First Bite, and A Look Back in Time

First Bite Boulder kicks off today, and many local restaurants are offering diners a prix fixe three-course dinner, including Q's Restaurant. (Click here to see the menu they are offering.) To celebrate First Bite, I thought I'd share some interesting tidbits of the history behind the Boulderado dining room, where Q's now calls home.

Upon our opening on New Year's Day of 1909, a newspaper article in the Daily Camera touted all the luxuries the Hotel Boulderado had to offer. In addition to the guestrooms and the building, the reporter commented on the dining room and kitchen as well:
"The spacious dining room, with its snowy linen, polished silver, and delicate bouquets, gave promise of the tempting delicacies and huge banquets that are to come. The kitchen, with its massive ranges and variety of modern conveniences, appeared equal to the tasks of furnishing the best and the most that could be demanded of it. The handsome electric chandeliers, the exquisitely patterned rugs, the profuse decoration of palms, ferns, and flowers, the beautiful music of the orchestra, all added to the sum to make a perfect total."

The above photo is how the dining room looked; it was so formal that there were no waitresses on the staff, only waiters, who wore white gloves while serving, and tables were set with small bowls of water so guests could wash their fingers between courses.

Over the past century, the dining room at the Hotel Boulderado has undergone a multitude of changes and renovations, as has most of the original building. We've done our best to keep anything original intact, even if it has to be moved somewhere else. Case in point: the photo below may look to you like an empty hallway. But the three light fixtures you see in it date back to the hotel's opening and were originally located in the dining room.

On the same floor on the other side of the building, you'll find a chair sitting in a corner (below photo), which is the most recent addition to the living history museum on the west side of the third floor at the Hotel Boulderado. The story is that we've had this chair in storage for many years, but it was only recently that we sent it out to have the cane seat replaced by a skilled tradesman who specializes in antique pieces.

If you happen to stop by Q's Restaurant during First Bite Boulder, be sure to take the Otis elevator up to the third floor to explore the antiques and learn more about what it was like to live like the Victorians would.

A Look Back in Time: Victorian Dining

Denver’s Restaurant Week has come and gone for another year. Seeing all the fabulous menus and tasting all the flavors the local chefs are able to dream up is always fun to see, but it invariably inspires me to dream about what it would have been like to dine at the Hotel Boulderado back when ladies were ladies and gentlemen were gentlemen – in other words, during the Victorian era, when the Boulderado was being built. Did you know that it wasn’t fashionable for women to eat out in restaurants until about the 1860s? (I personally find it hard to imagine such a thing, but that’s how history works some time.) When it came time for the Victorians to eat, they made an event out of it! Dressing up was absolutely necessary, as they considered any outside dining event after 6pm a formal occasion.

In a Victorian house, each room had a specific purpose, and the dining room was one of the most important rooms in the entire home. Mealtime was an opportunity for prosperous people to show off their wealth, which they did with rich foods, the use of fine china and silverware, and servants. Extensive décor in the dining room could have included massive furniture, stuffed birds in cages, potted plants, huge mirrors, and ceramic and china figurines, among other items. George Matel explains:

“The goal of the hostess was to display every piece of fine china, stemware and silver she owned, so it wasn’t uncommon to find 24 piece place settings including up to eight different forks each with their own special purpose. Add to that an additional 8 knives, game shears, seven pieces of stemware for water, wine, sherry and more, a dinner plate, and a bread plate containing a single piece of bread.” George Matel, “Victorian Dining and Dining Etiquette”

Most formal Victorian dinners were similar to our modern all-you-can-eat buffet, but the food was brought to you in an exhaustive multi-course meal. Dinner parties could include up to seventy dishes!

Victorian Silverware Set

Ironically, with all their formality and pomp and circumstance, the Victorians migrated towards simpler foods than their predecessors. They preferred simpler tastes and flavors as opposed to extravagant flavorings that would drown out the main ingredients. (However, elaborate dishes were another way to show off your cook’s skills, and by extension, your own wealth.) New advances in science and technology during the 19th century helped the Victorians eat better and more varied foods than was previously available. For example, fish could be eaten by people who were living inland because the combination of ice and railways meant the fish could be kept fresh and transported over long distances.

Food itself wasn’t the only thing improving thanks to technological advances; cooking and storing the food improved in the 19th century. Ovens and ranges developed to the point where temperature could be controlled, meaning a cook could prepare complicated meals that before had only been eaten by the wealthy. Ice chests became common, triggering the late Victorian fad for ice cream and sorbets. We have an ice box on display here at the Boulderado.

Boulderado Ice Box

Tinned, or canned food, also grew by leaps and bounds in the Victorian era. Up until then, the process was so expensive and time-consuming that only the military used canned goods. While techniques were improving there was also an increased demand from the growing urban populations for large amounts of cheap, easy to store food while still offering a variety. A lot of companies got their start providing quality canned foods, including familiar names like Heinz and Nestle.

Heinz Ad, 1918

Leaving the dinner table had its own procedure, according to the Victorians. After the last course had been eaten, servants would bring a small water-filled bowl to each guest so the ladies and gentlemen could wash their fingers. (When the Boulderado first opened, this practice was in place in our dining room, but our waiters filled in for the servants’ role.) The hostess would signal to the ladies that it was time to leave by making strong eye contact with the woman seated to the host’s right before standing. A nearby gentleman (or servant, if one wasn’t available) opened the door to allow the women to retire to the drawing room. The men would remain at the dinner table for more conversation but were also free to withdraw to the library to enjoy a cigar or glass of port. How many of you who participated in Restaurant Week finished off your meal with such luxuries?

Day 178 of 365 Days of Boulderado Photos ~ Dining Room Sugar Bowl

This little treasure was brought to me from our archives specifically to be included in the 365 Days of Boulderado Photos. It is a sugar bowl from our dining room's opening in 1909. Trust me -- it's a lot heavier than it looks!

Day 155 of 365 Days of Boulderado Photos ~ Antique Ad

This photo shows a close up of a page from the Colorado State Business Directory, and is one of the oldest advertisements of the Hotel Boulderado we have on display here at the hotel. It dates back to the 1920s or 1930s, when Hugh Mark was the manager, and boasts of being "thoroughly modern" with an "excellent cafe" and "private banquet room."

Day 89 of 365 Days of Boulderado Photos ~ 3rd Floor Light Fixtures

Continuing with my newfound obsession with light fixtures, I wanted to share these with you and also share with you an interesting history fact. The three light fixtures you see here can be found in the southeast hallway of the third floor of the Historic Section at the Hotel Boulderado. These three fixtures represent the last three original light fixtures from our dining room's original decor, dating all the way back to 1909. Since I learned this, I have thought of it every time I pass under these lights, knowing so many former guests and employees must have done the same.

Day 60 of 365 Days of Boulderado Photos ~ Skywalk

This is the skywalk that connects the Historic Section to the North Wing in the Hotel Boulderado. The skywalk was added in after our first round of additions in the early 1980s. Some of our most interesting artifacts can be found on the skywalk, including a Christmas menu from the dining room dating back to the year we opened.

Day 41 of 365 Days of Boulderado Photos ~ Honey Bee Portrait

This life-sized portrait looks over the staircase at the top of the stairs on the fifth floor. The woman in the portrait is Miss Honey Bee, and this portrait was commissioned by her father in the 1930s for her debutante moment into society at the age of 18. For many years, Miss Honey Bee taught music lessons to many of Boulder's children. When it came time for Miss Honey Bee to move into a retirement facility, she was unable to take the portrait with her because of its sheer size. She offered it to several local organizations, including the Boulder History Museum and Historic Boulder, but no one had a place large enough to hang the painting. Luckily, Miss Honey Bee often took lunch in the Hotel Boulderado's dining room, and there was a large empty wall space located on the fifth floor. Miss Honey Bee graciously donated the portrait to the hotel.

Videos from the Oral History Luncheon

Back in September of 2008, the Hotel Boulderado hosted a luncheon in our Spruce Room. We invited a variety of people from the community to come in, sit down, and share a memory of the Hotel Boulderado. Here's a rundown of who we talked to and what they had to say:

• Dee Demmon remembers dancing in the lobby and getting her spiked heels caught in the tile floor
• Sandy Hume recollects his impressions of the original stained-glass ceiling -- "It contained every color in heaven."
  
• Don Hume tells stories of his visits to the Boulderado as a young child
• Betty Chronic shares what led to her first visit to the Boulderado dining room
• Virginia Patterson's connections to Boulderado weddings and the old barber shop
• June Howard remembers what it was like running the hotel in the 1960s, with her husband, Ed
• Gwen Winterberger and her husband, Louis, ran the hotel in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and Gwen took some time to call us and share some memories
• Dick Dorman recalled his involvement with restoring the stained-glass ceiling
  
• Frank and Gina Day, our current owners, remember how their relationship with the Boulderado began
  
• Sidney Anderson, our current general manager, and his impact on the hotel
  
• Laurel McKown tells us how she was hired to restore, photograph, and catalog the Boulderado's extensive collection of antique furniture
• Sandy Hale shares the multitude of parties she threw at the hotel
  
• Mary Ann Mahoney recalls the opening of the North Wing and the new meetings market it served
• Silvia Pettem shares her experiences as the Hotel Boulderado historian
• Dan Corson remembers when the hotel was named a historic landmark
• Dorothy Sage recollects a memorable holiday tea at the Hotel Boulderado
  

Check out our collection of videos on our website!

Boulderado Dining Room: A History Lesson

One of the most fascinating spots to consider in the Hotel Boulderado is our dining room, located on the lobby level of the northeast corner of the historic section. It has the distinction of being the oldest continually-operated restaurant in Boulder -- with the exception of a brief closure during World War II, the dining room has served guests since the hotel opened in 1909. Management and menus have changed a myriad of times, as has the look and feel of the space.

When we opened in 1909, the dining room was one of the premier places to eat out in Boulder. A Daily Camera newspaper reporter who wrote the article about the Boulderado's opening noted, "The spacious dining room, with its snowy linen, polished silver, and delicate bouquets, gave promise of the tempting delicacies and huge banquets that are to come. The kitchen, with its massive ranges and variety of modern conveniences, appeared equal to the tasks of furnishing the best and the most that could be demanded of it. The handsome electric chandeliers, the exquisitely patterned rugs, the profuse decoration of palms, ferns, and flowers, the beautiful music of the orchestra, all added to the sum to make a perfect total."

During his tenure as owner and manger of the Hotel Boulderado, Hugh Mark and his family were always given the honor of being the first guests to enter the dining room at mealtimes, and they occupied the same table year after year. It was at this table that Hugh Mark would keel over from a heart attack, taking the life of one of the Boulderado's most dynamic leaders. Betty Mark, Hugh Mark's young daughter, took full advantage of the formal dining room when she started taking tap dancing lessons and needed a place to practice. "The private dining room was a marvelous pace to practice, as the taps resounded beautifully on the tile floor," Betty recalled years later.

But the Marks were not the only ones who took regular meals in the dining room. Several service groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, Lions, Kiwanis, and Rotary groups, held weekly luncheon meetings there. Even though President Franklin Roosevelt repealed Prohibition in 1933, Boulder remained a "dry" county. Only 3.2% beer was permitted to be served in the dining room, despite the fact that more than one chef snuck down to the basement to nip from a flask. By the time the stock market crashed in 1929, the formal waiters with white jackets and finger bowls had given way to waitresses and a less formal atmosphere.

When it came time to re-open the dining room after it closed during the Second World War, the Hutsons decided to modernize and remodel. New equipment was brought in, including a range, refrigerator, new dishes, glassware, silver, and linens. Soda-fountain-style booths and a new, U-shaped lunch counter gave the dining room a more casual feel, as did it's new Mexican motif and "Cactus Room" name.

This didn't last too long, as by the late 1950s the dining room had been transformed into the Boulderado Coffee Shop. According to Legend of a Landmark: A History of the Hotel Boulderado, "A variety of dinners was offered from charcoal-broiled chopped sirloin steak with mushroom sauce and French-fried onions -- for $1.25 -- to choice roast prime rib of beef au jus, for $1.75. More beef dishes, chicken, pork, and seafood rounded out the menu. All dinners included potato, salad, fruit, and beverage."

A day came after the Howards took over when the manager of the then Chinese restaurant that occupied the dining room simply did not show up to work. June and Ed frantically kept the business going until they convinced friend and local restaranteur Fred Shelton to take over the space. He opened Fred's Steakhouse in the dining room, and a popular phrase took off -- "Come eat with Fred and sleep with Ed." Fred's specialty was a sirloin steak dinner priced at $2.15. Fred stayed until 1969, when the Howards gave up the hotel. From there, a dizzying succession of various owners, themes, and names came about:

• Doug and Fran Simcoe's Boulderado Empire Room in 1969
  
• The Prosperity Garden in 1972
• Fleur de Lis (1970s)
  
• Winston's Seafood Grille (1980s)
  
• Teddy Roosevelt's American Grille

Teddy Roosevelt's remained until John Platt moved Q's Restaurant from the second-floor Porch to the dining room, where it has stayed through the present day. Patrons who eat at Q's must cross the same original tiled floor that proved so useful to Betty Mark in her tapdancing days.