Watercourse Foods
837 E. 17th Ave.
Denver, CO 80218
303-832-7313
www.watercoursefoods.com
I have experimented with the art of vegetarianism during different stages of my life. The first time, I was inspired by pictures I had seen glued onto tin cans with half-dead dogs staring blindly at me with words declaring a donation request to help them. I stuck bright stickers to my notebooks that said: Meat is Murder. My mom would serve her glorious pepper steak, but I just couldn’t bear to eat it.
With each attempt, I would feel sick from the lack of protein and grow extremely moody. Whenever I announced my vegetarian lifestyle to family, my dad would always say, “Why must you always punish yourself, Aimee?” When I moved to Boulder two and a half years ago, I found my meat-eating ways was not en vogue here. Tofu is a popular food item and I began feeling guilty about my hamburger cravings, often retreating and eating alone. I have a friend who lived here briefly and I became the friend with whom she ate meat. It was prohibited in her home, a coven of staunch vegetarian roommates.
It seemed an oxymoron to me: vegetarian food and delicious. However, I would like to announce a place that makes me want to give up meat forever, a place full of foods rich in flavor and experiment.
Watercourse Foods is a wide-open restaurant with spacious seating and a comfortable ambiance. They offer a 100% vegetarian menu that does not exclude meat eaters. Instead, it offers a chance to win them over. Like many vegetarians, they are environmentally conscious and do their best to recycle as much of their materials as they can–even their fryer oil is converted into bio-diesel. They even offer a 10% discount to bike riders!
At a little past one o’clock on a Tuesday, there is no wait as we are immediately seated. I decide to extend the breakfast hours just a bit and order their breakfast burrito ($8.50). I have gotten this before and find it to be the perfect size to challenge my gargantuan appetite. They stuff a whole-wheat tortilla with a choice of scrambled eggs or tofu (I chose tofu as I’ve yet to enjoy the taste of eggs unless baked in pastries or desserts). Also packed inside are homefries and a choice of refried beans or tempeh chorizo (I chose beans), topped with a jack/cheddar blend of cheese and a choice of green chile or gravy.
I started my writing career as a poet and I feel confident that I could write a thousand poems about their warm, intensely flavorful gravy and biscuits. Dare I say, if it were socially acceptable I would bathe myself in this glorious gravy. Their biscuit is anything but dry. They make it fresh, and it offers a perfect hint of vegetable flavors. Words cannot do this pair justice. However, I can add that the biscuit and gravy combo can be a meal in itself.
The waitstaff at Watercourse are flawless at knowing when to enter the table and how many times. It can be overwhelming how often your server asks how you are doing/do you need anything else/how is the food? Without fail, each time one of these questions is asked, your mouth is full and all you can do is shrug. At Watercourse, they are unobtrusive.
Maybe I am not a full-time vegetarian. However, whenever I get the urge to join this not-so-exclusive club, I know exactly where to go.
by Aimee Herman
[Photos: Marni Molina]
