Great wine, great food, great company at Cafe Blue

Last night Kate and I went straight from the office to a wonderful gourmet dinner and wine tasting at Cafe Blue (which is one of Boulder's best-kep secrets ... which makes it a good thing nobody reads this blog)....

What was funny is that one of the first people we met was a Joomla developer, Tom. Of course we immediately started talking shop. Maybe it's an occupational hazard of being a business owner, but I find that most potentially social occasions end up becoming informal business networking events. What's more, I enjoy it!

What makes it easy is when you can enjoy some truly wonderful wine at the same time. I'd never had Fritz wine before, at least as far as I know, but who knows for sure, right? Owner Clay Fritz told us about how his father started the winery some decades ago, and how it took him some ten years to get the business into a sustainable state. It's a fascinating business.

With Tom we talked about Open Source and how we got into working with Drupal -- which he had not heard of, surprisingly (for an open source LAMP developer) -- and he talked about his working with developers in India and Lima, Peru.

When we all sat down, the wines continued and the food began. The conversation never stopped.

Kevin Middleton, the chef and co-owner (with wife Leslie) of Cafe Blue, is a true genius in the kitchen. Every course on this menu was fabulous!

For dessert, we had truffle chocolates with raspberry sauce and late-harvest zinfandel. As Kevin made his rounds to greet the 25 or 30 guests, he stopped by our table and I remarked upon how the wine changed as I ate the dessert. He smiled a big smile and explained how he's really into taste profiles and how food can draw out the flavors in the wines. It certainly worked in this meal.

On a day-to-day basis, Cafe Blue is an excellent restaurant, but on occasions like this, it's a true delight. I can't wait until the next tasting.