What's salt without a little pepper?

Chef/restaurateur Bradford Heap's Salt the Bistro has a new neighbor on Boulder's Pearl Street; the chef and his wife, Carol Vilate, are converting their four-year-old seafood restaurant, Wild Standard, to Pepper the Noshery, which will hold its grand opening next door to Salt this Thursday, July 18. Heap's culinary director, Roy Benningfield, says the change is intended to appeal to a broader range of guests.

"We're working on our price point and approachability," Benningfield explains. "But at all of our restaurants, we'll still strive to do organic, sustainable, non-GMO food."

The chef adds that the word "noshery" was chosen because it's casual and connotes a place where customers can come in for a snack. Of course, the restaurant will serve far more than snacks. Seafood will still have a prominent place on the menu (in the form of raw oysters, crispy rockfish with coconut-ginger jasmine rice, and miso cod, for example), but a burger, wagyu steak, brick chicken and vegetarian dishes balance things out.

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The meatless "Taste of Spring" entree uses chickpea-based panisse as the main protein.

Courtesy Pepper the Noshery

Benningfield points out that much of the produce on the menu comes from local land, such as Kilt Farm in Longmont. Beef, though, is sourced from First Light in New Zealand, which raises grass-fed, grass-finished wagyu cattle. The chef says First Light is prized for its full marbling combined with distinct flavor from a diet of New Zealand grass.

Heap, Vilate and Benningfield want inclusivity to be part of the program at Pepper, so the dietary needs and restrictions of customers have been taken into consideration. Salt-and-pepper calamari are prepared gluten-free (one of many gluten-free dishes), and several appetizers and entrees are meatless, including a quinoa burger and "A Taste of Spring," which plates lemon panisse (crispy chickpea cakes) with seasonal vegetables.

Wild Standard was only open for dinner, so a light remodel has been executed over the past few weeks during the day. Benningfield points out that the team hasn't had to shut down the restaurant at any point, and that lunch hours will be added Friday through Sunday at first, with more days added beginning August 5.

Pepper the Noshery officially debuts on July 18 at 1043 Pearl Street in Boulder, and will be open daily from 4 to 10 p.m. Call 720-638-4800 or visit the restaurant's website for more details.

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