🥟 The remarkable journey behind Susan's Samosas

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I loved visiting with Susan Loriho and tasting her samosas and stews for this week’s Nibbles newsletter. Plus: We note the sad closure of Boulder’s Community Table Kitchen, announce a new American Chinese eatery, issue a food event ticket alert and share a great broccoli slaw recipe. If your garden is producing too many gargantuan squash, plan ahead for Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day on Aug. 8.

— John Lehndorff

The spicy aroma and Susan Loriho’s eternal smile attracted customers to Susan’s Samosas pop-up booth on a recent sun-drenched Saturday at the Longmont Farmers Market. One devoted and quite pregnant customer patted her belly. “We love Susan’s chicken samosas,” she says, grabbing a frozen bag to take home and a hot samosa fresh from the fryer to eat immediately.

Other folks in the queue are newbies who wonder if Loriho’s fare is too spicy. Several ask where she and her samosas originated.

“It’s a long story,” she says with a smile. She’s not kidding.

Besides genuine deliciousness, each triangular beef, chicken and vegan bundle represents an epic, multinational, personal and food journey. For Susan Loriho, samosas represent her perseverance and the organizations and families that supported her journey from the horrors of civil war in South Sudan to the security of downtown Boulder.

Loriho was born in South Sudan and only remembers war, chaos and being separated from her parents. “I left when I was six and ended up in a refugee camp in Nigeria. Then, a church group got me into an orphanage in Nairobi,” she says.

The 12 years she lived in a Kenyan boarding school afforded Loriho an education and introduced her to cooking.

“At the refugee camp, we sometimes only had one meal a day. At school, we got enough to eat. We all had chores and I helped out in the kitchen. That was where I tasted my first samosa filled with potatoes. It was so good,” she says.

Susan Loriho sells her samosas and stews at farmers markets, at Nude Foods Market and through online ordering. Credit: John Lehndorff

The cook who taught Loriho how to make samosas was a member of Nigeria’s large Indian population, which had made samosas popular locally.

However, samosas were the last thing on Susan Loriho’s mind when she was sponsored to move from Kenya to Boulder in 2006. “I got a job as a preschool teacher, but when Covid started, I was laid off. I needed to support my son. I had made samosas for church and school functions. A friend asked me to make her some and paid me. My sponsor family helped me set up a business and find a kitchen,” she says.

Loriho chatted in the kitchen at Boulder’s Grace Commons Church as she prepared wonderfully spiced grass-fed beef soup and chicken thigh soup, both really hearty stews. She is also the part-time kitchen manager at the church.

Susan Loriho prepares beef, chicken and vegan stews in a Boulder church kitchen. Credit: John Lehndorff

Susan’s Samosas is essentially a one-woman business, with some sales assistance at the farmers market booth and help from her 14-year-old son, Spencer.

“I started making samosas when he was young so he would eat his vegetables,” Loriho says. She admits that Spencer is the creative force behind her one decidedly untraditional but popular menu item. “He wanted me to serve a dessert samosa. He came up with the filling: organic strawberries and blueberries and dark chocolate.”

Susan’s Samosas was launched in 2020 and began selling at the Boulder Farmers Market in 2021, offering beef, chicken, vegan, breakfast and dessert samosas in whole wheat wrappers fried in sunflower oil. In the years since, Loriho has expanded to other farmers markets and catered events, especially at the University of Colorado.

“I always dream that someday I can have a food truck to take to events and serve more people. I feel like it helps for people to taste other cultures’ food,” she says.

Susan’s Samosas are available frozen at Nude Foods Market locations, through the Boulder County Farmers Markets online store, and at select farmers markets and events.

Susan’s Samosas are served with peach salsa. Credit: John Lehndorff

Community Table Kitchen closes, American Chinese eatery opens

Boulder’s Bridge House announced that Community Table Kitchen, its culinary training program, catering service and bakery, will close on Aug. 7. Bridge House will continue serving adults experiencing homelessness in Boulder, including through the Ready to Work program.

In an online announcement, Bridge House shared:

“These decisions were extraordinarily difficult. They reflect the need to focus resources where Bridge House can continue to provide strong, sustainable services for people experiencing homelessness.”

Nibbles reader Karl Kurtz spoke for many readers in an email about Community Table Kitchen when he wrote:

“Their work as trainers of formerly homeless people in culinary arts, feeding the homeless and operating a high-quality catering business has been amazing. I think it’s a tragedy for the Boulder culinary community.”

In August, Edwin Zoe will open San San in the former Dragonfly Noodle space at 2014 10th Street. The menu celebrates American Chinese food and iconic dishes ranging from chop suey to General Tso’s chicken.

Stella’s Cucina is closed through August for renovations and will reopen in September.

True Food Kitchen will open its Boulder location at 1710 29th St. on Aug. 10.

Louisville’s King Dumpling has added a second location serving its famous xiao long bao at 2160 S. Broadway in Denver.

We’ve added six more destinations to Boulder Reporting Lab’s 2026 guide to the roadside farm stands of Boulder County. Find local veggies, corn, fruit and more there.

Longmont’s Sunflower Farm is a fresh addition to Boulder Reporting Lab’s list of Boulder-area roadside farm stands. Credit: Sunflower Farm

Reservations: All-tomato meal, Slow Food farm lunch, vegan feast and wine fest

Seats are hard to come by for the annual all-tomato dinner on Aug. 27 at Oak at Fourteenth. Each course – yes, including dessert – spotlights diverse heirloom tomato varieties grown at Boulder County’s Red Wagon Farm. Tickets here.

Have lunch at some of Boulder County’s top eateries from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 23 at Longmont’s Sunflower Farm. The fundraiser for Slow Food Boulder features fare from restaurants that have earned the Snail of Approval designation, including Urban Field Pizza, Corrida, Blackbelly, River and Woods, Basta, Flagstaff House, 24 Carrot Bistro and The Academy. Tickets here.

Boulder’s St Julien Hotel hosts its annual Vegan Harvest Wine Dinner on Aug. 20, featuring ingredients from the hotel’s on-site garden and the Boulder Farmers Market. Tickets here.

The Nederland Jazz & Wine Festival on Aug. 22 features six hours of live jazz on two stages in Chipeta Park plus unlimited samples from 25-plus Colorado beverage makers, including St. Vrain Cidery, TwoSteppin Hard Ginger Beer, Colorado Sake and Alfred Eames Cellars. Get tickets.

(Get your upcoming food event, festival or class listed free on Boulder Reporting Lab using the self-submission form here.)

Produce harvested from its on-site garden is featured in the St Julien Hotel’s annual Vegan Harvest Dinner. Credit: St Julien Hotel

Raw slaw eliminates the blah from broccoli

Broccoli is the poster child for boring vegetables, no matter how it is cooked. The Boulder County Farmers Markets shares a hot-season recipe for raw broccoli slaw that makes the perfect barbecue side dish. Get the recipe here.

Wake up boring old broccoli by enjoying it in a raw slaw. Credit: Boulder County Farmers Markets

Reader request: What is your favorite Boulder hospitality moment?

During tours of the recently closed Boulder EATS! exhibit at the Museum of Boulder, typically half of the visitors told me they had worked in a local restaurant or bar. Many of them shared warm recollections along with the usual gripes. I know that cooking in Boulder kitchens made me the writer I am today.

In honor of Labor Day, I invite Nibbles readers who have worked in Boulder County eateries to share their favorite (short) tales of serving food and drink. Send them to nibbles@boulderreportinglab.org. I’ll share some in a late August Nibbles newsletter. Save your dining rants for another time, please!