August 16, 2023
An absolutely amazing new restaurant in Boulder is Stella’s! We’ve been there a few times now and it’s been perfect every time. The first time we visited we couldn’t find the place! We looked and looked and finally had to ask someone. Stella’s is an Italian place that interprets some classic dishes in its own way.
Here’s why it’s so hard to find. This is the entrance and that “S” is absolutely all there is!
After walking down a pretty long hall, this is what you see at the entrance to the dining room. Yes, the whole ceiling over the bar is a skylight and the rest of the ceiling is absolutely black with the LED strips in a grid.
Here’s the view from our table, looking at the entrance. Just an amazing space!
Our table, I’ve never seen anything quite like the brass knife holders. Everything is just right, the floor is actually terrazzo, which we haven’t seen in a long time.
Here’s their description:
INSALATA A LA MANO GFO, DFO
Deconstructed ‘Cesare’ salad, Levanto anchovies, 3 yr Parmigiano Reggiano, house-made cesare foam, croutons
It is a simply stunning interpretation of a classic Caesar. In the middle is the foamed cesare dressing, wow! It’s very anchovy forward, then each leaf of the romain heart has a crouton, some shaved parmesan, and a little pile of mixed color mustard seeds. Martin would like to try some of their other salads, but can’t get past this!
MARE E BOSCO RISOTTO GF
Sea scallops, freshly foraged Aestivum truffle,
Acquerello rice, Grana Padano
Martin had these amazing scallops. As always, the truffle doesn’t really have a flavor of its own, it makes everything else bigger! The rice in both of our dishes was aged for a full two years, which results in a rich super creamy risotto.
RISOTTO AI FUNGHI PORCINI GF, V Acquerello rice, porcini mushroom,
Grana Padano, chili flakes, garlic, parsley
Bill had Porcini risotto with an interesting foam on top. We couldn’t figure out exactly what was, but it really was neat. The porcinis were absolutely perfect, but amazingly enough, we scored this course a tie.
PANNA COTTA ALLA LAVANDA GF, V
Lavender panna cotta, puréed strawberries
Martin had this gorgeous lavender panna cotta and strawberry dish. The panna cotta had a lot of lavender in it and the puréed strawberries were equally intense. An incredible finish to this amazing dinner!
“TERRA” MISÙ V House-made Lady fingers,
mascarpone cream, coffee, orange liqueur
Bill had this interpretation of tiramisu, with everything layered into the glazed pottery planter and a sprig of mint tops it off, so it looks like it’s a mint plant in its planter. Amazingly deep rich chocolate with lots of cocoa powder on top. We scored this one as a tie as well.