Modmarket is Boulder's newest green restaurant

By Lori Midson Wed., Sep. 2 2009 at 1:50 PM

Categories: Midson: Gastronaughty, Open and Shut Cases

Lori Midson

Modmarket opens tomorrow at 1600 28th Street in the struggling 29th Street retail district in Boulder. But since Boulderites have a thing for green, and Modmarket's "menu is created from ingredients like you find along the perimeter of your local grocer ... you know, fresh produce, the highest quality of meats and grains," it might be exactly what the outdoor shopping mall was waiting for.

I stopped in yesterday during a test run and found a minimalist space sprouting wheat grass along the back wall, a full house of servers, salad tossers and flatbread assemblers, and Boulder's greenest patrons ogling over the heaps of weeds that comprise a small salad. Chef and managing partner Anthony Pigliacampo explained that Troy Guard, owner and exec chef of TAG, consulted on the menu. "All of the really great stuff on the menu is Troy's doing; the rest is mine," he joked.

Like the space, it's an unfussy menu devoted to salads with names like "Cobbish," "Mongolian" and "Fajita" and flatbreads, all of which are made on whole grain dough and cooked in a stone hearth oven. But my favorite thing about Modmarket isn't the salads or flatbreads, but the sodas, all of which are Boylan's or the market's own sparkling waters. I'll drink to that.