If you ever venture along Walnut, just west of 9th Street, stop once you get to a little building whose entry is adorned with Japanese style torri gates. This Christo and Jean-Claude like gateway is your entry into Happy Noodle House. Happy Noodle House is not the kind of place that serves mediocre noodles of every variety, nor is it a pho-get-about-variety noodle house. Executive Chef, Salvatore Proia, IV (aka "Sam") has created a menu filled with classic Asian influenced comfort food with fresh, local ingredients using classic culinary techniques. If you think that's a mouthful, wait till you try the food.

Some of the dishes at Happy may sound Asian, and even taste Asian, but may not have an Asian origin at all. Take for example the Crispy Colorado Bass made with cilantro rice, coconut, lemongrass, and Thai basil. The sweet coconut and freshly squeezed carrot juice in the vegetable chowder almost tastes like curry, yet there is no curry in it at all. The zip from the cilantro rice, mint, and the Thai basil also gave the dish a deceptively Asian flavor profile. The real highlight, of course, is the panko crusted Colorado bass which was juicy, lightly, crispy, and surprisingly meaty. Oddly enough, the dish does have a comfort food feel to it, and your taste buds will be treated to something different with each bite.

Proia puts a lot of time into every dish, even something as simple as gyoza. The idea of a gourmet gyoza seems like an oxymoron, but Proia managed to pull it off. Proia uses a rotisserie to slow cook all his meats including chicken, leg of lamb, and his duck. He then minces the duck to make his Duck Gyoza. As soon as you bite into the juicy Duck Gyoza, you can taste the fattiness of the slow roasted duck. The Duck Gyoza is surrounded by chunks of red pepper jelly, which is actually a play on sweet and sour sauce. As Proia explained, he didn't want to serve the gyoza in a traditional ponzu - which can rob the duck of its flavor - nor did he want them sitting in a glob of sweet and sour sauce.

Since Happy is a noodle house, it would only make sense to talk about their Miso Hot Pot, which is literally served in a hot pot, and made with hazel dell mushrooms, firm tofu, sweet oven roasted tomato, asparagus, and soft udon. In the middle, you'll find a ball of salty mushroom paste. This allows you to control the saltiness of the dish rather than drenching the dish with soy sauce. By the way, there aren't any soy sauce bottles on the tables. Then again, adding soy sauce to this dish seems like sodium overkill.

Proia mentioned that Happy will be changing its menu in mid-June for the summer. Happy will feature more local and organic produce, and three course, prefix menus on Monday nights. Proia will also serve up a Tasting Menu with a five to seven course menu which he will personally prepare and serve to guests at the "slurp bar" (aka "noodle bar") playing on the concept of the Chef's Table. Happy will also have a rotisserie night on Sundays where dinner parties can order a whole duck, or leg of lamb with a full spread.

One of the things that makes Happy so special is the Bitter Bar, which specializes in classic prohibition era drinks. Twice a month, patrons can take classes from their knowledgeable group of mixologists headed by their Wiki-smart Bar Manager, Mark Stoddard. The Bitter Bar itself is open during regular business hours. After 10pm, however, Happy Closes its front entry, draws the blinds, turns off the front lights but Bitter Bar is still open. The secret is to enter through the alley entrance, giving Bitter Bar a speak-easy feel of the prohibition days.

Just as Happy puts a lot of time and effort into their dishes, Bitter Bar puts a lot of time into every drop of its cocktails. Stoddard explained that a good cocktail is similar to making a good pastry: there's a lot more science to it than people realize. Stoddard pays attention to every detail to enhance their drinks from the custom etched stemware to their designer ice cubes.

Happy Noodle House & Bitter Bar are perfect for foodies looking for comforting Asian fusion dishes, and classic cocktails, both made with fresh and local ingredients.

Happy Noodle House and Bitter Bar
835 Walnut Street
Boulder, CO 80302
303.442.3050
www.happynoodlehouse.com

Executive Chef: Salvatore (Sam) Proia, IV