Bon Appetit restaurant editor Andrew Knowlton acknowledges that Boulder “has won just about every shiny, happy lifestyle award a city can: Healthiest, Most Educated, Most Bicycle-Friendly—the list goes on.” But that doesn’t stop him from bestowing yet another crown on the People’s Republic: Foodiest Town in America.

Citing innovative food companies like Celestial Seasonings, several top-tier restaurants, and one of the best farmers’ markets in the nation, Knowlton came to the conclusion after sampling the local lifestyle (mainly, hiking, biking, and running) and then hitting places like Dish Gourmet, Mateo, Salt, Sushi Tora, Lefthand Brewing, and the Bitter Bar.

Jason Hein, a part-owner and general manager of Café Aion—singled out for its fried cauliflower and house-cured bacalao—talks with the Daily Camera about watching Boulder’s food scene evolve over the last decade.

Westword restaurant critic Laura Shunk, a former Denverite who lives in Boulder, says while some people may “chalk up this accolade to our voracious appetites because of all the pot we smoke, our hippie-dippy lifestyles, or the altitude, the real reason we’re the foodiest city is because we love our restaurants, our chefs, and our food providers just a little bit more.” And blogging from Seattle, former Westword food critic Jason Sheehan writes, “To be quite honest, I don’t think I could possibly agree with Knowlton more.”