Best of Boulder 2013: Ice Cream, Dessert and Food for the Sweet Tooth

1
Lauren M. Rosinski of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

Bakery

BREADWORKS
2644 Broadway, 303-444-5667

Second Place: Great Harvest Bread Company
Third Place: Spruce Confections
Fourth Place: Boulder Baked
Fifth Place: Tee & Cakes

It’s
the third day since you started the Atkins Diet and you haven’t so
much glanced at a bagel or apple turnover, but today, your alarm clock
didn’t go off. You find yourself stopping for coffee and suddenly the
pastry case is seducing you with it’s sugar-coated gluten goodness.

Stop
— before you are inclined to indulge — are you at Breadworks? You’ll
know right away: you can smell the fresh-baked artisan breads the minute
your nose gets past the door. From the basics of a baguette to the
highly specialized cranberry semolina loaf, Breadworks uses
stone-ground, organic flour in all of its breads, which are made fresh
every morning. This classic, locally-owned bakery doesn’t stop there. An
extensive list of muffins, croissants, tarts, cakes, cookies and
brownies, as well as an entire breakfast and lunch a la carte dining
area, is bound to satisfy even the toughest critic. So before you swear
off carbs for life (again), delight yourself to danish and coffee at
Boulder’s best bakery.


Chocolatier

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHOCOLATE FACTORY
1300 Pearl St., 303-444-8455

Second Place: Piece, Love & Chocolate
Third Place: Chocolove
Fourth Place: Seth Ellis Chocolatier
Fifth Place: Robin Chocolates

Whether
you’re the helpless victim of a bad breakup and fighting to find the
strength to get off the couch, in dire need of a little afternoon
pick-me-up or looking to celebrate a regular Tuesday, let’s face it —
everybody loves chocolate. From white to milk to dark to extra dark and
noir, the art of making chocolate is just that — an art. For
Boulderites this year, the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is
the master of chocolate making. Despite being a national company, it’s
no doubt that the factory has down-home roots. Chocoholics who come to
the Boulder store can hang out and watch staff members pull apples from
a copper kettle or learn to make fudge on an old-fashioned marble
slab. Plus, you’ve got to give Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory bonus
points for its limitless supply of free samples.


Ice Cream

GLACIER HOMEMADE ICE CREAM & GELATO
4760 Baseline Road, 303-499-4760
3133 28th St., 303-440-6542
1387 South Boulder Road, Louisville, 720- 890-5992

Second Place: Ben & Jerry’s
Third Place: Cold Stone Creamery
Fourth Place: Two Spoons Gelato & Soup
Fifth Place: Lindsay’s Boulder Deli at Haagen-Dazs

Sure,
it’s best in the summer, but ice cream is pretty fantastic all year
round. You may have also noticed that it’s delicious at any time of day.
What’s better than eating ice cream? Not much. Except perhaps eating
ice cream while simultaneously supporting local businesses. Glacier Homemade Ice Cream & Gelato has
been making fresh daily batches of ice cream, gelato and sorbet in
Boulder since the turn of the century. Instead of adding the chemical
cocktail infused in most of America’s ice cream, Glacier uses fresh
ingredients like real fruits, chocolate and nuts. Pretty radical stuff.
They’ve mixed more than 800 flavors since they started, and usually
have about 80 available in each location. Flavors like chai embrace
tastes favored in Boulder. With a new flavor introduced every couple
weeks, Glacier may keep surprising us. Who knows what food trend will
succumb to creamy goodness next? Kale gelato? Glacier could probably
make that delicious, too.


Frozen Yogurt

RIPPLE PURE FROZEN YOGURT
1682 30th St., 303-444-0690

Second Place: Spooners Frozen Yogurt
Third Place: The Boulder Chill
Fourth Place: Aspen Leaf Yogurt
Fifth Place: Boom Yogurt Bar

For
Boulder, the frozen yogurt boom is far from a bust. Hey, at least it’s
made with non-fat or low-fat milk, right? Heck, some flavors are even
made with almond milk now. So it’s at least kind of good for you, right?
Looks like Boulderites are all voting yes on this one, and Ripple Pure Frozen Yogurt has
stolen Boulder’s heart once again. Aside from all of Ripple’s
dairy-free, non-fat deliciousness, the store is keeping Boulder’s sweet
tooth sustainable one ounce at a time. Ripple owners buy local as much
as possible and purchase milk from Front Range dairies, yogurt from
Noosa Yoghurt and toppings from Fiona’s Granola. Plus, their spoons,
water cups, take-away bags, sample cups and napkins are all compostable.


Restaurant Dessert

THE KITCHEN
1039 Pearl St., 303-544-5973

Second Place: SALT
Third Place: The Mediterranean Restaurant
Fourth Place: The Bitter Bar
Fifth Place: Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse

Whether
there could ever be a bad dessert is an issue left to be debated by
pastry chefs and culinary students. Those of us better armed with forks
than whisks and more inclined to spend our time with our napkins in
our laps and our spoons at the ready pretty much come to the conclusion
that any chocolate cake is better than none at all. That said, if you
want to sink your fork, spoon or fingers into the best of what Boulder
has to offer to finish off a delectable meal in the foodiest town
around, the place you’ll want to stop is The Kitchen. With
dishes as carefully crafted as we non-chefs assume pumpkin creme brulee
must be, or as simply delicious as house-made gelato, we’re going to
stack The Kitchen’s after-dinner offerings in the category of even more
evidence that desserts can do no wrong.

To return to the Best of Boulder 2013 page, click here.