Rmen gets a bad rap in the United States, especially since most of us are only familiar with the instant dime-a-pack variety, weighted down with a surplus of salt and MSG. This is too bad, as authentic ramen has about as much resemblance to the starving student version as fresh-squeezed orange juice does to Tang.

The Culinary Connectors concept is simple — up to 10 diners pay $99 to tour three restaurants in an afternoon, with each stop lasting approximately one hour. Each visit affords an opportunity to sample menu and wine highlights, as well as converse with chefs.

Recently, Dessert Diva Danette Randall noted in her column that I ought to have her tag along on a review outing. Class act that I am, I thought it only right to invite her to a spot where a guy ought to wear a sports coat. So I asked her to join me for Sunday brunch at Jills.

Even the beer at this hospitable ski lodge-styled brewpub hints at Otis’ end. While the Six Feet Under Extra Special Bitter was ostensibly brewed to commemorate Nederland’s Frozen Dead Guy Days, the tap depicts Otis perched atop a coffin. Not so incidentally, this is a fine brew.

No one would characterize the Boulder ChopHouse Tavern as particularly inexpensive, given such menu options as a $35 lobster tail entr饮 However, the bar-only menu is much more reasonably priced, and these offerings present a screaming deal during the 4 to 6 p.

The Boulder Draft House, which occupies the former Redfish location, lives up to its name, as it features numerous craft beers from the Colorado Brewing Company. This cavernous but inviting space also serves up several enticing food specials, such as Monday’s $7 burger-and-a-beer deal, and Happy Hour runs all day Tuesday.

In reality, Elephant Hut is a swank Thai eatery, serving obligatory staples of Southeast Asian cuisine such as curries, entr饠salads freighted with fresh papaya, noodle plates and spicy, citrusy soups.

For folks that have been in Colorado awhile, Beau Jo’s Pizza is a familiar quantity where nostalgia is as much a part of the experience as its signature pizza. Many fondly recall chowing down on Beau Jo’s “mountain” pies at its Idaho Springs location on the way back from skiing. For me, my first experience with its offerings was during the carefree days of grad school at its old Crossroads Mall spot, which was roughly where Home Depot is now.

A few years back, I went to a Le Peep’s location in Englewood and had a singularly horrible breakfast, which ran counter to my experience at the Boulder location. I eventually learned the reason for the disparity in quality. The Boulder venue operates independently from the chain locations (although there is some relationship to the Longmont venue), except perhaps for some long-ago deals involving naming rights too arcane even for the Obscurity Corner.

My relationship with sandwiches has been ambivalent at best, due perhaps to their constancy as a lunchtime staple through my elementary school years. One unintended consequence of this routine is that I occasionally experience an inexplicable craving for Underwood’s Deviled Ham, a curiously Satanic thing to be feeding a grade-schooler. A more lasting result is that I’ve generally avoided sandwiches, except for burgers and a few others, most of my adult life.