It’s not even 5 p.m. on a Tuesday, and Boulder is already here. They’re drinking giant orange spritzes at the bar, catching up with friends in the sunny dining room, and spilling across a 12-top with three generations of family. Most people I know are still answering emails, but here a man was just presented with an olive oil and sea salt-topped dish of soft serve that I immediately make a note to order.
“Here” is Morso, the new restaurant from Blackbelly and Santo chef/owner—and “Top Chef” winner—Hosea Rosenberg. The early evening crowd speaks to Rosenberg’s culinary talent, not to mention the loyalty he’s built through restaurants that have become community stalwarts over the past decade-plus.
Morso, however, is different from those. It’s all Italian—but not Big Italy so much as Little Italy.
“When people ask me what region of Italy, I say New York City,” Rosenberg jokes.
That East Coast-style Italian sensibility translates to a core menu of antipasti, pizzas, pastas and familiar comfort dishes like parmesans and chicken marsala. But Morso isn’t interested in nostalgia alone. Daily specials and seasonal ingredients keep things fresh, like adding sliced peaches to the caprese-like burrata, all creamy and decked out with cherry tomatoes and basil, resting in a honey vinaigrette that’s a little sweet, a little tangy, and entirely worth spooning up once everything else is gone.
Then there are the quietly brilliant details: pillowy focaccia served with both butter and olive oil, or chopped clams folded into the linguini alle vongole so every twirl delivers more shellfish with less work.
The pizzas, meanwhile, are reason enough to visit. A classic margherita and crème fraiche-based mushroom share the menu with a Hatch green chile and house-made sausage pie, a nod to Rosenberg’s New Mexican roots. Each is built on a three-day-fermented dough, resulting in a beautifully blistered, bubbly crust. Even the marinara, made from just four ingredients, took months to perfect.
In fact, it was the wood-fired pizza oven, left behind by Under the Sun Pub & Pizza, which previously occupied the space, that sparked the idea for Morso in the first place. Rosenberg had been looking to open a Spanish tapas restaurant, but then he visited the vacant spot off Table Mesa and Broadway, and his plans changed.
“It just made sense,” he says. “We’ll just go a couple countries over.”
The space strikes the same balance as the menu, polished without taking itself too seriously. Light woods and white marble keep things bright and cheery, whether you’re perched at the centerpiece square bar or at one of the many tables surrounding it. Beverages lean Italian, too, from oversized spritzes glowing sunset orange to a thoughtfully selected wine list to a whopping seven different negronis.
And if you’ve somehow saved room, don’t skip that soft serve. It starts with the same ultra-rich, 10% butterfat base used by Sweet Cow Ice Cream; Morso just puts their own spin on it, gussying it up with olive oil and sea salt. Or pistachio, dark chocolate, and candied orange for a take on panettone. Or pours Bull & Bush root beer or Huckleberry espresso over it for a killer float or affogato. How ever you order it, you’ll probably be scraping the bottom of the cup.
Looking around the room—at the plates of pastas and meatballs, the stunning pizzas—it’s easy to understand why Boulder showed up early. Morso isn’t just another Italian restaurant. It’s the sort of place that makes you want to settle in, order one more thing, and stay awhile.
MorsoBoulder.com
“When people ask me what region of Italy, I say New York City.” - Hosea Rosenberg