With each passing month, Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall seems to add to its already vibrant dining scene. A few months ago it was the Kitchen [Next Door], several weeks ago it was Snooze, and now it’s Riffs Urban Fare. Here, chef John Platt (Q’s Restaurant in the Hotel Boulderado) has teamed up with Phil Shull, the former owner of the Bookend Cafe, to offer a small-plates eatery with big, comforting flavors.

Platt turns out dishes such as the short rib ravioli with succulent, slow-cooked beef in a blanket of tender pasta and natural juices mingled with red wine and shallot butter; a tangle of seared organic greens is tucked underneath. Pair the ribs with a puckery trio of pickled veggies. Or, opt for the organic mixed greens salad with green apple, walnut, red grape, smoky blue cheese, and a light sherry vinaigrette. Either way, finish with apple pie à la mode drizzled with Leopold Bros. applewood whiskey caramel.

1115 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-6699