Dinner on the West End with Adorned

Catherine Phillips is the Co-Owner of Nomad Bead Merchants and Adorned on the corner of 9th and Walnut on the West End. Catherine worked as an accountant for many years but grew up thinking she would be a textile designer or painter. Catherine opened up Nomad Bead Merchants with business partner, Jake March, in 2007 as a "retirement" business and a few years later opened Adorned right next door. Adorned  features handcrafted gifts and jewelry from local female artists. The shop is women owned and run and works with over 40 artists and counting!

I love our end of Boulder. My husband and I have a Pilates class together on Thursday nights and generally go out to dinner afterwards. Usually, we drive back into town and park underneath the store and sally out to dine our way around the block. I also go out with people from the shop when we can after work – unfortunately, we close at 6:00 so we miss a lot of happy hours!  

When we can get out for happy hour, I like Jill’s – the bar at the St Julien. They serve very tasty pre-dinner snacks and Bellinis. Love those Bellinis! It’s a comfortable and quiet environment to chat with friends. For lunch, I also like Jill’s restaurant buffet lunch.  

When my sister-in-law comes to town to visit, we take them out to Pasta Jay’s just down the street. She and her husband lived here 35 years ago just after they got married and they remember the restaurant fondly. According to them, it hasn’t changed much.  

Saving our favorite for last, we’ve celebrated many occasions at The Kitchen over the years since they’ve opened. We even have a favorite table. We usually have 7 or 8 in attendance and we like the corner table back by the kitchen area. The acoustics there are great (we can hear each other talk) and the food is always lovely. I had a summer squash salad there last year that was just amazing. I think the farm to table movement is great, but the Kitchen does it better than most others in Boulder. I’ve had some amazing meals there and want to praise not only the cooks but the entire staff.

Those are some of our favorite spots in our downtown neighborhood. Be advised that all of these places are hopping, and reservations in advance are almost always required especially on weekends. I use OpenTable!