when we first moved to boulder from amsterdam twelve years ago, i was a complete fish out of water. i had a baby and a pre schooler, no family, no mama friends, no ocean and no interest in running marathons or participating in iron men races or juice fasting or wearing exercise clothes - all things de rigueur for most boulders. (i am STILL a bit of a fish out of water and i still don’t have an ocean or family here and i will NEVER put myself through a fast - except when my next colonoscopy rolls around -  but i DO have amazing friends, both mama and otherwise and i DO have two pairs of lulu pants and two pairs of athleta leggings and one pair of running sneakers that i DO wear for brief periods a few times a week.) i was really discombobulated and overwhelmed and homesick for fog and rain and urban living and something that felt more familiar. and then we discovered brasserie ten ten.

ten ten is located in the heart of downtown boulder and feels like a french bistro you would find in new york. it has classic bistro decor: wood paneling, moody lighting, tiny marble tiled floors, ornate steel based cafe tables, a long, easy bar and large vases of fresh, beautiful flowers. they serve terrific cocktails, as well as all of the french standards: steak frites with pepper sauce, brique poulet with lemon butter, bouillabaisse, all kinds of oysters, croque monsieur and madames and loads of other yummies. i always toggled between the steak and the chicken accompanied by their “simple salad” which is just butter lettuce, tomatoes, pine nuts, fried capers and a delicious dressing.

(a menu from the old days)

(the flowers are always stunning at ten ten)

(les steak frites avec sauce au poivre)

(their famous oysters)

(the fried capers on the simple salad are outrageous and i don’t even like capers)

ten ten became our second home. initially we were living in a temporary apartment just around the corner so i would strap lu into the buggy and we would walk over there with theo for dinner. they had an amazing happy hour (i like to eat early like a senior citizen and theo was only four so this was perfect for us.) lucy was particularly fond of the bread and seasoned butter - if i didn’t watch her carefully she would pick up the whole slab off the butter dish and eat it like a cracker. that girl has always gone for what she wants.

(lu going to town on the bread at happy hour)

(theo and first sucking down oysters… theo is wearing his “handsome clothes” … he liked to dress like his grandpa)

over the years it became the place we celebrated birthdays and good news or recovered from rough days. i lunched with the kids and with girlfriends, brought all of my out of town visitors and basically went as often as i could. when theo started cotillion classes at the st. julien (which is across the street from ten ten) on sunday afternoons i made reservations at ten ten directly after so theo could “practice” his newly learned table manners and i could have a dirty martini.

(lu just wandering the restaurant on her second birthday… i’m not sure why we allowed that…)

(she had fish and chips that night)

(lucy blowing out the candles on her fourth birthday… the cream puffs are DELICIOUS!)

(lu blowing on her fifth birthday… same yummy cream puff)

(one of my birthdays)

(theo after a hard day of work at his father’s office… his spelling HAS improved!)

(lunching with my girlfriend… she is very young looking because she has a spectacular skincare regime)

(theo dancing at cotillion… the little white gloves just slay me)

(once a session the parents get to dance with their children)

when the pandemic hit, all kinds of horrible things started happening - most poignantly, the MILLIONS of people in the united states and around the world dying from that horrendous virus. but for me, a real heartbreaker was the closure of ten ten. i know it doesn’t come anywhere near the losses of lives and livelihoods, but it made me feel even less tethered in an ever changing landscape of pandemic madness.

but this weekend brasserie ten ten is REOPENING! i am just beside myself! we are going on saturday at 4 pm - crazy early i know, but it was the only reservation i could get. i have not yet decided on whether i will have the steak frites or the brique chicken… i will definitely have a simple salad and a big, fat martini with extra olives! x00xx

* it was so amazing to be back at ten ten! the very first chef is back and he revamped and pared down the menu a bit, but it is still “delicieux.” the simple salad made the cut (PRAISE JESUS), but with thin slices of radish rather than tomatoes. i had the steak frites with the pepper sauce - the frites are now shoestring style… very chic. the only shocking change to the menu is the brique poulet has been restyled as a roasted chicken with CURRENTS (which are really just tiny raisins and raisins are obviously DISGUSTING.) i hope this mistake will be ameliorated soon (i DID send a message to the chef via our server, which mortified my children but i try to set a good example for them and sometimes you just have to stand up for what is right.) the unfortunate currents DID make my dinner choice clear. for dessert we had both lemon tart and flourless chocolate cake… i am hard pressed to say which was better. the whole experience was LOVELY… we are so happy to have our beloved ten ten back in business! x0x

(the new menu! we were the first ones there.)

(first and the kids with their oysters… theo is NOT wearing his “handsome clothes” here)