New Exhibit Gives Viewers a Blast From Boulder’s Culinary Past

John Lehndorff knows food. The food journalist has been the restaurant critic and food writer for the Daily Camera, Rocky Mountain News, Aurora Sentinel, Boulder Weekly, and now, the Boulder Reporting Lab. He’s hosted a radio show on Boulder’s community station KGNU, “Radio Nibbles,” for 45 years. He’s been a foodie since long before the term was dreamed up.

He’s also had a long-time dream to capture the wealth of knowledge in his head about Boulder’s food history, and that dream was realized last month in a new exhibit, “Boulder Eats,” which offers a comprehensive look at over 100 years of food in Boulder and the surrounding areas, from the many restaurants that have earned national recognition and got Boulder named Bon Appétit magazine’s “Foodiest Town in America” back in 2010, to its history of agricultural excellence and perhaps not surprisingly, the birthplace of health food.

Lehndorff will lead guided tours of “Boulder Eats” monthly through the run of the exhibit, starting on Saturday, December 6 at 10 a.m. That date is currently sold out, but tickets for future tours are available via Eventbrite. The exhibit is set to close on July 26, 2026.

“Boulder Eats” is a collaboration between Lehndorff as exhibit historian (he wrote much of the exhibit’s text); Rachael Caraluzzi and Jessica Benjamin of Savor Productions, curators of the Dining Out section; and Elizabeth Nosek, the curator of the Museum of Boulder who curated the Agriculture and Home Technology section.

The display is split into two sections: one room is a nostalgic tribute to restaurants, diners and bakeries both current and long-gone, and a more traditional exhibit room offering the timeline of area farms; a history of kitchen appliances over the century; a display of china from Boulderites (including dishes owned by Lehndorff and Governor Jared Polis); a shelf of cookbooks and personal recipe boxes and notebooks; and a rundown of Boulder’s importance to the national vegetarian, natural and slow foods movement.

Visitors will learn a lot by strolling through the exhibit. For instance, did you know that John Harvey Kellogg, the man known for Kellogg Corn Flakes and his somewhat controversial history in health as the founder of sanitariums in Battle Creek, Michigan and in Boulder, also introduced granola to Colorado?

There’s a timeline of all the natural food stores and restaurants in Boulder over the years. In one back corner is a touching reminder and tribute to the victims of the tragic 2021 shooting at a Boulder King Soopers, including artifacts left for victims, and a poem written by Boulder’s assistant city manager, Pam Davis.

The room, which serves as a colorful time machine for the area’s restaurant scene, features a poster showing a thumbprint that lists dozens of now-gone Boulder restaurants. “You know, I had a list of 400,” Lehndorff says, but he realized that was way too many. “So I knocked it down to about 100.”

Among the swirl of eateries, you can see Bananas, Tom’s Tavern, Brillig Works Bakery, The Good Earth, Pearl’s Restaurant, and so many more. Along the ceiling, the room also includes a line of signs from restaurants that are gone but not forgotten, including Mataam Fez Moroccan, Pelican Pete’s, West End Tavern, Juanita’s and others. One glass display shows off some of the awards and accolades Boulder restaurants have received, including Michelin Guide and James Beard honors, as well as a 2024 Visit Denver Foundation award honoring restaurateur Frank Day, who passed away in August.

There’s also a separate room made to look like part of the classic French restaurant John’s, complete with a faux brick wall and window offering a view of a table set for diners as well as a kitchen setup with a commercial stove and other equipment, including a restaurant-style walk-in cooler with shelves for produce and other supplies.

On the back wall is a nostalgic big photo of the chefs working the griddles and stovetops at the old Aristocrat Steakhouse on Broadway, half a block off the Pearl Street Mall. It was a classic Greek diner with wonderful Greek and American food, a favorite stop for Boulderites coming off the night shift — or those who partied a little too hard. The photo itself is a fascinating blast from the past.

One collage of snapshots posted as a tribute to restaurant employees isn’t complete, though. “Originally, we were going to cover that wall with pictures of people who currently work in the restaurants. And we went to all the chefs and asked, do the folks in your kitchen want to be photographed? And they said, no, because of immigration,” Lehndorff notes.

Perhaps in the future, another exhibit can pay proper homage to all the unheralded workers who are the heart of restaurants.

The Museum of Boulder is located at 2205 Broadway and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, visit museumofboulder.org.