River and Woods

Comfort food isn't dead; we still want our macaroni and cheese, our corn dogs and our meatloaf. You can find all of those at chef Daniel Asher's cozy Boulder cottage, but the chef, with a well-deserved reputation from his time as culinary director of Linger, Root Down and Ophelia's, doesn't take the easy way out when it comes to evoking food memories. Your mom or grandma probably never presented you with a big slab of chicken-fried calamari, a bowl of matzoh-ball ramen or a plate of sticky duck wings. Asher serves up comfort food that triggers bliss while taking off in new directions to make memories for repeat guests (of whom there will be many). But River and Woods also respects the past, with family recipes submitted by guests and longtime friends of the owners. The gnocchi verde comes from the restaurant's previous tenant, John's, which served Boulder for four decades, while a baked mac and cheese, a summery panzanella salad and a side of bourbon baked beans all come from customer submissions. And that's comforting, indeed.