Pearl Street is glowing with new energy this winter.
As you stroll beneath the twinkling holiday lights in downtown Boulder, make sure you set aside time to visit Boulder’s newest residents. The big, new players are Rosetta Hall, Jungle Tiki, Miriam’s, Bohemi and Boco Life. Patagonia moved to the east end of Pearl, and in its old spot on the mall, you can now find Patagonia Worn Wear.
Here’s a closer look at downtown’s newest businesses that you should definitely incorporate into your holiday wish list and celebrations.
Rosetta Hall, 1109 Walnut St.
Rosetta Hall opened in mid-October, and it’s unlike anything Boulder has seen before. It’s a stunning, hip food hall featuring 10 different, independently owned restaurants and two bars.
This isn’t any average mall food court. More than 50 chefs auditioned for these spaces over the past two years, and only the top were chosen. The result: a wide variety of food in one space to choose between and an affordable, supportive opportunity for talented chefs.
All of the restaurants’ menus center around ingredients from local farms and ranch and use sustainable ingredients whenever possible.
For example, head to Jacaranda for authentic West African food, like peanut butter lamb stew, yaji fried rice and a Ghana-style po’boy, made by chef Modou Jaiteh, who was raised in Gambia.
The other restaurants in Rosetta Hall are Folsom Foods (new American), Petite Fleur (a patisserie), Confit (French), the Ginger Pig (Asian street food), La Tigella (Italian), Tierra (contemporary Mexican), Eridu (ancient grains), Boxcar (coffee) and the Barceloneta Oyster Company (a raw bar).
Rosetta Hall also has two bars: the Rosetta Bar (a 48-seat oval bar) and a rooftop lounge.
Patagonia and Patagonia Worn Wear, 1630 Pearl St. and 1212 Pearl St.
Patagonia is not new to town, but things are changing. The popular outdoor store is moving to a bigger location at 1630 Pearl St. (scheduled to re-open late November), but it still has a few months left on the lease in its old spot, 1212 Pearl St.
So it transformed that storefront to a temporary pop-up shop for Patagonia Worn Wear.
Worn Wear sells used Patagonia gear and the ReCrafted Collection. It will also repair gear on site.
Worn Wear will remain open through the end of February. This is the first time Worn Wear has had a brick and mortar space. Until now, it has been an online-only initiative at www.patagonia.com/wornwear).
“Why extend the life of gear? Because the best thing we can do for the planet is cut down on consumption and get more use out of stuff we already own,” according to the Worn Wear initiative.
Keeping clothing in use just nine extra months can reduce the related carbon, water and waste footprints by 20 to 30 percent, Patagonia reports.
Patagonia’s new, permanent location will be bigger so it can offer more products and host more community and environmentally focused events.
Look for special events at both stores.
Jungle Tiki, 2018 10th St.
Jungle wants to “make cocktails fun again.” This bar opened in July, headed by beverage director Jake Novotny.
While Jungle specializes in tropical-inspired tiki drinks with rum, it serves all kinds of cocktails, from unique to classics. An example of a creative rummy drink is Tiki Me Softly, made with single-blended Barbados rum, apple Brandy, Amontillado Sherry, salted guava and celery bitters.
Some innovative non-rum drinks on the menu: High Off The Indo (made with Batavia Arrack, blanco tequila, fenugreek, coconut cream, Thai peppercorn and banana) and Blue Hawaii (vodka, pineapple and lemon, turned blue via blue Curacao).
Find this bar just off Pearl on 10th Street.
Miriam’s, 2021 Broadway
A new clothing store recently opened in part of the former Knit Wit space in downtown on Broadway. Miriam’s first began as an online store, run by fashion-lover Kris Budde. It actually started as her personal styling business, but it blossomed into a full clothing boutique.
Miriam’s motto: “We love color, never shy away from patterns and believe in taking full advantage of everything in your closet.”
In true style, Miriam’s cares about its brands; you can view the full list of designers carried here, from Alex Monroe to ZHU.
If you can’t make it into the shop, you can still browse online, but in person is the way to go. You can get personal shopping help in the store, with the goal of making finding that next perfect piece effortless and enjoyable. Follow the fun on Facebook.
Bohemi, 1717 Pearl St.
The east end of Pearl Street is in for a treat with this new women-owned jewelry store. Bohemi opened at the beginning of August, featuring hand-crafted, thoughtful pieces made by artist Heather Ng.
Ng considers her jewelry designs a type of poetry, art and feeling. She is inspired by nature and the Earth. In that, her creations never come at the expense of the environment or people; each piece is handcrafted locally (most is made right in-house in Boulder) and made entirely out of natural stones and recycled material. But these are levels above what you might expect from something recycled. Bohemi’s pieces are sophisticated and stunning.
Bohemi uses recycled sterling silver and gold, it recycles all scrap metal and it uses non-toxic and lead-free metals, recycled packaging and responsibly sourced stones. You can ask about the origin of many of the stones. Some are repurposed from old jewelry. Diamonds are conflict-free. The list of environmental efforts goes on.
Although Ng admits jewelry is not a necessity, on some level, she says, it is.
“For thousands of years, we have adorned ourselves in symbols, power, status and protection.
Why? Because, jewelry makes us feel,” she says. “Jewelry is a connection.”
She aims for her jewelry to awaken emotions and be a source of self-expression.
Boco Life, 1614 Pearl St.
This is a store for University of Colorado students and fans, visitors and other sports lovers. Boco Life opened in June on the east end of Pearl.
This fun store sells NFL apparel for everyone from infants to adults. You can also find great Boulder and Colorado souvenirs here, from shirts to hats to magnets. Even tons of quirky stickers.
As an added incentive, the shop is right next to Snooze, so you can stock up on Boulder paraphernalia, get a new CU Buffs shirt and then go fill up on pancakes next door.
