20 Years as a Boulder Tradition!

This month marks the 20th anniversary of Laudisio Italian Restaurant. Conceived by Antonio Laudisio, a first-generation American who learned the arts at his Mother’s side in the kitchen of her Miami restaurant, Laudisio spent 18 years in a small shopping center on Iris and 28th St. In 2006 Laudisio took the restaurant to the newly built 29th Street Mall, expanding into a larger and contemporary new home.

Since it’s opening in Boulder in 1989, and through the recent move to the 29th Street Mall, Laudisio has been a Boulder tradition. Antonio, 68, comes from a long line of culinary artists. Antonio’s ancestors learned to cook and bake on the Amalfi coast in southern Italy. His parents emigrated to the United States in the early 1900’s, opening a bakery under the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1953, when Antonio was 11, they moved to Miami and opened a small restaurant. He and his three brothers—Agostino Jr., Raimondo and Leonardo—all worked there together, perfecting the family traditions.

Antonio eventually opened a family pizzeria of his own in Miami. He then moved to Boulder with his wife, Patricia, daughter Lucia and son, Tavio, and opening the Iris location. In 2006, Antonio saw an opportunity and moved the restaurant to the Twenty Ninth Street mall, joining with partner Richard Schaden.

Laudisio continues to adhere to the family traditions by using fresh, local ingredients, and maintaining a strong sense of community within his restaurant. "The main inspiration is found right in what's happening at the market," Laudisio says. "If I'm using lamb I'm using Colorado lamb. If I'm using vegetables I want to know who's growing them."

With the help of his son, Tavio, and Richard Schaden, Antonio took his cooking style, traditions and personality to the public. “Cooking With Laudisio”, a TV cooking show airing on Rocky Mountain PBS, was launched this past fall. The show, under the direction of Pete Coggan at 42 Productions of Boulder, is a mixture of travel, adventure, wine and food. Spanning between Miami and Boulder, Antonio displays his cooking styles from boats, gardens and markets.

To mark 20 years of serving Boulder with traditional Italian dishes, Laudisio is going back to what brought him to this point.

• All month the special menus will feature classic favorites from the past 2 decades.
• An Anniversary celebration is planned for the evening of January 19, featuring “20 years-20 dollars” specials, live music by Max Wagner and Peneplain Jazz, drink specials and more. There will be 2 sets of music, 5:30 and 7:30.
• There is also a Wine Dinner, featuring the wines of the Veneto region, taking place on January 27. Laudisio has earned many awards for its wine list, featuring over 300 Italian wines. This dinner is $75/person, including 5 courses and 6 wines.
• Laudisio is also working with Community Food Share. Bringing your canned goods to Laudisio this month will earn a free mini-dessert, while helping to support Boulder County families in need.

For more information visit www.Laudisio.com, or call 303.442.1300 to schedule a reservation.

A Word From Antonio Laudisio

Welcome

My grandfather cooked on the ocean liners coming from Italy in the early 1900's. He moved his family to New York and opened the first family bakery in Brooklyn. Out of this, the family pizzeria/restaurant tradition emerged, first in Florida and then in Colorado. We opened the first Laudisio on the corner of 28th and Iris twenty years ago and then moved to the 29th Street Shopping District in 2006. Through our Italian culture, we respond to the community awareness of real food. We change our menu seasonally to best utilize and reflect the beauty of the Boulder County gardens, waters and farms. We invite you to experience the joy of the Italian table.

Cibo Vino Amici: Food, Wine, Friends. What else is there?

No matter what your taste in dining experience we can accommodate you. Why? Laudisio has been designed with four dining experiences in mind. Check them out and take your pick!

the modern Italian table

Smooth, upscale and contemporary, the Laudisio Dining Room is the ideal place for a great daytime business lunch or an intimate, sophisticated evening meal. Our chefs create new, bolder tastes for today’s palate, with innovative and exciting daily lunch and dinner features...and the award winning Laudisio cellar offers a wide variety of wines to accompany any choice from the menu.

the casual Italian table

Inside Laudisio, the cozy and comfortable Bistro Wine Bar sets the new standard for casual and intimate wining and dining. It features a fascinating selection of wines by the bottle or glass, along with a variety of cocktails and beers, and a delicious menu of appetizers, assorted small plates, and authentic wood-fired pizzas.

The Laudisio Bistro Wine Bar has become Boulder’s favorite place for date night, a before or after theater stop, or a delightful shopping break.

the al fresco Italian table

At Laudisio, you can have all the joy of the Italian Table, out in the fresh air (al fresco) with the Rockies as a backdrop! Enjoy the mountain views as you choose whatever suits your mood from the extensive menu. Lunch, dinner, or anytime, having a wood-fired pizza, a crisp salad or a special pasta with a glass of wine surrounded by the beauty of Boulder is in a setting that is not to be missed.

the personalized Italian table

An event in the Laudisio private party room will be one that’s remembered. The professional staff at Laudisio takes care of everything: planning the menu, room decorations, even the music and flowers. Whether it’s a meeting, rehearsal dinner, birthday, anniversary, engagement or graduation party, the Laudisio personalized Italian table raises the bar on private dining.

A Brief Word on Wine...

There are various and subtle differences among the thousands of wines grown within the twenty regions of Italy. The extensive Laudisio cellar enables you to experience the myriad tastes these regions have to offer. Our selections are chosen for their clear, beautiful representations of grape varietals and producer individuality. As well as being broad and rich, our 18-year Wine Spectator Award winning list brings you good, great and stunning wines at a comfortable price.

Full Laudisio Wine List

Our Commitment to Being Ecologically Responsible Localvores

As a leading restaurant in Boulder, we are aware of our responsibility to research environmentally conscious methods of procuring all of the fine food we serve here at Laudisio. This includes using local ingredients whenever possible, and supporting ecologically sustainable businesses.

The word “localvore” is one that will be seen more and more as consumers become increasingly aware of their impact upon the environment. A localvore is someone who eats only locally-grown and produced food, committed to eating and learning about food grown within their food shed. Localvores recognize that there are multiple benefits of eating food grown close to home. The informal movement has sprouted in the past five years in response to a food supply that has become increasingly global and sprawling. At Laudisio, our chefs are making every effort possible to ensure that Laudisio is a Restaurant that Localvores will be proud to dine in.

There are, of course, some ingredients that cannot be found in Colorado. When forced to go outside of our area, you have our commitment that we research each and every company we support, using only the most ecologically sustainable companies doing business. When it comes to seafood, our chefs consider many factors when choosing whom to operate with. We are constantly looking into the sustainability of the resources; the possible toxicity of the fish, going as low on the food chain as possible; and the methods used in catching or raising the fish.

Laudisio also practices the same basic “green” efforts that most of us use in our home: we recycle and compost in our kitchen, and are very conscious of waste throughout the restaurant, reusing before we need to recycle. We minimize our use of electricity by allowing natural light to fill our restaurant whenever possible; we use compostable sugar-cane to-go containers; we use a small, locally owned coffee provider; our dishwashing unit is designed to lower the use of water and energy, and reduce the chemicals and waste released to the environment; our bathrooms use flushless-urinals, and all water flow is regulated by low-use sensors.

Laudisio is committed to operating a business that does not negatively impact our environment, while still delivering the highest quality product and service that you have come to expect from a local, family owned Boulder restaurant.