Taste of the Week: Gas station vindaloo
My food needs are specific when I venture inside gas stations. I expect marginal coffee, Hostess Cherry pies (yum!), jerky, chips and, of course, microwave burritos. Nobody expects to get shrimp vindaloo, gulab jamun and mango lassi with their fill-up. Yet, that’s what I found at Mountain Bites, a food counter tucked inside a gas station and market at 1208 Centaur Village Drive in Lafayette.
The takeout and delivery roster focuses on Indian and Nepali classics including curries, momo and biryani rice dishes. I was impressed by Mountain Bites’ creamy, spinach-heavy saag loaded with big chunks of chewy paneer cheese with perfectly steamed, aromatic basmati. The medium spice was still hot enough to make my buds notice. I added garlic cheese naan for scooping.
One definite perk: gas station chai.
Local Food News: A new persona
Persona Wine, a small craft wine shop, is open at 2299 Pearl St. Suite 6, Boulder.
The Den On Eleventh has opened at 1111 Francis St. in Longmont serving New American fare with a focus on Italian-style seafood.
Hard-to-find cardoons and fava beans are in season at the Black Cat Organic Farm Store, 4975 Jay Road. (A cardoon is a thistle that tastes like a bitter giant artichoke.)
Boulder-born Illegal Pete’s has opened its third location in the city at 657 South Broadway.
National Food Truck Day is June 28. Celebrate by enjoying one of the food trucks dotting roadsides and tasting room parking lots across Boulder County ranging from Los Dos Bros (55th and Arapahoe) and Fleishman’s Bagels (Full Cycle Bikes) to Pupusas (CO. 42 at S. Boulder Road) and Bee’s Thai Kitchen (Erie).
Words to Chew On: Love and cherries
“So we grew together, Like to a double cherry, seeming parted, But yet an union in partition, Two lovely berries molded on one stem.”
— From A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
The Boulder Weekly’s annual Roadside Farm Stand Guide is coming soon! Send detailed information about your favorite stands to: