere is a warm industrial feel. Concrete floors, exposed duct work, dark metal accents and strong lines. The chairs and banquet were all black and around light wood tables. There was a lot of organic wood adding to the warmth. It is an intimate space, just seven tables and four bar stools, there isn’t a bad seat in the place. You can see the fiery pizza oven from any seat. There is room for a birthday party with friends even if you wanted. Plus you can’t forget about the three yurts outside for a more private dining experience. Chill funky music filled the place at a nice volume.
The friendly bartender took our drink order to start. We decided to try the two non alcoholic cocktails on the menu. One was a house Fanta and the other I can’t remember the name and the menu online isn’t the same as the one we had so I have my first mistake. I will tell you though it was grapefruit forward and it was good enough to get two. Both drinks were well balanced, the Fanta was a little sweeter and carbonated, the other felt more like a cocktail with the alcohol free spirit.
Our server greeted us next and gave us a full rundown of the menu, going in depth about the pasta shapes and highlighting his favorites. We wanted to try one of everything initially so he helped us narrow down a balanced menu that would leave us satisfied. The menu is meant to be shared, and it is recommended to try one thing from each category.
Antapasti is the first category. We were initially drawn to the burratta because we love cheese and bread but after talking to our server decided to go with the Crudo. The Crudo is scallops, winter citrus and olive oil. I am so glad we did, it was my favorite part of the meal. The scallops were thinly sliced and adorned with a mix of small orange flesh pieces, kumquats and drizzled with California olive oil. The fat from the olive oil made the scallops so buttery and the citrus was so bright it was a joy to eat.
Second course is the pasta course, we decided to pick two and by the end of the meal will have tried three of them. We went with the Gnocco and the Plin. The Gnocco is a pork cheek bolognese. The pork was topped with a single pillow of pasta, the name is a play on gnocchi, so you can image one big soft gnocchi. The dish was so smoky, unlike any bolognese I have had, the tomato was so subtle. The pillow of pasta was silky on the inside, melt in your mouth smooth. My favorite part of this dish was the almonds on top, it gave the dish some crunch to balance all the smoothness.
The Plin was a spinach infused pasta that was wrapped around ricotta cheese. The beautiful green pasta was joined by fresh and dried herbs, shaved Parmesan and watercress. We loved the dried sage leaf, when eaten with the pasta it disintegrated on your tongue and gave so much earthy flavor. To help give an idea of size of the dish, there were ten small raviolis in the bowl.
The meat course was next. It was at this point we ordered our second mock tails, both opting for the one I can’t remember the name of this time. There were three options, fish, chicken and a beef short rib. I was ready to skip this course and go for more pasta but my husband insisted we get the short rib. I am glad we got it. It was a huge piece that cut like butter. Cooked to a medium rare and paired with a salted arugula it wasn’t too heavy.
The sides are a la carte, we went with the seasonal beets with Calabrian chili. The beets were unique in flavor, the chilis add a little heat that dissipates quickly. I wish we had gotten the polenta also, I think it would have made for a balanced course and we had the stomach room left for it.
Instead though my husband opted to get a third pasta dish, the Chitarra. The Chitarra is listed as, Santa Barbara uni with black garlic pasta. We didn’t get it initially because he was worried I wouldn’t like it. I have shied away from uni in the past. The pasta was a flat spaghetti with an uni butter and a caviar. The server described it as being for people who love the bottom of the sea taste. This pasta was a turning point for me, it was creamy and rich, I went in for multiple bites. It wasn’t too fishy in my opinion, it was luxurious.
As he finished up the pasta I went to use the restroom. I love to see if the theme of the design is carried into the restroom or if it just totally gets forgotten. In this case there was an attempt to carry a mood into the restroom. There were candles and music and a black ceiling. The very floral photograph wall paper didn’t mesh for me and it felt kind of in complete with the average commercial use sink and faucet. I will give points for having a lovely hand soap and individual hand towels instead of single use paper towels though. Over all not the best or worst bathroom I have seen, it was clean, I think there is just opportunity to carry the warm industrial look into the space.
There were four items on the dessert menu, all of them sounded delicious so we opted to have two at the restaurant, take one home for tomorrow and leave one to try next time if we didn’t fall in love with one of the other three.
We shared the chocolate tart, which was like a flourless chocolate cake with a espresso creme fraiche. I loved the creme fraiche, it wasn’t as cold or thick as ice cream would have been, it was just enough to pair the espresso with the chocolate cake and salted caramel.
We also enjoyed the ricotta creme brûlée cheesecake. I think some would say it wasn’t thick enough in texture to be cheesecake, I can see the argument. In this case though it did feel like the love child of a creme brûlée and a cheesecake and I liked it a lot.
I was disappointed however by the size of the slices and the plating. It looked like they just threw the thin slice of cheesecake on an oversized plate. The chocolate cake was the same size but had the Creme fresh and caramel so it didn’t look as lonely on the plate. I think at ten dollars a piece I just expected more. To round out the evening we got the olive oil cake to go. You will have to read next weeks post to see how it was because we are having it for breakfast tomorrow.
I don’t have a number rating system or anything like that. I just like to ask myself myself a few questions at the end of the experience.
Would I return to the restaurant? Yes, I think I would like to return in the spring or summer when a few of the menu items will have changed with the season.
Was I happy with the service and atmosphere? Yes, I felt welcomed and warm throughout the experience. I would call it casual upscale. I wore a black dress and felt I could have just left my jeans on. We never felt rushed or like it was too loud and wanted to go. It was clean and inviting. The staff was knowledge and friendly. My only negative would be that the food came out a little slow. I’m not sure if that was a Tuesday night staffing thing or the servers timing, but we would have liked the our courses a little closer together.
Would I recommend it to someone? Yes, I would recommend it to people that like to share their food and are looking for different takes on Italian. I might also recommend it for a small birthday party because you could order a lot of the menu and get a good taste of the whole thing plus it was a fun atmosphere.
I hope you enjoyed this first publication of New Food Tuesday. You can send comments and or questions to newfoodtuesday@gmail.com. Now go have a food adventure!