Gorgeous Dinner at Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder

Sometimes, (OK, a lot of times) my job is pretty awesome.

Like, say, this past weekend when I was invited to be a part of a VIP dinner to kick off the annual Rocky Mountain Tea Festival at the Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder.

First of all, when have you ever seen a lovelier patio?  I mean, that grape arbor has to be 15-feet tall, providing some much needed shade on a summer evening, and with the gorgeous mosaics of the tea house in the background? Simply sublime.  Plus, those are flowers they grow at their own farm.  Just beautiful.

Decisions, decisions!  After some lovely light munchies including pork short ribs, samosas with chutney and sushi (the Teahouse menu is deliciously global), we were offered up the menu and the choices for our main course and dessert. Oh, sweet anticipation!

The first course was this lovely—but very spicy!—green papaya salad.  Love those glass noodles; they give it such an ethereal quality!

Plus, I got to sit with some of my favorite people in the food world, including Grace Boyle of A Grace(full) Plate and Clay Fong of the Boulder Weekly! So much fun to sit and talk food with fellow food writers. What do you think these are made of? Is there horseradish in this? You have to try this… It brings a whole new level to a meal.

I was feeling carnivorous, and a good thing, too, because my gaucho steak was enormous!  Loved the chimichuri sauce (hiding behind the steak) and the little cucumbers stuffed with different types of compound cheeses.  YUM.

Finally, the warm chocolate cinnamon cake with avocado ice cream was a dream! So dreamy that I forgot to take a picture of it.  But I did take a picture of the lovely black tea I got to go with it.

This dinner was just my cup of tea. (Ba-dum CHING!)

Seriously, though, when in Boulder, the Teahouse is an experience not to be missed.  Whether you drop in for a full meal, just a cuppa, or high tea, you won’t regret your time spent under the gorgeous mosaics or out on their exquisite patio.