One reason I like kids is that they tend to be painfully honest, especially when it comes to food. Children are natural dining critics, but their opinions usually get ignored.
I was not a natural-born critic as an elementary school child. During that ancient time before cell phones, my favorite lunch at Julie Country Day School consisted of three components filling a metal tray: a scoop of crumbled cooked hamburger, a scoop of instant mashed potatoes and a ladle of cream-style corn. They could be combined into a bland mound of comfort that could be consumed quickly before recess. I don’t recall ever eating a single real salad in grade school.
If you don’t have a child eating in a Boulder Valley School District cafeteria, you may not realize how good the current generation has it.
Consider Boulder kids’ culinary options in the coming weeks beyond the always-popular, healthy versions of hot dogs, mac and cheese, BBQ pulled pork, burgers, meatball subs and pizza.
- Oct. 9: Korean bulgogi beef tacos with cucumber pico or a pork green chile bowl
- Oct. 16: French toast casserole with chicken sausage, red lentil dal over rice or a Nashville hot chicken sandwich with bread and butter pickles
- Oct. 28: Beef and sausage penne or a falafel and quinoa bowl with creamy cucumbers and flatbread
- Oct. 31: Pork tacos al pastor or bean and cheese pupusas with curtido
All Boulder lunches come with a well-stocked salad bar, fresh fruit and bulk milk dispensers.
Virtually all these dishes are prepared from scratch in the Boulder Valley School District central kitchen, which prepares about 17,000 meals every school day. The fare is served at 53 local cafeterias, according to Carolyn Villa, BVSD’s director of food services.
“Some of our most popular dishes were actually created by the kids. We get feedback every day from students and parents about what they like … and don’t like. We work to offer foods that are culturally relevant, too,” Villa says.
The food services program for BVSD is highly regarded throughout the nation as a model for serving scratch-cooked, healthy meals using about 40% locally sourced ingredients from farms and companies, according to Villa.
Because of the state-funded Healthy School Meals for All program, all BVSD schools offer free or low-cost breakfast and lunch every day.
“The number of students eating lunch in Boulder schools has risen more than 40% in the past few years,” Villa says. “Free lunches have allowed families to save money for other necessities. Most of the cafeterias don’t have a cashier so we have removed the stigma associated with poverty.”
Villa notes that students who eat a real lunch are better prepared to sit and learn in the afternoon at school.
The state funding for Healthy School Meals for All runs out on Dec. 31, even as cuts to SNAP and other federal food benefits take effect.
According to Carolyn Villa, two state initiatives — Propositions LL and MM on the Nov. 4 ballot — will address the shortfall. Proposition LL allows Colorado to keep money that has already been raised to support the Healthy School Meals for All program.
Proposition MM ensures the program continues beyond this year while also increasing wages for school food workers.
Parents can sample food items served in Boulder schools at the free “BVSD is the Place to Be Showcase” on Oct. 22 at the CU Events Center.
Extra-credit assignment! We welcome SHORT reviews of BVSD school food meals from local kids. We will share selections from these reviews in an upcoming issue. Send them to: nibbles@boulderreportinglab.org.
What’s John eating this week?
Mexico and Japan meet in a bowl of Qué Rico crimson broth
Birria is having a moment in the culinary spotlight. The slow-cooked, fall-apart, juicy stewed meat from the Jalisco region is popping up on local Mexican menus.
Qué Rico in the Twenty Ninth Street Mall serves quesabirrias — birria and cheese corn tacos dunked in broth — which won first place at the recent Boulder Taco Fest.
I opted for the eatery’s birria ramen, which fuses two great cuisines. An appetizing, spicy aroma caught my nose as the big bowl of soup was delivered.
In traditional Japanese ramen, the meats are a garnish atop the noodles. Qué Rico’s birria ramen is equal parts tender meat and al dente noodles in a rich chile-spiked broth topped with chopped cilantro, onions and lime wedges.
I couldn’t decide whether I wanted chopsticks or a side of corn tortillas. The broth was modestly spicy so I added some intensity from the bar of house-made salsas.
I washed down this perfect fall warm-up with a glass of cooling, sweet horchata.
Local food news
Crepes and pho fill menus at two new Boulder eateries
Openings
Aspen chef Mawa McQueen has launched Crepe Therapy Café at 2273 31st Street in Boulder. The Aspen-based, Michelin-recommended restaurateur offers a French comfort food menu built around crepes.
Pho 559 has opened at 4800 Baseline Road, dishing up Vietnamese soups and noodle and rice bowls plus milk tea and fresh sugarcane juice. The obscure location is tucked away on the western side of the Meadows shopping center.
Boulder’s MASA Seed Foundation farm is requesting volunteers and donations in order to harvest fields still full of greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, squashes and onions. The vegetables — which must be gleaned before the first frost — will be donated to local food banks.
Culinary calendar
Does Gen Z have a serious pumpkin pie spice problem?
Fall’s favorite spiced dessert is on the menu at the annual Pumpkin Pie Days, October 11-12 at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. The event was originally celebrated in early October in Longmont from 1899 through 1913.
Pumpkin pie spice has infused itself into the populace beyond the pie eaten once a year on Thanksgiving. McCormick’s 2025 Consumer Survey reveals the depth of America’s addiction. Fully 25% of Americans take a dose of pumpkin pie spice daily, and 32% ingest it multiple times per week.
The biggest spice heads are members of Gen Z, born 1997-2012. According to a new Empower national survey, 39% of Gen Z Americans say they are willing to pay more for pumpkin spice versions of the same things they buy every day. More than 50% of them admit to sipping pumpkin spice-flavored coffee. Innocent children are being exposed to this habit every Halloween. Is it time to put warning labels on pumpkin spice products?
Two notable chefs who each operate three Boulder County eateries will discuss their survival and success on the Oct. 9 edition of KGNU’s Radio Nibbles. Host John Lehndorff will chat with Edwin Zoe, who operates Zoe Ma Ma, Dragonfly Noodle and Pearl Poké in Boulder, and Alec Shuler, owner of Tangerine restaurants in Boulder, Longmont and Lafayette. Radio Nibbles airs from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Oct. 9 on KGNU 88.5 FM and streams at kgnu.org.
Deep food thoughts
“Vital is a family atmosphere in which parents treat each other and their children with respect, affection and smiles. The best forum for this is still the dinner table. When teenagers first give excuses why they can’t make it to a meal, parents should say very positively: ‘We like to have the whole family get together.’” — Dr. Benjamin Spock
I am wondering if you go “undercover” to review a restaurant. Can your review be unbiased if they know who you are?