IOU reports on last Thursday's Beaujolais and Beyond festival (but I'm waiting until I find out who won the chefs competition), First Bite Boulder dinners at Arugula Bar e Ristorante and Trattoria on Pearl, an exclusive preview of some of the dishes that will appear on The Fort's new winter menu. But I'm time-presed right now, so this post is about happy hour at one of my favorite spots: Brasserie Ten Ten. I like their happy hour because the food is reliably good. I like their happy hour because the wine is an excellent value. I like their happy hour because it lasts until 6:30, rather than 6:00 or even 5:00, as some downtown Boulder are now doing. And I like their happy hour because Brasserie Ten Ten does it with class and style: white linen tablecloths, linen napkins, and even the $3.75 happy hour red and white wines are poured from carafes.
Several of my media women friends and I went to Brasserie Ten Ten earlier this week, and here's what we had:
Oysters "R" in season right now at very moderate prices. Little Shemogue oysters (below) from southeastern New Brunswick are just $1 each. Kumomoto oysters, which are larger, are $2 each. As the name suggests, they originated in Japan but are now also cultivated in Oregon, Washington and California. Brasserie Ten Ten serves them on a bed of cracked ice with lemon wedges, cocktail sauce and horseradish.
At $6 during happy hour, the fish and chips are a top value. Two sizable pieces of tilapia are beer-battered and crisp-fried. They are served with the restaurant's excellent frites, a bit of cole slaw, lemon wedges and rémoulade sauce -- a nice French alternative to the usual tartar sauce.
One of our group who is Atkins dieting ordered the "baby burger," which is what they call their slider, sans bun. The burger is topped with peppered goat cheese and a speared pickle. Even without the bun, it amply filled the plate with a lettuce leaf, tomato slice, sliced onion and ramekin of ketchup.
Another ordered the same burger with the bun on the side -- and that's how it arrived.
Thon fond is an interesting sandwich. Tuna salad in olive oil, olive tapanade and a French cheese called Comte come between slices of toasted white sandwich bread. It also would be perfect at lunch.
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Three different crêpes are on the winter menu: Crêpes au Jambon (ham and Gruyère), Crêpes Végétariennes (spinach and feta) and Crêpes au Canard (Duck and goat cheese). Each order consits of two crêpes that are folded and topped with Béarnaise sauce.
Price check: At happy hour, hors d'oeuvres, $1.50-$6; crêpes and sliders, $2-$3. Drinks range from $3.25 for a choice of four beers to $6 for a Ten Ten Margarita or a house martini made with Skyy vodka or Boodles gin.
