🏠 Can Jamestown save its beloved Mercantile Cafe?

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The 130-year-old Jamestown Mercantile may be the coolest local eatery you’ve never been to. I stopped in for Italian fare and a chat about the Save The Merc effort. In this week’s Nibbles, you’ll also find a recipe featuring locally grown bok choy and mushrooms. Plus: Boulder’s connection to the late Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini.

By the way, National Donut Day is June 5. Celebrate with a scratch-made, matcha-iced cake doughnut topped with freshly grated coconut at Nok’s Donuts in Lafayette.

What are your favorite memories of the Boulder Farmers Market? As it turns 40 this year, the market is asking locals to share their favorite experiences over the decades. Send reminiscences and photos to this form.

— John Lehndorff

On an early summer Thursday evening, diners were drifting into the Jamestown Mercantile Cafe, which everybody calls “The Merc.”

We started by sampling garlic-grilled shrimp in a genuinely lip-smacking Spanish paprika cream sauce that doubled as a dressing for some Esoterra farm greens.

Nearby tables were filling with neighbors, regulars and people who just happened by, as Road Pony, the evening’s twangy young country band, warmed up on the tiny “stage” by the front window.

We sipped Jamestown-brewed Julien’s Cliffhouse Kombucha and applauded perfectly fried juicy bird in the chicken Milanese as well as the al dente fettuccine with a lemony cream sauce.

The Merc’s only menu is chalked on a board above the antique front counter where diners line up to order their food. Then, in funky fast-casual style, they grab a seat and relax until the plates arrive.

As I sponged up the last drops of an inspired fennel-packed broth using grilled sourdough and plucked out one more mussel from its black shell, I heard an audible sigh of contentment.

It turned out to be me.

It wasn’t just the food, drinks or the music. The Merc is a refreshing, nonconformist third space and vibrant outpost of Boulder’s countercultural legacy.

The Merc’s vibe is like TV’s mythical “Cheers,” except the place is full of pirates, Deadheads, artists, feral children and bemused tourists who know your name.

Rainbow Shultz is the chef, owner and gallery curator of the Jamestown Mercantile Cafe in Jamestown, population 300, located about 15 miles from Boulder.

She worked at The Merc for five years before buying the business about 15 years ago. Her master’s degree in social work often comes in handy, according to Shultz.

“I love how we have local Ph.D. professors sitting with guys dressed as pirates that come down the hill as part of this extended family of people in the area. I love the 18- to 25-year-old first timers. They’re all smart, having nice, calm conversations, drinking tea and checking out different musical acts,” she says.

There is a pleasant randomness to the fixtures, mismatched furniture, vintage dishes and assorted historic artifacts. The scarred wooden floors have been worn down by generations of miners, diners and dancers.

Depending on the day of the week, The Jamestown Mercantile Cafe is a restaurant, a bar, art gallery, music venue, bicyclist pit stop and community hangout, or all of the above. Rainbow Shultz advises checking the week’s highlights on The Merc’s social media, including music every night.

Wednesday features burgers and an open mic, Thursdays focus on a single cuisine, and once-monthly Friday pizza nights feature artisan pies served from a wood-fired oven on the patio to a crowd that spills out into the nearby park with live music.

Saturdays, The Merc supplies locally roasted coffee and pastries to passing tourists and bicyclists, and Sunday brunch features Benedicts and breakfast tacos with fiery green chile sauce.

“For Sale” sign on The Merc?

There is a timeless quality to the Merc experience, but time may be running out for the Jamestown landmark.

There is no “For Sale” sign on the building, but the site is up for sale with no guarantee that a future owner would keep it the same.

The Merc property, which includes several apartments plus two small next-door buildings, is on the market for $1.5 million.

“The current property owner bought it from the longtime owner six years ago and he’s ready to sell it now. We realized that if we wanted to keep our community gathering space, we were going to have to secure it quickly,” Shultz says.

“We have until December to come up with half of it and May to come up with the rest, and we’re really grateful to him for the time.”

The building The Merc occupies, built around 1896, is a former meeting hall, post office and general store. Since it is part of the National Register of Historic Places, there is no danger of it being torn down. However, it could change irrevocably.

“In my mind, the No. 1 worst result would be just a bunch of high-end condos. But it also could be sold to someone else that wants to have a full-time restaurant,” she says.

How will The Merc survive?

In the past 130 years, The Merc has somehow survived the end of mining, two pandemics, several recessions, fires and a severe flood in 2013.

Rainbow Shultz, with other Jamestown residents and supporters, launched the nonprofit Save The Merc organization on May 1.

The nascent Save The Merc fund has raised about $38,000 as of June 1.

“We had someone from Seattle send us $15,000. A couple of weeks ago, we had a person in Australia send us $2,” Shultz says.

Supporters can expect to hear about a roster of local benefit events in the coming months.

When the purchase is complete, The Merc will rent the space from the nonprofit, according to Shultz.

“The hope is that the nonprofit can do arts programming and classes. We’re going to work on building a recording studio for bands that come through,” she says.

“There are so few places like The Merc that have stood the test of time, being a little bit quirky and a little bit crooked and a little bit messy. People are realizing that they value those older, wilder places over fresh, new, cookie-cutter restaurants. You can’t ever recreate the originals,” Shultz says.

A new Boulder pasta shop; Talking Spanish seafood

Pastificio, Boulder’s award-winning craft pasta company, will open a retail shop this fall at its manufacturing site, 2430 30th Street.

Chefs Eduardo Valle Lobo and Kelly Jeun, the couple that opened Boulder’s seafood-centric Spanish eatery, Casa Juani, will be guests on Kitchen Table Talk. The hourlong food discussion airs 8:30-9:30 a.m. June 4 on KGNU (88.5, streaming at KGNU’s website). Listeners can call in with questions: 303-442-4242.

Searching for pancit, lumpia and halo-halo?

Lumpia, turon, pancit, adobo, halo-halo and other hard-to-find Filipino flavors are on the menu June 13-14 in Edgewater at Colorado’s annual Philippine Festival.

Plan ahead: Tickets for the perennially sold-out Nederland Jazz & Wine Festival Aug. 22 in Chipeta Park are now on sale.

Market Meals: A stirring summer veggie creation

June brings a parade of fresh seasonal vegetables from local farmers. One of the easiest ways to get them on the dinner table is to master the stir-fry basics. Fresh local bok choy, green onions and mushrooms shine in this week’s recipe for a classic Asian-style dish from the Boulder County Farmers Markets. Try it here.

Carlo Petrini and Boulder’s Slow Food pioneers

“I became a Slow Food member in 1993. I was in Italy. Carlo (Petrini) knew that I was American. He called me into his office one day and said that Slow Food wanted to expand into the U.S. I said, ‘What can I do for you?’ He said, ‘Soce! Soce!’ (‘Members! Members!’) In 1996, Charlie Papazian and I created one of the first Slow Food conviviums in the United States in Boulder. … Carlo was the real oak. I am just one of many acorns that fell from the tree.”

— Peggy Markel, a Longmont resident and celebrated culinary travel guide, commenting on the recent passing, at age 76, of Carlo Petrini. Petrini founded the Slow Food movement in Italy to push back against factory farming and fast food culture, and to support sustainability. Slow Food now has chapters in every state and 140 countries, including Slow Food Boulder County.

Want more Boulder bites?

Boulder’s TooSteppin brings Australian-style hard ginger beer to East Boulder

Founded by a former tech entrepreneur, the Pearl Street saloon is building a local market for a fast-growing Australian staple. Continue reading…

Odd Rabbit opens in Boulder with sushi, ramen and more from Michelin-recognized chefs

The team behind Denver’s glo Noodle House expands to East Boulder with a broader, more experimental menu designed for sharing. Continue reading…

Check out recent editions of Nibbles:

🌲 A Boulder forager’s guide to finding free wild foods

🥪 A new reason to eat in East Boulder: East & Co.

🥐 The Boulder bakery race we desperately need

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