I am loving my return to Colorado after so many years. Tucked into the east end of Boulder’s Pearl Street mall is a cute Italian restaurant called Trattoria on Pearl. Guests at the Trattoria (which means, “Neighborhood Italian café”) will notice the menu features very traditional dishes from Italy.
Trattoria on Pearl’s owner and chef, Guillermo Casarrubias, is on hand to not just supervise the kitchen on a daily basis but he comes out and says hello. And so, I learned a bit about him, his history (he’s part Liberian, Italian and Mexican), how they got started and the restaurant itself.
On 2005, Guillermo and his wife Sara served their first cuisine as the proud owners of Trattoria on Pearl. Guillermo, born and raised in Acapulco, left his large family to come to the US in 1990. His love of Italian foods and restaurants was born in Chicago where he worked in a series of kitchens populated by chefs and cooks, direct from Italy. From them, he learned the traditional passion, flavors and methods he has been cultivating at Trattoria on Pearl since it opened.
In these same restaurants, he developed his knack for creating a warm, inviting dining room where each guest feels like a part of the family and I felt this warmth and attention, even though we were sitting at an outside patio table on a hot summer day.
While he focuses on the main courses and culinary direction, Sara is in charge of the other category of carbs that we all love. Originally inspired by one of Guillermo’s Chicago pastry chefs, Sara takes care of their homemade breads and desserts. She also oversees Trattoria on Pearl’s marketing, producing their periodic, entertaining emails…I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet her.
We were drawn in by their crazy priced lunches he calls Power Lunches. $10 gets you a lot and at that price, it sounded too good to be true. Available Monday through Friday, you can pick one from each category: an appetizer, which is either a Minestrone soup made with kale and cannellini beans or a mixed organic green salad, then an Entree, which can include an Italian pancetta, a home-made basil walnut penne al pesto, a Linguine putanesa, served with black olives, capers, San Marzano tomatoes, roasted garlic and olive oil, a Fusilli Primavera, a Penne all’arrabiatta, a chicken parmigiana sandwich, spagetti and meatballs and more.
But, we’re not done yet. You also get to choose from a house red or white wine (I had the Sangiovese), soda, coffee or iced tea. And yes, I didn’t make a typo. $10. They’re based on 1430 Pearl Street in Boulder: 303.544.0008.
For more blog posts on the Boulder/Denver area, go here. For our post on great restaurants in the greater Boulder/Denver area, go here.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
