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“Great retirement home food” used to be an oxymoron in Boulder. The Academy has changed all that and earned the first Slow Food Snail of Approval award for a senior residence in Colorado.
Plus: the great new “Tamale Bill” and, in Longmont, a teahouse closes while a biscuit eatery opens. Finally, words of wisdom from Bruce Springsteen.
Have you displayed your art at local restaurants, cafes and markets? Share your experiences, pro or con, at nibbles@boulderreportinglab.org.
— John Lehndorff
Rembrandt Yard, 1301 Spruce St. in downtown Boulder, is named for the owner’s part-time home in Amsterdam, steps from Rembrandt’s historic residence. Since debuting in 2004, it has become the go-to destination for art lovers and event hosts. The three-story venue offers a versatile space filled with natural light, birch floors, mahogany beams and a striking atrium. Rembrandt Yard is downtown Boulder’s premier venue for weddings, corporate events and nonprofit fundraisers.
In 1896, Dr. John Kellogg — brother of the famous cornflakes guy — opened the Boulder Sanitarium, where visitors could regain their health, in part, through healthier eating.
Nearly 130 years later, at the same site below Mount Sanitas, senior residents are enjoying healthy, sustainable fare at Academy Mapleton Hill.
The Academy’s single-minded focus on sustainability and seasonal, scratch-cooked meals using local produce and meats has earned it a unique Snail of Approval award from Slow Food Boulder County.
“The Academy Mapleton Hill is the first senior residence to earn a Snail of Approval in Colorado and possibly the first in the nation,” says Kyle Wofford, a board member of Slow Food Boulder County.
The Snail of Approval award is a recognition program given by local chapters of the nonprofit Slow Food International organization. The Snail certification process includes a detailed survey and site visit examining recycling practices, community involvement, suppliers and treatment of workers.
Slow Food Boulder County’s current roster of Snail of Approval winners includes local restaurants, farms, distillers, markets and bakeries. See the complete list here.
Practically speaking, that means residents dine daily on farm-to-table fare prepared by chefs.
The Academy’s Italian-born executive chef, Alberto Sabbadini, helms a staff that includes chefs with notable local fine-dining credentials.
Boulder-raised Aaron Lande has worked as a chef at Laudisio Ristorante, Blackbelly and Lucky Pie, and operated Eridu at Rosetta Hall before settling at Academy Mapleton Hill two years ago.
“Friends ask me if they can get dinner here, but they have to know one of the 144 residents to dine with us,” he says.
Lande had to overcome initial hesitation because of the less-than-stellar reputation of retirement facility food among residents, their families and the public.
As “Senior Living News” put it in 2025:
“For too long, senior living communities carried the reputation of serving food that was bland, uninspired and forgettable. Meals were designed for efficiency, not enjoyment, leaving residents with little choice but to accept mediocrity.”
Changing the menu according to the farmers
The Academy’s menus change completely every three months, according to Lande.
“We always keep a few familiar favorites, but everything else changes to keep it fresh,” he says, suggesting that seniors’ taste buds and noses are dulled more by repetition and boredom than by age.
“When you are in your 70s and 80s, food can become really important — the highlight of the day. I believe great, healthy meals contribute to longevity.”
The current Academy Mapleton Hill dinner offerings include seared ahi tuna, gnocchi and pork scallopine specials, and familiar favorites ranging from beer-can roasted chicken and linguine marinara to beef stew.
“The fun part for me is even if I’m making a simple beef stew, it’s Clint Buckner’s beef, it’s local carrots, it’s great onions, it’s demi-glace that we’ve made flavored with more than decent wine,” he says.
When Aaron Lande talks about farms and suppliers, it is always by first name, based on personal relationships from his restaurant days.
“We work with Mark (DeRespinis) at Esoterra a lot, and Anne (Cure) at Cure Organic Farm, and Wyatt (Barnes) and Amy (Tisdale) at Red Wagon. All of the bacon we use comes from Justin (Brunson) in Longmont,” he says. The Academy is also supplied by Speedwell Farm.
How to upgrade fare at retirement communities
Aaron Lande understands that the Academy’s facilities are upscale, serving a specific demographic that can afford the significant buy-in and rent.
“I know they’re spending an arm and a leg on it, and I want it to be as good as it possibly can be,” he says.
There are things that other retirement communities with fewer resources can do to improve the flavor and nutritional value of the fare they serve, according to Lande.
“The primary thing they need to do is make as much as possible from scratch. When you have dinner coming out of an institutional-sized box, it’s always more expensive than if you create it from scratch. Invariably. You need to change a culture like that. It’s the same thing that’s happening in school lunch programs,” Lande says.
That change does require hiring more folks with cooking experience.
“Even if you can’t afford fancy vegetables, you can afford carrots and celery and onions to cut up yourself and simmer the scraps to make your own broth. Mushroom stems make a broth that is important in our flavor game, especially for meatless dishes. Use everything,” he says.
Making it like family dinner at home
The Academy staff is tasked with satisfying a wide swath of picky people, some with sophisticated palates, others who simply enjoy a good meal.
“There are a few residents who wonder why they can’t have meatloaf more often,” Lande says.
Dietary needs for diners who are 70 to 90-plus years old mean spicing and salting must be done carefully. Since everything is prepared from scratch and to order, requests can be accommodated.
“For the residents, it’s their home. I get to know people’s palates and what they like. It’s way more personal than a restaurant situation, where a lot of it is just business. This is more like the family dinner table,” Lande says.
The Academy Mapleton Hill includes a large hall with a stage for community gatherings. “About twice a year, I play there with my dad,” he says.
“Dad,” in this case, is Art Lande, the 79-year-old Grammy-nominated jazz pianist, composer, teacher at Naropa University and longtime Boulder resident.
On a recent February evening, I visited Academy Mapleton Hill to meet the chefs and taste what the hubbub was about.
The dining area is well appointed, with artwork and a fireplace around tables set with white tablecloths. As I sat, Academy residents came in singly and in couples, greeting each other and pulling tables together into an impromptu family table.
Chef Aaron Lande brought me a few dishes to photograph, which I savored afterward.
I started with a finely balanced seasonal tricolore salad. Three barely bitter young greens — frisée, arugula and Treviso — were nestled with blueberries, Petit Basque cheese slices and toasted pepitas in a blood orange vinaigrette.
Lande’s Singapore shrimp arrived as a palette of color on the white plate, wafting wonderful aromas. Large grilled shrimp topped toothy rice noodles and vegetables. The kitchen crafted the exceptional golden curry paste from scratch, toasting each spice individually.
The finale celebrated local flavors with Buckner Ranch lamb chops atop Benevolence Orchard mushroom farrotto — risotto made with farro grain — plus peperonata, Pecorino Romano and mint.
I understand why Aaron Lande says:
“The Academy has earned a reputation as the hardest-to-get fine-dining reservation in Boulder.”
‘Tamale Act’ legalizes more homemade foods
Chances are you have seen folks — especially around the holidays — standing in shopping center parking lots offering bags of tamales to shoppers … but always on the sly. Until recently, it was illegal.
In 2012, the Colorado Legislature enacted the Colorado Cottage Foods Act, popularly called the “Bake Sale Law,” allowing home cooks to offer breads, muffins, pies, cookies, tortillas, jams and other non-refrigerated foods.
The recently passed “Tamale Act,” HB26-1033, Expanding the Colorado Cottage Foods Act, makes some refrigerated home-cooked foods (including tamales) legal, as they are in 12 other states. These businesses will go through the same training, inspection and certification as other Cottage Foods home-based kitchens.
Closing
Luminous Tea, home of a popular High Chai: Indian Afternoon Tea, has closed at 624 Main St. in Longmont. The company will continue online tea sales.
Coming attraction
Mike Simuns will open a sit-down location of his popular Biscuit Mike’s food truck March 4 at 900 Coffman St., next door to My Butcher Frank in Longmont. The eatery will serve biscuit sandwiches with breakfast fillings, as well as fried chicken and honey, pulled pork and portobello mushrooms.
AYCE beer, bacon, coffee and pie
“Top Chef” Hosea Rosenberg of Blackbelly joins me and chef Dan Asher of River & Woods from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. March 5 on Kitchen Table Talk during KGNU’s Spring Membership Drive. We’ll talk about Boulder food, take calls from listeners and offer unique culinary thank-you gifts. Stream here: kgnu.org.
Denver Beer Co.’s Beer Bacon Coffee Party, March 7 at Acreage in Lafayette, features unlimited tastes of specialty beers, bacon, breakfast burritos, coffee and cider doughnuts with a panoramic view. Tickets here.
(Get your upcoming food event, festival or class listed free on Boulder Reporting Lab using the self-submission form here.)
“Feeding your children is an act of great intimacy, and I received my rewards: the sounds of forks clattering on breakfast plates, toast popping out of the toaster.” — Bruce Springsteen
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