Boulder Seafood Temple Wild Standard Reboots Menu Concept

Chef Bradford Heap, owner of Salt and Colterra, unveiled his sustainable seafood eatery, Wild Standard, at 1043 Pearl Street in Boulder last fall with a clever, dim-sum-style service model that allowed guests to pick and choose from items on a rolling cart and trays brought through the dining room. Successful restaurants like State Bird Provisions in San Francisco have earned national attention using a similar model, but the system didn't quite work out for Boulderites. This week, Heap announced that he's revamping the menu and switching to a more traditional service menu.

Heap's reputation for serving GMO-free, organic meats and produce is well established in Boulder and the food coming from his kitchen at Wild Standard has never been in question; in fact, the restaurant earned our Best Seafood Restaurant award this year. But the system itself may have been a little too progressive to catch on. "The initial goal was to provide an interactive and fun experience for the table,” Heap noted in his announcement. “In theory, this was a convenient and entertaining dining option. Operationally, it just didn’t pan out. We’ve made the decision to change our format to something more traditional and enjoyable for our guests.”

The menu, updated quarterly to match the changing seasons, will remain focused on responsibly sourced seafood and will keep the raw bar intact, with daily oyster selections (including the house Wild Standard variety), shrimp, lobster tail, king crab and snow crab. According to the restaurant, Wild Standard is one of only seven restaurants in the country to hold certification from the Marine Stewardship Council. But farm-to-table offerings will also be added, with pasture-raised pork and beef, local chicken and organic produce, in keeping with the philosophy that Heap maintains with his other restaurants.

Look for new menu items like Wagyu top sirloin from 7X Ranch in Hotchkiss served with roasted carrots, asparagus and ramp butter, and a Boulder lamb burger with Calabrian chile aioli and feta cheese during Wild Standard's daily regular hours, with dinner beginning at 5 p.m. daily and lunch from Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.